JP2011065670A - Method of providing electronic shop - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a site content for providing customer service. <P>SOLUTION: A service provider arranges a server in a data center, and a service user retrieves a web site with connection from a terminal to the Internet. A data of a content stored at a server side is read out to be transmitted to the terminal of the service user when the service user assigns a URL of a web site server from the terminal accessible to the Internet. The content is classified into seven categories of member registration, new arrival information, product information, a service support, an on-line album, an on-line shop and a community. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic shop providing method.

  There is known an information search system called Web, which searches information on the Internet using hypertext. In this system, content is registered in a Web server having an Internet protocol (IP) address, and the content registered in the Web server is searched from a terminal connected to the Internet using a browsing program. The content registration location is called a website. According to the Web, content including unique information is prepared on a website, and information is obtained from people who receive the information while searching for this website and providing information to people who use the content. Is possible.

  The inventor considered that a new customer service can be constructed by providing content for posting product information, collecting information from the content and collecting information from the person who purchased the product in the content.

  The method for providing an electronic shop according to the present invention records information on related products prepared for each product, and is transmitted from the purchaser including at least the product information already owned by the purchaser and the purchaser's authentication information. Recording registration information, corresponding to authentication information sent from the purchaser, reading information on the product owned by the purchaser from the registration information, further reading related product information for the read product and sending it to the purchaser It is characterized by.

  According to the electronic shop providing method of the present invention, it is possible to provide an electronic shop that is convenient for the purchaser.

It is a figure which shows the example of a whole structure of the website in which the content for websites is registered. It is a figure which shows a site map. It is a figure which shows the screen of the top page of Web. It is a figure which shows the screen of the top page of the category of newly arrived information. It is a figure which shows the screen of the top page of the category of a community. It is a figure which shows the screen for product information input. It is a figure which shows the screen for customer information (customer information) input. It is a figure which shows the screen for a questionnaire reply. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of question processing. It is a figure which shows the screen for prize selection. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of a prize selection screen creation process. It is a figure which shows the screen which introduces a booklet. (a) The figure which shows the screen which notifies a transmission destination, (b) The figure which shows the screen which notifies point addition. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of a guide screen creation process of member registration. It is a figure which shows the screen which displays the notification of acceptance of a prize order, and the guidance message to member registration. It is a figure which shows the screen for member authentication. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of a registration content update process. It is a figure which shows the screen for customer information (customer information) update. It is a figure which shows the screen for customer authentication. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of a guarantee period extension process. It is a figure which shows the screen of the top page of the category of an online shop. It is a figure which shows an item selection screen. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of a polygon image process. It is a figure which shows the joining image of a camera main body and an interchangeable lens. It is a figure which shows the introduction screen of recommended goods. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of recommended goods proposal processing. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of recommended goods proposal processing. It is a figure which shows the screen for merchandise information management. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of a stock notification process. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of an insertion switching process. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of a merchandise delivery instruction | indication process. (a) The figure which shows the screen for lottery, (b) The figure which shows the display screen of the winning notification and delivery destination selection button of a camera. It is a figure which shows the delivery destination confirmation screen of winning goods. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of a merchandise delivery instruction | indication process. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of a reservation process. It is a figure which shows the screen for reservation. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of an option payment process. It is a figure which shows the screen for delivery method selection. It is a figure which shows the page screen of a calculation sheet. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of the process which determines a delivery charge. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of a lump sum payment process. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of a division | segmentation payment process. It is a figure which shows the screen which logged into the category of online album. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of an album deletion process. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of an album deletion process. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of an album deletion process. It is a figure which shows the screen for album management. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of an album list creation process. (a) It is a figure which shows a thumbnail image display, (b) It is a figure which shows an image display larger than a thumbnail image. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of preferential treatment. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of a file name determination process. It is a figure which shows the screen which logged into the category of the community. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of a thumbnail image posting process. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of a thumbnail image posting process. It is a figure which shows the screen which notifies that a selection image cannot be published. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of a thumbnail image posting process. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of a thumbnail image posting process. (a) The figure which shows the display screen of the question classified into "photographing information"-"Hokkaido" on a bulletin board (b) The figure which shows the display screen of the image classified into "landscape"-"Hokkaido" on an album. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of a search process. It is a figure which shows a search screen. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of a search process. (a) The figure which shows the display screen of the search result of several content, (b) The figure which shows the display screen of the search result of one content. It is a figure which shows the introduction screen of an expert. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of a search process. It is a figure which shows the introduction screen of product information. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of a search process. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of a search process.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Web site content according to an embodiment of the present invention is such that a Web service provider provides information and services related to products to service users. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a Web site in which Web site content is registered. In FIG. 1, a service provider places a server in a data center, and a service user connects to the Internet from a terminal and searches a Web site. When a service user specifies a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of a website server from a terminal that can access the Internet, the content data stored on the server is read and sent to the service user's terminal . In this embodiment, a camera is taken as an example of a product, and information and services related to the camera and the camera are provided to a service user. Content according to the present invention is classified into the following seven categories as shown in the site map of FIG.
1. Member registration New information 3. Product information Service support 5. Online album 6. Online shop community

  Member registration 1 is a page for registering service users via the Web. New arrival information 2 is a page for introducing information such as contents newly registered on the Web site to the service user. Product information 3 is a page for introducing products such as cameras to service users. The service support 4 is a page that introduces questions received from product users and answers to the questions to the service user. The online album 5 is a page that provides a service user with a service that handles electronic image data. For example, in the online album 5, the image data taken by the service user is accumulated free of charge until the predetermined capacity is reached, or the image data selected by the service user from the accumulated image data is printed out in high detail. Provide services such as enabling delivery. The online shop 6 is a page for selling products to service users. The community 7 is a page that provides a place for communication between service users. For example, the community 7 provides a bulletin board function in which a service user who has a question posts a question and a service user who knows an answer to the question posts an answer.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a screen example of the Web top page 10 displayed on the display of the service user's terminal. This screen is displayed on the display of the terminal by the browsing program provided in the service user's terminal based on the data stored in the URL specified from the terminal of the person using the Web service. In FIG. 3, link destination buttons 21 to 27 to the above-described seven category pages are displayed. Furthermore, a link destination button 28 to the “article 1” page, a link destination button 29 to the “article 2” page, a link destination button 30 to the “article 3” page, and a “search” page to be described later. A link destination button 31 is displayed.

  When a person using a Web service operates a pointing device (not shown) provided on the terminal and clicks a link destination button, link destination information pasted corresponding to each link destination button, that is, a URL Is specified. Thereby, data stored in the URL is transmitted to the terminal, and a screen based on the data is displayed on the display of the terminal. For example, when a Web service user clicks the “new arrival information” link destination button 21, the top page screen of the category of new arrival information 2 shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the display of the terminal.

  In FIG. 4, the category information screen of the new arrival information 2 includes “notification”, “new product information / news”, “service / support information”, and “site update information” described in the site map of FIG. 2. Is displayed. These display contents may be displayed on a page screen of a link destination different from the page screen of FIG. 4 by providing a link destination button in the page screen of FIG. 4 further includes link destination buttons 21 to 26 for jumping to other category pages, a link destination button 31 for “search” page, and a link destination button 32 for “returning to the top page”. Is displayed. When each of these link destination buttons is clicked, a page corresponding to each button is displayed on the display of the terminal. If the link destination button 21 to the “new arrival information” category page is clicked while the page screen shown in FIG. 4 is displayed, the page screen shown in FIG. 4 remains displayed.

  In FIG. 3, when the “community” link destination button 26 is clicked, the top page screen of the category of the community 7 shown in FIG. 5 is displayed. 5, the category 7 screen of the community 7 includes link buttons 28, 29, and 30 for pages corresponding to articles described in the site map of FIG. 2, and link buttons for pages of “Bulletin Board”. 71, a link destination button 72 to a page for downloading image data, and a link destination button 27 to a page for “member registration” are displayed. These display contents may be displayed in a page according to FIG. 5 without providing a link destination button.

  The screen of FIG. 5 further includes link destination buttons 21 to 26 for jumping to other category pages, a link destination button 31 to the “search” page, and a “top page” as in the screen of FIG. 4 described above. A link destination button 32 for “returning to” is also displayed. If the link button 26 to the “community” category page is clicked while the page screen shown in FIG. 5 is displayed, the page screen shown in FIG. 5 remains displayed.

  In each of the page screens according to FIGS. 3, 4, and 5 described above, for example, there are link destination buttons provided in common on each page, such as link destination buttons 21 to 26. In addition, there are link destination buttons provided in common on a predetermined page, such as link destination buttons 28 to 30. By providing a common link destination button between different pages, when switching the display of each page shown in the site map of FIG. 2, the page screen is switched between the category pages without returning to the top page 10 once. be able to. Furthermore, if a link button is provided in common between the pages, the link button is likely to be noticed by service users on the Web. As a result, the service user is given an incentive to display a page corresponding to the link destination button.

  Since the present embodiment is characterized by “member registration”, “online shop”, “online album”, and “bulletin board” among the above-described categories, these categories will be mainly described.

-Member registration-
A Web service provider has a service user name registered for the purpose of providing a service to a registered service user. The member registration page is used for customer registration in which a user who has purchased a product sold by a service provider registers customer information and the like in addition to member registration for service use on the Web. In the customer registration, the user transmits the customer information online by using the member registration page, instead of writing the customer information on a postcard called a customer registration card and returning it. When the service user clicks the link button 27 for “member registration” on the page screen shown in FIG. 3, a selection screen (not shown) for member registration is displayed on the display of the terminal. This selection screen is
1. 1. A new customer is registered by a person who has not registered as a member of the Web service. 2. A person who has already registered as a member to use the service on the Web registers a new customer. Register as a member to use the service on the Web. This is for selecting four input screens for a registered customer to change the registered contents.

-When non-members who use the Web service register as customers-
On the above selection screen, when the service user clicks a link button (not shown) corresponding to “a person who has not registered as a member of the service using the Web performs new customer registration”, the website server, that is, The server of the service provider transmits display data to the terminal of the service user, and the product information input screen shown in FIG. 6 is displayed on the display of the terminal. As shown in FIG. 1, a Web site server generally has a plurality of servers such as a Web server, a content management server, a mail server, a bulletin board server, and a shop server. Each of the web servers stores web screen data, and the content management server performs content management. The mail server stores mail data, the bulletin board server stores data written on the bulletin board, and the shop server stores shop data. In this description, these servers are collectively referred to as servers.

  When the product information input screen is displayed on the terminal display, the service user writes the registered content in the frame of the display screen according to the display content. In FIG. 6, a pull-down menu is prepared for a frame in which a downward triangle is displayed. The service user selects a corresponding item from the menu written in advance by the service provider.

  For example, when a pull-down menu button 6A displayed in the product name frame is clicked, product names such as product 1, product 2, product 3,... Are displayed. The service user selects the product name he / she purchased from the product name menu. When there is no product name corresponding to the pull-down menu, or in a frame where the pull-down menu is not prepared, the service user operates the terminal key (not shown) to write the registered content. When the service user clicks the OK button 6B, product information registration data is transmitted to the server of the service provider.

  Upon receiving the product information registration data transmitted from the service user, the service provider server transmits display data to the service user terminal, and a customer information (customer information) input screen shown in FIG. Is displayed on the terminal display. The service user writes the registered content in the frame of the display screen according to the display content on the display. In FIG. 7, the service user inputs a password in a password frame 7A. When the service user later changes the registered contents, the password is entered and changed. The password input from the customer information input screen is also used as a common password when performing member registration for service use via the Web, which will be described later.

  The pull-down menu described above is prepared in a frame in which a downward triangle is displayed. When there is no item corresponding to the pull-down menu, and in a frame where the pull-down menu is not prepared, the service user operates the terminal key (not shown) to write the registered content. The password box 7A displays the password entered by the service user as ***... Without displaying it as it is. When the service user writes the registration content and clicks the OK button 7B, customer information registration data is transmitted to the server of the service provider.

  Upon receiving the customer information registration data transmitted from the service user, the service provider server transmits display data to the service user terminal, and the questionnaire response screen shown in FIG. 8 is displayed on the terminal display. Display. The service user writes an answer in the frame of the display screen according to the display content on the display. Here, the questionnaire questions are determined as follows. FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of question processing performed at the server of the service provider. The process shown in FIG. 9 is activated when customer information registration data is received.

  In step S201, the server reads product name information registered by the service user from the product information input screen from a predetermined database in the server, and proceeds to step S202. In step S202, the server selects a question according to the registered product name, and proceeds to step S203. Here, questions are prepared in advance for all products, and these questions are recorded in a database in the server. Each question recorded in the database is managed so that a question common to a plurality of products and a question specific to a certain product can be determined. The server selects a question corresponding to the product based on the registered product name.

  When the service user purchases a plurality of products, questions corresponding to the plurality of products are selected. If there is a common question among the selected questions, the server deletes the remaining one duplicate question so as not to send the same question to the service user's terminal. In step S203, the server creates page data for displaying the questionnaire input screen of FIG. 8, and proceeds to step S204. In step S204, the server transmits data necessary for displaying the created questionnaire input screen to the service user's terminal, and ends the process of FIG. Thereby, for example, questions 1 to 5 shown in FIG. 8 display questions common to the products 1 and 2 respectively. A question about the product 1 is displayed in the question 6, and a question about the product 2 is displayed in the question 7. Even when a service user purchases a plurality of products, the service user can answer questions regarding the plurality of products in one questionnaire input screen.

  When the service user clicks the registration button 8H after writing the answers to the questions in the frames 8A to 8G on the screen of FIG. 8, the registration data of the questionnaire is transmitted to the server of the service provider. When the server of the service provider receives the registration data transmitted from the service user, it transmits display data to the service user's terminal, and displays the premium selection screen shown in FIG. 10 on the terminal display. FIG. 10A shows an example of a page screen when an individual registers, and FIG. 10B shows an example of a page screen when a corporation registers.

  The service user selects a desired prize according to the display content on the display. Here, the prize selection screen is determined as follows. FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of a prize selection screen creation process performed on the server of the service provider. The process shown in FIG. 11 is activated when questionnaire registration data is received. In step S101, the server enters the product name, purchase category (individual or legal entity), and purchase quantity input from the product information input screen shown in FIG. 6 and the purchase information input from the customer information input screen shown in FIG. Information such as the name and address of the person is read from a predetermined database in the server, and the process proceeds to step S102.

  In step S102, the server determines whether the purchase category is a corporation. In the case of a corporation, an affirmative determination is made in step S102 and the process proceeds to step S104. In the case of an individual, a negative determination is made in step S102 and the process proceeds to step S103. In step 103, the server prepares data for a personal page screen as shown in FIG. FIG. 10 (a) introduces a free gift for a person who has purchased a single-lens reflex camera, and selects either a booklet with information on shooting, a strap for a camera, or a point that can be used for services via the Web. It is a screen. Here, the points are prizes prepared for individuals, not for corporations. When the server creates data for the page screen, the server proceeds to step S105.

  The points can be used at the time of shopping at the online shop 6 shown in FIG. In the service using the online album 5, the storage capacity of the image data can be increased according to the points, and the printout service can be received free of charge. Further, in the community 7, there is a usage in which the service user who posted the question gives points as a reward to the service user who posted the answer.

  When the processing proceeds to step S104, the server prepares data for a page screen for a corporation as shown in FIG. Fig. 10 (b) introduces prizes for corporations that have purchased a total of three single-lens reflex cameras and compact cameras. Either a booklet containing information on shooting, a strap for cameras, or a case for compact cameras is shown. This is a screen for selecting up to three points in total. In the case of corporations, points are not prepared as premiums, unlike those for individuals. Also, a case is prepared as a gift corresponding to a purchased product, here a compact camera. When the server creates data for the page screen, the server proceeds to step S105.

  In step S105, the server transmits data to the service user's terminal and ends the process of FIG. As a result, the screens shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B are displayed on the display of the service user's terminal. The service user checks the desired prize on any of the screens shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, and clicks the OK button 10B. When a plurality of prizes can be selected as shown in FIG. 10 (b), a quantity frame 10C is displayed, so the service user opens a pull-down menu and selects a desired quantity. In FIGS. 10A and 10B, a description of the prize is displayed beside the prize image 10A. The image 10A also serves as a link destination button. When the service user clicks this button, new data is transmitted from the server to the terminal, and a page screen introducing the prize in detail is displayed on the display of the service user's terminal. Is done. FIG. 12 is an example of a screen for introducing a booklet.

  When the service user clicks the OK button 10B in FIGS. 10A and 10B, selection data is transmitted to the server of the service provider. Upon receiving the selection data transmitted from the service user, the service provider server transmits page screen data corresponding to the prize to the service user terminal. As a result, in the case of a prize that needs to be delivered to the service user, a screen for notifying the destination is displayed on the display of the service user's terminal as shown in FIG. 13 (a). Further, in the case of prizes that do not require delivery such as points, a screen for notifying point addition is displayed on the display of the service user's terminal as shown in FIG.

  When the service user clicks the OK button on the screens of FIGS. 13A and 13B, customer registration by a person who has not registered as a member for service use on the Web ends. At this time, when the purchase classification is individual, the server continues to the member registration page for using the service on the Web.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of the member registration guide screen creation process performed on the server of the service provider. The process shown in FIG. 14 starts when customer registration is completed. In step S301, the server determines whether the purchase category is a corporation. In the case of a corporation, an affirmative determination is made in step S301 and the process proceeds to step S304. In the case of an individual, a negative determination is made in step S301 and the process proceeds to step S302. In step S302, the server determines whether the service user is a registered member. If it is a registered member, an affirmative decision is made in step S302 and the process proceeds to step S304. If a non-member is determined, a negative decision is made in step S302 and the process proceeds to step S303. Here, information on whether or not the registered customer is a member of service use on the Web is transmitted to the server by a link destination button clicked when customer registration is started. In other words, if the “Person who has not registered as a member of the service using the Web performs a new customer registration” button is clicked, it is regarded as a non-member. If the “Register” button is clicked, it is considered a member.

  In step S303, the server creates data for displaying a page screen as shown in FIG. FIG. 15 is an example of a screen that displays a gift order acceptance notification indicating the end of customer registration and a message that leads to a member registration page for service use via the Web. When the server prepares the data for the page screen, the server proceeds to step S305. In step S305, the server transmits data to the service user's terminal and ends the process of FIG. Thereby, the screen of FIG. 15 described above is displayed on the display of the service user's terminal. When the service user clicks the link destination button 15A for member registration for service use on the Web, the server transmits data necessary for displaying the member registration screen to the terminal of the service user. Membership registration for service use via the Web will be described later. On the other hand, when the service user clicks the “return to top page” link destination button 32, the server transmits the data necessary for the display of the top page 10 in FIG. 3 to the terminal of the service user.

  When the server proceeds to step S304, the server does not recommend member registration for service use via the Web. This is to avoid recruiting corporations as service members and to prevent duplicate registration of registered members. In step S304, the server displays a prize order acceptance notification, creates page screen data indicating the end of customer registration, and proceeds to step S305. Thereby, a screen (not shown) indicating the end of customer registration is displayed on the display of the service user's terminal. When the service user clicks a “return to top page” link destination button, the server transmits data necessary for the display of the above-described top page 10 in FIG. 3 to the terminal of the service user.

-When a member of the service using the Web registers as a customer-
On the member registration selection screen corresponding to the link destination button 27, when the service user clicks a link destination button (not shown) corresponding to “a person who has already registered as a member of the service using the Web performs new customer registration”. Then, the server of the service provider transmits display data to the service user's terminal, and displays a member authentication screen for service use by the Web shown in FIG. 16 on the display of the terminal. The service user inputs the login name and password registered at the time of member registration, and clicks the OK button 16A. As a result, the login name and the password are transmitted to the server of the service provider.

  The server of the service provider performs the following process when the transmitted login name and password match those recorded in the database in the server. Overwrite (update) the latest content if there is a difference between items registered at the time of Web member registration and items registered at the time of customer registration. FIG. 17 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of registration content update processing performed at the server of the service provider. The process according to FIG. 17 is started when the login name and password transmitted from the service user match the contents of the database on the server side.

  In step S401, the server reads data of items common to the customer registration data from the registered web member registration data from the database, and proceeds to step S402. In step S402, the server prepares page data for displaying the product information input screen shown in FIG. 6 and transmits the page data to the terminal. The service user writes the registration content in the frame of the display screen according to the display content on the display, similarly to the case where the non-member who uses the service on the Web registers as a customer. When the service user clicks the OK button 6B, registration data is transmitted to the server of the service provider.

  Upon receiving the product information registration data transmitted from the service user, the service provider server prepares page data for displaying a customer information (customer information) update screen and transmits the page data to the terminal, and then proceeds to step S403. move on. As a result, the page screen shown in FIG. 18 is displayed on the display of the service user's terminal. In FIG. 18, the contents at the time of Web member registration are displayed in the frame of items common to Web member registration and customer registration. The service user only needs to check the display contents on the display and write only the parts that have changed. When the service user clicks the OK button 18B after writing the change contents, the change data is transmitted to the server of the service provider.

  In step S403, the server determines whether or not change data has been received. If the change data is received, the determination in step S403 is affirmative and the process proceeds to step S404. If the change data is not received, the determination in step S403 is negative and the determination process is repeated. In step S404, the server compares the received data with the data at the time of member registration on the Web, and determines whether or not there is a changed part. If a change has been made, an affirmative determination is made in step S404 and the process proceeds to step S405. If a change has not been made, a negative determination is made in step S404 and the process proceeds to step S408.

  In step S405, the server creates a page screen (not shown) by changing the page screen of FIG. 18 to the content based on the change data transmitted from the service user. The server further transmits the created page screen data to the service user's terminal together with, for example, message “Are you sure you want to overwrite it with this content?”, And proceeds to step S406. In step S406, the server determines whether to change the database. When the service user clicks an OK button (not shown) on the terminal display, a change instruction is transmitted from the terminal to the server. If the server receives a change instruction, the server makes a positive determination in step S406 and proceeds to step S407. If the server does not receive a change instruction, the server makes a negative determination in step S406 and proceeds to step S408.

  In step S407, the server overwrites the contents of the database with the change data, and proceeds to step S408. In step S408, the server registers the data of the item in the database for the item that is not common with the data at the time of Web member registration. Further, the server transmits message data notifying that registration has been completed to the terminal of the service user, and ends the processing shown in FIG. When the change data is blank data, that is, when the service user transmits the change data with the frame blank, the server does not overwrite the database with the blank data. In this case, the server creates message data notifying that the change content has not been input, and transmits the message data to the service user's terminal.

  Next, the server transmits display data to the terminal of the service user, and displays the above-described questionnaire response screen shown in FIG. 7 on the display of the terminal. The subsequent procedure is the same as the procedure in the case where a non-member who uses the service on the Web registers as a customer, and a description thereof will be omitted. However, we do not recommend membership registration for service use via the Web when customer registration is completed. That is, in step S302 of the process shown in FIG. 14 described above, the server makes an affirmative determination because the service user is already a member of the Web. As a result, a screen (not shown) for notifying the end of member registration is only displayed on the display of the service user's terminal, and Web member registration is not recommended.

-When registering as a member for web service use-
Of the seven categories of content registered on the website described above, the services of each page of the online album 5, online shop 6, and community 7 are provided to registered members who use the service via the web. That is, the service user needs to register as a member to receive these three categories of services. When a member is registered, login to receive these three categories of services is permitted.

  On the member registration selection screen corresponding to the link destination button 27, when the service user clicks a link destination button (not shown) corresponding to “Perform member registration for Web service use”, the service provider's server performs service. The display data is transmitted to the user's terminal, and a screen (not shown) on which the membership rules for using the Web service are displayed is displayed on the terminal display. The service user clicks an OK button (not shown) when agreeing to the terms. When the service provider's server receives the consent data sent from the service user, it sends the display data to the service user's terminal and displays a screen (not shown) for entering the login name, password, and nickname. Display on the terminal display. The service user writes the registered content in the frame of the display screen according to the display content on the display. The login name is a user name registered for the service user to receive the service. The password is used for authentication. The nickname is essential when using the bulletin board included in the community category.

  When the service user clicks an OK button (not shown) after writing the login name, password, and nickname by key operation on the terminal, registration data is transmitted to the server of the service provider. When the server of the service provider receives the registration data transmitted from the service user, the server transmits the display data to the service user's terminal, and displays the same screen for inputting member information on the Web as in FIG. On the display. The service user writes the registration contents in the frame of the display screen according to the display contents on the display. However, the password is omitted because it has already been transmitted as described above. When the service user clicks the OK button 7B after writing the registration contents, the registration data of the member information is transmitted to the server of the service provider.

  When the service provider server receives the registration data of the Web member information transmitted from the service user, the server transmits the display data to the service user terminal. As a result, a message notifying completion of Web member registration is displayed on the display of the service user's terminal.

  The above explanation has been given by taking as an example a case where a person who has not registered a customer registers as a member for using the service on the Web. However, a person who has already registered a customer can also register as a member on the Web. In this case, the server displays the screen for customer authentication shown in FIG. 19 on the display of the terminal. The service user inputs the ID and password registered at the time of customer information registration, and clicks the OK button 19A. As a result, the ID and password are transmitted to the server of the service provider.

  The server of the service provider performs the following process when the transmitted ID and password match those recorded in the database in the server. For items common to the information registered at the time of customer registration and the information registered at the time of member registration on the Web, if there is a difference, the latest content is overwritten (updated). This is because when the web member explained above performs customer registration, the latest information is overwritten (updated) on items that are common to the information registered at the time of web member registration and the information registered at the time of customer registration. It is the same as doing.

  When the ID and password transmitted from the terminal coincide with those recorded in the database in the server, the server of the service provider displays a screen for updating member information on the Web similar to FIG. 18 described above. Prepare page data and send it to the terminal. As a result, a page screen similar to that shown in FIG. 18 is displayed on the display of the service user's terminal, and data at the time of customer registration is displayed within a frame of items common to the items at the time of customer registration. The service user only needs to check the display contents on the display and write only the parts that have changed. When the service user clicks the OK button 18B after writing the change contents, the change data is transmitted to the server of the service provider. In this way, if only information different from the information registered at the time of customer registration is written, membership registration for using the service on the Web can be performed without writing the same contents as at the time of customer registration.

-When a customer registered (Web member registration) changes the registration details-
On the member registration selection screen corresponding to the link destination button 27, when the service user clicks a link destination button (not shown) corresponding to “a person who has completed customer registration (member registration) changes the registered contents”, The server of the service provider transmits display data to the terminal of the service user, and the customer member authentication screen shown in FIG. 19 is displayed on the display of the terminal. When a registered member of the Web changes the registered content, the Web member authentication screen shown in FIG. 16 is displayed on the display of the terminal.

  The registered service user inputs the password and ID registered at the time of customer registration, and clicks the OK button 19A. As a result, the ID and password are transmitted to the server of the service provider. On the other hand, a service user who has registered as a member of the Web inputs the password and login name registered at the time of member registration, and clicks the OK button 16A. As a result, the login name and the password are transmitted to the server of the service provider.

  The server of the service provider prepares page data for displaying a screen for updating customer information and sends it to the terminal when the transmitted ID and password match those recorded in the database in the server. To do. On the other hand, the server of the service provider prepares page data to display a screen for updating the member information on the Web when the transmitted login name and password match those recorded in the database in the server. And send it to the terminal. As a result, the same page screen as in FIG. 18 described above is displayed on the display of the service user's terminal. In FIG. 18, data at the time of registration is displayed in the frame of the registration item.

  The service user only needs to check the display contents on the display and write only the parts that have changed. When the service user clicks the OK button 18B after writing the change contents, the change data is transmitted to the server of the service provider. The subsequent processing is the same as that after step S403 in FIG. That is, the server overwrites and changes only the change data transmitted from the service user among the registration data registered in the database.

  In the above description of member registration, the server explained that the password for customer registration and the password for Web member registration can be used in common, and the service user registers both passwords in the same way. On the other hand, the service user may register different passwords for customer registration and Web member registration. In this case, customer registration and Web member registration are performed independently. That is, even when there is an item common in registration data between customer registration and Web member registration, the data at the time of registration of one is not used at the time of registration of the other.

  In addition, if the person who purchased the product performs online customer registration from the terminal to the server as described above, the service provider can extend the warranty period of the product compared to registering the customer using a postcard or the like. give. The warranty period is extended when a product is purchased through an online shop, which will be described later, and customer registration of the product is performed online.

  FIG. 20 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of the warranty period extension process performed at the server of the service provider. The process shown in FIG. 20 starts when customer registration is completed. In step S801, the server determines whether or not the product has been purchased at an online shop based on the customer registered data. If the online shop is used, an affirmative determination is made in step S801 and the process proceeds to step S802. If the online shop is not used, a negative determination is made in step S801 and the process in FIG. In this case, the warranty period is not extended.

  In step S802, the server accesses a predetermined database associated with the customer information, reads support information such as the warranty period of the product, and proceeds to step S803. In step S803, the server extends the warranty period of the read support information, for example, by 6 months, and changes the data in the database. When the server changes the database, the server proceeds to step S804. In step S804, the server performs a process of enabling the warranty card with an extended warranty period to be sent to the purchaser, and ends the process of FIG.

  The example of extending the warranty period has been described as a privilege for registering customers online using the Web service. However, for example, points that can be used for the Web service may be given.

According to the member registration performed with the content according to the embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) On the screen for selecting a prize (FIGS. 10A and 10B), the prize image 10A is also used as a link destination button, and when the service user clicks on the image 9A, the prize is introduced in detail. The page screen (FIG. 12) to be displayed is further displayed. Therefore, the service user can obtain detailed information on the prize without having to search the introduction page screen for the prize.
(2) We have prepared points that can be used as a free gift on the Web service. Thereby, an incentive can be given to the service user so that the service user can use the Web service after the customer registration.
(3) The password at the time of customer information registration and the password at the time of member registration for using the Web service are used as a common password. As a result, compared to a case where a plurality of passwords are used properly, mistakes in inputting the password by the service user are reduced, and the burden on the service user can be reduced.
(4) Regarding items common to the information registered at the time of Web member registration and the information registered at the time of customer registration, the latest content is overwritten (updated) if there is a difference. Thereby, the registration data of the same service user can be centrally managed. In addition, since blank data is not overwritten with blank data, the original information is not lost.
(5) Questionnaire questions are prepared corresponding to all products, and these questions are managed so that they can be determined as questions common to a plurality of products and questions specific to the products. The server selects a question according to the registered product name and sends it to the service user's terminal. Thereby, even when the service user registers a plurality of products, the same question is not transmitted repeatedly, and it is possible to ask a plurality of products in one questionnaire input screen.
(6) When the customer registration is completed, the user continues to lead to the membership registration on the Web, so the number of members on the Web can be increased compared to the case where the registration is not guided to the membership registration. As a result, the number of Web service users can be increased.
(7) The service provider extended the product warranty period when the customer who purchased the product performed online customer registration from the terminal to the server. For this reason, there is an effect of prompting the purchaser to perform online registration with less burden on the service provider as compared with the case of registering using a postcard or the like.

  In the above explanation, points that can be used with Web services in addition to “things” such as booklets and straps have been prepared as gifts for registered customers. Instead of points, the memory size and validity period of the album data storage area provided by the service provider to the service user in the album / print service described later is larger than the normal memory size and longer than the normal validity period. You may give preferential treatment.

-Online shop-
The categories of online shopping 6 will be described. Online shops are also called electronic shops. 3 is displayed on the terminal display, the Web service user operates the pointing device (not shown) provided in the terminal and clicks the “online shop” link destination button 25. When clicked, the top page screen of the category of the online shop 6 shown in FIG. 21 is displayed on the display of the terminal. As described above, the service use of the online shop 6 is received after the service user who has registered as a member of the service use on the Web has entered the login name and the password and logged in.

  In FIG. 21, products A to F are introduced as recommended products with images and explanatory text not shown. The information of the link destination is pasted at the display positions of the products A to F, respectively, and the user operates the pointing device (not shown) and clicks one of the images and characters of the products A to F. Then, a page screen describing the product in detail is further displayed. In this way, where the link destination information is pasted, an underline is drawn. Product group 1, product group 2, product group 3,... Are classified and displayed as a shop menu. The product group 1 is, for example, a film camera, and the product group 2 is an accessory for a single-lens reflex camera. In this case, when the underlined “product group 1” character is clicked, a page screen that introduces the film camera in detail is further displayed. Clicking on the underlined “product group 2” character also displays a page screen that introduces the SLR camera accessory in detail.

  The best-selling ranking introduces the names of products that sell well in online shops, as well as the first, second, third and so on. The information of the link destination is also pasted on the order display or the product name. Therefore, by clicking on the underlined rank or product name character, a page screen for explaining the product in detail is further displayed. In addition, a link destination button for jumping to a category page different from the current category page is provided at the top of the screen of FIG.

The flow of product purchase at the online shop is
1: The purchaser logs on to the service provider's online shop,
2: The purchaser selects a product from the shop menu,
3: Check on the page screen that introduces the product selected by the buyer in detail,
4: The purchaser places the product in a virtual shopping cart,
5: The purchaser confirms the payment amount, payment method and delivery destination of the product,
6: Purchaser places an order 7: Service provider performs payment processing 8: The service provider sends the merchandise. In the online shop service according to the present invention, a service provider provides a service as described below to a service user. In the description of the online shop, the user of the Web service is called a purchaser. The actual shop operation may be performed by the service provider, or the service provider may be entrusted to a third party.

-Provide images with accessories attached-
The purchaser can confirm an image in a state where the accessory is mounted on the product, for example, a state where the accessory is mounted on the camera body. The service provider prepares a polygon image of the camera body and a polygon image of each accessory such as an interchangeable lens and a flash device. These polygon images are configured so that the image of the camera body and each accessory is matched to the actual size ratio of the device. For this reason, when these camera body and accessory images are joined, the camera body and the interchangeable lens, or the camera body and the flash device appear as if they were mounted on an actual device. A joined image obtained by joining the image of the camera body and the image of the accessory can be rotated and moved integrally in the display screen. Such a polygon image is stored in advance in a predetermined database of the service provider's server.

  When the purchaser clicks a link button (not shown) corresponding to “Check accessory mounting status” on the screen (not shown) of the purchaser's terminal, the server of the service provider sends display data to the purchaser's terminal. The item selection screen shown in FIG. 22 is displayed on the terminal display. In FIG. 22, when the item selection screen is displayed on the display of the terminal, the purchaser writes the selection content in the frame of the display screen according to the display content. In FIG. 22, a pull-down menu is prepared in a frame in which a downward triangle is displayed, and the purchaser selects a desired item from the menu. The example in FIG. 22 shows a screen for selecting an interchangeable lens to be combined with the camera body FOO.

  When the purchaser clicks the OK button 22B, the data of the selected item is transmitted to the server of the service provider. FIG. 23 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of polygon image processing performed at the server of the service provider. The process according to FIG. 23 starts when the server receives data of the selected item. In step S501, the server reads a polygon image corresponding to the item selected from the database and information associated with the polygon image, and proceeds to step S502. In step S502, the server determines whether or not the image of the selected item can be joined. Here, “joinable” means that an accessory can be attached to the camera body. The server makes an affirmative determination in step S502 when the joining is possible, and proceeds to step S503. If the joining is impossible, the server makes a negative determination in step S502 and proceeds to step S505.

  In step S503, the server joins the images of the selected item and proceeds to step S504. The image joining shows a state where the accessory is actually attached. That is, when the selected item is an interchangeable lens, image synthesis is performed so that the mount portion of the camera body and the mount portion of the interchangeable lens are matched to obtain an integrated image as shown in FIG.

  In step S504, the server transmits the data of the joined polygon image (FIG. 24) to the purchaser's terminal, and ends the process of FIG. The purchaser can rotate the joint image into an image viewed from an arbitrary angle by operating a pointing device (not shown) of the terminal while the display of FIG. 24 is being performed.

  In step S505, the server transmits data of a message notifying that the selected item is not a combination that can be joined to the purchaser's terminal, and proceeds to step S506. In step S506, the server transmits display data to the purchaser's terminal, and ends the process of FIG. Thereby, the item selection screen shown in FIG. 22 is displayed again on the purchaser's terminal, and the purchaser is prompted to reconsider item selection.

-Propose other recommended products according to the products owned by the buyer-
The purchaser can receive a proposal for a new product according to the product he / she owns. The service provider prepares recommended products for each product. For example, an interchangeable lens aaa, a flash device bbb, a battery pack ccc, and a case ddd are prepared for the camera body, and priorities are set for them. Such recommended product data is stored in advance in a predetermined database of the service provider's server.

  When the purchaser clicks a link button (not shown) corresponding to “Check Recommended Products” on the screen (not shown) of the purchaser's terminal, the server of the service provider sends display data to the purchaser's terminal. Then, the recommended product introduction screen shown in FIG. 25 is displayed on the display of the terminal. FIG. 25 is an example of a screen that introduces the image, specifications, and purchase merits of the flash device bbb. When the purchaser purchases the recommended product, clicking the “Add to shopping cart” button 25B transmits data indicating the purchase intention to the server of the service provider.

  FIG. 26 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of recommended product proposal processing performed on the server of the service provider. The process shown in FIG. 26 is started when a “confirm recommended product” button (not shown) is clicked by the purchaser's terminal. In step S601, the server determines whether or not the purchaser has logged in. If logged in, the determination in step S601 is affirmative and the process proceeds to step S602. If not logged in, the determination in step S601 is negative and the process proceeds to step S606.

In step S602, the server accesses a database in which customer registration information of the logged-in purchaser is stored, and reads model information such as a camera already purchased and owned by the purchaser from the registration data. It progresses to step S603. In step S603, the server extracts recommended products from the read model information, and proceeds to step S604. For example, when the purchaser owns a camera, the recommended product is extracted in the order of priority from among the interchangeable lens aaa for the camera, the flash device bbb, the battery pack ccc, and the case ddd. The priority is 1. Interchangeable lens aaa
2. Flash device bbb
3. Battery pack ccc
4). Case ddd
When the purchaser does not own the interchangeable lens aaa, the interchangeable lens aaa is extracted. When the purchaser owns the interchangeable lens aaa and the flash device bbb, the battery pack ccc is extracted. Note that the model information owned by the logged-in purchaser can be additionally registered arbitrarily on the customer information update page screen in addition to the above-described customer registration.

  In step S604, the server creates page data necessary for displaying the screen shown in FIG. 25 that introduces the extracted recommended products, and proceeds to step S605. In step S605, the server transmits the created page data to the purchaser's terminal, and ends the process of FIG.

  In step S606, the server transmits display data to the purchaser's terminal, and displays the owned model input screen similar to FIG. 22 described above on the display of the terminal. In FIG. 22, the purchaser writes the model and accessories owned in the frame of the display screen according to the display contents. When the purchaser clicks the OK button 22B, the data of the owned model is transmitted to the server of the service provider.

  In step S <b> 607, the server determines whether the data of the owned model has been received. If data is received, an affirmative determination is made in step S607 and the process proceeds to step S603. If no data is received, the determination process is repeated.

-Propose other recommended products according to the products the buyer has put in the cart-
The purchaser can receive a proposal for a new product according to the product placed in the shopping cart. As described above, the service provider prepares recommended products for each product, sets priorities, and stores them in the database.

  FIG. 27 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of recommended product proposal processing performed at the server of the service provider. The process shown in FIG. 27 is activated when a “Add a product to cart” button (not shown) is clicked by the purchaser's terminal. In step S701, the server determines whether or not the purchaser is logged in. If logged in, an affirmative decision is made in step S701 and the process proceeds to step S702. If not logged in, a negative decision is made in step S701 and the process proceeds to step S703.

  In step S <b> 702, the server accesses the database storing the member registration information of the logged-in purchaser's Web, and stores model information such as a camera that the purchaser has already purchased from the registration data. Read and proceed to step S703. In step S703, the server extracts a recommended product from the product name put in the shopping cart and the model information owned by the purchaser, and proceeds to step S704. For example, when the purchaser owns the camera and the product in the shopping cart is the flash device bbb, the recommended product is extracted by extracting the interchangeable lens aaa for the camera. If the determination in step S701 is negative (not logged in), the recommended product is extracted from the product name placed in the shopping cart and the process proceeds to step S704.

  In step S704, the server creates page data necessary for displaying the screen shown in FIG. 25 that introduces the extracted recommended products, and the process advances to step S705. In step S705, the server transmits the created display page data to the purchaser's terminal, and the process in FIG. 27 ends.

-Virtual inventory management-
The service provider manages the inventory of products with a relative number, not an absolute number. The number of stocks decreases according to the quantity of the product when the purchaser puts the product into the shopping cart, and increases according to the quantity of the product when the purchaser removes the product from the shopping cart. In an online shopping service, a large number of buyers access at the same time, so the number of items in stock changes every moment. Therefore, the service provider manages inventory (referred to as virtual inventory in this description) based on the relative increase / decrease number based on the initial absolute inventory number and the inventory number changing in real time.

  FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating an example of a management page screen for managing product information. The management page screen is prepared by the service provider for each product handled by the online shopping service. Even if they are the same product, the wrapped product, the product with the name put on the product, and the like are assigned different product IDs from the normal product and managed as different products.

  When the administrator predetermined by the service provider performs a predetermined operation on the server, the server sends the data of the management page screen to the administrator's terminal, and the management terminal shown in FIG. 28 is sent to the administrator's terminal. A screen is displayed. In FIG. 28, an outline of the product is entered in a frame 28A of explanation 1. A detailed explanation of the product is entered in a frame 28B of explanation 2. A keyword for the product is entered in the search keyword frame 28C. For example, when the product is a flash device, flash, speedlight, lighting, etc. are entered. The keyword is preferably a word that is not entered in the description 1 and description 2 frame described above. This is because, in the search function described later, in addition to the keyword, the words entered in each frame of explanation 1 and explanation 2 are also referred to.

  In the posting period frame 28D, a period for posting the product on the page screen of the online shop is entered. The posting means that it is displayed as a shop menu or recommended product on the page screen of the online shop shown in FIG. The server publishes the product in the online shop within the period entered in the posting period frame 28D. Note that if the administrator unchecks the display on the right side of the posting period frame 28D to make it non-publishing, the posting of the product on the online shop page is stopped even within the posting period. That is, display as a shop menu or recommended product is stopped. In the frame 28E of the sales reception period, a period for receiving an order for the product by the online shop is entered. The server accepts orders for the product within the period entered. When the manager unchecks the display on the right side of the sales acceptance period frame 28E, the order acceptance of the product is stopped even within the acceptance period.

  In the related product frame 28F, product IDs of other products related to the product are entered. By entering the product ID of the recommended product in the related product frame 28F, when the purchaser puts the product in the shopping cart, the recommended product entered in the frame 28F is proposed. In the process column 28G when the product is out of stock, a process to be performed by the server when the product is out of stock is checked. In the example of FIG. 28, it is checked to stop selling by displaying an out-of-stock indication. In this case, when the product is out of stock, an out-of-stock indication is posted at the product on the shop menu or the recommended product page screen. At this time, if the scheduled storage date is entered in the processing column 28G at the time of out of stock, the planned storage date is posted on the page screen.

  In the inventory increase / decrease frame 28H, a relative increase / decrease number based on the initial inventory number is entered. The administrator inputs +10 when adding 10 to the initial stock quantity, and inputs -5 when reducing the number by five. Therefore, the manager can know how much the initial stock quantity has been increased or decreased by the numerical value entered in the frame 28H. In the current stock quantity frame 28I, the stock quantity is displayed in real time depending on whether or not the purchaser has put the product into the shopping cart. The virtual inventory manages the inventory based on the increase / decrease of the inventory and the current inventory number.

  When the administrator operates a pointing device (not shown) and clicks the registration button 28J, registration data is transmitted from the administrator's terminal to the server. When the server receives the registration data, it changes the database and reflects it on the online shop page. In this way, the administrator can change the description content in each of the above frames except for the stock number in the current stock number frame 28I.

-Notify when the virtual inventory falls below a certain number-
The server sends an e-mail to the administrator to alert when the current stock quantity of the product falls below a predetermined number. Further, the server notifies the purchaser that there is no stock when the current stock quantity of the product is 0 or a negative number when the purchaser places the product in the shopping cart.

  FIG. 29 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of inventory notification processing performed at the server of the service provider. The process according to FIG. 29 is always executed when an online shop service is provided. In step S1801, the server determines whether or not X items A (X is an integer equal to or greater than 1) have been placed in the shopping cart. If the product A has been put in the cart, an affirmative determination is made in step S1801 and the process proceeds to step S1802. If the product A cannot be put in the cart, a negative determination is made in step S1801 and the process proceeds to step S1803.

  In step S1802, the server sets the current inventory number n = n−X of the virtual inventory of the product A and proceeds to step S1805. In step S1805, the server determines whether the inventory number n is equal to or less than a predetermined value Z. Here, Z is the quantity regarded as out of stock and is a value determined for each product (product ID). If n ≦ Z is established, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S1805 and proceeds to step S1806. If n> Z is established, the server makes a negative decision in step S1805 and proceeds to step S1808.

  In step S1806, the server determines whether or not the affirmative determination in step S1805 is the first time counted from a predetermined time. The predetermined time is, for example, midnight or the time when the virtual inventory is increased or decreased. In the case of the first time counting from a predetermined time, the server makes an affirmative determination in step S1806 and proceeds to step S1807. If not the first time, the server makes a negative determination in step S1806 and proceeds to step S1808. In step S1807, the server transmits an email notifying the manager managing the virtual inventory that the inventory is low, and proceeds to step S1808. As a result, an e-mail notifying the inventory reduction is sent to the administrator only when the number of stocks n becomes equal to or less than the predetermined value Z for the first time after a predetermined time.

  In step S1808, the server determines whether the current inventory number n of the virtual inventory is 0 or less. If n ≦ 0 is established, the server makes an affirmative determination in step S1808 and proceeds to step S1809. If n> 0 is established, the server makes a negative determination in step S1808 and returns to step S1801. In step S1809, the server transmits an email notifying that the inventory has become 0 to the manager managing the virtual inventory, and proceeds to step S1810. As a result, every time the number of stocks n becomes 0 or less, an email notifying that the stock is out is sent to the administrator. In step S1810, the server transmits display data to the terminal of the purchaser who has put the product A in the cart, and displays a message notifying that the product is out of stock on the display of the purchaser's terminal. When the server transmits the display data to the purchaser's terminal, the server returns to step S1801.

  On the other hand, in step S1803, in which the determination is negative in step S1801 described above, the server determines whether Y items A (Y is an integer equal to or greater than 1) have been removed from the shopping cart. If the product A is removed from the cart, the determination in step S1803 is affirmative and the process proceeds to step S1804. If the product A is not removed from the cart, a negative determination is made in step S1803 and the process returns to step S1801. In step S1804, the server sets the current stock number of the product A as n = n + Y and returns to step S1801.

  The current inventory number n of the virtual inventory calculated by the process shown in FIG. 29 described above is linked to the display content of the management screen of FIG. 28 for the manager described above. That is, the value of n is displayed in the current inventory number frame 28I in FIG. In the example of FIG. 28, the sales are stopped when the current inventory number n becomes 0, but the check in the processing column 28G at the time of out of stock is removed and displayed when the sales are stopped. In this case, when the number of stocks n increases and sales are resumed, a check is displayed at the original position in the processing column 28G at the time of out of stock.

-Exclude sold-out products from search-
Based on the check position in the processing column 28G at the time of out of stock in FIG. 28 described above, the server performs the following processing at the time of out of stock.
a. Continue to sell even if the stock number n becomes 0 or less.
b. When the number of stocks n becomes 0, the stockout is displayed and the sales are stopped until the stocks are replenished.
c. When the stock number n becomes 0, the sold-out display is displayed and the subsequent sales are stopped.
d. When the stock number n becomes 0, the display of the product is deleted and the subsequent sales are stopped.

  Products that continue to be sold even when the number of stocks n is 0 or less correspond to products that have a sufficient production volume and can be supplied stably. When the number of stocks n reaches 0, a product that displays out of stock and stops selling until the stock is replenished corresponds to a product that has a small production volume and takes a long time to supply. When the number of stocks n reaches 0, sold out is displayed, and products whose sales are stopped thereafter are limited quantity products. When the number of stocks n becomes 0, the display of the product is deleted, and the products whose sales are stopped thereafter correspond to the production end (canceled) product. Such classification of the products a to d is performed for each product (product ID) in the management screen of FIG. 28 by the administrator.

  The server switches the listing on the online shop as follows for the products to be processed in the above-mentioned a to d. FIG. 30 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of the posting switching process performed at the server of the service provider. The process according to FIG. 30 is always executed when an online shop service is provided. In step S1601, the server determines whether or not the virtual inventory number n ≦ 0. If n ≦ 0, step S1601 is affirmed and the process proceeds to step S1602. If n> 0, step S1601 is negatively determined and the determination process is repeated. In step S1602, the server accesses the database and determines whether or not a product whose inventory number n is 0 or less is a product classified as d. If it is classified as d, step S1602 is affirmed and the process proceeds to step S1603. If not classified as d, step S1602 is negatively determined and the process proceeds to step S1605.

  In step S1603, the server excludes the product from display and proceeds to step S1604. Thereby, the display of the product, that is, the posting on the online shop screen is stopped. In step S1604, the server excludes the product from search, and ends the process of FIG. As a result, the product is excluded from the search processing target of the online shop. In step S1605, the server determines whether or not the product whose inventory number n is 0 is a product classified as c. If it is classified as c, an affirmative decision is made in step S1605 and the process proceeds to step S1606. If not classified as c, a negative decision is made in step S1605 and the process proceeds to step S1607.

  In step S1606, the server instructs the product to be sold out, and ends the process in FIG. As a result, a sold-out display is posted at the product in the shop menu or the recommended product page screen. Even if the sold-out display is posted, it is not excluded from the search process of the online shop. In step S1607, the server determines whether or not the product whose inventory number n is 0 is a product classified as b. If the product is classified as b, the server makes a positive determination in step S1607 and proceeds to step S1608. move on. In step S1608, the server instructs the product to be out of stock and terminates the process in FIG. As a result, an out-of-stock indication is posted at the product in the shop menu and the recommended product page screen. In addition, even if an out-of-stock indication is posted, it will not be excluded from the search process of the online shop. On the other hand, if the product whose inventory number n is 0 is not classified as b, a negative determination is made in step S1607, and the processing in FIG. In this case, since the product whose inventory number n is 0 is classified as a, the out-of-stock display is not displayed even when the product is out of stock. Also, do not exclude from the search process of online shop.

  In the above description, only when the product classified as d is out of stock, the product is excluded from the search processing of the online shop (step S1604). Even when the item is out of stock, the product may be excluded from the search processing target of the online shop. In this case, the process may proceed to step S1604 after the process in step S1606 described above.

-Lottery for product buyers and delivery of purchased products and selected products to winners-
The service provider draws lots for purchasers who purchase products through the online shop, and bundles and delivers the purchased product and the winning product to the winner. FIG. 31 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of merchandise delivery instruction processing performed at the server of the service provider. The process shown in FIG. 31 is started when the product purchase process by the online shop is completed. In step S <b> 901, the server determines whether or not the purchase amount P of the product is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount Q. If P ≧ Q is satisfied, the determination in step S901 is affirmative and the process proceeds to step S902. If P <Q is satisfied, the determination in step S901 is negative and the process of FIG. 31 is terminated. Here, a lottery opportunity is given to a purchaser whose purchase price P is Q or more.

  In step S902, the server transmits display data to the purchaser's terminal, and displays a lottery page screen shown in FIG. 32 (a) on the display of the terminal. In FIG. 32A, when the lottery page screen is displayed on the terminal display, the purchaser performs a lottery according to the display content. When the purchaser clicks the handle of the lottery machine displayed on the screen, data indicating that the lottery is started is transmitted to the server of the service provider. In step S903, the server determines whether data for starting lottery has been received. When the server receives the lottery start data, the server makes an affirmative determination in step S903, performs a predetermined lottery process, and proceeds to step S904. If the lottery start data is not received, the determination process is repeated.

  In step S904, the server determines whether the purchaser's address is the same as the delivery address of the purchased product. The purchaser's address and the delivery address are entered during the online shop purchase process. If the purchaser and delivery address are the same, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S904 and proceeds to step S905. If the purchaser and delivery address are different, the server makes a negative decision in step S904 and proceeds to step S906. .

  In step S906, the server transmits display data to the purchaser's terminal, and proceeds to step S907. As a result, the page screen shown in FIG. 32B is displayed on the display of the terminal. In FIG. 32 (b), a red ball comes out to notify that the camera has been won, and a button for selecting the delivery destination of the winning product is displayed. The purchaser clicks one of the selection buttons to select the delivery address of the selected product from the delivery address (delivery address of the purchased product), the purchaser's address, or others. When the purchaser clicks the selection button, data indicating information on the selected delivery address is sent from the purchaser's terminal to the server.

  On the other hand, in step S905, the server transmits display data to the purchaser's terminal and proceeds to step S907. In this case, since the delivery destination of the purchased product is the same as the purchaser's address, the delivery destination of the selected product is also regarded as the purchaser's address. Accordingly, a page screen (not shown) in which the delivery destination selection button is omitted from the screen shown in FIG. 32B is displayed on the display of the purchaser's terminal. That is, only a red ball comes out and it is notified that the camera has been won. When the purchaser clicks a confirmation button (not shown), data indicating the purchaser's address information is sent from the purchaser's terminal to the server.

  In step S907, the server determines whether or not the delivery address information has been received. If the server receives the delivery address data, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S907 and proceeds to step S908. If the server does not receive the delivery address data, the server repeats the determination process. In step S908, the server determines whether the delivery address of the purchased product is the same as the delivery address of the winning product. If the delivery address is the same, an affirmative determination is made in step S908 and the process proceeds to step S909. If the delivery address is different, a negative determination is made in step S908 and the process proceeds to step S910.

  In step S909, the server transmits display data to the purchaser's terminal, and causes the terminal to display a delivery destination confirmation screen for the winning product shown in FIG. When the purchaser clicks the OK button 33B, the server performs a process of making it possible for the purchased product and the winning product to be bundled and shipped to the purchaser, and the process of FIG. 31 is terminated. In step S910, the server transmits display data to the purchaser's terminal, and causes the terminal to display a delivery destination confirmation screen for the winning product shown in FIG. When the purchaser clicks the OK button 33B, the server performs a process of separately packing the purchased product and the winning product so that the purchased product can be separately sent to each delivery destination, and ends the process of FIG.

− If some of the purchased products are backordered, all the purchased products will be shipped together after delivery.
FIG. 34 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of merchandise delivery instruction processing performed at the server of the service provider. The process shown in FIG. 34 is activated when a login process is performed on the online shop page by the purchaser's terminal. In step S <b> 1001, the server determines whether or not an instruction to put the product into the shopping cart is sent from the purchaser's terminal. This instruction is sent when the purchaser clicks a “add product to cart” button (not shown) on the display screen of the terminal. When the server receives data indicating an instruction to put into the cart, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S1001 and proceeds to step S1002. When not receiving data showing an instruction to put in the cart, the server makes a negative determination in step S1001 and proceeds to step S1005.

  In step S <b> 1002, the server determines whether or not the product for which the instruction to put in the cart is out of stock. If it is out of stock, step S1002 is affirmed and the process proceeds to step S1004. If it is not out of stock, step S1002 is negatively determined and the process proceeds to step S1003. In step S1003, the server transmits display data to the terminal of the purchaser who has transmitted the instruction to put the product into the cart, and displays a page screen (not shown) indicating that the product has been put into the cart on the purchaser's terminal. Display on the display. When the server transmits the display data, the server proceeds to step S1005.

  In step S1004, the server performs a reservation process for out-of-stock items, and proceeds to step S1005 after the reservation process. The reservation process will be described later.

  In step S1005, the server determines whether an instruction to end shopping is sent from the purchaser's terminal. This instruction is sent when the purchaser clicks a “finish shopping” button (not shown) on the display screen of the terminal. When the server receives data indicating an instruction to end shopping, the server makes an affirmative determination in step S1005 and proceeds to step S1006. When no data indicating an instruction to end shopping is received, the server makes a negative determination in step S1005 and returns to step S1001.

  In step S1006, the server determines whether or not a product is in the shopping cart. If there is a product in the cart, an affirmative decision is made in step S1006 and the operation proceeds to step S1007. If there is no product in the cart, a negative decision is made in step S1006 and the processing in FIG. In step S1007, the server determines whether there is a reserved product among the products in the shopping cart. If there is a reserved product, an affirmative determination is made in step S1007 and the process proceeds to step S1008. If there is no reserved product, a negative determination is made in step S1007 and the process proceeds to step S1009.

  In step S1008, the server performs a payment process called option payment, and ends the process of FIG. 34 after the payment process. On the other hand, in step S1009, the server performs a payment process called normal payment, and ends the process shown in FIG. 34 after the payment process. The payment process and the option payment process will be described later.

  The reservation process described above will be described. FIG. 35 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of reservation processing performed at the server of the service provider. The process shown in FIG. 35 is activated when an affirmative determination is made in step S1002 of FIG. In step S1101 of FIG. 35, the server accesses the database, reads the product information of the product that is out of stock, obtains information on the scheduled arrival date of the product, and proceeds to step S1102. In step S1102, the server creates display data for a reservation page screen described later, and proceeds to step S1103. In step S1103, the server transmits display page data to the purchaser's terminal, and proceeds to step S1104. Thereby, the reservation page screen shown in FIG. 36 is displayed on the display of the purchaser's terminal. In FIG. 36, the scheduled arrival date of the product is displayed.

  When the purchaser clicks the reservation button 36B on the display screen (FIG. 36) of the terminal, data indicating an instruction to reserve the product is sent from the purchaser's terminal to the server. In step S1104, the server determines whether or not a product reservation instruction has been sent from the purchaser's terminal. When the server receives the reservation instruction data, the server makes a positive determination in step S1104 and proceeds to step S1107. If the server does not receive the reservation instruction data, the server makes a negative determination in step S1104 and proceeds to step S1105.

  In step S1107, the server adds the product to the shopping cart and proceeds to step S1108. In step S1108, the server transmits display page data to the terminal of the purchaser who has transmitted the instruction to put the product into the cart, and the page screen indicating that the product has been put into the cart, that is, the product has been reserved. On the display of the buyer ’s device. When the server transmits the display page data, the server ends the reservation processing shown in FIG.

  In step S1105, the server determines whether or not an instruction not to reserve a product is sent from the purchaser's terminal. The instruction not to make a reservation is sent to the server when the purchaser clicks a “do not make a reservation” button 36C on the screen shown in FIG. If the server receives data indicating an instruction not to make a reservation, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S1105 and proceeds to step S1106. If not receiving data showing an instruction not to make a reservation, the server makes a negative determination in step S1105 and returns to step S1104.

  In step S1106, the server transmits display page data to the terminal of the purchaser who has transmitted the instruction to put the product into the cart, and displays a page screen indicating that the product is not reserved on the display of the purchaser's terminal. . When the server transmits the display page data, the server ends the reservation processing shown in FIG.

  The option settlement process described above will be described. FIG. 37 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of option settlement processing performed at the server of the service provider. The process shown in FIG. 37 is activated when an affirmative determination is made in step S1007 of FIG. In step S1201 of FIG. 37, the server determines whether there are products other than reserved products among the products in the shopping cart. If there is a product other than the reserved product, an affirmative determination is made in step S1201 and the process proceeds to step S1202. If there is no product other than the reserved product, a negative determination is made in step S1201 and the process proceeds to step S1204. In step S1202, the server transmits display page data to the purchaser's terminal, and proceeds to step S1203. As a result, the delivery method selection page screen shown in FIG. 38 is displayed on the display of the purchaser's terminal. In FIG. 38, the estimated delivery date of the reserved product is displayed.

  When the purchaser clicks the button 38B on the display screen (FIG. 38) of the terminal, data indicating an instruction to send the reserved product together with other products is sent from the purchaser's terminal to the server. On the other hand, when the purchaser clicks the button 38C, data indicating an instruction to send the reserved product separately from other products is sent from the purchaser's terminal to the server. In step S1203, the server determines whether or not a sending instruction is sent from the purchaser's terminal. When the server receives the data indicating the sending instruction, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S1203 and proceeds to step S1204. When the server does not receive the data indicating the sending instruction, the server makes a negative determination in step S1203 and proceeds to step S1205.

  In step S1204, the server performs calculation for creating a calculation document, and the process advances to step S1206. In this case, since the delivery of the product may be performed once, the postage for one delivery and the amount of the product are included. In step S1205, the server performs calculation for creating a calculation document, and the process advances to step S1206. In this case, since the delivery of the product is divided into a plurality of times, the postage for each delivery and the price of the product are included. In step S1206, the server transmits display page data to the purchaser's terminal, and proceeds to step S1207. As a result, the calculation page page shown in FIG. 39 is displayed on the display of the purchaser's terminal.

  When the purchaser clicks a “order with this content” button (not shown) on the display screen (FIG. 39) of the terminal, data indicating a settlement instruction is sent from the purchaser's terminal to the server. In step S1207, the server determines whether or not a payment instruction has been sent from the purchaser's terminal. If data indicating a settlement instruction is received, an affirmative determination is made in step S1207 and the process proceeds to step S1208. If data indicating a settlement instruction is not received, the determination process is repeated. In step S1208, the server performs the payment process, and then ends the option payment process shown in FIG.

  The normal settlement process described above will be described. In the normal settlement process, the process from step S1201 to step S1203 and the process in step S1205 in the option settlement process shown in FIG. 37 are omitted. The normal settlement process is performed when a negative determination is made in step S1007 in FIG. 34 described above, that is, when there is no reserved product. In this case, since all the products in the cart are in stock, only one delivery is required, so the calculation form may be created including the shipping cost and the amount of the product for one time. For this reason, the processing is performed from step S1204.

  In the option settlement processing described above, the case has been described in which the reservation product is calculated with one shipping fee when it is sent together with another product, and the settlement processing of the reservation product and the other product is made common. The following is an example in which the delivery fee is made free according to the total amount of products to be purchased, or payment is made separately for reserved products and other products.

  FIG. 40 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of processing for determining the delivery fee according to the delivery method and the settlement method, and is performed instead of the option settlement processing according to FIG. In step S1301 of FIG. 40, the server creates a page screen for selecting a delivery method and selecting a payment method, and the process advances to step S1302. The delivery method selection selects whether the reserved product and other products are sent together or delivered separately. In the settlement method selection, the reservation product and other products are settled in a lump or divided and settled. In step S1302, the server transmits the created page screen data to the purchaser's terminal, and the process advances to step S1303. As a result, a page screen having a delivery method selection check field (not shown) and a settlement method selection check field (not shown) is displayed on the display of the purchaser's terminal.

  When the purchaser checks an arbitrary check field on the display screen of the terminal and clicks an OK button (not shown), data indicating an instruction for a delivery method and a settlement method is sent from the purchaser's terminal to the server. In step S1303, the server determines whether a delivery and settlement instruction has been sent from the purchaser's terminal. When the server receives data indicating an instruction from the terminal, the server makes an affirmative determination in step S1303 and proceeds to step S1304. When the server does not receive data indicating an instruction from the terminal, the server makes a negative determination in step S1303 and repeats the determination process.

  In step S1304, the server detects the delivery count D and proceeds to step S1305. Here, D = 1 when goods are sent together. Further, when the reserved product is delivered separately, D ≧ 2. The value of D varies depending on whether there is a reserved product and the scheduled arrival date of each reserved product. In step S1305, the server determines whether to make a batch payment. If data indicating a collective payment instruction is sent from the purchaser's terminal, an affirmative determination is made in step S1305 and the process proceeds to step S1306. If data indicating a split payment instruction is sent, a negative determination is made in step S1305. Then, the process proceeds to step S1307. In step S1306, the server performs a collective payment process, and ends the process of FIG. 40 after the payment process. On the other hand, in step S1307, the server performs a settlement process for split settlement, and ends the process of FIG. 40 after the settlement process.

  The collective payment process described above will be described. In the lump sum settlement, a stocked product and a reserved product reserved due to out of stock are settled together. FIG. 41 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of collective payment processing performed at the server of the service provider. In step S1401, the server calculates the total amount E of the purchased product and the reserved product in the shopping cart, and proceeds to step S1402. In step S1402, the server calculates a pay delivery number G and proceeds to step S1403. The paid delivery frequency G is calculated by G = D− (E / F). However, F is an amount determined in advance so as to provide free shipping. The fractional part of G is rounded up.

  In step S1403, the server determines whether G ≦ 0 is satisfied. If G ≦ 0 holds, step S1403 is affirmed and the process proceeds to step S1405. If G> 0 holds, step S1403 is determined to be negative and the process proceeds to step S1404. In step S1405, the server creates a calculation form with the delivery fee set to 0, and proceeds to step S1406. On the other hand, in step S1404, the server creates a calculation form including the delivery fee for G times, and proceeds to step S1406.

  In step S1406, the server transmits the calculation form display page data to the purchaser's terminal, and proceeds to step S1407. As a result, a calculation page page similar to that shown in FIG. 39 is displayed on the display of the purchaser's terminal. When the purchaser clicks a “order with this content” button (not shown) on the display screen (FIG. 39) of the terminal, data indicating a settlement instruction is sent from the purchaser's terminal to the server. In step S1407, the server determines whether or not a payment instruction is sent from the purchaser's terminal. If data indicating a settlement instruction is received, an affirmative determination is made in step S1407 and the process proceeds to step S1408. If data indicating a settlement instruction is not received, the determination process is repeated.

  In step S1408, the server detects whether or not the payment is by credit card. Here, the payment method is, for example, a method selected by the purchaser from among payment methods such as debit by credit card and cash on delivery at the time of delivery. In the case of payment by credit card, the server makes a positive determination in step S1408 and proceeds to step S1409. In the case of payment by credit card, the server makes a negative determination in step S1408 and proceeds to step S1410.

  In step S1409, the server credits the credit card company with which the purchaser has a contract for the payment amount for the credit card. After performing the credit process, the server proceeds to step S1410. In step S1410, the server performs a payment process when credit is passed, and ends the collective payment process of FIG. If the credit fails, the server performs non-settlement processing and ends the processing shown in FIG. In this case, the sale is not successful.

  The above-described split settlement process will be described. In the split settlement, settlement is performed for a stocked product first, and settlement is performed after the product is received for an out-of-stock product. FIG. 42 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of split settlement processing performed at the server of the service provider. In step S1501, the server calculates the total amount H to be settled this time among the purchased products and reserved products in the shopping cart, and proceeds to step S1502. In step S1502, the server calculates the number of deliverable times J that can be provided free of charge, and proceeds to step S1503. The free delivery frequency J is calculated by J = H / F. However, F is an amount determined in advance so as to provide free shipping. The fractional part of J is rounded down.

  In step S1503, the server determines whether J = 0 is satisfied. If J = 0 is satisfied, the determination in step S1503 is affirmative and the process proceeds to step S1504. If J ≠ 0 is satisfied, the determination is negative in step S1503 and the process proceeds to step S1505. In step S1505, the server sets J = J-1, stores the value of J in the database in association with the purchaser, and proceeds to step S1506. In step S1506, the server creates a calculation form with the delivery fee set to 0, and proceeds to step S1507. On the other hand, in step S1504, the server creates a calculation form including the delivery fee, and proceeds to step S1507.

  In step S1507, the server transmits the created calculation sheet display page data to the purchaser's terminal, and the process advances to step S1508. As a result, a calculation page page similar to that shown in FIG. 39 is displayed on the display of the purchaser's terminal. When the purchaser clicks a “order with this content” button (not shown) on the display screen (FIG. 39) of the terminal, data indicating a settlement instruction is sent from the purchaser's terminal to the server. In step S1508, the server determines whether a payment instruction is sent from the purchaser's terminal. When the server receives the data indicating the settlement instruction, the server makes an affirmative determination in step S1508 and proceeds to step S1509. When the server does not receive the data indicating the settlement instruction, the determination process is repeated.

  In step S1509, the server detects whether or not the payment is by credit card. In the case of payment by credit card, the server makes a positive determination in step S1509 and proceeds to step S1510. In the case of payment by credit card, the server makes a negative determination in step S1509 and proceeds to step S1513.

  In step S1510, the server credits the credit card company with which the purchaser has a contract with the amount of money to be settled this time for the credit card. When the server performs the credit process, the server proceeds to step S1511. In step S1511, the server performs a settlement process when the credit passes, and proceeds to step S1512. At this time, the reservation product is not settled. If the credit fails, the server performs non-settlement processing and proceeds to step S1512. In the case of non-settlement processing, buying and selling is not realized. In step S1512, the server credits the amount of the reserved product excluding the current settlement amount. When the server performs the credit processing, the server proceeds to step S1513. Thereby, since it can be confirmed that the reserved product can be purchased with the credit card, the credibility of the reservation is increased.

  In step S1513, the server ends the split settlement process of FIG. 42 when the credit is passed. If the credit fails, the server performs a settlement process using a settlement method other than the credit card and ends the split settlement process shown in FIG.

According to the online shop with the content according to the embodiment described above, the following operational effects can be obtained.
(1) The service provider prepared a polygon image of the camera body and a polygon image of each accessory such as an interchangeable lens so that these polygon images can be joined together. Thereby, the purchaser can confirm an image in a state where each accessory is mounted on the camera body before purchasing the product. On the other hand, according to the number of combinations of the main body and each accessory, the service provider does not have to take many shots with each accessory actually attached to the camera body. Can do.
(2) Access to the database storing the member registration information of the logged-in purchaser, read the model information such as the camera already owned by the purchaser, and purchase a new product such as the accessory for the model Suggested to. This prevents the purchaser from proposing the same model as the model that the buyer already owns, and can automatically suggest accessories for the model that the purchaser does not need to search. Convenient shop service can be provided.
(3) In addition to (2) above, new products are proposed according to the products that the purchaser has placed in the shopping cart, so the same items as the products that the purchaser has already placed in the shopping cart are proposed. This makes it possible to provide a shop service that is convenient for buyers.
(4) Inventory (virtual inventory) management based on the relative increase / decrease number based on the initial absolute inventory number of the product and the inventory number n that changes in real time depending on whether or not the purchaser puts the product in the shopping cart. Thus, the manager knows how much the initial stock quantity has been increased or decreased based on the numerical value entered in the stock increase / decrease frame 28H, and the stock quantity displayed in the current stock quantity frame 28I. Satisfaction / insufficiency is indicated by n.
(5) When managing the product information, the wrapped product and the product with the name put on the product are managed as different products by assigning different product IDs even if they are the same product. Therefore, the working efficiency is improved as compared with the case of wrapping as necessary.
(6) An e-mail notifying the stock reduction of the product is sent to the administrator only when the number n of the product stock becomes the predetermined value Z for the first time after the predetermined time. Therefore, even if a large number of buyers access the online shop at the same time and the inventory number n changes from moment to moment, even if the inventory number n becomes larger or smaller than Z, the same email is sent to the administrator many times. It will not be done.
(7) Each time the number of items in stock n becomes 0 or less, an e-mail notifying that the item has no stock is sent to the administrator. For this reason, the administrator can know the number of times that the product has been put into the shopping cart after the number n of stocks has reached 0 based on the number of times of receiving an email informing the stock 0.
(8) When the inventory number n of the product is 0, a message notifying that the product is out of stock is sent to the purchaser's terminal when the purchaser puts the product into the cart. For this reason, the merchandise does not run out of stock while the purchaser performs a terminal operation to perform a settlement process on the merchandise put in the cart. In other words, products that are not out of stock at the time of placing in the cart can be purchased without waiting for the purchaser to make a reservation.
(9) When the number of stock n is 0, whether or not the stock is displayed and whether or not the stock is sold according to the check contents in the processing column 28G in the product information management screen managed for each product. And whether to continue or stop posting the product. Therefore, products that take time to arrive will be displayed as out of stock, products sold out in limited quantities will be displayed as sold out, and products that have been discontinued will be discontinued. The contents can be changed. As a result, it is possible to provide out-of-stock information that is easy for the purchaser to understand.
(10) When the number n of items in the cart that the purchaser has put in the cart is 0 (step S1002), the purchase button 36B can be reserved by notifying the purchaser's terminal of the out-of-stock and scheduled arrival date. I made it. As a result, the purchaser can easily make a purchase reservation.
(11) A lottery is performed online for purchasers who have purchased a product in the online shop, and a bundled instruction is given when the delivery destination of the winning prize and the purchased product is the same (step S909). Thereby, a delivery charge can be reduced compared with the case where it delivers separately.
(12) When a purchaser purchases a stock product and an out-of-stock product, it is confirmed whether the stock product and the reserved product are delivered at the same time (step S1203). Therefore, the purchaser must choose between having the reserved product delivered together with the stock product after receiving the reserved product, or having the stock product delivered first and the reserved product delivered separately later. Can do.
(13) When the purchaser purchases a stock product and an out-of-stock product, the purchaser confirms whether to settle the stocked product and the reserved product reserved out of stock together (step S1305). When receiving an instruction to divide and settle, and further receiving an instruction for settlement by card (affirmative determination in step S1509), credit for the amount of the reserved product is performed separately from the current settlement amount (step S1512). As a result, it is possible to confirm that the reserved product can be purchased, so that the credibility of the reservation is increased.

-Album print service-
The category of the online album 5 will be described. Online albums are also called electronic albums. 3 is displayed on the terminal display, the Web service user operates the pointing device (not shown) provided in the terminal and clicks the “online album” link destination button 24. When clicked, the top page screen of the category of online album 5 (not shown) is displayed on the display of the terminal. When the service user logs in on this top page screen, the page screen shown in FIG. 43 is displayed on the display of the terminal. As described above, the service use of the online album 5 is received after the service user who has registered as a member of the Web enters the login name and password and logs in.

  In FIG. 43, link destination information is pasted at each of the positions described as “album creation”, “print service”, “photo mail”, and “first time here”. When the service user clicks the “Create Album” character and button underlined, an album creation page screen is further displayed. Album creation is performed by the service provider borrowing a data storage area in the album server prepared by the service provider, and the service user storing images in this data storage area. A service user uses a data storage area storing images as an electronic album. Here, storing image data in an electronic album is referred to as registering an image.

  The memory size (storage capacity) of the data storage area for the album is, for example, 50 Mbytes per user, and the valid period (use period) is one year. As described above, as for the memory size and the effective period, preferential treatment is appropriately performed for the service user registered as a customer so that the memory size is larger than normal and the effective period is longer than normal.

  In principle, the image data stored in the electronic album registered by the service user is read from the data storage area to the terminal by the service user himself, and the image based on the image data is viewed by the service user. When the service user wants other service users to see the album, or when other service users are allowed to view the album, the service provider can be notified and released. The released album is posted as a public album on the screen of FIG. In the example of FIG. 43, explanations for album 1, album 2, and album 3 are displayed together with representative images in each album. When the service user clicks on any of these images and underlined album characters, the image data stored in each album is sent from the data storage area to the service user's terminal. The As a result, the service user can view an image based on the transmitted data on the screen of his / her terminal.

  If the album is not made public, it is unpublished and can only be viewed by the service user who created the album, and cannot be viewed by other service users. The public / private setting is determined by the service user who created the album for each image registered in the album. There are two types of release: unconditional release and password release. The server allows any service user to read the image data in the case of unconditional disclosure, and allows only the service user who entered the password to read the image data in the case of disclosure with a password.

  Public albums are introduced by displaying representative images on the screen of FIG. 43, and are also classified and introduced for each category of album. For example, when the service user clicks on the characters “category 1” underlined, a page screen that introduces public albums classified in category 1 together with representative images in each album is further displayed. . Thus, public albums are classified and introduced for each category.

In FIG. 43, when the service user clicks the letter and button of “print service” underlined, a page screen for print service is further displayed. The print service is a service in which images registered in an electronic album are printed out in high detail on the service provider side and can be sent to a service user. Note that the printing itself may be performed by the service provider, or the service provider may entrust a third party. The flow of the print service is
1: The service user logs on to the service provider's online album,
2: The service user selects the desired image from the registered images,
3: The service user confirms the payment amount, payment method and delivery destination of the print,
4: Ordered by the service user 5: Payment processing by the service provider 6: The service provider prints out and ships.

  In FIG. 43, when the service user clicks the underlined “Photo Mail” text and button, a page screen for mail service is further displayed. Photo mail is a mail service that can attach information on the link destination of images registered in the electronic album described above. A person who has received a photo mail can read and view the image data registered in the electronic album by specifying link destination information described in the mail, for example, a URL.

  In FIG. 43, when the service user clicks on the underlined text “Let's get started” and a button, a page screen that introduces how to use the online album service is further displayed. The user of the service obtains information such as the usage method of the electronic album described above with reference to the introduction screen.

  In the online album service according to the present embodiment, a service provider provides a service as described below to a service user.

−Erase album when service user does not log in for a predetermined period−
Since the online album service lends a data storage area for storing images to the service user, it requires a larger data storage area than the mail service or the like. For this reason, in order not to continue to secure a data storage area for people who no longer use the service, when a state in which no service is used passes for a predetermined period of time, it is stored in the data storage area lent to the user. Erase the data that was stored. As a result, the data storage area can be lent to other service users.

  FIG. 44 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of the album erasing process performed at the server of the service provider. The process according to FIG. 44 is performed periodically once a month, for example. In step S2001, the server searches the login data recorded for each service user by accessing the database, and proceeds to step S2002. In step S2002, the server determines whether there is a service user who has no login record for a first predetermined period or longer. The first predetermined period is, for example, one year. If there is a user who has no login record, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S2002 and proceeds to step S2003. If there is no user who has no login record, the server makes a negative decision in step S2002 and proceeds to step S2006.

  In step S2003, the server determines whether the service user has an album. If the service user has registered an album, an affirmative decision is made in step S2003 to proceed to step S2004. If an album has not been registered, a negative decision is made in step S2003, and the processing in FIG. 44 is terminated. If the determination in step S2003 is negative, the album is not deleted.

  In step S2004, the server deletes all the albums registered by the service user and proceeds to step S2005. In step S2005, the server transmits an email notifying the user that the album has been deleted because there has been no login for a first predetermined period or longer, and ends the processing in FIG.

  In step S2006, the server determines whether there is a service user who has no login record for a second predetermined period or longer that is shorter than the first predetermined period. The second predetermined period is, for example, 11 months. If there is a user who has no login record, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S2006 and proceeds to step S2007. If there is no user who has no login record, the server makes a negative decision in step S2006 and ends the process of FIG. If the determination in step S2006 is negative, the album is not deleted.

  In step S2007, the server determines whether or not the service user has an album. If the service user has registered an album, an affirmative decision is made in step S2007 and the process proceeds to step S2008. If an album is not registered, a negative decision is made in step S2007 and the process in FIG. 44 is terminated. If a negative determination is made in step S2007, the album is not deleted.

  In step S2008, the server transmits a warning mail to the service user to delete the album when login is not performed for the first predetermined period or longer, and the process in FIG. 44 is terminated. As a result, a warning mail is sent to the service user who has not used the service for the second predetermined period or more before deleting the album.

-Do not delete albums viewed by other service users-
Even if the service user who registered the album does not log in, if the album is made public and the album is viewed by other service users, the album is not deleted. Thereby, the service provider can secure a person who uses the service for the public album. FIG. 45 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of the album erasing process performed at the server of the service provider. The process according to FIG. 45 is performed periodically once a month, for example.

  In step S2101, the server searches the login data recorded for each service user by accessing the database, and proceeds to step S2102. In step S2102, the server determines whether there is a service user who has no login record for a first predetermined period or longer. If there is a user who has no login record, the determination in step S2102 is affirmative and the process proceeds to step S2103. If there is no user who has no login record, the determination in step S2102 is negative and the process proceeds to step S2108.

  In step S2103, the server determines whether the service user has an album. If the service user has registered the album, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S2103 and proceeds to step S2104. If the album has not been registered, the server makes a negative decision in step S2103 and ends the process of FIG. . If the determination in step S2103 is negative, the album is not deleted.

  In step S2104, the server searches the data indicating the access status of each album registered by the service user by accessing the database, and proceeds to step S2105. In step S2105, the server determines whether there is an album that has not been accessed for a first predetermined period or longer. If there is an album that has not been accessed, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S2105 and proceeds to step S2106. If there is no album that has not been accessed, the server makes a negative decision in step S2105 and proceeds to step S2111.

  In step S2106, the server deletes the album that has not been accessed among the albums registered by the service user, and proceeds to step S2107. In step S2107, the server transmits to the service user an email notifying that the album that has not been logged in and accessed for the first predetermined period or longer has been deleted, and ends the processing in FIG.

  In step S2108, the server determines whether there is a service user who has no login record for a second predetermined period or longer that is shorter than the first predetermined period. If there is a user who has no login record, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S2108 and proceeds to step S2109. If there is no user who has no login record, the server makes a negative decision in step S2108 and ends the process of FIG. If the determination in step S2108 is negative, the album is not deleted.

  In step S2109, the server determines whether the service user has an album. If the service user has registered an album, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S2109 and proceeds to step S2110. If an album has not been registered, the server makes a negative decision in step S2109 and ends the process of FIG. . If the determination in step S2109 is negative, the album is not deleted.

  In step S2110, the server searches the data indicating the access status for each album registered by the service user by accessing the database, and proceeds to step S2111. In step S2111, the server determines whether there is an album that has not been accessed for a second predetermined period or longer. If there is an album that has not been accessed, an affirmative decision is made in step S2111 and the operation proceeds to step S2112. If there is no album that has not been accessed, a negative decision is made in step S2111 and the processing of FIG. If the determination in step S2111 is negative, the album is not deleted.

  In step S2112, the server transmits a warning mail for deleting the album to the service user when login and access are not performed for the first predetermined period or longer, and the processing in FIG. 45 is terminated. As a result, a warning mail is sent to a service user who has not been used for the second predetermined period or more before deleting an inaccessible album.

− When a service user leaves a web member, the album registered by the service user is deleted −
FIG. 46 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of the album erasing process performed at the server of the service provider. The process shown in FIG. 46 is performed when the withdrawal procedure for the Web member is completed. In step S2301, the server determines whether the withdrawal member has an album. If the withdrawal member has registered the album, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S2301 and proceeds to step S2302, and if the album has not been registered, the server makes a negative decision in step S2301 and proceeds to step S2303. In step S2302, the server deletes the album registered by the withdrawal member and proceeds to step S2303. At this time, the server leaves the contents written on the bulletin board by the withdrawal member before withdrawal and the data size reduced image (for example, thumbnail image) attached to the writing without erasing. The thumbnail image will be described later.

  In step S2303, the server stores data indicating the nickname and photo mail address when using the bulletin board used by the withdrawal member, and data for saving the withdrawal member information from the data area of the database for saving registered member information on the Web. Move to the area and go to step S2304. The server stores the information of the withdrawal member so that future registered members will not be given the same nickname and photo mail address as the withdrawal member. In step S2304, the server determines whether the withdrawal member is registered as a customer (customer). If the withdrawal member is registered as a customer, an affirmative decision is made in step S2304 and the process proceeds to step S2305. If not registered, a negative decision is made in step S2304 and the process proceeds to step S2306.

  In step S2305, the server deletes data unnecessary for the customer registration data from the data registered by the withdrawal member at the time of member registration on the Web, and ends the processing in FIG. In step S2306, the server deletes all data registered by the withdrawal member at the time of member registration on the Web, and ends the processing in FIG.

-Album management-
The service provider classifies and manages albums registered by the service user for each category, and makes it possible to list registered image data for each category. In general, images that are offensive to public order and morals are considered to be registered in a specific category. Therefore, the service provider manages the album so that it can be easily monitored for each category.

  FIG. 47 is a diagram showing an example of a management page screen for managing albums. The management page screen is prepared by the service provider for each category of the registered album. When an administrator predetermined by the service provider performs a predetermined operation on the server, the server sends management data to the administrator's terminal, and the management screen in FIG. 47 is displayed on the administrator's terminal. Is done. In FIG. 47, when displaying the registered albums sorted by category, the administrator checks the “priority” column with the first priority and selects “category” from the pull-down menu 47A. Click the execute button 47E. Thereby, a list of albums belonging to “category” is displayed.

  When displaying a list of albums belonging to “landscape” in a category, the administrator checks the “extraction” field having the first priority and selects “category” from the pull-down menu 47A. Further, the administrator selects “Landscape” from the pull-down menu 47B and clicks the execution button 47E. Thereby, a list of albums belonging to “category”-“landscape” shown in FIG. 47 is displayed. In the example of FIG. 47, the user ID of the service user who has registered the album, the category name (landscape in this case), the album name (if the album name is registered), the number of registered images, The registered date and time (up date and time) are displayed as a list.

  In the pull-down menu 47A, in addition to “category”, there are “up date and time”, “camera used”, “shooting method”, “member”, “last login”, “view count”, and the like. Replacement and extraction are possible. Further, pull-down menus 47C and 47D for performing rearrangement and extraction as second priority are provided, and rearrangement and extraction can be performed by further adding a second priority condition to the first priority condition. Note that the selection contents of the selected pull-down menus 47A to 47D are displayed continuously while the list is displayed, so that it is easy to rearrange the albums displayed in the list or perform extraction again. .

  In FIG. 47, for example, when “use camera” is selected in the pull-down menu 47A and rearrangement is performed, the model name of the use camera is displayed instead of the category, and an image captured by the camera of the model name is displayed. A list of registered albums is displayed.

  FIG. 48 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of album list creation processing performed in the server of the service provider. The processing in FIG. 48 is performed when the above-described execution button 47E is clicked by the administrator. In step S2401, the server executes rearrangement and extraction according to the conditions in the selection pull-down menu, and proceeds to step S2402. In step S2402, the server determines whether the rearrangement and extraction process has ended. When the process is completed, the server makes an affirmative determination in step S2402 and proceeds to step S2403. When the process is not completed, the server makes a negative determination in step S2402 and performs the determination process again.

  In step S2403, the server creates an album list display page screen and proceeds to step S2404. In step S2404, the server transmits the page screen data to the administrator's terminal, and ends the processing in FIG. As a result, the management screen shown in FIG. 47 is displayed on the administrator's terminal.

  When the administrator screen of FIG. 47 is displayed on the administrator's terminal, for example, when the administrator clicks on the letter “Mt. Fuji” underlined, the album name “Mt. Fuji” is saved. The image data is read, and the thumbnail image is displayed on the display of the administrator's terminal. The thumbnail image is a reduced image obtained by reducing the number of data from the number of data of the original image by thinning out the original image data, for example. FIG. 49A shows a thumbnail image based on image data stored in the album “Mount Fuji”. In FIG. 49A, ten images stored in the album, that is, six images of images 1 to 6 among the image data of images 1 to 10 are displayed as thumbnails 1 to 6. ing. Below each thumbnail image, the title of each image is displayed when the image has a title.

  When the thumbnail image shown in FIG. 49A is displayed, for example, when the administrator clicks on thumbnail 1 image, the image based on the image data of image 1 is larger than the thumbnail image, as shown in FIG. 49B. Appears on the administrator's terminal display. At this time, based on the shooting information data recorded in the image data, shooting conditions such as the camera used, aperture value, shutter speed, flash device presence / absence, exposure correction value, etc. Information on whether or not it has been displayed is displayed together with the image. Note that the shooting conditions of images registered in the album and the information on whether or not to post them on the bulletin board are displayed on the management screen for the administrator, and are not transmitted to the terminal of the service user. That is, the service user can view only the published image and the title attached to the image.

-Preferential treatment of album memory size and usage period for registered service users-
As shown in FIG. 1, the server for album is performed by a server different from a server that performs other services. Therefore, the member information necessary for the album service, such as login name, photo mail address, service flag, and additional service flag, is also stored in the album service server. The service flag is a flag that is turned on when the member is registered as a customer. FIG. 50 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of preferential treatment performed at the server of the service provider. 50 starts when the service user logs in on the top page screen of the online album 5.

  In step S2501 of FIG. 50, the server accesses the database in the album service server, searches for member information, and proceeds to step S2502. In step S2502, the server determines whether there is information on the logged-in member. If there is member information, the server makes a positive determination in step S2502 and proceeds to step S2504. If there is no member information, the server makes a negative determination in step S2502 and proceeds to step S2503. In step S2503, the server registers member information in the database in the album service server, and proceeds to step S2504.

  In step S2504, the server determines whether or not data indicating that the user is a registered service user has been received when logging into the album / print service. If data indicating that the customer is registered is received, an affirmative determination is made in step S2504, and the process proceeds to step S2505. If data indicating that the customer is registered is not received, a negative determination is made in step S2504 and step S2507 is performed. Proceed to In step S2505, the server determines whether the service flag in the member information is ON. If the service flag is ON, an affirmative determination is made in step S2505 and the process proceeds to step S2507. If the service flag is not ON, a negative determination is made in step S2505 and the process proceeds to step S2506. In step S2506, the server turns on the service flag and proceeds to step S2507.

  For the service user whose service flag is ON, the server increases the memory size for the album from, for example, the normal 50 MB to 100 MB, and changes the expiration date from the normal one year to indefinite. Give preferential treatment.

  In step S2507, the server determines whether or not data indicating point information has been received when logging into the album / print service. The point information is information on points that are added when points are selected on the premium selection page screen after customer registration described above. This point is also added when an answer is posted on a bulletin board described later. If the server receives data indicating point information, the server makes a positive determination in step S2507 and proceeds to step S2508. If the server does not receive data indicating point information, the server makes a negative determination in step S2507 and ends the process of FIG. .

  In step S2508, the server determines whether the additional service flag in the member information is ON. If the additional service flag is ON, step S2508 is determined to be affirmative, and the process of FIG. 50 is terminated. If the additional service flag is not ON, step S2508 is determined to be negative, and the process proceeds to step S2509. In step S2509, the server turns on the additional service flag and ends the processing in FIG.

  The server gives preferential treatment to the service user whose additional service flag is ON by increasing the size of the memory for the album, for example, by adding 50 MB.

  In the process according to FIG. 50 described above, the additional service flag is unconditionally turned on for the service user having points, that is, the memory size for the album is further increased by 50 MB. Instead, the points that the service user has in exchange for turning on the additional service flag may be reduced. In addition, when exchanging points owned by service users and preferential treatment by service providers, in addition to increasing the memory size for album as preferential treatment, the printout service may be made free of charge. .

-Make the file names of image data registered in the album irregular-
For example, when a file name of image data is given by a serial number when registering an image in an album, if one image data file name is known, it becomes easier to guess the file name of other image data. Therefore, when the image data to be registered in the album is uploaded from the service user to the server, the album service server renames the file name of the image data and registers it in the data storage area. FIG. 51 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of the file name determination process performed at the server of the service provider. The process shown in FIG. 51 is activated when uploading of a registered image is started by the service user.

  In step S2201, the server determines whether upload of data of one image file is completed. If completed, an affirmative decision is made in step S2201 and the process proceeds to step S2202. If not completed, a negative decision is made in step S2201 and the determination process is repeated until the upload is completed. In step S2202, the server randomly determines the file name of the uploaded image data file, and the process advances to step S2203.

  The file name is determined using a well-known one-time password technique. For example, the server generates a file name with the time when the image file is uploaded as a parameter. For this reason, even when image data files are continuously uploaded, since the upload times of the respective image data files are different, completely different file names are generated for these image data files. Thereby, an at-random file name that cannot be inferred from the file names of other image data registered in the album is determined.

  In step S2203, the server moves the uploaded image data file to which the at random file name is assigned to a predetermined folder according to the service user, and ends the processing in FIG.

  When the processing of FIG. 51 is performed, when a plurality of image data are registered in the album, file names that cannot be inferred from each other are given to these image data files. As a result, when one image data in the album is released, another file name is inferred from the file name of the released image data, and undisclosed image data having the estimated file name is read out. There is no end.

According to the album print service performed with the content according to the embodiment described above, the following operational effects can be obtained.
(1) When the service user who registered the album does not use the service for a predetermined period, the data stored in the data storage area for the album lent to the user is deleted. As a result, the data storage area can be lent out to other service users, so that the data storage area can be used effectively.
(2) Even when the service user who registered the album does not use the service, the album is not deleted if the album is made public and the album is viewed by other service users. Thereby, the service provider can secure a person who uses the service for the public album.
(3) The service provider classifies the albums registered by the service user for each category, and lists the registered image data for each category. As a result, it becomes possible to focus on a specific category in which images that violate public order and morals tend to concentrate.
(4) Based on the shooting information data recorded in the image data registered in the album, on the management screen of the administrator's terminal, the camera, aperture value, shutter speed, and presence / absence of the flash device In addition, shooting conditions such as exposure correction values and information on whether or not the image is posted on a bulletin board to be described later are displayed. By examining many registered albums, for example, it is possible to obtain information such as what photographing conditions the service user prefers, which can be used for developing new products of the camera.
(5) As for the memory size (storage capacity) of the data storage area for the album, preferential treatment is performed for the above-registered service user so that the memory size is larger than usual and the effective period is longer than usual. I made it. As a result, the service user can be prompted to register as a customer.
(6) Even when image data files to be registered in the album are continuously uploaded, completely different at-random file names are assigned to the respective image data files. As a result, the file name of other image data is inferred from the published image data file name, and it is prevented from being viewed despite being private.

  In the sorting of the album list display described above, sorting and extraction are performed in units of albums. If images are registered in units of image data without using the concept of album, rearrangement and extraction may be performed in units of the images.

-Bulletin board-
If the service user clicks on the link button 71 to the “Bulletin Board” page in the state where the category page screen of the community 7 in FIG. 5 is displayed, the top page screen of the bulletin board not shown is displayed on the terminal display. Is done. When the service user logs in on the top page screen, the page screen shown in FIG. 52 is displayed on the display of the terminal. As described above, the service use of the bulletin board is received by the service user who has registered as a member for using the Web service after logging in by entering the login name and password. This bulletin board is also called an electronic bulletin board.

  In the bulletin board service, in response to a question posted by a service user, another service user who sees the posted question answers the question. The service user posts a question using a nickname and posts an answer using the nickname. There are “listening at a question auction” in which a person who asks a question widely asks for an answer from an unspecified person, and “listen to an expert” where a person who asks a question asks for an answer from a specific person. The service user selects either of the buttons 52C corresponding to “listen at the question auction” and the button 52D corresponding to “listen to the expert”. Here, an expert is a person who answers an posted question.

  When the expert gives an answer to the posted question, the point moves to the expert who answered from the person who posted the question. Specifically, an expert reads a question posted and writes an answer on a bulletin board, and points move when the questioner reads an answer written on the bulletin board. Points are used as rewards for answers. As this point, the point described as the prize at the time of customer registration described above can be used. The server publishes the content written on the bulletin board when it is viewed by an unspecified person, and when it is viewed by a specified person, the server allows the specified person to read it after entering a password.

  In the lower left part of the screen shown in FIG. 52, the expert's nickname is posted together with the earned points. An expert with more points means answering many questions. When the underlined “Category 1”, “Category 2”, “Category 3”,... Are clicked, experts corresponding to the questions belonging to each category are listed in the order of acquisition points. That is, expert nicknames are classified and managed for each question category. When the underlined expert nickname character “◯ △ ×” is clicked, a page screen (for example, FIG. 63) introducing the expert is displayed on the terminal display. A person who posts a question can determine an expert as a question destination with reference to expert information as shown in FIG.

  When the person who posts the question asks the expert, the button 52D and the letter of the category corresponding to the question are clicked, and the question for the expert selected from the experts posted at that time is sent to the server. On the other hand, when the person who posts the question listens at the question auction, the button 52C and the character of the category to which the question corresponds are clicked to send the question to the server. When sending a question to the server, write the nickname in the nickname writing frame 52A, write the question in the question writing frame 52B, and click on the underlined “question” character, the question publisher (service user) Question data is sent from the terminal to the server.

  In the bulletin board service according to the present embodiment, a service provider provides a service as described below to a service user.

-Post images registered in the album on the bulletin board-
When an image is posted on a bulletin board, the written content may be easier to understand than when only text is posted. In FIG. 52, when the question poster (service user) clicks on the text “image posting” underlined, the question poster (service user) asks for an image in the album registered by the question poster (service user). It can be posted as an attachment. However, only published images will be posted and private images will not be posted. In addition to the image registered by the question poster, the image posted together with the question may be a registered image by other public service users.

  If the image data is posted on the bulletin board as it is, the amount of data stored in the bulletin board server increases, and the bulletin board data overflows. Therefore, in the bulletin board service according to the present embodiment, a thumbnail image with a data size reduced as compared with the original image data in the registered album is created, and this thumbnail image is posted on the bulletin board.

  53 and 54 are flowcharts for explaining the flow of thumbnail image posting processing performed at the server of the service provider. The processing shown in FIGS. 53 and 54 is started when the question posting person (service user) clicks the “image posting” character on the screen shown in FIG. 52 described above. In step S1701 in FIG. 53, the server determines whether the logged-in service user has an album. If the service user has registered an album, the determination in step S1701 is affirmative and the process proceeds to step S1702. If the service user has not registered the album, the determination in step S1701 is negative and the process proceeds to step S1707.

  In step S1702, the server reads image data of an album registered by the service user (hereinafter referred to as “my album”), creates data of a top page screen (not shown), and proceeds to step S1703. The created top page screen data is transmitted to the service user's terminal, whereby the top page screen of My Album is displayed on the display of the service user's terminal. The top page screen displays, for example, thumbnail images and titles based on image data in My Album as shown in FIG. 49 (a). The service user clicks a thumbnail image to be posted on the bulletin board.

  In step S1703, the server determines whether an image in My Album has been selected. If the thumbnail image is clicked, the server makes a positive determination in step S1703 and proceeds to step S1711. If the thumbnail image is not clicked, the server makes a negative determination in step S1703 and repeats the determination process. In step S1711, the server determines whether the selected image is set to be private. If the selected image is set to private, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S1711 and proceeds to step S1712 in FIG. 54, and if set to open, the server makes a negative decision in step S1711 and proceeds to step S1704.

  In step S1704, the server creates thumbnail image data selected by the click operation and medium image data having a data size larger than the thumbnail image data, and stores them in predetermined image folders in the bulletin board server. Here, the image folder in which the thumbnail image data and the medium image data are stored includes a storage area for storing data to be written on the bulletin board, and an album data storage area for storing image data (original data) of My Album. It is provided separately. When the server stores the thumbnail image data and the medium image data, the process advances to step S1705.

  In step S1705, the server creates a bulletin board page screen to which information on the link of the selected image data (information indicating the storage position in the image folder) is pasted, and the process advances to step S1706. Based on the link information, the question and the selected thumbnail image are displayed together in the question writing frame 52B of FIG. In addition, when the thumbnail image displayed in the question writing frame 52B is clicked, the server pastes link information so that an image based on the middle image data is displayed. Furthermore, link information is pasted so that an image based on the image data (original data) in My Album is displayed when the middle image is clicked while the image based on the middle image data is displayed. .

  In step S1706, the server transmits the data on the bulletin board page screen to which the link information is pasted as described above to the terminal of the service user, and ends the processing in FIG. As a result, the screen shown in FIG. 52 on which thumbnail images are posted is displayed on the display of the service user's terminal. In this state, when the question poster (service user) clicks the underlined `` question '' character, the question data is sent from the question publisher (service user) terminal to the server. Is done.

  When another service user views a question posted on the bulletin board on the terminal, the information on the link to the thumbnail image data described above is included in the question data, so that the thumbnail image is displayed on the terminal screen together with the question. When a thumbnail image is clicked on the terminal screen, an image based on the middle image data is displayed on the terminal screen, and when an image based on the middle image data is clicked, an image based on the image data (original data) in My Album is displayed on the terminal screen.

  On the other hand, in step S1707, the server creates page screen data including a message notifying that the album is not registered and prompting the user to register the album, and transmits the page screen data to the service user's terminal, step S1708. Proceed to In step S1708, the server determines whether an instruction to create an album has been received. When the server receives the data indicating the album image registration instruction, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S1708 and proceeds to step S1709. If the server does not receive the data indicating the album image registration instruction, the server makes a negative determination in step S1708. The process proceeds to S1710.

  In step S1709, the server uploads registered image data from the service user to perform album registration processing, and proceeds to step S1703 described above. In step S1710, the server creates page screen data for notifying that an image cannot be posted on the bulletin board, transmits the page screen data to the service user's terminal, and ends the processing in FIG.

In step S1712, the server creates page screen data including a message notifying that the selected image cannot be posted because it is set to be private, and transmits the page screen data to the service user's terminal. The process proceeds to S1713. As a result, the page screen shown in FIG. 55 is displayed on the display of the service user's terminal. The service user can select the following three processes.
1. On the display screen shown in FIG. 55, the “publish” button 55A is clicked to make the image public and then posted.
2. Click the “other selection” button 55B to post another public image.
3. Click the “Cancel” button 55C to cancel the posting of the image.

  In step S1713, the server determines whether or not the “publish” button 55A has been clicked. If the button 55A is clicked, an affirmative determination is made in step S1713 and the process proceeds to step S1714. If the button 55A is not clicked, a negative determination is made in step S1713 and the process proceeds to step S1715. In step S1714, the server sets the selected image to be public and proceeds to step S1704 in FIG.

  In step S1715, the server determines whether or not the “other selection” button 55B has been clicked. If the button 55B is clicked, an affirmative determination is made in step S1715 and the process returns to step S1702 in FIG. 53. If the button 55B is not clicked, a negative determination is made in step S1715 and the process proceeds to step S1716.

  In step S1716, the server determines whether or not the “stop” button 55C has been clicked. If the button 55C is clicked, an affirmative decision is made in step S1716 to end the processing of FIGS. 53 and 54. If the button 55C is not clicked, a negative decision is made in step S1716 and the process returns to step S1713.

  53 and 54, an image registered in the album can be posted on the bulletin board. At this time, thumbnail image data having a data size smaller than that of the original image is created from the original image registered in the album, and the thumbnail image data is stored in a different folder from the bulletin board server and the album data storage device. In the question written on the bulletin board, the link information to the thumbnail image storage folder is pasted. As a result, since image data is not stored in the bulletin board server, the burden on the server can be suppressed. Further, even when the original image in the album is deleted, it is possible to continue posting the image on the bulletin board using the thumbnail image data.

  In the above description, the thumbnail image data is stored in an image folder different from the storage area for the write data for the bulletin board and the data storage area for the album, and the thumbnail image is stored in the question to be written on the bulletin board. The information of the link to the folder was pasted. Instead, the thumbnail image data may be stored together with the question in the storage area for the bulletin board write data. In this case as well, the burden on the bulletin board server can be reduced as compared with the case where the original image data is copied and saved in the storage area for the bulletin board write data.

  In addition, by simply pasting the link information to the original image in the album into the question to be written on the bulletin board, the thumbnail image data is not created at first, but when the original image is deleted, the thumbnail image data is created. The thumbnail image data may be stored in an image folder different from the storage area for the write data for data and the data storage area for the album, and the link information pasted to the question may be rewritten to link to the image folder .

  FIG. 56 and FIG. 57 are flowcharts for explaining the flow of the above-described processing performed at the server of the service provider. The process in FIG. 56 is described only for step S1704B because step S1704 of the process in FIG. 53 described above is changed to step S1704B. In step S1704B of FIG. 56, the server adds information indicating that it is posted on the bulletin board to the image data (original data) of My Album corresponding to the thumbnail image data selected by the click operation, and proceeds to step S1705. move on. The information to be added may be added to the header portion in the original image data, or may be held in association with the original image data in My Album.

  The process shown in FIG. 57 starts when the server receives an instruction to delete My Album or original image data stored in My Album. In step S1901 in FIG. 57, the server detects whether the image data to be deleted is posted on the bulletin board, and proceeds to step S1902. In step S1902, the server determines whether the image data is posted on the bulletin board. If information indicating posting is added to the image data, an affirmative determination is made in step S1902, and the process proceeds to step S1903. If information indicating posting is not added to the image data, a negative determination is made in step S1902. The process according to 57 ends.

  In step S1903, the server creates thumbnail image data obtained by reducing the data size of the image data, and medium image data having a data size larger than the thumbnail image data, and stores the thumbnail image data in a predetermined image folder together with the image data. . In step S1904, the server changes the link destination information of the image data pasted on the bulletin board page screen from the information indicating the link to My Album (original data) to the image folder (thumbnail image data, medium image data). 57) and the process shown in FIG. 57 is terminated. Thereby, even if the original data of My Album is deleted, the posted image on the bulletin board is held by the thumbnail image data in the image folder.

−Match the bulletin board question category with the album category−
The categories displayed on the page screen of the online album 5 shown in FIG. 43 are matched with the categories displayed on the page screen of the bulletin board shown in FIG. For example, the album category has categories such as “landscape”, “night view”, “portrait”,. Among these, the category “landscape” is further classified into subcategories such as “Hokkaido”, “Tohoku”, “Kanto”,. In this case, the category of the bulletin board is classified by, for example, a category “photographing information” and subcategories such as “Hokkaido”, “Tohoku”, “Kanto”,.

  FIG. 58 (a) is an example of a page screen that displays questions classified as “photographing information” − “Hokkaido” on the bulletin board. In FIG. 58 (a), the category “imaging information” and subcategories “Hokkaido”, “Tohoku”, “Kanto”,. Questions classified as “Hokkaido” are listed in the center of the screen. If the expert answers a question, the number of answers is displayed on the right side of the screen according to the number of answers. Information on the link to the top page of the online album 5, information on the link to the page of the album category “landscape”, and information on the link to the page of the sub-category “Hokkaido” of the album are pasted in the upper right position of the screen. It is attached.

  When the service user clicks on the letters “album” underlined, the top page screen of the online album 5 is displayed on the display of the service user's terminal. Further, when the service user clicks on the text “landscape” with an underline, the page screen of the album category “landscape” is displayed on the display of the service user's terminal. Furthermore, when the service user clicks on the text “Hokkaido” underlined, the page screen of the album subcategory “Hokkaido” is displayed on the display of the service user's terminal.

  FIG. 58B is an example of a page screen that displays images based on image data registered in albums classified as “landscape”-“Hokkaido” in the online album 5. 58B, the category “landscape” and the subcategories “Hokkaido”, “Tohoku”, “Kanto”,... Are displayed on the left side of the screen. Images based on image data classified as “Hokkaido” are displayed in order at the center of the screen. At the top right of the screen, paste information on the link to the top page of the bulletin board, information on the link to the bulletin board category “shooting information” page, and information on the link to the bulletin board sub-category “Hokkaido” page. It has been.

  When the service user clicks on the text “Bulletin Board” underlined, the top page screen of the bulletin board is displayed on the display of the service user's terminal. Further, when the service user clicks on the text “shooting information” underlined, the page screen of the category “shooting information” on the bulletin board is displayed on the display of the service user's terminal. Furthermore, when the service user clicks on the letter “Hokkaido” underlined, the page screen of the subcategory “Hokkaido” on the bulletin board is displayed on the display of the service user's terminal.

  When you browse the images displayed on the “Hokkaido” page of the album and find a favorite image, you know where, when, and under what shooting conditions the image was taken in Hokkaido. When you get stuck, the question category on the bulletin board matches the category of the album, and the link information is pasted, so you don't have to worry about the bulletin board page where the corresponding question is posted. Easy to see.

− Display the bulletin board category corresponding to the place name you entered −
FIG. 59 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of search processing performed at the server of the service provider. 59 starts when the search button 52F is clicked on the page screen of the bulletin board shown in FIG. The service user writes a search character in the search character writing frame 52E and clicks the search button 52F.

  In step S2601 of FIG. 59, the server searches for all characters written in the bulletin board for characters that match the search character, and proceeds to step S2602. In step S2602, the server determines whether there is a writing that matches the search character. The server makes a positive determination in step S2602 if there is a write that hits the search character and proceeds to step S2607, and if there is no write that hits, the server makes a negative determination in step S2602 and proceeds to step S2603. In step S2603, the server searches for a keyword registered in advance in the server and matches the search character, and proceeds to step S2604. Keywords are registered according to the category of the bulletin board. For example, the keywords “Tokyo Tower”, “National Diet Building”, “Shibuya”, “Yokohama Port” are registered in association with the category “Kanto” on the bulletin board. Has been. The keywords “Osaka Castle”, “Kansai Airport”, and “Kobe” are registered in association with the category “Kansai” on the bulletin board.

  In step S2604, the server determines whether there is a keyword that matches the search character. The server makes an affirmative determination in step S2604 if there is a keyword that hits the search character, and proceeds to step S2606. If there is no keyword that hits, the server makes a negative determination in step S2604 and proceeds to step S2605. In step S2606, the server jumps to the category page associated with the keyword hit in the bulletin board. For example, when the search character is “Shibuya”, a jump is made to the bulletin board page of the category “Kanto” associated with the keyword “Shibuya”. When the server displays the bulletin board page of the category “Kanto” on the service user terminal, the processing in FIG. 59 ends.

  In step S2605, since there is neither a writing that hits the search character nor a bulletin board category related to the search character, the server displays the page screen of the bulletin board in FIG. 52 together with a message prompting the user to change the search character. Display again on the terminal. When the server jumps to the page in FIG. 52, the processing in FIG. 59 is terminated.

  In step S2607, the server creates a page screen (not shown) in which the writing on the bulletin board in which the search character is hit is extracted, and the process advances to step S2608. In step S2608, the server transmits the created page screen data to the service user's terminal, and ends the process in FIG.

According to the bulletin board service performed with the content according to the embodiment described above, the following operational effects can be obtained.
(1) Since the public image in the album registered by the question poster (service user) can be posted with the question attached, it becomes easier to understand than when the question is only a letter.
(2) For image posting on the bulletin board, thumbnail image data having a smaller data size than the original image is created from the original image registered in the album, and the thumbnail image data is sent to the bulletin board server and the album data storage device. After saving to a different folder, paste the link information to the folder where the thumbnail image is stored in the question to be written on the bulletin board. As a result, the image data is not stored on the bulletin board server, so the burden on the server can be reduced, and even if the original image in the album is deleted, it is possible to continue posting the image on the bulletin board with the thumbnail image data. become.
(3) If the thumbnail image that the question poster (service user) clicked to post on the bulletin board is a private image (affirmative determination in step S1711), a service that the selected image cannot be published because it is private The user was notified. For this reason, it is possible to prevent unpublished images from being posted on the bulletin board by mistake.
(4) The question category of the bulletin board and the category of the album are matched, and link information is pasted on each of the bulletin board and album pages. Therefore, for example, if you browse an image displayed on the “Hokkaido” page of the album and find a favorite image, the image is specifically shot where, when, and under what shooting conditions in Hokkaido. When you want to know what happened, you can easily look at the bulletin board page where the corresponding question is posted.
(5) When the search button 52F on the page screen of the bulletin board (FIG. 52) is clicked, a character matching the search character written in the search character writing frame 52E is searched from the bulletin board writing, and there is a writing that hits The writing is extracted and displayed on the terminal. On the other hand, if there is no hit writing, a search is made as to whether a plurality of keywords registered in advance and a search character are hit, and a category page associated with the hit keyword is displayed on the terminal. Thus, even if there is no writing that matches the search character, a bulletin board of a relatively similar category is automatically displayed on the terminal, so that a bulletin board service that is easy to use for the service user can be provided.

-Search function-
“Search” for performing a site search on the screen of the web top page 10 according to FIG. 3 and the screen of the top page of each category of the web site content shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 21, FIG. A link destination button 31 to the page is provided. When the service user clicks this button 31, the server transmits display page data to the service user's terminal, and displays the search page screen shown in FIG. 60 on the display of the terminal. In FIG. 60, a search document inclusion frame 60A, a search character writing frame 60B, a search range check box 60C, and a search button 60D are provided.

  The server searches the search text written in the search document inclusion frame 60A or the search characters written in the search character write frame 60B to find hits in the content range checked in the search range check box 60C. . FIG. 61 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of search processing performed at the server of the service provider. 61 starts when the search button 60D is clicked.

  In step S2701 of FIG. 61, the server determines whether or not a natural sentence search is performed. The server regards the search as being a natural sentence search when the search document inclusion frame 60A is written, makes an affirmative decision in step S2701, and proceeds to step S2702. On the other hand, if there is no writing in the search document inclusion frame 60A and writing is performed in the search character writing frame 60B, it is regarded as a character search, a negative determination is made in step S2701, and the flow proceeds to step S2703.

  In step S2702, the server analyzes the search sentence and proceeds to step S2703. The analysis is a pre-process for performing a well-known sentence search using a search sentence. In step S2703, the server searches the content specified by the search range check box 60C for characters included in the page screen registered in the content, and the process advances to step S2704. In step S2704, the server determines whether or not the search for the designated search range has ended. If the search ends, an affirmative decision is made in step S2704 and the operation proceeds to step S2705. On the other hand, if the search has not ended, a negative determination is made in step S2704, the process returns to step S2703, and the search process is continued.

  In step S2705, the server determines whether there are a plurality of searched content categories. The server makes a positive determination in step S2705 when a plurality of search range check boxes 60C are checked, and proceeds to step S2706. If the search range check box 60C is not checked, the server makes a negative determination in step S2705 and performs step S2707. Proceed to In step S2706, the server rearranges the hits as a result of the search for each search range (for each content), creates a search result page screen that displays the search results for each content, and proceeds to step S2708. In step S2708, the server transmits the data on the search result page screen to the service user's terminal, and ends the processing in FIG. Thereby, the search result screen shown in FIG. 62 (a) is displayed on the display of the terminal.

  In the search result page screen shown in FIG. 62 (a), the number of hits for each content is displayed. In the column of each content, the top five items are displayed in descending order of similarity between the search character string and the sentence. Here, in the content column where the number of hits is less than 5, the number of hits is displayed, and when the number of hits is 0, message data (not shown) notifying that no hit is displayed. In addition, a button 62A for "display all" is provided, and when the button 62A is clicked, the server hits not only the top five items in the content column having the number of hits of six or more but also hits. Display all.

  In step S2707, the server transmits the data on the search result page screen to the terminal of the service user, and ends the processing in FIG. Thereby, the search result screen shown in FIG. 62B is displayed on the display of the terminal. In FIG. 62 (b), the number of hits in the designated content is displayed. Of these, the top 20 items with the highest similarity between the search character string and the sentence are displayed. When the number of hits is less than 20, all hits are displayed, and when the number of hits is 0, a message (not shown) notifying that no hit is displayed.

  In the processing according to FIG. 61, when the search range covers a plurality of content categories for the display of the number of hits for each content (affirmative determination in step S2705), the search range is one content category up to the top five per content. In the case (determination is negative in step S2705), the top 20 cases of the content are set. The upper limit of the number of display items may be changed for each content category, or may be changed according to the number of content categories that span the search range. For example, when the number of checks in the search range check box 60C is one, the upper limit of the number of display cases is 20, when the number of checks is two, the upper limit of the number of display cases is 10 per content, and the number of checks is three. Set the upper limit of the display number to 7 per content.

-Search by camera model name-
The website content according to the present embodiment provides information and services related to the camera and the camera. Therefore, for example, when the camera model name is displayed on the page screen of the bulletin board, the model name is regarded as a search character and search processing is performed. FIG. 63 shows an example of a page screen for introducing the above-described expert. Among them, the model name is introduced as “owned camera”. In the example of FIG. 63, model names “FΔ” and “F □” are listed. Display data of these model name characters is clickable.

  FIG. 64 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of search processing performed at the server of the service provider. The process shown in FIG. 64 is activated when any of the characters “FΔ” and “F □” in the model name is clicked and data indicating the click is received by the server. In step S2801, the server accesses the database, searches whether the model name indicated by the clicked character is registered in the database, and proceeds to step S2802. In this embodiment, since a service relating to a camera is provided, data relating to a camera for which the service provider is engaged in production and sales is registered in the database by the service provider. In step S2802, the server determines whether the clicked model name is registered. If the model name is registered in the database, the determination in step S2802 is affirmative and the process proceeds to step S2803. If not registered, the determination in step S2802 is negative and the process proceeds to step S2806.

  In step S2803, the server searches the clicked model name as a search character for all content categories such as new arrival information, product information, service / support, online shop, community, and bulletin board, and proceeds to step S2804. In step S2804, the server determines whether or not the search of the search range has ended. If the search ends, an affirmative decision is made in step S2804 and the flow proceeds to step S2805. On the other hand, if the search has not ended, a negative determination is made in step S2804, the process returns to step S2803, and the search process is continued.

  In step S2805, the server sorts the hits as a result of the search for each search range (for each content), creates a search result page screen that displays the search results for each content, and proceeds to step S2809. In step S2809, the server transmits the data of the search result page screen to the terminal of the service user, and ends the process shown in FIG. Thereby, a search result screen similar to the screen shown in FIG. 62A is displayed on the display of the terminal.

  Similar to FIG. 62 (a), the search result page screen displays the number of hits for each content, and the top five items are the ones with the highest similarity to the model name clicked in each content column. Is displayed. Further, in the content column where the number of hits is less than 5, all hits are displayed, and when the number of hits is 0, a message notifying that no hit is displayed. Further, an “all display” button 62A for displaying all hits in the content column having the number of hits of 6 or more is provided.

  In step S2806, the server searches the clicked model name as a search character for the content category of the community and the bulletin board, and proceeds to step S2807. If a negative determination is made in step S2802, the model name can be regarded as not a camera that the service provider is engaged in production and sales of. In this case, searching for new contents, product information, service / support, and online shop does not make a hit, so searching for these contents is omitted. In step S2807, the server determines whether or not the search of the search range has ended. If the search ends, an affirmative decision is made in step S2807 and the flow proceeds to step S2808. On the other hand, if the search has not ended, a negative determination is made in step S2807, the process returns to step S2806, and the search process is continued.

  In step S2808, the server rearranges the hits as a result of the search for each search range (for each content), creates a search result page screen that displays the search results for each content, and proceeds to step S2809. In this case, since the content to be searched is small, the search results are displayed so that the top 10 items per content are displayed from the one with the high similarity to the clicked model name.

-Related search-
For the page viewed by the service user, the text and text described in the HTML document description language HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) are extracted in advance for the page screen, and the extracted text and text are included in each content. Search from. For example, a case where a service user is looking at a page screen introducing product information shown in FIG. 65 will be described as an example. In FIG. 65, information on the camera having the model name “FΔ” is introduced. A “related search” button 65A is provided on the lower right of the page screen. In the HTML describing this page screen, in addition to the description for arranging the “related search” button 65A, a title character string sandwiched between title tags (<TITLE></TITLE>) is extracted as a search character string. The

  Further, a character string or a sentence sandwiched between specially provided search tags (for example, <!-SEARCH CONTEXT-> <!-SEARCH CONTEXT->) may be described. A character string or sentence sandwiched between search tags is extracted as a search character string or sentence. In this case, the HTML tag is excluded from the search character.

  Furthermore, in addition to the text or text that is actually displayed on the page screen, text and text created specifically for use as a search text can be <META HTTP-EQUIV = "Keywords" CONTENT = "*** *** "> may be embedded in ******. Character strings or sentences written in ****** are extracted as search character strings or sentences.

  FIG. 66 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of search processing performed at the server of the service provider. 66 starts when the “relevant search” button 65A is clicked on the page screen of FIG. In step S2901, the server extracts character strings and sentences represented by the above-described tags and the like on the displayed page screen, and proceeds to step S2902. In step S2902, the server searches each content using the extracted character string or sentence as a search character string. At this time, the page screen being displayed is not searched.

  In step S2903, the server determines whether the search is finished. If the search for all contents is completed, step S2903 is affirmed and the process proceeds to step S2904. If the content search is not completed, a negative determination is made in step S2903 and the process returns to step S2902 to continue the search.

  In step S2904, the server rearranges the hits as a result of the search for each content, creates a search result page screen that displays the search results for each content, and proceeds to step S2905. In step S2905, the server transmits the data on the search result page screen to the terminal of the service user, and ends the process in FIG. Thereby, a search result screen similar to the screen shown in FIG. 62A is displayed on the display of the terminal.

  Similar to FIG. 62 (a), the search result page screen displays the number of hits for each content, and the top 5 items are listed in the column of each content from the highest similarity to the search character string and text. Is displayed. Further, in the content column where the number of hits is less than 5, all hits are displayed, and when the number of hits is 0, a message notifying that no hit is displayed. Further, an “all display” button 62A for displaying all hits in the content column having the number of hits of 6 or more is provided.

-Related expert search-
In the page screen of FIG. 63 for introducing expert information, a “related expert search” button 63A is provided at the bottom of the page screen. In the HTML describing this page screen, in addition to the description for arranging the “related expert search” button 63A, the character string described in the expert's specialty shooting field and the model name of the owning camera is used as the search character string. As described above, it may be described by sandwiching between specially provided search tags.

  FIG. 67 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of search processing performed at the server of the service provider. The process shown in FIG. 67 is started when the “relevant expert search” button 63A is clicked on the page screen of FIG. In step S3001, the server extracts character strings and sentences represented by the above-described tags and the like on the displayed page screen, and proceeds to step S3002. In step S3002, the server searches a database in which expert information is stored using the extracted character string or sentence as a search character string. At this time, the page screen being displayed is not searched.

  In step S3003, the server determines whether the search is finished. If all the expert information has been searched, step S3003 is affirmed and the process proceeds to step S3004. If the search is not completed, step S3003 is negatively determined and the process returns to step S3002 to continue the search.

  In step S3004, the server sorts the experts hit as a result of the search in the order of rating, creates a search result page screen that displays the search results in the order of rating, and proceeds to step S3005. In step S3005, the server transmits the data of the search result page screen to the service user's terminal, and ends the processing in FIG. Thereby, the search result screen is displayed on the display of the terminal. The rating is, for example, a person who has a lot of earned points and a good reputation from the question publisher, and ranks a person who has a low earned points and a bad reputation from the question publisher. When a question publisher chooses an expert with a high rating, the more likely they are to get a satisfactory answer.

According to the search performed on the content according to the embodiment described above, the following operational effects can be obtained.
(1) The search sentence written in the search document inclusion frame 60A or the search character written in the search character writing frame 60B is searched for hits in the content range checked in the search range check box 60C. When searching within multiple contents and displaying the number of hits for each content, the top 5 entries from the highest similarity to the search character string and text are displayed in each content column. When the button 62A for "display all" is clicked, all hits are displayed in the content column having 6 or more hits. As a result, the service user can confirm what has been hit in each content without scrolling the display screen.
(2) When the model name of the camera is displayed on the page screen (FIG. 63) of the bulletin board, the model name is regarded as a search character and search processing is performed. Since the content for the website according to the present embodiment provides information and services related to the camera and the camera, a better search service can be provided to the service user.
(3) On the page screen for introducing product information (FIG. 65), a search character string related to the description content of the page screen is described in HTML by the service provider in advance, and the “related search” provided on the page screen. The search is started even if the service user simply clicks the button 65A and does not enter a search character string. As a result, the service user can quickly perform a search related to the page screen currently being viewed (displayed).
(4) On the page screen for introducing expert information (FIG. 63), the search character string related to the description content of the page screen is described in HTML by the service provider in advance, and the “related expert search” provided on the page screen is provided. The search is started even if the service user simply clicks the “A” button 63A and does not enter a search character string. As a result, the service user can quickly search for another expert who has the same shooting field as the currently viewed (displayed) expert or has the same own camera.

  In addition to the above description, the search character string description by HTML may use a method of sandwiching sentences with body tags (<BODY> </ BODY>), or a method of making all characters in the HTML page search targets. When all the characters in the page are to be searched, it is expected that noise will increase in the search results (it will hit more than necessary).

  Further, the description of the search character string may be changed for each page. For example, in the content page describing “Product Information”, the search target is the character string sandwiched between the title tags. On the page describing “Article”, the text sandwiched between the character string sandwiched between the title tag and the body tag. And the search target.

  The above description is merely an example, and is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment.

1 ... Member registration content page 2 ... New information content page 3 ... Product information content page 4 ... Service / support content page 5 ... Online album content page 6 ... Online shop content page 7 ... Community content page 10 ... Top page

Claims (2)

Record related product information prepared for each product,
Record registration information transmitted from the purchaser including at least information of the product already owned by the purchaser and authentication information of the purchaser,
In response to the authentication information transmitted from the purchaser, the product information owned by the purchaser is read from the registration information,
A method for providing an electronic shop, characterized in that information on related products for the read product is further read and transmitted to the purchaser. The method for providing an electronic shop according to claim 1,
A method for providing an electronic shop, characterized by further reading out information on related products for the product and transmitting the information to the purchaser in accordance with information indicating selection of the product transmitted from the purchaser.

Images