TW202331619A - Method and apparatus for providing information on substitute item - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a method for providing information of a service server, and the method includes obtaining information on a first item, identifying whether the first item is an out-of-stock item based on stock information of the first item, providing a first page including the information on the first item, obtaining a first input of a user corresponding to the first item, and displaying at least some of one or more substitute items corresponding to the first item on the first page in response to the first input, wherein if the first item is an out-of-stock item, a first object for obtaining the first input is displayed on the first page.

Description

Method and apparatus for providing information on substitute goods

The present disclosure relates to a method and device for providing information of a substitute item. Specifically, the present disclosure relates to a method comprising identifying whether a first item is an out-of-stock item based on inventory information of a first item; and responding to an input from a user corresponding to the first item , displaying on a page at least some of the one or more alternatives corresponding to the first item, and the present disclosure relates to an apparatus for the method.

As the use of the Internet becomes common, the e-commerce market is expanding. Specifically, with the spread of infectious diseases, the proportion of people visiting offline stores to purchase products is decreasing. However, the proportion of purchasing products through e-commerce using computers or smartphones is rapidly increasing.

As the number of users purchasing items through e-commerce increases, it is important to manage the inventory of items to avoid out-of-stock varieties, but if an item is out of stock, a substitute will likely exist as an alternative to the out-of-stock item It is also important that information about items is provided to a user who cannot purchase out-of-stock items. Instead of being able to purchase the originally intended item, the user may be provided with information corresponding to one or more alternative items for the item and decide whether to purchase an alternative item. In order to induce the user to purchase a substitute item, it is important to efficiently display the information of the substitute item on the page without interfering with the user's use of the service.

Further, considering that in offline or online commerce, an item is often placed in a shopping cart prior to paying for the item to be purchased, and therefore the online offering A user interface to intuitively indicate adding items to a shopping cart would be beneficial in terms of user experience.

Korean Patent No. 1045587 is related to a system for managing product inventory and a method for managing inventory using the system. The Korean patent discloses management for out-of-stock items, including generating a substitute product list for a pre-ordered product code, and adding a product from the substitute product list to replace the single-code product when processing out-of-stock order codes that are not in stock. However, even though the prior art relates to a method of receiving an input for displaying an alternative product on a page in order to effectively provide information on the alternative product to the user, the prior art still fails to disclose a method for determining whether to display an alternative product on a page. A method to display one or more alternative products.

[Technical target] An aspect provides a method comprising identifying whether a first item is an out-of-stock item based on inventory information for the first item, and by obtaining information corresponding to the first item on a first page containing information about the first item. A user input of the first item, responsive to the user input, displaying on the first page at least some of the one or more alternative items corresponding to the first item.

[Technical solution] According to an aspect, there is provided a method for providing information of a service server, the method comprising: obtaining information of a first item; based on the inventory information of the first item, identifying whether the first item is out of stock Item; providing a first page containing the information of the first item; obtaining a first input from a user corresponding to the first item; and in response to the first input, displaying on the first page a corresponding at least some of the one or more substitute items for the first item, wherein if the first item is an out-of-stock item, displaying on the first page a first an object.

According to an example embodiment, the first page may include a first area displaying an image of the first item and a second area displaying the first object on the first area.

According to an example embodiment, the first page may include a third area displaying information of the first item, a fourth area located below the third area and displaying information of a second item, wherein the one or more At least some of the substitute items may be displayed in an extended area between the third area and the fourth area.

According to an example embodiment, the first page may include a first area displaying an image of the first item, a second area displaying a first object outside the first area, and displaying an image of the first item. A third area for detailed information.

According to an example embodiment, at least some of the one or more substitute items may be displayed in an extended area between the second area and the third area.

According to an example embodiment, the first item may be omitted on the first page if there is no substitute item corresponding to the first item.

According to an example embodiment, displaying at least some of the one or more substitute items may include arranging and displaying at least some of the one or more substitute items in order of sales profit.

According to an example embodiment, at least some of the one or more substitute items may comprise items selected from among the one or more substitute items based on a reference rating.

According to an example embodiment, the reference rating may be determined based on a rating of the first item.

According to an example embodiment, at least some of the one or more substitute items may include items selected from among the one or more substitute items based on a sale price, and the selected items may have the same A sale price of an item differs by a sale price within a predetermined range.

According to an example embodiment, displaying at least some of the one or more alternatives may include: selecting an alternative from among the one or more alternatives for which the user has a purchase history; and prioritizing over others Alternative Item, shows the selected alternative item.

According to an example embodiment, if the first item is not an out-of-stock item, the first page may display a shopping cart item corresponding to the first item and respond to the user corresponding to the shopping cart item A second input, the first item can be added to the shopping cart.

According to an example embodiment, the first page may include: a first area displaying an image of the first item; and a second area displaying the shopping cart item on the first area.

According to an example embodiment, the shopping cart object may include a child object representing a quantity of the first item added to the shopping cart, and the quantity may be incremented in response to the second input.

According to an example embodiment, if the quantity corresponds to a maximum quantity, the quantity may be maintained at the maximum quantity irrespective of the second input.

According to an example embodiment, the maximum quantity may be determined based on the first item.

According to an example embodiment, the method may further include: in response to the second input, displaying on the first page a message indicating to add to the shopping cart; and in response to a first message of the user corresponding to the message Three inputs, providing a second page displaying one or more items contained in the shopping cart.

According to another aspect, there is provided a service server for providing information, which includes: a transceiver configured to transmit information to and receive information from another device; and a processor, Wherein the processor is configured to: obtain information about a first item; identify whether the first item is an out-of-stock item based on the inventory information of the first item; provide a first item containing the information about the first item a page; obtaining a first input from a user corresponding to the first item; and in response to the first input, displaying on the first page one or more alternative items corresponding to the first item At least some of the replacement items, wherein if the first item is an out-of-stock item, a first item used to obtain the first input is displayed on the first page.

According to another aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is provided, comprising: a medium configured to store computer-readable instructions, wherein if the computer-readable instructions are executed by a processor, The processor is configured to: obtain information about a first item; identify whether the first item is an out-of-stock item based on the inventory information about the first item; provide a first item that includes the information about the first item page; obtaining a first input from a user corresponding to the first item; and in response to the first input, displaying on the first page at least one of the one or more alternative items corresponding to the first item Some replacement items, wherein if the first item is an out-of-stock item, a first item used to obtain the first input is displayed on the first page.

[Effect] According to example embodiments, if a first item is out of stock, the service server may display information of an alternative item that can replace the first item, and thus the service server may allow a user to easily identify alternative items that can replace the first item. Information about other items of an item can induce users to purchase other items and improve user experience.

Further, according to an example embodiment, by determining the order in which one or more alternative items corresponding to the first item are displayed or some of the one or more alternative items are displayed, the service server can efficiently transfer the necessary information to delivered to the user. It is impossible to display all one or more substitute items within the limited screen size for a display page, and therefore, the service server may, for example, display an item similar to the first item among the one or more substitute items or An item that a user is likely to purchase is arranged in front so that necessary information is efficiently displayed to the user.

Further, according to an example embodiment, the user interface may provide a function that if there is a shopping cart object corresponding to each of the one or more items displayed on the page, through the An input adds one or more corresponding items to a shopping cart one by one. Since this function is similar to adding products one by one to a physical shopping cart in an offline store, the user can use the add to cart function more intuitively, and thus, the user experience can be improved.

Hereinafter, example embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In describing example embodiments, descriptions of technical contents that are well-known in the technical field to which the present disclosure pertains and that are not directly related to the present disclosure will be omitted. This is to convey the gist of the disclosure more clearly by omitting unnecessary descriptions without causing ambiguity to the gist of the disclosure.

For the same reason, some elements are enlarged, omitted or schematically illustrated in the drawings. In addition, the size of each element does not entirely reflect an actual size. In each figure, identical or corresponding elements are assigned the same element symbols.

The advantages and features of the present disclosure and a method for achieving the advantages and the features will be apparent with reference to the example embodiments described in detail below and the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the example embodiments disclosed below, and may be implemented in various forms. These example embodiments are provided only to fully present the present disclosure, and to fully inform those skilled in the relevant technologies of the present disclosure about the scope of the present disclosure. This disclosure is only defined by the scope of the claimed patent scope. Throughout, like reference numerals refer to like elements.

In this case, it will be understood that each block of a flowchart illustration, and a combination of flowchart illustrations, can be implemented by computer program instructions. Computer program instructions may be embodied in a processor of a general purpose computer or a special purpose computer, or may be embodied in a processor of other programmable data processing equipment. Thus, instructions executed by a processor of a computer or other programmable data processing equipment produce a means for performing the functions set forth in the flowchart blocks. Computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer usable or computer readable memory that directs a computer or other programmable data processing equipment to perform a function in a particular way. Accordingly, instructions stored in a computer-usable or computer-readable memory can be produced as an article of manufacture containing a portion of the instructions for performing the functions set forth in the flowchart blocks. Computer program instructions may be embodied in a computer or other programmable data processing device. Accordingly, a series of operations can be performed in a computer or other programmable data processing equipment to create a computer-executable program, and the computer or other programmable data processing equipment can be provided for performing the functions set forth in the flowchart blocks the steps.

Additionally, each block may represent a module, a segment, or a portion of code that includes one or more executable instructions for performing a specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions recited in the blocks may occur out of order. For example, two blocks shown in sequence may be executed substantially at the same time, or sometimes the blocks may be executed in reverse order according to a corresponding function.

In this case, the term "~ component" used in example embodiments refers to a software component or a hardware component and performs a predetermined function, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). However, the term "~ component" is not limited to either software or hardware. A "~ component" may be formed for storage in an addressable storage medium or for reproducing one or more processors. Thus, "~component" includes, as an example, components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components, and task components, as well as procedures, functions, properties, program steps, subroutines, sections of a code, drivers Programs, firmware, microcode, circuits, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. Functionality provided in components and "~components" may be combined into a smaller number of components and "~components", or may be further divided into additional components and "~components". In addition, components and "~means" can be implemented to reproduce one or more central processing units (CPUs) in a device or a secure multimedia card.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a system for providing information of a substitute item in a service server according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1 , a system for providing information according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure may include a user terminal 110 and a service server 120 .

An e-commerce user can access the service server 120 by using the user terminal 110 . An e-commerce application program can be installed in the user terminal 110, and can access the service server 120 under the control of the application program. The user terminal 110 can use an electronic commerce based on exchanging information with the service server 120 . The user terminal 110 can be a mobile device (such as a smart phone and a tablet PC) or a static device (such as a desktop PC), and the user terminal 110 can be used as the user terminal 110 without limitation. Use as long as it is a device on which an e-commerce application is installed and executed.

The service server 120 communicates with the user terminal 110 and can provide information related to e-commerce to the user terminal 110 . The service server 120 may provide a list of items as a search result to the database, or may provide detailed information for each item stored in the database. For an item delivered directly from an e-commerce company, a subject associated with a service operated by the service server 120 may purchase a product and manage delivery. For an item delivered by another delivery company, purchase information and delivery address information on an item purchased by a user may be transmitted to a server of that other delivery company.

FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram illustrating the information exchange of each node related to a method of providing information of a substitute item and an operation according to the method according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates a method of exchanging information between a user terminal and a service server and operations in each node according to example embodiments of the present disclosure.

In operation 205, the service server may obtain information of a first item. The information of the first item may be obtained from a database included in the server or may be obtained through communication from a database external to the server. In an example embodiment, a user may input a keyword related to the item into a search page provided by the service server through the user terminal to search for information of the first item to be purchased. The service server can obtain the information of the first item by searching the database for the keyword obtained from the user. In another example embodiment, the user can identify a search result page for a keyword provided by the service server through the user terminal, and the user can perform an input corresponding to the first item in the search result (eg, one click or one tap) to enter a page displaying detailed information about the first item. The service server can obtain a user input corresponding to the first item, and obtain information including detailed information of the first item from the database.

In operation 210, the service server may identify whether the first item is a sold-out item based on the inventory information of the first item. When displaying the information of the first item on the page, the service server can identify the inventory information of the first item from a distribution server associated with a distribution center to indicate whether the first item is out of stock. The distribution server may be a server associated with a distribution center that stores items and manages inbound, inventory and delivery information for the items. The service server may request inventory information of the first item from the distribution server through a transceiver, and the service server may receive information whether the first item is a sold-out item. In an example embodiment, the distribution server may be the same server as the serving server.

In operation 215, the service server may provide a first page including information of the first item. In an example embodiment, the first page may include one of the following pages: a page related to a category of the first item, a page displaying a search result related to the first item, and displaying detailed information of the first item of a page. If the first page is a page related to the category of the first item or a page displaying search results of the first item, the first page may display information of a plurality of items including the first item and information of the first item.

In operation 220, the service server may obtain a first input from the user corresponding to the first item from the user terminal. In example embodiments, the first input may be a user input for displaying information corresponding to one or more substitute items for the first item. If the first item is out of stock, the service server may display information indicating that the first item is out of stock and currently unavailable for purchase in an area displaying information of the first item. Since the user can identify that the first item to be purchased is out of stock, and the user may wish to purchase another item that can replace the first item, the service server can allow the user to more easily identify an alternative to the first item. another item. The service server may display a first item on the first page for obtaining a first input from the user to display information corresponding to one or more substitute items of the first item. For example, the first item may include a button or an icon that is clicked to display a substitute item corresponding to the first item on the user terminal.

In operation 225, in response to the first input, the service server may display on the first page at least some of the one or more alternative items corresponding to the first item. The service server may obtain information about one or more substitute items corresponding to the first item from the database, and may display information on at least some of the one or more substitute items on the first page. Therefore, if the first item is out of stock, the service server can display information on an alternative item that can replace the first item, so that the user can easily identify information on another item that can replace the first item, and the service The server can induce users to purchase additional items and can improve the user experience.

In an example embodiment, the service server may display the first item for obtaining the first input on the first page only if there is a substitute item corresponding to the first item. In other words, the first item may be omitted from the first page if there is no substitute item corresponding to the first item. Depending on the nature of the first item, a situation may arise where there is no suitable item that can replace the first item. In this case, if an item that is less relevant and difficult to replace the first item is displayed as an alternate item, there may be a wasted space on the page and it may be difficult to efficiently deliver the necessary information to the user . Further, displaying a first item for obtaining a first input to display an alternative item when an alternative item corresponding to the first item does not exist may take unnecessary space on a page on the user interface waste. Thus, the appearance of the page can be simplified by not displaying the first item if there is no alternate item corresponding to the first item, and this can improve the user experience.

By determining the order in which the service server displays one or more alternative items corresponding to the first item, or by displaying only some of the one or more alternative items, the service server can efficiently transfer the necessary information to delivered to the user. It is not possible to display all one or more alternatives within the limited screen size of the displayed page. Thus, for example, the service server may prioritize an item that has a high similarity to the first item or an item that the user may purchase among one or more alternative items in order to efficiently display the necessary information to the user. In an example embodiment, the service server may display an object in an area along with one or more alternative items, the object indicating that the one or more alternative items are ordered and displayed according to a specified criterion, or according to a Certain criteria only show some of the one or more alternatives.

In an example embodiment, the service server may rank and display at least some of the one or more substitute items in order of sales profit. The service server may retrieve from the database information corresponding to one or more substitute items for the first item, and the information for the one or more substitute items may include sales considering a supply price of a substitute item and a sale price Information on profits. Therefore, when displaying a plurality of substitute items corresponding to the first item to the user, the service server can induce the user to purchase the substitute item having a high sales profit by preferentially displaying the substitute item having a high sales profit over other items. an item, and the serving server can thus contribute to increasing the overall sales profit.

In an example embodiment, at least some of the one or more substitute items may comprise an item selected from the one or more substitute items based on a reference rating. The service server may retrieve information corresponding to one or more substitute items of the first item from the database. The information on one or more substitute items may include review information on the substitute items obtained from users who purchased the substitute items. The review information may include purchase reviews and rating information for the item (for example, 4 out of 5). The service server may determine a reference rating for a substitute item to be provided to the user. For example, the service server may determine that the reference rating is 4 out of 5, and may display only substitute items with a rating of 4 on the first page as one or more alternatives corresponding to the first item. thing. Thus, the service server may filter and display to the user only alternative items with a rating higher than or equal to a predetermined criterion, and thus the service server may not display information about an item with a low rating to the user , and accordingly, the service satisfaction of users can be improved.

In an example embodiment, the reference rating may be determined based on the rating of the first item. For example, if the rating of the first item is 3, then only alternative items with a rating of 3 or higher may be displayed as alternative items. If the rating of the first item is 5, then only alternative items with a rating of 5 (perfect score) may be displayed as alternative items. Thus, by displaying only an alternate item with a rating higher than or equal to a rating of the first item based on the rating of the first item, information can be provided to the user more efficiently.

In an example embodiment, at least some of the one or more substitute items may include an item selected from the one or more substitute items based on the sale price, and the selected item may have a similarity to the first item. A sale price of an item that differs from a sale price within a predetermined range. For example, the alternative items displayed on the first page corresponding to the first item may be limited to ones with a sales price in the range of -30% to +30% from the sales price of the first item. thing. Even if the substitute item is an item of a similar type to the first item, a user may not wish to purchase an item having a significant selling price difference from the first item as an alternative item, and thus the service server may only An item having a price similar to the sale price of the first item is displayed as a substitute item.

In an example embodiment, the service server may select a substitute item having a purchase history of a user among the one or more substitute items, and the service server may display the selected substitute item in priority over other substitute items. For example, among one or more alternative items corresponding to the first item, if there is an alternative item with a purchase history of a user, the service server may arrange the alternative item at the front of the alternative item list, so that The user can first identify the replacement item. In an example embodiment, along with the information of the substitute item having a purchase history, the service server may display an indicator indicating that the user has a history of purchasing the substitute item. If the desired item is out of stock, the user may instead wish to purchase an item that has a purchase history, and thus by displaying the user's purchased items ahead of other items, the service server can efficiently provide the user with the desired information.

In an example embodiment, the service server may select one of the substitute items sold by the same seller as the first item from among the one or more substitute items, and may display only the selected substitute item on the first page. In an example embodiment, the service server may select one of the substitute items sold by the same seller as the first item from among the one or more substitute items, and may display the selected substitute item in preference to other substitute items. Substitute items sold by the same seller may contain more items that are similar to the first item, and thus, by displaying substitute items sold by the seller of the first item in preference to other substitute items, the serving server can more efficiently Provide the information the user wants.

3a and 3b illustrate exemplary views of a first page displaying information corresponding to a substitute item for a first item, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figure 3a illustrates an exemplary first page 300 displaying information about a category related to a first item. In the example embodiment illustrated in Figure 3a, the first page 300 may contain information for the category "Fresh Foods" related to the first item "Beef", and this information may include other items included in the "Fresh Foods" category. Information about items such as "apple", "tomato", and "sapphire grape". The first page 300 may include an area 310 displaying images of items included in the category and an area 320 displaying information such as item name, selling price, reviews, and out-of-stock status.

In an example embodiment, the first page 300 may include a first area displaying an image of a first item and a second area displaying a first object on the first area. The first item may include an item for obtaining a first input to display one or more alternative items corresponding to the first item. In the example embodiment illustrated in Figure 3a, an image of the first item "Beef from Company B" is displayed on area 310, and area 310 includes an area 311 displaying the first item. The first object may include a button that provides a function of "view alternative products" when clicked. In the example embodiment illustrated in Figure 3a, the area displaying images of items other than the first item "Beef from Company B" displays a shopping cart icon which, when clicked, performs a "Add to shopping cart" function, but for the first item "Beef from Company B" that is temporarily out of stock, the area 310 displaying the image includes an area 311 displaying the button "View Alternative Products". Therefore, by conspicuously displaying a button for identifying a substitute item corresponding to the out-of-stock item in the area where the image of the out-of-stock item is displayed, the user can easily identify the substitute item that can be purchased instead of the out-of-stock item, and the user can be identified by Induces purchase of a substitute item.

FIG. 3b illustrates an exemplary first page 300 displaying information corresponding to substitute items for a first item. In example embodiments, the first page may include a third area displaying information about the first item, and a fourth area below the third area displaying information about a second item, and one or more of the alternate items At least some of the alternatives may be displayed in an extended area between the third area and the fourth area. In the example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3b, the first page 300 includes an area 331 in which information for a first item "Beef from Company B" is displayed and an area 332 in which information for other items is displayed, and corresponds to At least some of the one or more alternatives for the first item "Beef from Company B" are displayed in an extended area 330 between area 331 and area 332 . If a new page showing information corresponding to a substitute item for the first item is generated and provided to a user, the user may experience unnecessary interruptions in using the e-commerce service, and it may be difficult to return to the original page. page. Further, hiding information of other items by displaying information corresponding to a substitute item of the first item may prevent users from identifying information of other items and may interfere with users' smooth use of e-commerce services. Therefore, by expanding the area between the third area and the fourth area, the service server can display the information of the substitute item without generating a new page or covering other information, so that the user can identify the corresponding item more intuitively and effectively. In a substitute item for one of the first items, and even after the user recognizes the information of the substitute item, the e-commerce service can be used smoothly without any interruption.

4a and 4b illustrate exemplary views of a first page displaying information corresponding to a substitute item for a first item, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4a illustrates an exemplary first page 400 displaying detailed information of a first item. In the example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4a, the first page 400 includes an area 410 displaying an image of a first item and displaying detailed information (such as a name, weight, a selling price, reviews, etc.) of the first item. , delivery information, and member benefit information) an area 420 . In an example embodiment, the first page may include a first area displaying an image of the first item, a second area displaying a first object outside the first area, and displaying the first item A third area for detailed information. In the example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4a, the first page 400 includes an area 430 displaying a first item for obtaining an input to display a substitute item outside of the area 410 displaying an image of the first item. . The first object may include a button that provides a function of "view alternative products" when clicked. Compared to a page displaying information about a category (for example, the first page 300 of FIG. There is a relatively free space on it. Therefore, unlike the area 311 of the first page 300 illustrated in FIG. 3a, the area 430 of the first page 400 illustrated in FIG. 4a need not be positioned within the area 410 where an image is displayed. Thus, information can be efficiently provided to the user, and the user experience can be improved by adaptively determining the configuration of objects for obtaining input to display alternative items according to the page type.

FIG. 4b illustrates an exemplary first page 400 displaying information corresponding to a substitute item for a first item. As illustrated in FIG. 4 b , at least some of the one or more substitute items may be displayed in an extended region 440 between region 430 and region 420 . If a new page showing information corresponding to a substitute item for the first item is generated and provided to the user, the user may experience unnecessary interruptions in using the e-commerce service, and it may be difficult to return to the original page . Further, hiding other information displayed on the page due to displaying information corresponding to a substitute item of the first item may prevent the user from identifying the other information, and the hiding may pose a risk of preventing the user from smoothly using the e-commerce service. Thus, the service server can display the information of the substitute item by expanding an area between the area in which the first item is displayed and the area in which the detailed information of the item is displayed without generating a new page or overwriting other information, This enables the user to more intuitively and efficiently recognize a substitute item corresponding to the first item, and even after the user recognizes the information of the substitute item, the e-commerce service can be smoothly used without any interruption.

5a-5d illustrate exemplary diagrams displaying a first page of a shopping cart item corresponding to a first item.

Figure 5a illustrates an exemplary first page 500 displaying information about a category related to a first item. In the example embodiment illustrated in Figure 5a, the first page 500 may contain information for the category "Fresh Foods" related to the first item "Shine Muscat by Company B" and the information may have information that includes Information on other items in the category of "fresh food" such as "apples", "tomatoes" and "sapphire grapes". The first page 500 may include an area 510 displaying images of items included in the category and an area 520 displaying information such as item name, selling price, reviews, and out-of-stock status.

In an example embodiment, if the first item is not an out-of-stock item, the first page may display a shopping cart item corresponding to the first item, and respond to a second item of the user corresponding to the shopping cart item. Enter to add the first item to the cart. In the example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5a, the first page 500 may display a shopping cart item corresponding to the first item "Sunny Muscat Grapes of Company B" and the shopping cart item may include a shopping cart icon, The shopping cart icon, when clicked, causes the service server to perform an "add to shopping cart" function. The existing user interface provides a function that a user selects one or more items to add to a shopping cart and clicks the "Add to Cart" button to add the selected items to the shopping cart all at once, and this Compared with the existing user interface, the user interface of the present invention can provide a function, that is, if there is a shopping cart object corresponding to each of the one or more items displayed on the page, it can be accessed through the An input of cart items adds one or more corresponding items to a shopping cart one by one. Since this function is similar to adding products one by one to a physical shopping cart in an offline store, the user can use the add to cart function more intuitively, and thus, the user experience can be improved.

In an example embodiment, the first page may include a first area displaying an image of a first item and a second area displaying a shopping cart item on the first area. In the example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5a, the first page 500 includes a first area 510 displaying an image of a first item "Sunshine Muscat Grapes by Company B" and a shopping cart item displayed on the first area 510. The second area 511 . By displaying a shopping cart item corresponding to each of the one or more items on an image of each of the one or more items, the user can more intuitively understand the One input adds an item to the shopping cart, and the add to cart function can be used more conveniently than adding selected items to the shopping cart all at once.

FIG. 5b illustrates an exemplary first page 500 providing information based on a second input corresponding to a shopping cart item. In an example embodiment, the shopping cart object may include a child object representing the quantity of the first item added to the cart, and the quantity may be incremented in response to the second input. In the example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5b, an area 512 displays a shopping cart item corresponding to the first item "Sunshine Muscat Grapes of Company B" and a subfield representing the quantity of the first item added to the shopping cart. object. FIG. 5b illustrates that a first item is added to the shopping cart in response to a second input by the user corresponding to the shopping cart item displayed on the first page 500 through the shopping cart item and sub-items displayed in area 512, and The current first item is contained in the shopping cart.

FIG. 5c illustrates an exemplary first page 500 providing information based on an additional second input corresponding to a shopping cart item. In the example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5c, an area 513 displays a shopping cart item corresponding to the first item "Sunshine Muscat Grapes of Company B" and a subfield representing the quantity of the first item added to the shopping cart. object. FIG. 5c illustrates that an additional first item is added to the cart in response to an additional second input from a user corresponding to the cart item displayed on the first page 500 through the cart item and sub-items displayed in area 513. shopping cart, and the current two first items are contained in the shopping cart. Thus, by providing a user interface that increments the number of items added to the cart via a child object whenever an input corresponding to the cart object is received, the user can intuitively recognize the number of added items, can identify The number of items currently added to the shopping cart without moving to a separate shopping cart page, and even if the user selects the shopping cart item by mistake, the user can quickly recognize the number of items displayed in the child object to error.

Figure 5d illustrates an exemplary first page 500 providing information based on an additional second input corresponding to a shopping cart item. In the example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5d, an area 514 displays a shopping cart item corresponding to the first item "Sunshine Muscat Grapes of Company B" and a subfield representing the quantity of the first item added to the shopping cart. object. In an example embodiment, if the quantity of the first item added to the cart corresponds to the maximum quantity, the quantity may be maintained at the maximum quantity regardless of a second input. In the example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5d, area 514 indicates that the maximum number of first items to be added to the shopping cart through a plurality of second inputs is 99, and thereafter, even if a corresponding shopping cart is received from the user On a second input of the item, the shopping cart icon is also deactivated so that the quantity of the first item added to the shopping cart is no longer incremented from the maximum quantity. In an example embodiment, if a second input is received even after the maximum quantity of the first item added to the cart is received, the service server may provide an A message of information. Thus, through the input corresponding to the shopping cart item, the maximum quantity of items that can be added to the shopping cart can be predetermined and an input exceeding the maximum quantity can not be accepted, and accordingly, the user can be induced to pass the maximum quantity through the shopping cart page. Additional input to enter into the shopping cart.

In an example embodiment, the maximum quantity may be determined from the first item. The maximum number of items that may be added may vary in response to a second input corresponding to the shopping cart item according to the type of the first item. The maximum number can be determined in advance by the service server. For example, based on the purchase history data of a plurality of users who have purchased items, the maximum number corresponding to one of the items that the user tends to purchase in batches may be determined to be 99. However, a maximum quantity may be determined to be 10 corresponding to an item that users generally tend to purchase in small quantities (for example, quantities of 1 or 2). In an example embodiment, the maximum quantity may be determined based on inventory information of the first item. The service server can identify inventory information of the first item from the allocation server, and can determine a maximum quantity of the first item that can be added based on the second input. The maximum number of items that can be added to the shopping cart can be determined by reflecting in real time the inventory information of the items obtained from the distribution server associated with the distribution center, and therefore only up to the orderable quantity of items can be added to the shopping cart .

In an example embodiment, in response to the second input, the service server may display a message indicating adding to the shopping cart on the first page. Referring back to FIG. 5b, FIG. 5b may include an area 512 displaying shopping cart items for obtaining a second input and an area 532 displaying a message indicating adding to the shopping cart in response to the second input. By displaying a message indicating add to cart in response to a second input for adding to cart, a user can more reliably identify that an item was added to the cart in response to the user input, and if the user Adding to the shopping cart by mistakenly entering an input, he/she can quickly recognize his/her mistake through the message.

Referring further back to FIG. 5c, FIG. 5c may include an area 533 displaying a message indicating to add to a shopping cart in response to a second input and an area 513 displaying the shopping cart item used to obtain a second input. In contrast to the message "(several) items added to cart" contained in area 532 of Figure 5b, the message "Another item was added to cart" contained in area 533 of Figure Additional input information for another item to be added. Thus, the service server displays different messages when an input corresponding to a shopping cart item is entered once and when it is entered twice in succession, so that if a user input corresponds to one of the shopping cart inputs twice, the user Can quickly recognize his/her mistakes.

In an example embodiment, in response to a third input from the user corresponding to the message, the service server may provide a second page displaying one or more items contained in the shopping cart. In the example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5b, in response to a second input for adding to cart, the service server may display a message in area 532 indicating add to cart. The user can enter a second page displaying one or more items contained in the shopping cart through an input corresponding to the field 532 (for example, clicking "move" in the message of the field 532), and the second page Two pages may contain a shopping cart page. Therefore, through a message indicating adding to the shopping cart, the user can identify without mistake that the item is added to the shopping cart, and the user can conveniently enter the shopping cart page through an input corresponding to the message.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process of a method for providing information of a substitute item according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

In operation S610, the service server may obtain information of a first item. The information of the first item may be obtained from a database included in the server or may be obtained by communication from a database external to the server. In an example embodiment, a user may input a keyword related to an item into a search page provided by the service server through the user terminal, so as to search for information of the first item to be purchased. The service server can obtain the information of the first item by searching a database for a keyword obtained from the user. In another example embodiment, a user can identify a keyword search result page provided by the service server through the user terminal, and respond to an input corresponding to the first item in the search result (for example, language, one click or one click), the user can enter a page showing the detailed information of the first item. The service server can obtain a user input corresponding to the first item, and can obtain information including detailed information of the first item from the database.

In operation S620, the service server may identify whether the first item is an out-of-stock item based on the inventory information of the first item. When displaying the information of the first item on the page, the service server can identify the inventory information of the first item from a distribution server associated with the distribution center to indicate whether the first item is out of stock. The distribution server may be a server associated with a distribution center that stores items and manages inbound, inventory and delivery information for the items. The service server can request inventory information of the first item from the distribution server through the transceiver, and can receive information about whether the first item is out of stock. In an example embodiment, the distribution server may be the same server as the serving server.

In operation S630, the service server may provide a first page including information of the first item. In an example embodiment, the first page may include one of the following pages: a page related to a category of the first item, a page displaying a search result related to the first item, and a page displaying details of the first item A page of information. If the first page is a page related to the category of the first item or a page showing one of the search results of the first item, the first page may not only display the information of the first item, but also display a plurality of items including the first item Information about an item.

In operation S640, the service server may obtain a first input from the user corresponding to the first item from the user terminal. In an example embodiment, the first input may be an input by a user for displaying information corresponding to one or more substitute items of the first item. If the first item is an out-of-stock item, the service server may display information indicating that the first item is out of stock and currently unavailable for purchase in an area displaying information of the first item. Since the user can identify that the first item to be purchased is out of stock and wishes to purchase another item that can replace the first item, the service server can allow the user to more easily identify other items that can replace the first item. The service server may display a first item on the first page for obtaining a first input from the user to display information corresponding to one or more substitute items of the first item. For example, the first item may include a button or an icon that is clicked to display a substitute item corresponding to the first item on the user terminal.

In operation S650, in response to the first input, the service server may display at least some of the one or more alternative items corresponding to the first item on the first page. The service server may obtain information about one or more substitute items corresponding to the first item from the database, and may display information on at least some of the one or more substitute items on the first page. Therefore, if the first item is an out-of-stock item, the service server can display the information of an alternative item that can replace the first item, and thus the user can easily identify the information of other items that can replace the first item, using The user can be induced to purchase another item, and the user experience can be improved.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating certain components of a system for providing information according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates a system for providing information according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. The system includes a user terminal 710 and a service server 720 communicating with each other.

The user terminal 710 can execute an e-commerce client program or a food delivery client program. The user terminal 710 may include a transceiver 712 , a controller 714 , an input component 716 and a display 718 .

The transceiver 712 can transmit/receive information with other nodes including the service server 720 . The transceiver 712 may perform communication with various types of external devices according to various types of communication methods. The transceiver 712 may include at least one of a Wi-Fi chip, a Bluetooth chip, a wireless communication chip, and an NFC chip. The Wi-Fi chip and the Bluetooth chip can perform communication using a Wi-Fi method and a Bluetooth method, respectively. In the case of using a Wi-Fi chip or a Bluetooth chip, various types of connection information such as an SSID and a session key are first transmitted and received, and then after the communication connection, various types of information can be connected using the communication to transmit and receive. A wireless communication chip refers to a chip that performs communication according to various communication standards such as IEEE, Zigbee, 3rd Generation (3G), 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), and Long Term Evolution (LTE). The NFC chip refers to a chip that operates in an NFC method using the 13.56 MHz frequency band, one of various RF-ID frequency bands such as 135 kHz, 13.56 MHz, 433 MHz, 860 MHz to 960 MHz, and 2.45 GHz.

The input component 716 can receive an input from the user, and can include a touch screen, a microphone and a button. The input unit 716 can receive various instructions from the user. The input part 716 can be embodied in various ways, such as a key, a touch panel, and the like. The key may include various types of keys such as mechanical buttons and wheels formed in various areas such as the front, side, and rear of the main body of the user terminal 710 . The touch panel can detect a user's touch input and output a touch event value corresponding to a sensed touch signal. When the touch panel is combined with the display panel to form a touch screen, the touch screen can be implemented with various types of touch sensors such as a capacitive type, a pressure sensitive type, and a piezoelectric type. The capacitive type is a kind of electric current that is generated by sensing the micro-electricity generated by the user's body when a part of the user's body is touched on the surface of the touch screen using a dielectric material coated on the surface of the touch screen. Method for calculating touch coordinates. The pressure-sensitive type includes two electrode plates built into the touch screen, and when the user touches the screen, the touch coordinates are calculated by detecting the contact between the upper plate and the lower plate of the touch point and the current flow . Even a touch that occurs in a touch screen may be primarily generated by a human finger, but also by an object made of a conductive material capable of exerting a capacitance change.

The display 718 can display information related to the operation of the user terminal 710 and can display a page including the information set forth in the example embodiments. In an example embodiment, display 718 may include various types of components, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), organic light emitting diodes (OLED), and the like. According to an example embodiment, the display 718 may be configured to be connected to internal components of the user terminal 710 by wires, and may be configured to pass through a component such as a transceiver included in the user terminal 710 712) Connect wirelessly.

The controller 714 can perform control to perform the operations of the user terminal 710 described in the example embodiments. Further, the controller 714 may include at least one processor configured to perform an operation of the user terminal 710 .

The processor may include at least one of a RAM, a ROM, a CPU, a graphics processing unit (GPU), and a bus. RAM, ROM, CPU, GPU, etc. can be connected to each other via a bus. The CPU accesses the memory and performs booting using the O/S stored in the memory. Further, the processor uses various programs, contents, data, etc. stored in the memory to perform various operations. ROM stores a set of instructions for booting the system and the like. For example, when an ON command is input and power is supplied to the user terminal 710, the CPU can copy the OS stored in the memory to the RAM according to the command stored in the ROM, and make the system boot. When booting is completed, the CPU copies various programs stored in the memory to RAM, and executes the programs copied to RAM to perform various operations. Upon completion of booting of the user terminal 710 , the GPU displays a UI screen in the area of the display 718 . Specifically, the GPU can generate a screen on which an electronic document (including various objects such as content, icons, and menus) is displayed. GPU calculation will display the coordinate value of each object and attribute value (such as shape value, size value, color, etc.) according to the layout of the screen. Further, the GPU can generate screens including various layouts of objects based on the calculated property values. Screens generated by the GPU may be provided to and displayed in each area of the display 718 .

Further, the user terminal 710 may further include a speaker for outputting an event, and may further include for storing at least some of the information transmitted and received through the transceiver 712 and for the user terminal 710 A storage device (not illustrated) for operational information.

The service server 720 is a device in which an e-commerce server program or a food delivery service program runs, and may include a transceiver 722 , a controller 724 and a storage device 726 .

Transceiver 722 may transmit information to and receive information from other nodes including user terminal 710 .

The controller 724 can control to perform the operations of the server 720 described in the example embodiments. Further, the controller 724 may include at least one processor.

Further, the server 720 may include a storage device 726 for storing at least some of the information transmitted and received through the transceiver 722 and information used for the operation of the server 720 .

Also, in the present disclosure and drawings, several example embodiments are disclosed and specific terms are used. However, the terms are only used in a general sense in order to easily explain the technical content of the present disclosure and help the understanding of the present disclosure, but not to limit the scope of the present disclosure. In addition to the example embodiments disclosed herein, other modifications based on the technical spirit of the present disclosure can also be implemented, which is obvious to those skilled in the technologies related to the present disclosure.

110: user terminal 120: service server 205: Operation 210: Operation 215: Operation 220: Operation 225: Operation 300:First Page/Exemplary First Page 310: area 311: area 320: area 330: Extended area 331: area 332: area 400:First Page/Exemplary First Page 410: area 420: area 430: area 440: Extended area 500:First Page/Exemplary First Page 510: area/first area 511: second area 512: area 513: area 514: area 520: area 532: area 533: area 710: user terminal 712: Transceiver 714: Controller 716: input component 718:Display 720: Serving server/server 722: Transceiver 724: Controller 726: storage device S610: Operation S620: Operation S630: Operation S640: Operation S650: Operation

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a system for providing information of a substitute item in a service server according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram illustrating the information exchange of each node related to a method of providing information of a substitute item and an operation according to the method according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. 3a and 3b illustrate exemplary views of a first page displaying information corresponding to a substitute item for a first item, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. 4a and 4b illustrate exemplary views of a first page displaying information corresponding to a substitute item for a first item, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. 5a-5d illustrate exemplary diagrams displaying a first page of a shopping cart item corresponding to a first item. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process of a method for providing information of a substitute item according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating certain components of a system for providing information according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

205: Operation

210: Operation

215: Operation

220: Operation

225: Operation

Claims (19)

A method for providing information of a service server, the method comprising: Obtain information about a first item; Identifying whether the first item is an out-of-stock item based on the inventory information of the first item; providing a first page containing the information about the first item; obtaining a first input from a user corresponding to the first item; and in response to the first input, displaying on the first page at least some of the one or more substitute items corresponding to the first item, Wherein if the first item is an out-of-stock item, a first item for obtaining the first input is displayed on the first page. The method as claimed in item 1, wherein the first page includes: a first area displaying an image of the first item; and A second area of the first object is displayed on the first area. The method of claim 2, wherein the first page includes: a third area displaying information about the first item; and a fourth area located below the third area and displaying information of a second item, Wherein at least some of the one or more substitute items are displayed in an extended area between the third area and the fourth area. The method as claimed in item 1, wherein the first page includes: a first area displaying an image of the first item; displaying a second area of a first object outside the first area; and A third area displaying detailed information of the first item. The method of claim 4, wherein at least some of the one or more substitute items are displayed in an extended area between the second area and the third area. The method of claim 1, wherein if there is no substitute item corresponding to the first item, the first item is omitted on the first page. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying at least some of the one or more substitute items includes arranging and displaying at least some of the one or more substitute items in order of sales profit. The method of claim 1, wherein at least some of the one or more substitute items comprise items selected from among the one or more substitute items based on a reference rating. The method according to claim 8, wherein the reference rating is determined based on a rating of the first item. The method of claim 1, wherein at least some of the one or more substitute items comprise items selected from among the one or more substitute items based on a sales price, Wherein the selected items have a sales price that differs from a sales price of the first item within a predetermined range. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying at least some of the one or more substitute items comprises: selecting a substitute item for which the user has a purchase history from among the one or more substitute items; and Displays the selected alternate item in preference to other alternate items. The method of claim 1, wherein if the first item is not an out-of-stock item, the first page displays a shopping cart item corresponding to the first item, and Wherein the first item is added to the shopping cart in response to a second input by the user corresponding to the shopping cart item. The method according to claim 12, wherein the first page includes: a first area displaying an image of the first item; and A second area of the shopping cart object is displayed on the first area. The method of claim 12, wherein the shopping cart object includes a child object representing a quantity of one of the first items added to the shopping cart, Wherein the quantity is increased in response to the second input. The method of claim 14, wherein if the quantity corresponds to a maximum quantity, the quantity is maintained at the maximum quantity regardless of the second input. The method according to claim 15, wherein the maximum quantity is determined according to the first item. The method of claim 12, further comprising: in response to the second input, displaying a message on the first page indicating addition to the shopping cart; and In response to a third input by the user corresponding to the message, a second page is provided displaying one or more items contained in the shopping cart. A service server for providing information, including: a transceiver configured to transmit information to and receive information from another device; and a processor, where the processor is configured to: obtain information about a first item; Identifying whether the first item is an out-of-stock item based on the inventory information of the first item; providing a first page containing the information about the first item; obtaining a first input from a user corresponding to the first item; and in response to the first input, displaying on the first page at least some of the one or more substitute items corresponding to the first item, Wherein if the first item is an out-of-stock item, a first item for obtaining the first input is displayed on the first page. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising: a medium configured to store computer readable instructions, Wherein if the computer readable instructions are executed by a processor, the processor is configured to: Obtain information about a first item; Identifying whether the first item is an out-of-stock item based on the inventory information of the first item; providing a first page containing the information about the first item; obtaining a first input from a user corresponding to the first item; and in response to the first input, displaying on the first page at least some of the one or more substitute items corresponding to the first item, Wherein if the first item is an out-of-stock item, a first item for obtaining the first input is displayed on the first page.