JP2018151923A - Product sales support system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a purchasing environment with high added value for a customer by effectively setting up or managing a retail store.SOLUTION: A product sales support system includes: a product sales support server 10 which manages customer information and product information; a virtual store device 20 which can communicate with the product sales support server; and a display 204 which is connected to the virtual store device and is installed at a place other than the store. The virtual store device 20 communicates with a customer terminal 50 held by a customer who comes close to the display 204, acquires identification information and attribute information of the customer, and transmits the information to the product sales support server 10. The product sales support server 10 sets the product to be sold to the customer and planogram information on the basis of the identification information and the attribute information of the customer, and transmits them to the virtual store device 20. The virtual store device 20 displays the product to be sold to the customer on the display 204 on the basis of the planogram information received from the product sales support server 10, and receives a purchasing order of the product designated by the customer.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to merchandise sales technology, and more particularly to a technology effective when applied to a merchandise sales support system that supports retail operations such as food and daily necessities.

  At present, there are many retail stores such as convenience stores and supermarkets that allow consumers to easily purchase various products such as food and daily necessities, and convenience is improving.

  Convenience for consumers to purchase daily necessities has improved, but it is still in the store due to, for example, being busy, or depending on the region, there are no convenience stores or other stores on the commuting route. It may be difficult to stop by and purchase. Although it is possible to use widely used online shopping and EC (Electronic Commerce), for relatively small daily necessities and foods, the product characteristics and the characteristics of the main buyers (for example, Including foreign visitors to Japan), it can be said that purchasing after checking the contents and prices of goods at the actual store is still mainstream. It can be said that there is a need for customers such as consumers to provide more opportunities and places where such products can be purchased efficiently in daily life.

  In particular, there is a need to automatically replenish commodities such as consumables and foods that are used regularly and repeated for purchase as much as possible without purchasing each time.

  On the other hand, it is conceivable for the store side to open more stores such as convenience stores, but there are many cases where it is not easy to secure a land for opening stores, especially in urban areas, and there is a limit to expanding the opening of actual stores I can say that. In addition, there is a problem of shortage of employees such as part-time workers, and it can be said that there is a need to open a store efficiently with a small number of people.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a merchandise sales support system capable of efficiently opening and operating a retail store and providing a customer with a high added value purchasing environment.

  The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

  Of the inventions disclosed in this application, the outline of typical ones will be briefly described as follows.

  A merchandise sales support system according to a typical embodiment of the present invention is a merchandise sales support system that supports the sale of merchandise, and the merchandise sales support apparatus that manages customer information and merchandise information; A virtual store device capable of communication, and a display connected to the virtual store device and installed at a place other than the store.

  Then, the virtual store device communicates with an information processing terminal held by a customer approaching the display, acquires the customer identification information and attribute information, and transmits the customer identification information and attribute information to the product sales support device. The apparatus sets the product to be sold to the customer and the shelf allocation information based on the customer identification information and attribute information received from the virtual store apparatus, and transmits the set information to the virtual store apparatus. Based on the product to be sold to the customer and the shelf allocation information received from the product sales support device, the product to be sold to the customer is displayed on the display, and a purchase order related to the product designated by the customer is received.

  Among the inventions disclosed in the present application, effects obtained by typical ones will be briefly described as follows.

  In other words, according to the representative embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to efficiently open and operate a retail store and provide a customer with a high added value purchase environment.

It is the figure which showed the outline | summary about the structural example of the goods sales support system which is Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is the figure which showed the outline | summary about the structural example of the goods sales support system which is Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is the figure which showed the outline | summary about the structural example of the goods sales support system which is Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is the figure which showed the outline | summary about the structural example of the goods sales support system which is Embodiment 4 of this invention. It is the figure which showed the outline | summary about the structural example of the goods sales support system which is Embodiment 5 of this invention. It is the figure which showed the outline | summary about the structural example of the goods sales support system which is Embodiment 6 of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that components having the same function are denoted by the same reference symbols throughout the drawings for describing the embodiment, and the repetitive description thereof will be omitted. On the other hand, parts described with reference numerals in some drawings may be referred to with the same reference numerals although not illustrated again in the description of other drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
The merchandise sales support system according to the first embodiment of the present invention is effective for customers who are so busy that it is difficult to stop at an actual store such as a convenience store such as a working mother who balances work and child-raising. This is an information processing system that can provide an opportunity to purchase and expand store openings in urban areas and the like for stores. Specifically, for example, a display is installed on a wall surface or glass surface in a station premises or office to display a product image and realize a virtual store that can accept orders via an input function such as a touch panel. . The ordered product is arranged to be delivered to, for example, the office of the commuting destination or the home of the returning home.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a configuration example of a product sales support system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In the product sales support system 1 according to the present embodiment, for example, the virtual store device 20 (and the display 204) that realizes the virtual store 2a in each place is connected to the product sales support server 10 via the network 40 such as the Internet. It has the composition which is done.

  As described above, the virtual store 2a is, for example, a virtual product display shelf on a display 204 installed in a station premises (home in the example in the figure) or in an office (wall surface of the entrance in the example in the figure). (In the example in the figure, a grid-like frame) is displayed, and an environment in which customers (that is, customers at stations, employees working in the office, etc.) can directly order and purchase the products displayed there. provide. The installation location of the display 204, that is, the store location of the virtual store 2a is not particularly limited as long as the display 204 can be installed. Although it is desirable to be indoors that is not affected by the weather, it may be outdoors if the display 204 has waterproof and dustproof performance.

  In the example of the virtual store 2a in the figure, the display 204 is configured by one or a plurality of flat (thin) displays, but the shape and configuration of the display 204, the video display method, and the like are not particularly limited. For example, an image may be projected onto a wall surface or the like like a projector, or a stereoscopic image may be displayed in a space instead of against the wall surface or the like like a hologram.

  In addition, the display 204 has a touch panel and other input functions for receiving a request for displaying detailed product information from the customer, an input of order details, and the like. In the case of the display 204 that cannot implement the touch panel function, for example, a mouse, a button, a pointing device such as a laser pointer, or a device such as various sensors (not shown) may be used. Moreover, you may have audio | voice output devices, such as one or several speaker which is not shown in figure.

  The display 204 installed in each virtual store 2a is connected to the virtual store device 20 and controlled. The virtual store device 20 is composed of a general-purpose information processing device such as a PC (Personal Computer), for example, and is expanded on a memory from a recording device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (not shown). By executing middleware such as OS (Operating System) and DBMS (DataBase Management System) and software operating on the middleware, various functions to be described later for realizing the virtual store 2a are realized.

  The virtual store apparatus 20 includes, for example, each unit such as a control unit 201, an input / output unit 202, and a communication unit 203 implemented as software. The control unit 201 operates the entire virtual store device 20, that is, exchanges information with the product sales support server 10 via the network 40, and a virtual product display shelf using a user interface realized on the display 204. The function of controlling the provision of

  The input / output unit 202 has an output function of displaying virtual product display shelves and products on the display 204, and an input function of accepting orders for product purchases from customers via a pointing device (not shown). In order to establish the purchase of the product, it is also necessary to specify a delivery destination of the product and perform processing such as settlement. About these items, you may make it input using the software keyboard etc. which were displayed on the display 204 on the spot, for example. Alternatively, a delivery destination and a settlement method registered in advance in the merchandise sales support server 10 may be automatically used so that the time occupied by the display 204 by the customer does not become long.

  The merchandise display shelves and the contents of the merchandise displayed on the display 204 are personalized dynamically by acquiring identification information (such as user ID registered in advance) and attribute information (age, gender, etc.) of the customer standing in front. It may be. In order to display personalized merchandise display shelves and merchandise, for example, the display 204 may be divided into predetermined areas, and personalized merchandise display shelves and merchandise may be displayed to customers standing in front of each area. . In that case, a peep prevention member such as a polarizing film may be provided on the surface of the display 204.

  The communication unit 203 performs wireless communication with a customer terminal 50 including a function of performing communication with the product sales support server 10 via the network 40 and an information processing terminal such as a smartphone or a wearable device held by the customer. Has the function to perform. As the wireless communication function, for example, various short-range wireless communication means such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), and WiFi (registered trademark) can be used. For example, by installing an antenna device or transmitter (not shown) in the vicinity of the display 204, it is possible to detect the approach of the customer to the display 204 by establishing a wireless communication session with the customer terminal 50. . At this time, customer identification information and attribute information may be acquired from the customer terminal 50 and transmitted to the product sales support server 10. The customer terminal 50 may have a dedicated application (not shown) for purchasing at the virtual store 2a.

  The merchandise sales support server 10 is a server system that centrally manages a plurality of virtual stores 2a, and includes, for example, a server device, a virtual server built on a cloud computing service, and the like. Then, a CPU (not shown) executes middleware such as an OS, DBMS, and Web server program developed on a memory from a recording device such as an HDD, and software that runs on the OS, so that the virtual store 2a will be described later. Implement various functions.

  The merchandise sales support server 10 includes, for example, each unit such as a customer management unit 101, a virtual store management unit 102, a shelf allocation management unit 103, an order processing unit 104, and a delivery processing unit 105 implemented as software. Each table includes a customer master database (DB) 106, a virtual store master DB 107, a merchandise master DB 108, an inventory management DB 109, and an order management DB 110 implemented as a database.

  The customer management unit 101 has a function of registering and managing customer information that can be purchased in the virtual store 2a of the present embodiment in the customer master DB 106. A customer (user) who wishes to purchase in the virtual store 2a uses, for example, his / her customer terminal 50 or the like in advance via a Web server program (not shown) on the product sales support server 10 or the like. 101 may be accessed for customer registration (user registration). Further, customer registration may be performed via the display 204 at the time of purchase at the virtual store 2a. For example, by making it possible to register information such as customer attribute information, delivery destinations, and payment methods in association with customers, it is possible to reduce the burden of specifying these information each time a purchase is made, and personalized product display shelves It is also possible to display the product on the display 204 of the virtual store 2a.

  The virtual store management unit 102 manages information of each virtual store 2 a and has an interface function related to the exchange of information with the virtual store device 20. Information relating to the virtual store 2a that has been opened is registered in the virtual store master DB 107. The registration information may include various types of information such as the location of the virtual store 2a, the type of installation facility, and the type and size of the display 204, for example.

  The shelf allocation management unit 103 has a function of managing so-called shelf allocation information including product display shelves to be displayed on the display 204 of each virtual store 2a and information on the combination and location of each product arranged on the shelf. Information related to the display of advertising content such as commercials and sales promotion information may be included. The shelf allocation information is automatically generated by the shelf allocation management unit 103 based on, for example, product information registered in the product master DB 108 and inventory information for each product registered in the inventory management DB 109. Alternatively, a file in which shelf allocation information is recorded may be manually uploaded by an administrator or the like and registered in a database (not shown). Information on the inventory of products to be placed on the product display shelf in the virtual store 2a is recorded and managed in the inventory management DB 109. Alternatively, it may be based on the stock of an actual store near the desired delivery destination of the target customer.

  The shelf allocation information is further localized, for example, based on the location characteristics and time zone of each virtual store 2a, or personalized based on, for example, attribute information of a customer located in front of the display 204 at that time It may be generated in the form. The generated shelf allocation information is transmitted to the virtual store device 20 of the corresponding virtual store 2a by the virtual store management unit 102 and displayed on the display 204 by the input / output unit 202, for example.

  The order processing unit 104 has a function of accepting an order related to product purchase received from a customer in the virtual store 2a via the virtual store management unit 102 and processing it together with settlement. Further, the delivery processing unit 105 has a function of instructing delivery to a warehouse, a store, or the like that holds the stock of the target product for the received order. The contents of the accepted order are recorded in the order management DB 110. The customer settlement means is not particularly limited, and various settlement means such as cash on delivery, bank transfer, credit card, electronic money, points, coupons, virtual currency, etc. can be used as appropriate based on the customer's selection.

  As described above, according to the product sales support system 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, for example, the display 204 is installed on a wall surface or a glass surface in a station or office, and a product image is displayed. In addition, it is possible to realize a virtual store 2a that accepts orders through an input function such as a touch panel.

(Embodiment 2)
In the first embodiment described above, it has been shown that personalized product display shelves can be displayed based on the attribute information of customers standing in front of the display 204 of the virtual store 2a. The merchandise sales support system according to the second embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the virtual store 2a, and includes the case of sales at an actual store, depending on the attribute information and purchase timing (time zone, weather, etc.) for each customer. Thus, by dynamically optimizing and presenting the price of the product itself (dynamic pricing), it is possible to provide further added value to the customer.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of a configuration example of the product sales support system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the product sales support system 1 of the present embodiment, for example, the store devices 21 installed in the stores 2b located in various places are respectively connected to the product sales support server via the network 40, as in the first embodiment. 11 is connected. In the present embodiment, the sale of merchandise in an actual store 2b will be described as an example. However, as described above, the present embodiment can also be applied to the virtual store 2a shown in the first embodiment. is there.

  The store apparatus 21 is configured by a general-purpose information processing apparatus such as a PC, for example, and a middleware such as an OS or a DBMS developed on a memory from a recording apparatus such as an HDD by a CPU (not shown) or software operating on the middleware. By executing the function, various functions described later relating to the operation of the store 2b are realized.

  The store apparatus 21 includes, for example, each unit such as a control unit 211, a display unit 212, and a communication unit 213 implemented as software. The display unit 212 is connected to a display 214 for displaying information to be provided to customers who have visited the store 2b. For example, the display 214 is installed in the vicinity of the product display shelf 215, and the display unit 212 displays advertisements, sales promotion information, price information, and the like related to the products displayed on the product display shelf 215 on the display 214. The shape and configuration of the display 214, the video display method, etc. are not particularly limited.

  The control unit 211 functions to perform the operation of the entire store apparatus 21, that is, the exchange of information with the product sales support server 11 via the network 40 and the display of information related to the product on the display 214 and the customer terminal 50. Have The communication unit 213 has a function of performing communication with the product sales support server 11 via the network 40 and a function of performing wireless communication with the customer terminal 50 held by the customer. For example, by installing an antenna device or a transmitter (not shown) in the vicinity of the product display shelf 215 (including the case where the unit of each shelf in the product display shelf 215 is targeted) By establishing the wireless communication session, it is possible to detect the approach of the customer to the merchandise display shelf 215. At this time, customer identification information and attribute information are acquired from the customer terminal 50 and transmitted to the product sales support server 11.

  In normal times, for example, the control unit 211 obtains general advertisements, sales promotion information, price information, and the like for the products displayed on the product display shelf 215 from the product sales support server 11, and displays them on the display unit 212. Via the display 214. This price information, for example, is calculated periodically (for example, every hour) in the product sales support server 11 by taking into account variables such as time zone, weather, trend of best-selling products, and inventory status by AI (Artificial Intelligence).・ It is set.

  When the customer who owns the customer terminal 50 approaches the product display shelf 215, the store apparatus 21 detects this, and detailed information (for example, vegetable harvesting) related to the product displayed on the target product display shelf 215 is detected. Date of the day and fish landing date, production area, etc.) from the product sales support server 11. The acquired information can be displayed on the customer terminal 50 at any time according to a request from the customer. You may be able to accept purchase reservations for the displayed specific farm vegetables and market fish.

  Further, as for the products displayed on the target product display shelf 215, information on discount prices specific to the target customer may be displayed on the customer terminal 50 as shown in the figure. An antenna device or transmitter (not shown) is installed in the vicinity of the entrance of the store 2b to detect the customer (customer terminal 50) entering the store, and information such as recommended bargain products effective in the store 2b, campaign information, coupons, etc. You may make it display on the customer terminal 50. FIG.

  The merchandise sales support server 11 includes, for example, a server device, a virtual server constructed on a cloud computing service, etc., and is implemented as software, such as a customer management unit 111, a position determination unit 112, a product determination unit 113, and a price Each unit includes a determination unit 114 and the like. Each table includes a customer master DB 115, a shelf allocation DB 116, a product master DB 117, and an external information DB 118 implemented as a database.

  The customer management unit 111 is similar to the customer management unit 101 of the first embodiment described above, and has a function of registering and managing customer information that can be purchased in the store 2b of the present embodiment in the customer master DB 115. Have.

  Based on information relating to communication with the customer terminal 50 acquired from the store apparatus 21, the position determination unit 112 is located in the store 2 b (that is, the customer approaches any product display shelf 215. Has a function of determining whether or not For example, the product display shelf 215 can be identified by referring to a table (not shown) that holds the location of an antenna device, a transmitter, or the like installed in the passage in the store 2b, the product display shelf 215, or the like.

  In addition, by accumulating information on the merchandise display shelf 215 that the customer has approached as a history, it is possible to grasp in detail the information on the flow line of the customer who is visiting the store 2b. Then, by analyzing this information by AI, it is possible to optimize shelf allocation and pricing. At that time, for example, the customer's line of sight or information on the product picked up by another sensor or camera (not shown), actual purchase information obtained by a POS (Point Of Sale) system (not shown) is also stored. Then, by analyzing these pieces of information by AI, more precise shelf allocation and pricing optimization can be performed.

  The product determination unit 113 has a function of specifying a product displayed on the product display shelf 215 that the customer approaches. For example, information on the shelf allocation of the target product display shelf 215 is acquired from the shelf allocation DB 116, and the product is specified by referring to the product master DB 117. When a single product cannot be specified, a plurality of products may be specified.

  The price determination unit 114 has a function of calculating and determining a discount price specific to the target customer in real time for the product specified by the product determination unit 113. At that time, for example, in addition to customer attribute information registered in the customer master DB 115 and information such as past purchase histories, the weather and hot selling products recorded in the external information DB 118 (or obtainable as external information) The discount price may be calculated by AI using various information such as the above trend and inventory status as variables.

  As described above, according to the merchandise sales support system 1 according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the price of the merchandise itself is dynamically optimized and presented according to the attribute information and purchase timing for each customer. By doing so, it is possible to provide further added value to the customer. Further, by accumulating a history of customer purchase behavior and analyzing it by AI, it is possible to perform more precise shelf allocation and pricing optimization.

(Embodiment 3)
In the above-described second embodiment, the price of the product itself can be dynamically optimized based on the attribute information of the customer approaching the product display shelf 215, or unique promotional information can be presented. I showed that. In contrast, the product sales support system according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention presents product information about products displayed on the product display shelf 215 in a native language to foreign customers in real time. Is possible. As a result, it is possible to provide added value to the customer and improve the satisfaction, and to improve the business efficiency of the store clerk.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an outline of a configuration example of the product sales support system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In the product sales support system 1 according to the present embodiment, for example, the store devices 21 installed in the stores 2b located in various places are respectively connected to the product sales support server via the network 40, as in the second embodiment. 12 is connected. The store apparatus 21 is configured by a general-purpose information processing apparatus such as a PC, for example, and a middleware such as an OS or a DBMS developed on a memory from a recording apparatus such as an HDD by a CPU (not shown) or software operating on the middleware. By executing, various functions related to the operation of the store 2b are realized. Similar to the second embodiment described above, the store apparatus 21 includes, for example, each unit such as a control unit 211, a display unit 212, and a communication unit 213 implemented as software. A display 214 is connected to the display unit 212.

  In this Embodiment, the display part 212 displays the information displayed on the customer terminal 50 by the content translated into the native language of the customer who has the said customer terminal 50. FIG. Information displayed on the display 214 installed in the vicinity of the merchandise display shelf 215 may also be displayed according to the translated content. Information on what the customer's native language is is registered in advance in the customer terminal 50, for example, and is acquired via the communication unit 213 of the store apparatus 21 when the customer approaches the product display shelf 215. be able to. Then, this information can be transmitted to the product sales support server 12, the result of translation performed in real time can be acquired and displayed on the customer terminal 50 or the display 214 by the display unit 212.

  Examples of information to be displayed in the customer's native language include target product information (product name, product content, manufacturer, production location, raw material, date of production, etc.), promotional information such as campaign information at the store 2b, store 2b, etc. Information (floor map, floor guide, etc.) can be included. With regard to merchandise, for example, there are cases where foreign customers are prevented from ingesting or using merchandise containing certain materials for reasons of religion, thought or creed. At this time, for example, the customer uses a voice input / recognition function (not shown) provided in the customer terminal 50 to ask whether or not the specific material is used in the target product, and the customer is shown in the figure. May be answered in the native language of the customer. Instead of or in addition to the use of a specific material, or in addition to this, for example, whether or not one or more materials satisfy a predetermined condition, such as whether or not halal is supported. You may make it display in a national language.

  The merchandise sales support server 12 is configured by, for example, a server device or a virtual server constructed on a cloud computing service, and is implemented as software, such as a customer management unit 121, a position determination unit 122, a product determination unit 123, and a translation Each unit includes a processing unit 124 and the like. Each table includes a customer master DB 125, a shelf allocation DB 126, a product master DB 127, a consideration element DB 128, and the like implemented as a database.

  The customer management unit 121 is the same as the customer management unit 101 of the first embodiment described above, and has a function of registering and managing customer information that can be purchased in the store 2b of the present embodiment in the customer master DB 125. Have.

  The position determination unit 122 has a function of determining the location of the customer in the store 2b based on information obtained from the store apparatus 21 and related to communication with the customer terminal 50. For example, the product display shelf 215 can be identified by referring to a table (not shown) that holds the location of an antenna device, a transmitter, or the like installed in the passage in the store 2b, the product display shelf 215, or the like. In addition, by accumulating information on the merchandise display shelf 215 that the customer has approached as a history, it is possible to grasp in detail the information on the flow line of the customer who is visiting the store 2b. Then, by analyzing this information, it is possible to optimize shelf allocation and pricing. At that time, for example, the customer's eyes and information on the product picked up in the hand, the actual purchase information obtained by the POS system (not shown), and the like acquired by another sensor or camera (not shown) are also accumulated. Can be optimized by more precise shelf allocation and pricing.

  The product determination unit 123 has a function of specifying a product displayed on the product display shelf 215 that the customer approaches. For example, information on the shelf allocation of the target product display shelf 215 is acquired from the shelf allocation DB 126, and the product is specified by referring to the product master DB 127. When a single product cannot be specified, a plurality of products may be specified.

  The translation processing unit 124 has a function of translating information presented to the customer such as product information of the product specified by the product determination unit 123 and other campaign information into the native language of the customer. Information about what the native language is can be obtained from information registered in the customer master DB 125 in advance via the customer management unit 121, or in the case of a foreigner who is not registered as a customer, Information may be acquired from the customer terminal 50 via the store apparatus 21. It may have a function of determining whether each of one or more materials satisfies a condition related to a predetermined consideration element, such as halal correspondence. The information on the predetermined condition may be registered in advance in the consideration element DB 128, for example. In addition, unique conditions based on the beliefs and preferences of the target customer may be acquired from the customer master DB 125 and the customer terminal 50.

  As described above, according to the merchandise sales support system 1 according to the third embodiment of the present invention, merchandise information about merchandise displayed on the merchandise display shelf 215 is sent to a foreign customer in real time. It can be presented in Japanese. As a result, it is possible to provide added value to the customer to improve the satisfaction and to improve the business efficiency of the store clerk.

(Embodiment 4)
Each of the above-described embodiments mainly provides an added value by improving convenience for customers who make purchases in the virtual store 2a and the store 2b. In addition, customers have a need to automatically replenish commodities such as consumables and ingredients that are used on a daily basis and repeat purchases without having to make a purchase each time. . The merchandise sales support system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention can detect the use / consumption status of merchandise as described above at the customer's home and automatically replenish the reduced merchandise. .

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an outline of a configuration example of the product sales support system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. Unlike the above-described embodiments, the home device 22 installed in each customer's home 3 is configured to be connected to the product sales support server 13 via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) not shown. A storage 31 for receiving goods installed in each home 3 is connected to the home device 22. The home 3 may be a detached house, but from the viewpoints of delivery efficiency related to replenishment of merchandise, restrictions that may occur for unmanned delivery, and the like, this embodiment targets each house in an apartment house such as a condominium. In this case, the merchandise sales support server 13 is provided for each apartment house, for example.

  As shown in the figure, for example, the storage 31 is installed on the side of the entrance of the home 3 so as to be integrated with a wall that partitions the inside and the outside of the home 3 (for example, the shared corridor side). Thereby, the customer who is a resident can take out the goods box 33 (or goods stored in it) accommodated in the storage 31 from the inner side of the house 3, without opening a front door. Further, the deliverer can deliver the product box 33 to the storage box 31 from the outside of the home 3 regardless of whether the customer is at home. For delivery of the product box 33, for example, as shown in the figure, a delivery robot 32 capable of autonomously traveling (or flying) freely in a shared hallway may be used.

  The delivery robot 32 is mounted with a product box 33 in which products are stored in a warehouse of a delivery base provided on the first floor of an apartment house or a store such as a convenience store, for example, and a delivery instruction from the product sales support server 13 In response, the vehicle autonomously travels to the delivery destination home 3. Then, the door on the shared hallway side of the storage 31 of the home 3 is opened, and the product box 33 is delivered into the storage 31. For example, as shown in the figure, the storage 31 can store a plurality of product boxes 33, and a part of the storage boxes 31 may be a refrigerator. The delivery robot 32 automatically stores the product box 33 in which the refrigerated product is stored in the refrigerator and the product box 33 in which the room temperature product is stored in the room temperature storage.

  A customer who is a resident can take out the product or the product box 33 from the inside of the home 3. Each storage of the storage 31 is provided with a sensor (for example, a camera, an infrared sensor, a weight sensor, etc.) that can detect the state of the internal product, and the use / consumption of the product in the storage 31. The situation can be grasped in the home device 22. When the product box 33 is taken out and all the products inside are moved to another place (for example, a refrigerator in the kitchen), the consumption state of the product cannot be properly grasped in the storage 31, but the location where the product is moved If the equipment is equipped with a similar sensor and the consumption status can be ascertained, the home device 22 may acquire the information.

  It should be noted that the shapes and structures of the storage case 31 and the delivery robot 32 shown in the example of FIG. 4, the traveling method, and the like are merely examples, and are naturally not limited to those illustrated. In the example of FIG. 4, the case where the storage 31 is installed on the wall beside the entrance of the home 3 is shown, but if it is a boundary between the inside and the outside of the home 3 (shared facilities and the shared area side), other places The structure installed in may be sufficient. For example, a duct or a conveyor for conveying goods is installed in a common area (for example, the inside of a wall or the outer wall of an apartment house) that can reach each house 3 in the apartment house, thereby the storage 31 of each house 3. The structure which conveys goods to may be sufficient. In the case of an apartment house, for example, each of the homes 3 or the shared storage 31 may be installed at a boundary between the inside and outside of the apartment house, such as a common entrance or a common entrance.

  The home device 22 is composed of a general-purpose information processing device such as a PC, for example, and includes a middleware such as an OS or a DBMS developed on a memory from a recording device such as an HDD or software running on the memory by a CPU (not shown). By executing this function, various functions to be described later relating to automatic replenishment of goods are realized. The home device 22 includes, for example, each unit such as a control unit 221, a consumption status management unit 222, and an ordering unit 223 implemented as software. The storage 31 is connected to the consumption status management unit 222 by wired / wireless communication.

  The control unit 221 periodically grasps the operation of the home device 22 as a whole, that is, the consumption status of the product in the storage 31, and determines whether or not the product needs to be replenished. Has a function to place an order. The consumption status management unit 222 has a function of grasping the consumption status (remaining amount) of products in the storage 31 by sensors (not shown) installed in each storage of the storage 31. You may grasp | ascertain a consumption condition with the sensor installed in the other storage location and installation which is not shown in figure. The ordering unit 223 automatically performs an ordering process to replenish the product based on the consumption status of the product grasped by the consumption status management unit 222, for example, when the remaining amount becomes less than a predetermined threshold. Has the function to perform. The order information is transmitted to the product sales support server 13 for processing.

  The product sales support server 13 includes, for example, a server device, a virtual server constructed on a cloud computing service, and the like, such as a customer management unit 131, an order processing unit 132, and a delivery processing unit 133 implemented as software. It has each part. Each table includes a customer master DB 134, an inventory management DB 135, an order management DB 136, and the like implemented as a database.

  The customer management unit 131 is the same as the customer management unit 101 of the first embodiment described above, and registers in the customer master DB 134 information on customers who can automatically replenish products by the product sales support system 1 of the present embodiment. And have a management function. The order receiving processing unit 132 has a function of receiving an order related to automatic replenishment of goods from the ordering unit 223 of the home device 22 and processing it together with settlement. Further, the delivery processing unit 133 has a function of instructing delivery to a delivery base such as a warehouse or a store that holds the stock of the target product for the received order. As described above, in the case of an apartment house, the delivery base can be, for example, a warehouse installed on the first floor of an apartment house or a store such as a convenience store. Information on the inventory of products held at the delivery base is recorded and managed, for example, in the inventory management DB 135. The contents of the accepted order are recorded in the order management DB 136.

  As described above, according to the merchandise sales support system 1 according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, it is used on a daily basis in the storage 31 or the like installed at the boundary between the inside and outside of the customer's home 3. It is possible to detect the usage status / consumption status of commodities such as consumables and ingredients that repeat purchases, and to automatically perform ordering processing for fewer products. Then, the target product can be automatically delivered by the delivery robot 32 and replenished to the storage 31.

(Embodiment 5)
Each of the above-described embodiments mainly provides added value by improving the convenience of customers who purchase products. On the other hand, the store side that sells products has recently faced the issue of labor shortage of employees such as part-time workers, and this has put a heavy burden on store managers. There is a need to do it. The merchandise sales support system according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention is one of the tasks with high load among the operations in the store, such as inspection and acceptance of ordered products, and checking and disposing of expired foods, etc. Can be automatically performed by the work robot.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an outline of a configuration example of the product sales support system according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, a work robot 52 in each store and an administrator terminal 51 which is an information processing terminal used by an administrator such as a store manager are connected to the product sales support server 14 via a LAN (not shown). It has the composition which is done.

  The merchandise sales support server 14 includes, for example, a server device, a virtual server constructed on a cloud computing service, and the like, and includes various parts such as an inspection instruction unit 141 and a discard instruction unit 142 implemented as software. In addition, each table includes a product master DB 143, a shelf allocation DB 144, an order management DB 145, an inventory management DB 146, and the like implemented as databases.

  The inspection instruction unit 141 has a function of grasping ordering information based on the contents of the order management DB 145 and the product master DB 143 and instructing the work robot 52 to perform inspection processing and slip processing when the ordered product is received at the store. Have. Further, the order information in the order management DB 145 is erased based on the inspection result information acquired from the work robot 52, and the inventory information recorded in the inventory management DB 146 is updated. Further, it has a function of instructing the work robot 52 to display the received product on the product display shelf based on the shelf allocation information registered in the shelf allocation DB 144.

  For example, the discard instruction unit 142 grasps information on foods that have expired or have been displayed for a predetermined time or more based on the contents of the inventory management DB 146 or a sales performance database (not shown), and identifies or discards or collects the product. A function to instruct the work robot 52 to perform the work to be performed. The identification of a product whose expiration date has expired may be determined by, for example, reading information on the expiration date displayed on each product using a camera, a barcode reader, an IC tag reader, or the like (not shown) included in the working robot 52. it can. In accordance with an instruction from the discard instruction unit 142, a predetermined area of the product display shelf or a predetermined product may be specified collectively.

  The working robot 52 is, for example, a robot that can autonomously travel (or fly) in the shop premises based on an instruction from the merchandise sales support server 14 and move to a predetermined location and perform work based on the instruction. It is. The manager or the like can grasp the work status of the work robot 52 directly or via the merchandise sales support server 14 by the manager terminal 51. An administrator or the like can also manually instruct the work robot 52 by operating the administrator terminal 51.

  As the work performed by the work robot 52, for example, in response to an instruction from the inspection instruction unit 141 of the product sales support server 14, an inspection process is performed to check whether or not the product brought into the store is different from that ordered. If there is no problem, output a slip and accept the product. Upon acceptance, for example, in response to an instruction from the discard instruction unit 142, picking up food that has expired in advance and discarding or collecting it in a predetermined place, and then accepting the received product in the shelf allocation registered in the shelf allocation DB 144 Work to display according to the information. The merchandise sales support server 14 determines the timing at which the influence on the customer is small based on the time of day and the congestion situation in the store, and cleans the merchandise display shelves and floors based on the instructions from the merchandise sales support server 14 You may make it perform work.

  As described above, according to the merchandise sales support system 1 according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention, inspection and acceptance of ordered merchandise, which is one of the operations with high load among the operations in the store, and It is possible to automatically check the food whose expiration date has expired and to perform the disposal operation by the working robot 52.

(Embodiment 6)
The merchandise sales support system according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention supports management of work schedules (shifts) of employees such as part-time workers, which is one of the high loads in the operations of store managers and the like. .

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an outline of a configuration example of the product sales support system according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the merchandise sales support server 15 includes an employee terminal 53 that is an information processing terminal such as a smartphone owned by an employee of each store, and an administrator terminal 51 that is used by an administrator such as a store manager. And a network 40 such as the Internet or a LAN (not shown).

  The merchandise sales support server 15 includes, for example, a server device, a virtual server constructed on a cloud computing service, and the like, and includes each unit such as a work schedule management unit 151 and a substitute search unit 152 implemented as software. . Each table includes an employee master DB 153 and a work schedule DB 154 implemented as a database.

  The work schedule management unit 151 has a function of managing information on a work schedule (shift) for each employee registered in the employee master DB 153. Information on the work schedule of each employee is registered, for example, by an administrator such as a store manager using the administrator terminal 51 to access the work schedule management unit 151. The employee may be allowed to register / change using the employee terminal 53. At that time, for example, the administrator terminal 51 may be notified in advance, and registration / change may be performed through an input of approval by a store manager or the like. When the work schedule management section 151 receives a sudden change in work schedule or a notice of absence from work (including unapproved absence without notification), and there is a shortage of employees engaged in work on the day or in the near future If it is determined, the substitute search unit 152 automatically arranges substitute employees.

  Based on the information on the work schedule and the latest work history of each employee registered in the work schedule DB 154 and the attribute information of each employee registered in the employee master DB 153, the substitute search unit 152 It has a function to search for alternative employee candidates that can work in a time zone when there is a shortage of employees in the near future, by AI. The employee extracted by the search may be automatically inquired about whether he / she can work or contact the request using e-mail, SNS (Social Networking Service), other messaging services, or the like. When a notification of acceptance is received from a target employee, the fact that the work schedule has been changed may be automatically registered / updated in the work schedule DB 154.

  As described above, according to the product sales support system 1 according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention, the work schedule management of employees such as part-time workers, which is one of the high loads in the business of the store manager or the like. For example, it is possible to automatically and flexibly cope with an employee's sudden schedule change or absence from work.

  As mentioned above, the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Needless to say. For example, the above-described embodiment has been described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and is not necessarily limited to the one having all the configurations described. Further, a part of the configuration of one embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment, and the configuration of another embodiment can be added to the configuration of one embodiment. . Further, it is possible to add, delete, and replace other configurations for a part of the configuration of each embodiment.

  Each of the above-described configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, and the like may be realized by hardware by designing a part or all of them with, for example, an integrated circuit. Each of the above-described configurations, functions, and the like may be realized by software by interpreting and executing a program that realizes each function by the processor. Information such as programs, tables, and files for realizing each function can be stored in a recording device such as a memory, a hard disk, or an SSD (Solid State Drive), or a recording medium such as an IC card, an SD card, or a DVD.

  Moreover, in each said figure, the control line and the information line have shown what is considered necessary for description, and do not necessarily show all the control lines and information lines on mounting. Actually, it may be considered that almost all the components are connected to each other.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used in a product sales support system that supports retail operations such as food and daily necessities.

1 ... merchandise sales support system, 2a ... virtual store, 2b ... store, 3 ... home,
10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 ... merchandise sales support server,
20 ... Virtual store device, 21 ... Store device, 22 ... Home device,
31 ... Storage, 32 ... Delivery robot, 33 ... Product box,
40 ... Network,
50 ... customer terminal 51 ... administrator terminal 52 ... working robot 53 ... employee terminal
101, 111, 121, 131 ... customer management unit, 102 ... virtual store management unit, 103 ... shelf allocation management unit, 104, 132 ... order processing unit, 105, 133 ... delivery processing unit, 106, 115, 125, 134 ... Customer master DB, 107 ... Virtual store master DB, 108, 117, 127, 143 ... Product master DB, 109, 135, 146 ... Inventory management DB, 110, 136 ... Order management DB, 112, 122 ... Position determination unit, 113 , 123 ... product determination unit, 114 ... price determination unit, 116, 126, 144 ... shelf allocation DB, 118 ... external information DB, 124 ... translation processing unit, 128 ... consideration element DB, 141 ... inspection instruction unit, 142 ... disposal Instruction unit 145 ... order management DB, 151 ... work schedule management unit, 152 ... substitute search unit, 153 ... employee master DB, 154 ... work schedule DB,
201, 211, 221 ... control unit, 202 ... input / output unit, 203, 213 ... communication unit, 204, 214 ... display, 212 ... display unit, 215 ... merchandise display shelf, 222 ... consumption status management unit, 223 ... ordering unit

Claims (10)

A product sales support system for supporting product sales,
A product sales support device for managing customer information and product information;
A virtual store device capable of communicating with the product sales support device;
A display connected to the virtual store device and installed at a place other than the store,
The virtual store device communicates with an information processing terminal held by a customer approaching the display, acquires the customer identification information and attribute information, and transmits it to the product sales support device,
The product sales support device sets the product to be sold to the customer and the shelf allocation information based on the identification information and attribute information of the customer received from the virtual store device, and transmits the set information to the virtual store device.
The virtual store device displays the product sold to the customer on the display based on the product sold to the customer and the shelf allocation information received from the product sales support device, and relates to the product designated by the customer Product sales support system that accepts purchase orders. A product sales support system for supporting product sales,
A product sales support device for managing customer information and product information;
A store device communicable with the product sales support device;
A display connected to the store apparatus and installed in the vicinity of the commodity display shelf,
The store apparatus communicates with an information processing terminal held by a customer approaching the merchandise display shelf, acquires the identification information and attribute information of the customer, and transmits it to the merchandise sales support apparatus,
The product sales support device is configured to display the product displayed on the product display shelf based on the customer identification information and attribute information received from the store device and information on the product display shelf that the customer approaches. To acquire information specific to the customer to be presented to the customer and send it to the store apparatus,
The store apparatus displays the information unique to the customer received from the product sales support apparatus on the information processing terminal. In the product sales support system according to claim 2,
The product sales support system, wherein the information unique to the customer is information on a discount price applied to the customer for the product displayed on the product display shelf. In the product sales support system according to claim 2,
The product sales support system, wherein the information unique to the customer is information translated into the native language of the customer. The product sales support system according to claim 4,
The product sales support system, wherein the information unique to the customer is information on whether or not a specific material is used in the product displayed on the product display shelf. A product sales support system for supporting product sales,
A product sales support device that manages customer information, performs product order processing and delivery instructions;
A home device capable of communicating with the product sales support device;
A storage unit connected to the home device and provided at the boundary between the inside and outside of the customer's home,
The storage can store the product from the outside of the home, the stored product can be taken out from the inside of the home, and the remaining amount of the stored product can be detected by a sensor,
The home device is a product sales support system that instructs the product sales support device to place an order for the product when the remaining amount of the product detected by the sensor of the storage is less than a predetermined amount. In the product sales support system according to claim 6,
Furthermore, based on the delivery instruction from the product sales support device, a delivery robot that carries the product according to the delivery instruction, autonomously travels to the storage in the home, and stores the product in the storage Has a product sales support system. A product sales support system for supporting product sales,
A product sales support device for managing information on the product to be sold in a store and ordering information on the product;
A working robot that performs work in the store,
The working robot performs an inspection process for comparing the product delivered to the store with the ordering information based on an instruction from the product sales support device, and displays the delivered product on a product display shelf. , Product sales support system. The product sales support system according to claim 8,
The work robot is a merchandise sales support system that identifies and discards or collects expired products displayed on the merchandise display shelves. A product sales support system for supporting product sales,
Each employee who manages information about the employee who works at the store and the work schedule, and the number of employees working at the store becomes less than the predetermined number due to a change in the work schedule of the first employee. The product sales support system which searches the 2nd employee who can work by substitution based on the said work schedule information, and transmits a work request to the information processing terminal which the said 2nd employee holds.

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