JP2000276532A - Shopping support method and system therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a useful information to a consumer for planning his effective shopping by using a portable terminal to automatically receive and store a commodity information and sales information sent from each store and also using a means with which the consumer retrieves those information. SOLUTION: An information terminal 1 is installed at each of stores 3a-3c, and the information on the commodities which are handled at the stores 3a-3c and the sales information on these commodities are transmitted by radio to the information distribution areas 4a-4c included in a fixed range set around every terminal 1. Meanwhile, the portable terminal of a consumer automatically receives and stores both commodity and sales information when the consumer enters the areas 4a-4c. A means is independently prepared for the consumer to retrieve those information. In such a constitution, the consumer can refer to and retrieve the information for deciding effectively his/her shopping plan.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a shopping support method and system, and more particularly to a method for more efficient shopping using a store information terminal installed in a store and a portable terminal carried by a consumer. The present invention relates to a shopping support method and system capable of providing consumers with information on shopping.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when consumers are shopping, except for some products obtained from newspaper inserts and the like,
It was common to find out how many products and services are handled in which stores, and how much products are in stock and how much they sell, without actually entering each store and examining them.

In order to purchase groceries, daily necessities, and the like with as little expenditure as possible, many consumers go to various stores to collect information and determine what to buy in which store. It was decided and it took a lot of effort. Also, I found a store that sells cheaply, but when I actually went to that store, the product I wanted was already sold out, so I had to do expensive shopping at another store. was there.

[0004] In addition, it is difficult to know where to go to purchase special items that are rarely purchased, and it is sometimes unclear which store is located in the store.
Purchasing just one product could be a great deal of work.

[0005] To solve these problems, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.
In the product information presentation system described in -63749, a method is proposed in which information on each store and product information described in an advertisement are stored in a database, and a consumer performs a search for various purposes via a communication network. ing. However, as a practical matter, competing stores register all information including the selling price of the product (for example, the selling price of each store generally does not tell the competing stores) to a common database. It is difficult to imagine this, and there is a problem that a communication fee is required every time a consumer searches the database.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to collect information from a flyer or the like consciously by consumers. Automatically collects product information and sales information from various stores near the consumer's range of activities, without having to go to the sales floor of other stores or search for information by paying communication charges, planning for more efficient shopping To provide consumers with information that helps them to do so.

[0007] Another object of the present invention is to allow a consumer to go shopping without having to step into a store.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a technology capable of checking whether a product in a specific field or an individual product that a consumer wants to purchase is available for purchase at the store, a sales price, or the like.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a store that sells a special product that the consumer wants to purchase while the user is shopping, or a product that meets the purchase conditions of the consumer. If there is a store that sells products or a store that sells products that consumers are interested in, etc., consumers will be able to miss out on purchasing opportunities by notifying consumers of that fact. It is to provide a technology that can be prevented.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, an information terminal is installed at each store, and the information terminal is handled in the information distribution area within a certain range around the information terminal. The product information and sale information of the product being sold are transmitted wirelessly, and when the consumer carries the mobile terminal and enters the information distribution area, the mobile terminal automatically sets the product information and sale information. By receiving and storing information, and separately providing a means for consumers to search for such product information and sale information, product information of various stores that existed near the consumer's range of activity and Sales information is automatically collected so that consumers can browse and search for that information when planning their shopping.

[0010] Further, the product information and sale information stored in the portable terminal are transmitted wirelessly from the portable terminal by a consumer operation, and the product information and sale information transmitted from another portable terminal by the consumer operation. Received information. For example, the stored product information and sale information can be communicated between two mobile terminals, so that information collected by other consumers can be used.

In addition, a product or a product category for which a consumer wants to inquire at least one of the stock and the selling price is registered in the portable terminal, and the consumer carries the portable terminal and is installed in the store. Two-way communication with the information terminal is in the possible area, and, when the consumer performs an inquiry operation, the inventory of the registered product or product category from the mobile terminal to the store information terminal or By transmitting a message for inquiring of the sales price wirelessly, receiving an answer message from the store information terminal, and using the output means of the portable terminal to present the contents of the answer to the consumer by Even if consumers do not go into stores, they can know the availability of products they want to buy and the selling price.

[0012] In addition, at least one condition that a consumer wants to be notified of an alarm is registered in a portable terminal, and information distribution of a store information terminal installed in a store by the consumer carrying the portable terminal is performed. When entering the area, the mobile terminal automatically receives product information and sale information wirelessly transmitted from the store information and determines whether any of the alarm notification conditions is satisfied,
Alternatively, when the consumer carries the portable terminal and enters the communicable area of the store information terminal, it is necessary to determine the registered alarm condition from the portable terminal to the store information terminal. By automatically transmitting a message to make an inquiry wirelessly, receiving a response message from the store information terminal and determining whether any of the alarm notification conditions is satisfied, the alarm notification condition is satisfied. When the corresponding information is received, the consumer is notified of the alarm using the output means of the portable terminal. Thus, when the consumer receives the information corresponding to the condition that the consumer wants to be notified of the alarm, the consumer can immediately know the information.

Further, the consumer registers the range of the merchandise information and sale information to be stored in the portable terminal, and the merchandise information and the sale information received by the portable terminal each correspond to the range of the merchandise information and the sale information to be stored. Is determined, and information not included in the range is omitted from storage.

When new merchandise information and sale information are received from the same store information terminal stored in the portable terminal, the new merchandise information and sale information are compared with the stored merchandise information and sale information. It is now determined whether to append, update, or delete information.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of a shopping support method and system according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the overall configuration of one embodiment of a shopping support system according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a store information terminal, and 2 is a portable terminal carried by the consumer 6. As shown in FIG. 1, the store information terminal 1 is installed in each of the stores 3-a, 3-b, and 3-c, and wirelessly transmits product information and sale information on products handled in the stores. For this wireless transmission, if a specific low-power wireless transmission / reception circuit used in a cordless telephone or the like is used, information is distributed from the store to the portable terminal 2 within a range of about several tens to hundreds of meters. be able to. Needless to say, if a wireless transmission / reception unit with a higher output is used as required, the information distribution areas 4-a, 4-
b and 4-c can be made wider, but as the information distribution area becomes wider, the possibility of interference with the store information terminal of another store increases, so the transmission output is made according to the positional relationship with the other store. It is desirable to appropriately select the frequency band to be used.

Further, the communicable areas 5-a, 5-b, 5-
c is an area in which bidirectional transmission and reception can be performed between each store information terminal 1 and the mobile terminal 2. This area is adjusted by adjusting the transmission power level and the receivable power level in the store information terminal 1. It is better to make it one size smaller than the information distribution area. In addition, by using a different frequency band from the information distribution, communication with the portable terminal can be performed in parallel with the information distribution.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the store information terminal 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the store information terminal 1
Is an input / output unit 1 such as a keyboard, mouse, display, etc.
2, a wireless transceiver 13 for wirelessly communicating data,
A commercially available hard disk drive, comprising a storage device 14 in which product information and sale information to be distributed are recorded, a communication unit 15 for exchanging data with the host computer 7, and a control unit 11 for controlling the operation of the entire terminal It can be easily realized by connecting a wireless transceiver to a built-in personal computer. The host computer 7 includes:
An external storage device 71 in which inventory management information is stored is connected.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the portable terminal 2 carried by the consumer 6. As shown in FIG. 3, the mobile terminal 2 includes an input / output unit 22 such as a keyboard, a track pointer, and a liquid crystal display, a wireless transmission / reception unit 23 that performs wireless data communication with specific low power, a received product information and sale information. The battery-driven terminal includes a storage device 24 in which information and the like are recorded, and a control unit 21 that controls the operation of the entire terminal. The storage device 24 may be a hard disk, a nonvolatile RAM, or a volatile RAM with a battery backup. FIG.
FIG. 1 shows an example of the appearance of the portable terminal 2. In FIG. 4, 25 is an antenna, 26 is a liquid crystal display, 27 is a track pointer, and 28 is a keyboard.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the contents of a distribution information table 16 in which merchandise information to be distributed and sale information recorded in the storage device 14 in the store information terminal are registered. As shown in FIG. 5, each product information and sale information includes a type 81,
It comprises a target period 82, a distribution period 83, and an information body 84. The type 81 indicates that the information is either product information or sale information. In the target period 82, the handling period or sale period of the product is specified, and in the distribution period 83, the period in which the information is to be distributed is specified. In particular, it is not necessary to specify a period for information for which it is not necessary to specify a period, that is, for information that should always be delivered. The information body 84 is the body of information to be distributed. In this example, the information is represented by a character string, but may be represented by a data string having a specific format. In addition to these, a parameter for changing the distribution frequency for each product information and sale information may be added. It is also possible to perform more advanced distribution control such as suspending the distribution of the product or switching to the next scheduled arrival date information, and restarting the distribution of the product information when the product arrives.

Although illustration is omitted, the product master includes, for all products handled at the store, a product code, a maker name, a product name, specifications, a sales start date, a sales end date, a suggested retail price, a sales price, and the like. The recorded information is recorded in the inventory management file, and information on the stock quantity and the scheduled arrival of each product is recorded, and this information is used for an inquiry response process from the portable terminal described later.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the contents of the parameter registration table 31 recorded in the storage device 24 in the portable terminal. The type 91 indicates the type of information to be registered, and the information is registered in the information body 92. The information collection range 93 indicates the range in which information should be collected, the alarm condition 94 indicates the condition for which an alarm notification is desired, the inquiry content 95 indicates the content to be inquired to the store information terminal, and the information exchange range 96 indicates the content. A range of information for transmitting / receiving information collected with another mobile terminal is registered.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the contents of the reception information table 32 in which the reception information recorded in the storage device 24 in the portable terminal is registered. As shown in FIG. 7, each piece of reception information includes reception date and time 101, store information 102, type 103, and target product 10
4, a target period 105 and an information body 106. The reception date and time 101 records the date and time when the information was received, and the store information 102 records the store information received together with the information. The type 103 indicates whether the information is product information or sale information.
Reference numeral 4 denotes a product category or a product which is the target of the information. The target period 105 indicates a handling period or a sale period of the product, which is shown in FIG.
The information designated as the target period 82 is received.

In FIG. 7, "Store information 3-i (i =
a, b, c) "is the store 3-i (i = a, b,
The store information received from the store information terminal c) is referred to as "product information 3-ij" because the product classification j (for example, represented by a numeral number) received from the store information terminal of the store 3-i.
Product information of "sale information 3-i (i = a, b,
“c)” ”represents the sale information received from the store information terminal of the store 3-i (i = a, b, c).

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation example of information distribution processing of the store information terminal, FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an operation example of inquiry response processing of the store information terminal, and FIG.
Is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of an automatic reception process of the mobile terminal, FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of an automatic inquiry process of the mobile terminal, and FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of a manual inquiry process of the mobile terminal. .

Hereinafter, using these flowcharts,
Consumer 6 carries a mobile terminal 10 as shown in FIG.
The operation of the system according to the present embodiment will be described by taking as an example a case in which the system moves along. Here, the consumer 6 determines the travel route 1
We want to collect product information of processed foods and fresh foods and all sale information from stores 3-a, 3-b, 3-c near 0, and furthermore, certain specific product Y is 10,000 yen or less You want to buy at

First, the consumer 6 uses the input / output unit 22 of the portable terminal 2 to register a range of information to be collected. As a registration method, for example, JICFS commodity classification code system major classification (1: food, 2: daily necessities, ...)
And middle classification (11: processed food, 12: fresh food, 13:
The name of a product group corresponding to confectionery,... Is displayed on a display, and a product group whose information is to be collected is selected individually or by specifying a range using a keyboard or a track pointer. Here, consumers want to collect information about processed and fresh food,
Select and register “11: processed food” and “12: fresh food”. Unless a range is specified, all information is collected for sale information, and nothing is registered here. The information registered here is recorded in the parameter registration table 25 in the storage device 24 as the information collection range 93. Note that a more detailed range may be specified, for example, by specifying an area where information is desired to be collected by an address or a zip code or by specifying a store name.

Next, the consumer 6 operates the input / output unit 2 of the portable terminal 2.
2 is used to register an alarm condition when a product A sold for 10,000 yen or less is found. As a registration method, for example, when the product code is known, the product code is used, and when the product code is unknown, the product is specified using the manufacturer name and the product number (model name), and the selling price is specified. You only need to register 10,000 yen or less. The information registered here is recorded in the storage device 24 as the alarm condition 94.

Further, the consumer 6 inquires the same product code or maker name and product number (model name) as described above in order to investigate whether or not the product A is handled at each store, whether or not there is stock, and the selling price. It is also registered as 95.

The above-described embodiment is an example in which information is registered using the input / output unit of the portable terminal 2, but the result of the registration processing performed separately by a personal computer or the like is transferred to the portable terminal 2. You may do so.

After completing the preparation on the portable terminal side as described above, the consumer 6 carries the portable terminal 2 and moves in the direction of the arrow from the start point A to the end point B of the moving route 10 in FIG. Shall start.

On the other hand, merchandise information and sale information are distributed from the store information terminal 1 of each store in accordance with the flowchart of FIG. That is, first, after distributing store information such as store name, location, business hours, and regular holidays (step S11), it is determined whether undistributed information is registered in the distribution information table 16 (step S11). S12) If registered, distribution period 8 of the first information
3 and the current date and time to determine whether the information is within the distribution period (step S13). If the distribution period has not arrived, the process returns to step S12. If the distribution period has not elapsed, the product information or sale information is distributed (step S14). If the distribution period has expired, the information is deleted ( Step S15), and return to step S12.

Hereinafter, step S13 and subsequent steps are repeated for all the information registered in the distribution information table 16, and when a series of processes is completed, the process returns from step S12 to step S11 to repeat the above processes.

When the consumer 6 that has left from the starting point A in FIG. 1 enters the information distribution area 4-a of the store 3-a,
The information distributed from the store information terminal is automatically received according to the flowchart of FIG. That is, the control unit 11 monitors whether the mobile terminal 2 has entered the information distribution area 4-i (i = a, b, c) of the store 3-i (step S31), and enters the information distribution area. Then, the wireless transmission / reception unit 23 automatically receives the store information, the product information, and the sale information distributed from the store information terminal 1 and sequentially passes them to the control unit 11 (step S32). Subsequently, the control unit 11 extracts information to be recorded from the received information with reference to the information collection range 93 (Step S33),
The extracted product information and sale information are recorded in the reception information table 32 together with the store information (step S34).

In the above example, “1” is set as the information collection condition.
Since “1: processed food” and “12: fresh food” are registered and no conditions are specified for sale information, in the information distribution area 4-a, store information of the store 3-a, processed food, and fresh food are stored. Product information and all sale information are extracted and recorded.

FIG. 10 shows an example of the content of the received information to be recorded. Next, to avoid duplicate recording of the same information,
It is checked whether the same information has already been recorded in the reception information table 32 (step S35), and if it has been recorded, the old information is deleted (step S3).
6). The above operation is performed when the mobile terminal 2 is in the information distribution area 4-
It is repeatedly executed until it goes out of i.

Next, the consumer 6 proceeds a little further, and
When entering the communicable area 5-a of -a, an automatic inquiry to the store information terminal is performed in accordance with the flowchart of FIG. That is, the control unit 11 communicates with the communicable area 5-i (i = a, b,
c) is monitored (step S4).
1) When entering the communicable area, the controller 11 refers to the parameter registration table 31 (FIG. 6) to determine whether an alarm condition is registered (step S4).
2) If registered, an inquiry message necessary for determining the alarm condition 94 is transmitted to the store information terminal 1 (step S43).

On the other hand, the shop information terminal 1 performs an inquiry response process according to the flowchart of FIG. That is, it monitors whether or not an inquiry from the mobile terminal 2 has been received (step S21). If there is an inquiry, an inquiry is made to the host computer 7 as needed (steps S22 and S23), and the inquiry is made. Is transmitted to the mobile terminal 2 (step S2).
4).

The portable terminal 2 receives the answer message (step S44), and determines whether or not the content of the answer message has satisfied the alarm condition (step S45).
If the alarm condition is satisfied, an alarm is issued (step S46). If not, the answer is recorded in the storage device 24 as a communication record (step S47). Next, in order to avoid duplicate recording of the same data, it is checked whether or not the same data has already been recorded in the communication record (step S48).
Old information is deleted (step S49).

In the above example, if the inquiry about the stock and selling price of the product A is issued from the portable terminal 2 and the store 3-a does not handle the product A, the alarm condition 9
Since it does not correspond to 4, the answer is merely recorded in the communication record. When the recording in the communication record is completed, step S50 is repeated until the vehicle exits the current communicable area, and when the vehicle leaves the communicable area, the process returns to step S41 to repeat the above processing. As a result, while in the same communicable area, the inquiry from the terminal device 2 is executed only once, and the inquiry is performed again when the user leaves the communicable area and enters the same communicable area again. Will be.

When the portable terminal 2 enters the communicable area of the store information terminal 1, the state is displayed on the display of the portable terminal 2, and the consumer 6 confirms the state and performs an inquiry operation. Then, an inquiry to the store information terminal 1 is made according to the flowchart of FIG.
That is, the control unit 11 determines whether the store 3-i where the mobile terminal 2 is located is located.
Of the communication area 5-i (i = a, b, c) is monitored (step S51), and upon entering the communication area, the control unit 11 determines whether an inquiry operation has been performed. When monitoring (step S52) and an inquiry operation is performed, the control unit 11 transmits a necessary inquiry message to the store information terminal 1 with reference to the inquiry content 95 (step S53).

Thereafter, the reply message is received from the store information terminal 1 in the same manner as described above (step S54), and the contents of the reply message are notified to the consumer 6 by displaying the contents of the reply message on the display (step S55). Is recorded in the communication record (step S56). In the above example, when the consumer 6 performs an inquiry operation in the communicable area 5-a, since the store 3-a does not handle the product A, the fact is notified.

Next, when the consumer 6 advances a little more again, the consumer 6 enters the information distribution area 4-b of the store 3-b, and is transmitted from the store information terminal 1 of the store 3-b in the same manner as described above. The merchandise information and all the sale information relating to the processed food and fresh food are taken in the reception information table 32. Similarly, upon entering the communicable area 5-b of the store 3-b, an inquiry message about the product A is transmitted from the mobile terminal 2, and the store A sells the product A for 12,000 yen. In this case, a response message to that effect is transmitted from the store information terminal 1, but the mobile terminal 2 records the content of the response message in the storage device 24 as a communication record because the message does not correspond to the alarm condition. Only.

Subsequently, the consumer 6 further proceeds to the store 3
When entering the information distribution area 4-c of -c, the same product information and sale information as described above are fetched, and when entering the communicable area 5-c, the same automatic inquiry as above is performed. Here, assuming that the store 3-c sells the product A for 9,000 yen, a response message to that effect is transmitted from the store information terminal 1. This time, since the designated alarm condition is met, the portable terminal 2 displays the contents of the answer message on the display and issues an alarm such as outputting an alarm sound (step S4).
6). As a result, the consumer 6 enters the product A in the store 3-c.
Can find out that they are selling for less than the desired price. Moreover, the store 3-a and the store 3-b
Since the alarm sound did not sound, it can be seen that the merchandise A cannot be purchased at the desired price or less even when going to those stores, so that it is possible to immediately judge whether or not to purchase.

In this way, when the consumer 6 completes the movement from the start point to the end point of the movement route 7, the portable terminal 2
Stores 3-a, 3-b, 3-
Product information on processed foods and fresh foods of three stores c and all sale information are recorded. In the communication record, there is a response message on whether or not product A is handled at these three stores and the selling price. Be recorded.

The above-mentioned information can be searched in various forms using the search function provided in the portable terminal 2, and the consumer 6 can make a more efficient shopping plan with reference to the information. Can be. Alternatively, these pieces of information may be transferred to a personal computer or the like, and may be searched by the personal computer or the like.

In the above description, the case where the range of information collection and alarm conditions are relatively simple has been described. However, the range of information collection can be specified in more detail, and alarm conditions can be specified in more various forms. Can also be easily realized. For example, it is possible to designate such that the sale information including keywords such as "time service" or "daily limit" is fetched, or to specify such stores as "stores that are open until 10 p.m. on Tuesday night". Alternatively, as an alarm condition, “the width is 30 cm or less, the depth is 50 cm or less, and the height is 180 to
It may be possible to specify detailed product specifications such as "220 cm, white door."

If information is collected more and more in this manner, the capacity of the storage device 24 will eventually reach the upper limit, so that the collected information must be deleted as appropriate. As a method of erasing, set a storage period according to the type of information, and automatically delete the information after the storage period, or determine the expiration date based on the contents of each information, and There is a method of automatically erasing the information, or a method of presenting an alarm message urging the consumer to erase the information and prompting the consumer to manually specify the information to be erased.

Further, the collected information can be exchanged between the portable terminals using wireless or wired communication means. The information collected by the portable terminals of other consumers can be received. By taking in, it is possible to collect information on a wider range of stores. At this time, it is preferable that the range of information to be exchanged can be designated by both the transmitting side and the receiving side, so that only information in a necessary range is exchanged.

[0050]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Even if consumers are not particularly conscious, if they carry a mobile terminal, they will automatically obtain various product information and sale information from stores that existed near the consumer's action route And using that information will enable consumers to make more efficient purchases.

Also, since the inventory and sales price of the desired product can be checked from the portable terminal without entering the store,
There is no need to waste time and effort.

Also, if an alarm is set to be issued when the consumer receives product information that satisfies a specific purchase condition, the customer can approach a store that sells a product that satisfies the desired purchase condition. Will be notified by an alarm, so you will not miss a chance to purchase.

If an alarm is set to be received when product information lower than the lowest selling price received so far is received, the same product can be obtained at the lowest cost with less labor. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment (example) of a shopping support system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a store information terminal according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a portable terminal carried by a consumer according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an external view of the portable terminal shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a content example of a distribution information table according to the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is an example of the contents of a parameter registration table according to the embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a content example of a reception information table according to the embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an information distribution process of the store information terminal according to the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an inquiry response process of the store information terminal according to the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of an automatic reception process of the mobile terminal according to the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of an alarm notification process of the mobile terminal according to the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a manual inquiry process of the portable terminal according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... store information terminal, 2 ... portable terminal, 3-a, 3-b, 3-
c ... store, 4-a, 4-b, 4-c ... information distribution area, 5-
a, 5-b, 5-c: communicable area, 6: consumer, 7 ...
Upper computer, 10: Consumer's travel route, 11: Control unit, 12: Input / output unit, 13: Wireless transmission / reception unit, 14: Storage device, 15: Communication unit, 16: Distribution information table, 21
... Control part, 22 ... Input / output part, 23 ... Wireless transmitting / receiving part, 24
... Storage device, 25 ... Parameter registration table, 26 ... Reception information table, 71 ... Stock management information, 81 ... Type, 8
2 ... target period, 83 ... distribution period, 84 ... information body, 91
... Type, 92 ... Information body, 93 ... Information collection range, 94 ...
Alarm condition, 95: inquiry contents, 96: information exchange range, 101: reception date and time, 102: store information, 103: type, 104: target product, 105: target period, 106: information body.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A step of wirelessly transmitting merchandise information and sale information of merchandise handled in a store from a store information terminal installed in the store, and a mobile terminal carried by a consumer distributing information from the store information terminal. When you enter the area,
A shopping support method comprising: a step in which the portable terminal automatically receives and stores the product information and sale information; and a step in which a consumer searches for the stored product information and sale information. 2. A step in which a consumer registers a product or a product category for which he or she wants to inquire at least one of inventory and a selling price in a portable terminal, wherein the portable terminal carried by the consumer is a store information terminal installed in a store. The inventory or selling price of the registered product or product category from the mobile terminal to the store information terminal when the user is in the communicable area and the consumer performs an inquiry operation on the mobile terminal. Wirelessly transmitting a message for inquiring of the inquiry, wirelessly transmitting a message for replying inventory information or sales price information for the inquiry from the store information terminal to the mobile terminal, and outputting the mobile terminal Presenting the contents of the answer to the consumer using a means. 3. A step of registering at least one condition in which a consumer wants to be notified of an alarm in a portable terminal, wherein the portable terminal carried by the consumer enters an information distribution area of a store information terminal installed in a store. The portable terminal automatically receives the product information and sale information transmitted wirelessly from the store information to determine whether any of the alarm notification conditions is satisfied, or When the portable terminal carried by the person enters the communicable area of the store information terminal installed in the store, the portable terminal is required to determine the registered alarm condition for the store information terminal. A message for making an inquiry is automatically transmitted wirelessly, and response information from the store information terminal is received to determine whether any of the alarm notification conditions is satisfied. And a step of, when the mobile terminal receives information corresponding to the condition of the alarm notification, performing an alarm notification to a consumer using output means of the mobile terminal. How to help. 4. A store information terminal which is installed in a store and wirelessly transmits product information and sale information of products handled at the store, and a consumer carries the device and enters the information distribution area of the store information terminal. When the mobile terminal automatically receives and stores the product information and sale information transmitted from the store information terminal, and searches for the stored product information and sale information in response to a consumer operation A shopping support system comprising: a search unit for presenting a search result. 5. In response to an inquiry message wirelessly transmitted from a portable terminal carried by a consumer and installed in a store, a response message regarding product information and sale information of a product handled at the store is sent to the portable terminal. A store information terminal that transmits wirelessly, and a registration unit for a consumer to register the content of an inquiry to the store information terminal in a mobile terminal;
When the consumer carries the device and enters the communicable area of the store information terminal, and the consumer performs an inquiry operation, the inquiry message for performing the registered inquiry is wirelessly transmitted to the store information terminal. A shopping support system comprising: an inquiry unit that receives an answer message transmitted from the store information terminal; and a mobile terminal having a presentation unit that presents the contents of the answer message to a consumer. 6. A store information terminal which is installed in a store and wirelessly transmits product information and sale information of products handled at the store, and at least one condition for which a consumer wants to be notified of an alarm by a mobile terminal. Registration means for registering,
When a consumer carries the product and enters the information distribution area of the store information terminal, the store information is automatically received wirelessly transmitted product information and sale information and any of the alarm notification conditions To determine if this is the case,
Alternatively, when the consumer carries and enters the communicable area of the store information terminal, an inquiry message for making an inquiry necessary to determine the registered alarm notification condition is wirelessly transmitted to the store information terminal. Transmitting, receiving an answer message wirelessly transmitted from the store information, and determining whether or not the content of the answer falls under any of the alarm notification conditions, and And a portable terminal having an alarm notifying unit for notifying a consumer of an alarm when the corresponding information is received.