JP2000285176A - System and method for online shopping - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an online shopping system for enabling the timely article reception of a customer and preventing the efficiency of an article delivery job from being lowered by the absence of the customer. SOLUTION: This system is provided with a server 1 constructing a shopping mall 2 composed of one or plural virtual shops 2a, a plurality of customer terminals 3a capable of transmitting order information to the server 1, virtual shop terminals 4a capable of receiving order reception information from the server 1 and an article relay spot 9, where a customer 3 can receive an article designated by the order information, the article is ordered by transmitting the order information from the customer terminal 3a to the server 1, the article relay spot 9 can be designated as the final delivery destination of the article to be designated from the customer terminal 3a to the server 1 and when the article relay spot 9 is designated as the final delivery destination of the article, the article is delivered to the article relay spot 9.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an online shopping system, and more particularly, to an online shopping system that enables a customer to receive a product when it is convenient and that efficiently distributes the product.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In addition to conventional mail-order sales systems such as catalog shopping, so-called online shopping systems have been rapidly spreading recently with the development of the Internet and various personal computer communications. In these systems, the delivery of goods to the customer is generally performed by a delivery system in which a courier company or the like directly delivers the product to the address or location of the customer specified by the customer (hereinafter referred to as “customer location”).

[0003]

However, in such a delivery system, when the customer is away, there are many cases where the delivery of goods is not possible. In such a case, the courier has to take the goods back to the company's warehouse and redeliver the goods at a later date or at a later time, which imposes extremely inefficient work. In addition, customers also have to inconvenience that they cannot receive the goods in a timely manner. Such an inconvenience is particularly serious when the handled product is a fresh food product.
Therefore, the present invention proposes an online shopping system and an online shopping method employing a new delivery system as described below in order to eliminate such inconvenience of the customer and a reduction in the efficiency of the delivery business due to the absence of the customer. is there.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide the following online shopping system and online shopping method. The invention according to claim 1 is
"A server on which a shopping mall comprising one or more virtual stores is constructed, a plurality of customer terminals capable of transmitting order information to the server, a virtual store terminal capable of receiving order information from the server, A product relay station that allows the customer to receive the product specified by the order information, and by transmitting the order information from the customer terminal to the server, to configure the order of the product, The merchandise relay station can be specified as the final delivery destination of the product specified from the customer terminal to the server, and the merchandise relay station is specified as the final delivery destination of the product. The present invention provides an online shopping system characterized in that the product is configured to be delivered to the product relay station.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a configuration wherein the virtual store terminal is provided at an operating entity of the virtual store, and the merchandise is taken from the operating entity and delivered to a final delivery destination. 2. An online shopping system according to claim 1, wherein

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing system comprising: a server on which a shopping mall comprising one or a plurality of virtual stores is constructed; a plurality of customer terminals capable of transmitting order information to the server; An online shopping method for an online shopping system comprising: a virtual shop terminal capable of receiving information; and a product relay station capable of receiving a product specified by the order information by a customer. By transmitting the order information to the product terminal, the customer can place an order for the product, and the customer terminal can specify the product relay station as a final delivery destination of the product specified to the server, If the merchandise relay station is designated as the final delivery destination, the merchandise is to be delivered to the merchandise relay station. It is intended to provide an online shopping method. "Characterized by.

[0007] The invention according to claim 4 is that the virtual store terminal is provided in an operating entity of the virtual store, and the merchandise is taken from the operating entity and delivered to a final delivery destination. 4. The online shopping method according to claim 3, characterized by the following.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS According to the present invention, when a customer orders and purchases a product by personal computer communication or the like, the delivery destination of the product is set to his / her address or location (customer location) or the nearest designated product relay station (for example, , A convenience store) can be designated. And it has the following structures. A server, a virtual shop built on the server, and a plurality of customer terminals connectable to the server, wherein the server and the plurality of customer terminals communicate with each other, and In the online shopping system configured to place an order for product purchase with respect to the server via the virtual store constructed above, the customer, when placing an order for the product, determines the location of the customer or the location of the customer. An online shopping system wherein the nearest merchandise relay station can be selected from each customer terminal as a delivery destination of the merchandise. A server, a virtual store built on the server, and a plurality of customer terminals connectable to the server, wherein the server and the plurality of customer terminals communicate with each other, and In an online shopping system configured to place an order for product purchase from the server via the virtual store constructed above, the server receives from the customer terminal when ordering from the customer terminal. The ordering information includes at least product specifying information for specifying the product, quantity information of the product, and delivery destination information of the product, and the delivery destination information of the product includes a predetermined location of the customer, An online shopping system, which is one of a third-party location designated by a customer each time or a merchandise relay station closest to the location of the customer. The server notifies the virtual shop terminal installed at the operating entity of the virtual shop of the order information of the product, and the virtual shop terminal outputs a delivery slip recording the order information from its output device. Online shopping system. A server, a virtual store built on the server, a virtual store terminal installed at the operating entity of the virtual store connectable to the server, and a plurality of customer terminals connectable to the server, The server and the plurality of customer terminals communicate with each other, and an online order is arranged from each of the customer terminals to the server via the virtual store built on the server for ordering a product. In the server of the shopping system, the server includes merchandise specifying information for specifying merchandise, quantity information of the merchandise, a predetermined location of the customer, a third-party location designated by the customer each time, or the Receiving, from the customer terminal, order information including at least the delivery destination information of any one of the merchandise relay stations near the customer's residence from the customer terminal, and notifying the virtual shop terminal of the order information. Online shopping system server that the butterflies. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram conceptually showing an embodiment of an online shopping system and an online shopping method of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a server constructed by an online shopping service provider, and on this server 1, a shopping mall 2 composed of a plurality of virtual stores 2a is constructed. These virtual stores 2
The shopping mall a and the shopping mall 2 are virtually configured using a large computer (not shown), a program that operates on the computer, and peripheral devices such as an external storage device.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a customer having a customer terminal 3a. The customer terminal 3a is configured by hardware such as a personal computer and a game machine and a program operating on the hardware, and is generally installed at each customer's 3 customer location. It should be noted that in FIG.
Although only one customer terminal 3a is shown, there are generally a plurality of customers who have subscribed to the service.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a retailer who operates the virtual store 2a on the server 1. The retailer 4 has a virtual store terminal 4a. The retailer 4 puts out a virtual store 2a on the server 1 by outsourcing the service provider in accordance with a contract with an online shopping service provider.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a maker or a wholesaler who supplies products to a retailer 4 who operates the virtual store 2a. The maker or the wholesaler 5 is provided with a maker terminal 5a. Reference numeral 6 denotes a home agent's merchandise center, which, when receiving information on picking up the merchandise from the server 1, issues a pick-up instruction to a store 7 of the home agent closest to the retailer 4 to receive the merchandise. Reference numeral 8 denotes an arrival at the home delivery company, which receives the product from the store 7 and delivers it to the final destination.
Reference numeral 9 denotes a convenience store closest to the customer 3.

[0013] The service provider of this online shopping system registers the settlement method and the customer identification information for identifying each member for the subscribing member (customer 3), and stores the customer identification information for each member. ID that recorded
A card will be issued by each member's enrollment procedure.

When the customer 3 places an order for a product from the customer terminal 3a using the online shopping system, the customer 3 receives customer identification information, product specifying information for specifying the product, order quantity information, And at least the delivery destination information to the server 1. that time,
In addition to the customer location, the customer 3 selects a desired delivery destination from two delivery destinations of the nearest merchandise broker (for example, a so-called convenience store that is open for a long time) as the delivery destination of the product. When the customer 3 gives a gift to a specific person 10, it goes without saying that the address or the whereabouts of the specific person 10 can be designated.

The server 1 transmits the order information received from the customer terminal 3a to the virtual shop terminal 4a and the maker terminal 5a as order information, and sends the order information to the product center 6 of the home delivery company.
Is notified of the collection date and time and information for specifying the retailer 4. The virtual store terminal 4a of the retailer 4 receiving the order information from the server 1 orders the product from the manufacturer terminal 5a of the manufacturer 5 and records necessary information including the delivery destination information from the order information in a delivery slip (not shown). Printer 4
b. When the maker terminal 5a receives the order information from the virtual store terminal 4a, the maker or the wholesaler 5 sends the product to the retailer 4.

The retailer 4 attaches a delivery slip to the goods arriving from the manufacturer or the wholesaler 5 and delivers the goods to the home delivery company of the store 7 that has come to pick up based on a pickup instruction from the goods center 6. The home delivery company of the opening 7 is the customer 3
The product is handed over to the home delivery company of the nearest store 8 at (customer location). The delivery company at the store 8 checks the delivery destination information of the delivery slip attached to the product, and delivers the product to the final delivery destination. That is, when the customer's location is specified as the delivery destination information of the delivery slip attached to the product, the home delivery company of the arrival store 8 delivers the product to that address, and the nearest convenience store 9 for the customer 3 is specified. If so,
Deliver to the convenience store 9. If the specific person 10 who should give the gift to the specific person 10 is specified as the delivery destination information of the delivery slip, the home delivery company of the store 7 sends the product to the nearest store of the specific person 10. And deliver
It goes without saying that the courier of arrival arrives at the address or residence of the specific person 10.

When the customer places an order for a product by specifying the convenience store 9 as a delivery destination, the customer can go to the convenience store 9 to receive the product at a convenient time after the scheduled product date and time. I just need. On this occasion,
The clerk at the convenience store compares the customer identification information recorded on the customer's ID card with the customer identification information on the delivery note attached to the product, and delivers the product to the customer. According to the online shopping system employing such a delivery system, the home delivery company can reduce wasteful redelivery due to the absence of the customer, and the customer can also receive the product in a timely manner, which is extremely desirable.

Note that the convenience store 9 and the server 1 are also connected by a line, and authentication of delivery of goods to the customer 3 in the convenience store 9 is performed online,
The convenience store 9 and the customer terminal 3a may be connected by a line, and the convenience store 9 may notify the customer 3 of the arrival of the product.

[0019]

As described above, according to the online shopping system and the online shopping method of the present invention, the customer receives the product specified by himself / herself as the final delivery destination for the server from the customer terminal. Since the product can be arbitrarily specified, including a product relay station that can perform the product reception, the product can be reliably received. That is, if the customer is surely expected to be at home when delivering the product, the customer can receive the product at his / her own location by designating his / her location, and the nearest convenience store when the absence is expected. By designating, it is possible to receive the goods at the convenience store at the convenience of the customer.

Also, when the customer is away, the delivery destination is specified to the convenience store nearest to the customer, so that the delivery frequency of the customer to the absence home is reduced, and the delivery service is also efficient. Delivery business can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram conceptually showing an embodiment of an online shopping system and an online shopping method of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 server 2 shopping mall 2a virtual store 3 customer 3a customer terminal 4 retailer 4a virtual store terminal 4b printer 5 maker or wholesaler 5a maker terminal 6 merchandise center 7 opening of courier service 8 arrival of courier service 9 convenience store (commodity store) Relay station)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A server on which a shopping mall comprising one or a plurality of virtual stores is constructed; a plurality of customer terminals capable of transmitting order information to the server; and a virtual store capable of receiving order information from the server. A terminal, and a merchandise relay station that allows the customer to receive the product specified by the order information, by transmitting the order information from the customer terminal to the server, so as to order the product. In addition to the above configuration, the merchandise relay station can be designated as a final delivery destination of the product specified from the customer terminal to the server, and the merchandise relay station is designated as a final delivery destination of the product. An online shopping system, characterized in that when specified, the product is delivered to the product relay station. 2. The virtual store terminal is provided at an operating entity of the virtual store, and the merchandise is taken from the operating entity and delivered to a final delivery destination. Item 2. An online shopping system according to item 1. 3. A server on which a shopping mall comprising one or more virtual stores is constructed; a plurality of customer terminals capable of transmitting order information to the server; and a virtual store capable of receiving order information from the server. An online shopping method for an online shopping system, comprising: a terminal; and a merchandise relay station that enables a customer to receive the product specified by the order information, wherein the order information is transmitted from the customer terminal to the server. Thereby, while ordering the product, the customer terminal can be specified as the final delivery destination of the product specified to the server from the customer terminal, and the product relay station can be designated as the final delivery destination of the product. When the commodity relay station is designated, the commodity is delivered to the commodity relay station. Line shopping method. 4. The virtual store terminal is provided in an operating entity of the virtual store, and the merchandise is taken from the operating entity and delivered to a final delivery destination. Online shopping method described in.