JP2001265851A - Selection support device for subordinate article - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it easy to select an article in online shopping and to prevent an omission of purchase and a mispurchase. SOLUTION: The selection support device for subordinate articles is equipped with a DB in which articles are classified into main articles and subordinate articles used subordinately to the main articles like a main body and options or consumables and the main articles are categorized. When the article section and article category of a desired article are specified, a list of main articles in the specified article category is displayed. Once a main article is selected, the DB is searched to present articles belonging to the specified article section to the user.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a product selection method, and more particularly to a product selection method suitable for an online shopping system and method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the development of the Internet, online shopping and the like are also rapidly expanding. In general, online shopping is performed by visiting a homepage that sells a product, selecting a product on the homepage, and inputting payment information.

[0003]

In the conventional online shopping, it is necessary for a user to determine a purchased product by himself, search for the purchased product on an unfamiliar homepage, and place an order. However, general users do not have sufficient knowledge of all products and their homepages. For example, when purchasing a certain product, even when it is necessary to purchase options and consumables of the product at the same time, or when it is desirable to purchase at the same time, the user may not notice and may not order. Conversely, there is also a case where a product that is not originally required is erroneously ordered. In addition, among products, there are also options and consumables, but these products must select those that are compatible with the main product,
Extreme difficulty.

[0004] Also, even if somehow the product to order is determined,
It may be difficult to find the product on the homepage.

[0005] In such a case, it is possible to receive advice at a store or a door-to-door sales. But,
As described above, in online shopping, such services cannot be received, and as a result, online shopping is inconvenient. Also, advice at dealers and door-to-door sales was personal, and it was difficult to receive high-quality and uniform advice.

[0006] Further, even if the business has a normal sales network, information obtained through a general sales network (seller network, service point network) and information obtained through online shopping are organically obtained. It was not linked and information was not fully utilized.

[0007] A settlement method in online shopping is a credit card or a transfer. on the other hand,
The settlement method in ordinary business transactions is mainly bills, cash, and remittances, and there is a problem that accounting processing becomes complicated in settlement by a business operator.

[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and has as its object to facilitate selection of a product.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a highly convenient online shopping system.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a dependent product selection support device according to a first aspect of the present invention uses a plurality of products under a main product and a sub product. Merchandise information storage means for classifying the main merchandise into a plurality of merchandise categories and storing them in association with each other, and designating means for specifying the merchandise category and the merchandise category, respectively. Means for displaying a list of products belonging to the product category specified by the specifying means, selecting means for selecting an arbitrary product from the list, and matching the product selected by the selecting means,
And a search unit for searching the product information storage unit for a product belonging to the product category specified by the specification unit.

According to the present invention, it is possible to easily select a subordinate product suitable for the main product.

The merchandise information storage means stores, for example, a plurality of merchandise in a merchandise category indicating a main merchandise, an optional merchandise used as an option of the main merchandise, and a consumable of the main merchandise.

The designation means includes, for example, a section designation means for designating a product category, a means for transmitting a signal for displaying a list of product categories in response to designation by the category designation means, Means for receiving a signal for selecting an arbitrary product category from among them.

[0013] The specifying means includes means for receiving a specification from a customer via a network, means for transmitting a signal for displaying a list of products belonging to the specified product category via the network, A means for receiving a signal for selecting an arbitrary product from the list, and a product which matches the selected product and belongs to a product category specified by the specifying means is searched from the product information storage means. And a search unit configured for a network.

In order to achieve the above object, a second aspect of the present invention is provided.
The method for selecting a subordinate product according to the aspect of the present invention selects a product category, presents a first list of product categories of a main product in response to the selection of the product category, and, from the presented first list, Receiving a selection of a product category, presenting a second list of main products belonging to the selected category in response to the selection of the product category, receiving a selection of a product from the presented second list, In response to the selection of the item, a product that matches the selected product and belongs to the selected product category is a product that indicates a plurality of products as a main product and sub-products used under the main product. The product is classified into sections, and the main product is divided into a plurality of product categories and retrieved from a product information database that is stored in association with each other.

[0015] To achieve the above object, a third aspect of the present invention is provided.
The recording medium according to the aspect of the present invention comprises: a computer for designating a product category and a product category; and a unit for displaying a list of products belonging to the product category designated by the designating unit. Means for selecting a product, a product that conforms to the selected main product and belongs to the product category specified by the specifying means, classifies a plurality of products into a product category indicating a main product and a sub product,
Furthermore, a program for recording a main product into a plurality of product categories and functioning as a means for searching from a product information database stored in association with each other is recorded.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a sales system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings,
A system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. This system enables the promotion of a network shopping service while maintaining and developing an existing dealer network.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a configuration of a network system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, this system comprises an in-company network system 1 owned by an enterprise such as a company or an organization, the Internet 2 open to the public, and a client terminal (customer terminal) connected to the Internet 2. ) 31 (31 _{1 to} 31 _n ).

The in-company network system 1 is composed of an intranet or the like, and is connected to a company network (LA).
N, WAN) 3 and a plurality of store terminals 11 (11 _{1 to} 11 _m ), and a store DB 21 (21 _1).
21 _m ), the management server 13, the management DB 23, the shopping server 15, and the shopping DB 25.

The store terminal 11 is a terminal that is installed in a store, service store, or the like owned or contracted by the business entity, and processes the business of each store. Each store DB (database) 21 is a DB for each store to process the business of its own store. The store terminal 11 and the store DB (database) 21 have the configuration shown in FIG. Store terminal 11
As shown in FIG. 2, a communication control unit 111, a processing control unit 112, a data storage unit 113, an input processing unit 114
And a display processing unit 115.

The communication control unit 111 transmits and receives various kinds of information via the company network 3 under the control of the processing control unit 112.

The processing control unit 112 communicates via the communication control unit 111 in accordance with an instruction input from the input processing unit 114, and processes various kinds of information relating to operations in the store. Further, the processing control unit 111 creates image information,
It is supplied to the display processing unit 115.

The data storage unit 113 is composed of a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk recording device and the like, and records various information and programs.

The input processing unit 114 is constituted by a keyboard, a pointing device and the like, and is for inputting instructions and data.

The display processing unit 115 includes a display device,
It is composed of a video memory and the like, displays an image according to the image information supplied from the processing control unit 112, and presents (outputs) information and the like.

On the other hand, the store DB 21 stores the customer DB 211
, A sales DB 212 and a billing DB 213.

As shown in FIG. 3 (a), the customer DB 211 stores D in which basic information relating to the customer of the store is set.
B, and stores information such as customer ID, name, address, classification of corporation / individual, customer classification, sales representative, recommended product, and responsible message. Here, the customer ID is identification information of the customer, and unique information is set for each customer. The customer category indicates the quality of the customer. The discount rate and coupon of the product price to the customer are determined according to the customer category. The customer division is set, for example, by a sales representative. The recommended product sets a product or the like that the person in charge wants to recommend to the customer. The salesperson message sets a short message from the salesperson in charge of each customer.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the sales DB 212 stores a product code, a quantity, a unit price, a purchaser code, a sales representative code, and the like of a sold product in units of one commercial transaction. Since the sales information is recorded in units of one commercial transaction, it is possible to determine simultaneously purchased products (product groups).

The billing DB 213 is a DB for storing billing information for one month and issuing a bill as shown in FIG. 3C.
Information such as a unit price (offer price) and a person in charge (in the case of a corporation) are set. In this system, even when a corporation purchases a product by online shopping using the Internet, a bill is issued collectively at the store in charge. Therefore, the same information is set for the online shopping sale, and a flag (net? Y) indicating that the online shopping sale is made.
ES, NO) are set.

The management server 13 and the management DB 23 shown in FIG.
Is a computer system for processing the business of the entire business entity. As shown in FIG. 4, the management server 13 includes a communication control unit 131, a processing control unit 132, a data storage unit 133, an input processing unit 134, a display processing unit 13
5 is provided. Communication control unit 131 and processing control unit 1
32, a data storage unit 133, an input processing unit 134,
The configuration and function of the display processing unit 135 are basically the same as those of the communication control unit 111 of the shop terminal 11, the processing control unit 112,
The configuration and functions of the data storage unit 113, the input processing unit 114, and the display processing unit 115 are the same. However, the function of the processing control unit 132 is specialized for processing the management business of the entire business entity.

On the other hand, the management DB 23 is for totalizing and managing various data of the entire business entity.
As shown in the figure, the product master DB 231 and the customer master D
B232, a related product master DB 233, and a sales master DB 234.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the merchandise master DB 231 records the merchandise codes, merchandise names, merchandise descriptions, reference unit prices, merchandise categories, link information, and the like of all merchandise handled by this business entity. ing.

Here, the product category is information indicating whether the product belongs to “main body”, “option”, or “consumable”. "Main body" generally means a main product used alone. "Options"
It refers to a product that is not used alone, but is attached to and connected to the main body. The term “consumable” refers to a product that is not used alone and is attached to a main body or an option, and the amount of which decreases with use. For example, in the case of a copier, for example, the copier itself is a main body, a feeder, a sorter, a communication device, and a power supply device which are used by being mounted on the copier are optional, and toner and PPC paper are consumables. Taking a digital camera as an example, the camera itself is a main body, a cable for connecting the camera to a personal computer and communication software are optional, and a flash memory card and a battery for storing images are consumables.

As the link information, a product category which can be used for the product in another product category is registered. For example, in the case of “main body”, a product code of an option or consumable that matches the main body is registered. Similarly, in the case of “option”, a product code of the main body to which the option is compatible and a product code of a consumable that is compatible with the option are registered. In the case of "consumables", a product code of a main body or an option to which the consumable is compatible is registered. In the example of FIG. 5A, C203 is listed as a consumable that can be used for the product of the product code A123 that is the main body. Accordingly, in the link information of the product code C203, A123 is listed as a suitable body.

According to the merchandise category and link information, each merchandise is classified into one of the merchandise categories, and further, merchandise having a matching relationship is linked. In this way, for example, if you specify the model of the main unit, select the product in the form of specifying options or consumables that match the main unit.
It is also possible to specify. Also, identify the product category,
Within the product category, it is also possible to select and specify a product that matches a certain product.

The customer master DB 232 records customer information on all customers of this company. The contents are shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3B, the customer DB 211 shown in FIG.
Is similar to However, it also records information on products (devices) owned by each customer.

The related product master DB 233 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (2), a product or the like that is highly likely to be purchased at the same time or is desirably purchased at the same time is recorded.

For example, it is considered that a certain product is related to options and consumables of the product. Further, for example, when purchasing a digital camera, it is desirable to purchase software for editing and processing a captured image and a printer for printing the processed image. Therefore, these products are related products. in this way,
If the relationship is clear in advance, the person in charge sets the related information on the related product in the area 233A of the related product master DB 233 by the input processing unit 134.

On the other hand, even when the person in charge of this system does not notice the relationship, it is often desirable to purchase the products at the same time when many people purchase the products at the same time. Therefore, the processing control unit 132 checks the past sales history, and if the ratio of simultaneous sales exceeds a predetermined value, for example, 5%, the relation between the two products is stored in the area 233B of the related product master DB 233. Register the related information shown.

In the sales master DB 234, information relating to sales of the entire business entity is set, and sales data of all stores is accumulated. Its structure is basically as shown in FIG.
The configuration is the same as that of the sales DB 212 of each store shown in (b), and sales information in units of one commercial transaction is registered.
Therefore, it is possible to determine the products sold at the same time from the contents of the sales master DB 234.

The shopping server 15 and the shopping DB 25 shown in FIG. 1 are systems for processing network shopping (online shopping) via the Internet, and have the configuration shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 6, the shopping server 15 includes a communication control unit 151, a processing control unit 152, a data storage unit 153, an input processing unit 154, and a display processing unit 1.
55.

The communication control unit 151 and the processing control unit 152
The configuration and functions of the data storage unit 153, the input processing unit 154, and the display processing unit 155 are basically the same as those of the communication control unit 111, the processing control unit 112, and the data storage unit 113 of the shop terminal 11. , Input processing unit 114 and display processing unit 1
15 has the same configuration and function. However, the functions of the processing control unit 152 are specialized for functions such as operation of a homepage for online shopping and sales processing.

As shown in FIG. 6, the shopping DB 25 includes a net member DB 251, a material DB 252, a homepage DB 253, a product DB 254, and a sales DB 25.
5, a billing DB 256, and a related product DB 257.

The online member DB 251 is a database for recording information on online shopping members (net members). As shown in FIG.
Name, address, classification of corporation / individual, e-mail address, password, owned device are set. Further, in the case of a corporation, a customer classification, a sales representative (store + person in charge), recommended merchandise, a message from the business and the like are set. The ID is member identification information. In the case of a corporation, the same ID as the ID used at the store / service shop is used. The name and address are the name and address of the member and the address and location. The e-mail address is an e-mail address (E-mail address) of the member. The password is,
This is the password for the member to log in to the online shopping service.

In the case of a corporate member, the e-mail address and password of each person in charge in the corporation (for example, a person in the general affairs department or the purchasing department) are registered. The owned device is information on a device (main body) owned by the member. In the case of a member who does not conduct transactions at stores only for online shopping, products previously sold through online shopping are set. On the other hand, for corporate members who also use transactions at stores, information on owned devices is set based on both histories of sales at stores and sales at online shopping. The number of persons in charge may be plural, and sets of e-mail addresses and passwords corresponding to the number of persons in charge are set. The message from the customer category, sales representative, recommended product, and sales, which is set in the case of a corporation, is stored in the store DB2.
The same information as that set in one customer DB 211 is set.

The material DB 252 stores images of various materials for generating a homepage. For example, a face image of each sales representative, an image of a product, a catch phrase, various forms, and the like are stored.

The homepage DB 253 stores various homepages required for providing an online shopping service. The product DB 254 is a database of products handled in this online shopping, and has the same configuration as the product master DB 231. The sales DB 255 is a sales DB 212 of each store (FIG. 3B).
The sales information is registered in transaction units. The bill DB 256 stores bill data relating to sales in online shopping. In this system,
The billing to the corporate member is made by the bill from the sales office in charge, even if it is the sales by online shopping. Therefore, only the billing information of the individual member is registered in the billing DB 256.

In the related product DB 257, of the related product information registered in the related product master DB 233 of the management DB 23, only the information on the product handled by the online shopping service is copied.

(Operation) Next, a daily business activity using the system having the above configuration will be described. (Operations at retailers) Each sales representative at each retailer
Contact customers, sell products and develop new customers.

When a new sales (order) occurs, the person in charge of the store registers the contents of the sales (order) in the sales DB 212 in the store DB 21 from the store terminal 11. At this time, 1
One transaction number is set for a plurality of commodities traded in a single commercial transaction. When a new customer is cultivated by a salesperson, information on the new customer is stored in the customer DB.
Register in 211.

The sales representative appropriately sets the customer category (customer excellence) of the corporation he or she is responsible for, recommended products suitable for the characteristics of the customer, messages to the customer, and the like.

The management server 13, for example, at midnight,
Access the store DB 21 and the shopping DB 25 of each store, read the updated information (difference data),
Update the management DB 23.

For example, the sales of the day are stored in the sales master DB 23.
Register to 4. In addition, if the number of main devices (products whose product category corresponds to the main product) owned by each customer increases due to this sales, the “owned product” in the customer master DB 232 will be displayed.
In the column. Further, even when customer information has changed or a new customer has been generated, the customer master DB
To update.

The management server 13 stores the customer D of each store.
The net membership DB 251 in the shopping DB 25 via the shopping server 15 via the shopping server 15, such as the customer classification of the corporate customer, the recommended products, the sales representative message, and the like collected from B211.
Set to. Further, the management server 13 generates related product information from the updated contents of the sales master DB 234 (the generation method will be described later).
Set to 233. Furthermore, of the updated related product information, only information related to online shopping is recorded in the related product DB 257 via the shopping server 15.

(Online Shopping Service) (Pre-Registration) In order for a corporate customer to use the online shopping service, it is necessary to receive registration at a business store or the like in advance. A business customer applies for registration for online shopping by specifying a person in charge via a sales person or the like. For one corporation, there may be a plurality of persons in charge, and a set of e-mail addresses and passwords for the number of persons is specified. The information described in the registration application form is forwarded to the administrator of the shopping server 15 and registered in, for example, the net member DB 251 shown in FIG. In addition, information such as the customer classification is set to a value determined by a sales person in order to maintain consistency with the service at each branch. These processes are executed by communicating between the sales representative of each store and the administrator of the shopping server 15.

On the other hand, the individual customer accesses a member registration homepage of a site operated by the shopping server 15 from his / her client terminal 31 via an ISP (Internet Service Provider) (not shown) and the Internet 2. Then, on this member registration homepage, the e-mail address, address / name, payment method, etc. are registered. A password is issued to the registered individual. The shopping server 15 adds the member ID to the information and registers the information in the net member DB 251.

(Online Shopping Operation)
The operation when actually performing online shopping will be described. When an arbitrary user accesses the login screen of the homepage provided by the shopping server 15 from his or her client terminal 31 via the Internet, the shopping server 15 stores a page (HTML format information) as shown in FIG. And sends it to the client terminal 31.

This page has a login name (registered e-mail address), password, and corporate ID in the upper frame.
Is provided, and an advertisement for recommended products determined by the system is displayed in the lower part.

The user inputs necessary items on this screen, and clicks "Send". That is, when the user is an individual, the user inputs an e-mail address and a password, and clicks a transmission. If the user is a corporation, enter the mail address and password of the person in charge and the corporation ID. When the user enters the required information and clicks "Submit",
The input items are notified to the shopping server 15 via the Internet 2.

The shopping server 15 responds to the notification and starts the processing of FIG. 9, and first determines whether or not the input information is registered in the net member DB 251 (step S11).

In the case of a corporate user, it is necessary that a corporate ID is registered and a pair of the input mail address and password is set in the corporate ID. Thereby, the corporation and the person in charge are specified. If not registered, the information (HTML document) of the page (not shown) for guiding the registration procedure is transmitted to the client terminal 31 and displayed on the client terminal 31 (step S12).

On the other hand, if it is registered, the sales clerk of the sales office in charge of this customer, the customer classification, the owned equipment, the recommended product, and the sales rep message are read from the net member DB 251. Read (step S13). Next, the image of the sales representative and the image of the recommended product determined in step S13 are read from the material DB 252 (step S14).

Next, based on the information on the owned device read out in step S13 and the related information recorded in the related product DB 257, a consumable item suitable for the device owned by the logged-in member is determined. Information about the product is read from the material DB 252. Further, step S
A discount rate d corresponding to the customer segment read out in step 13 is obtained,
An offer price (standard unit price × (1-d)) considering the discount rate is obtained (step S15).

Next, these pieces of information are arranged to form an HTML sentence as shown in FIG.
To be displayed (step S16).

The page shown in FIG. 10 is divided into four frames: upper left, lower left, upper right, and lower right. The table of contents of this site is arranged in the upper part of the left frame, and the member is in charge of the member in the lower part. Information about a sales representative is displayed, a message from the sales representative to the customer is arranged in the upper part of the right frame, and an image of a product recommended by the sales representative to the customer is displayed below the message. Further, information (including the provided price) on the consumables of the device owned by the customer is displayed (recommended for the consumables) in the lower part of the right frame.

The member can jump on this page or to an arbitrary page and purchase necessary products using the shopping cart model. For example, when any item is selected from among the consumables displayed as recommended products in the right frame of the page shown in FIG. 10, the shopping server 15 adds the product to a so-called shopping cart.

When the user wants to purchase the main unit, he or she clicks "main unit" in the left frame. The character string of “body” is linked to a page for listing the body by category as shown in FIG. 11 by HTML technology, and the display jumps to this page. Further, when the user selects any of the categories (product categories), the shopping server 15, as shown in FIG.
Generate a page for displaying the specific product description and the price offered to this customer (base price x (1-discount rate)),
It is transmitted to the client terminal 31 and displayed.

Similarly, to purchase an “option” or “consumable”, the user clicks “option” or “consumable” in the left frame of the page shown in FIG. Then, the screen jumps to a page handling “options” or “consumables” as shown in FIG. 13 or 14.
Further, when a category is selected, a list of main products is displayed as shown in FIG. When any one of them is selected, the shopping server 15 stores the product belonging to this category, its description, and the reference price as in FIG.
Find out from. Next, obtained in step S13,
The discount rate d is obtained from the customer category, and the description of each product and the price offered to this customer (reference price × (1-discount rate)) are obtained.
Next, the information of each product read from the material DB 252 and the obtained offer price are combined to generate a page in a format as shown in FIG. 12, transmitted to the client terminal 31, and displayed.

As described above, there are prepared a plurality of routes to reach a product (mainly an option or a consumable item) desired by the user.

The first route is to select a product category (left frame in FIG. 10) → category of main unit (product type of main unit)
Is displayed (FIG. 13) → Select a category → A list of the models of the main unit belonging to that category is displayed → Select the model → The product category that is compatible with the model and the selected product category A list of products belonging to is displayed → select a product.

In the second route, a product category is selected (left frame in FIG. 10) → a screen (FIG. 14) for selecting a category (product type) of a product belonging to the product category is displayed →
This is a route of selecting a category → displaying a list of products belonging to the category → selecting a product.

The third route is to select a main body as a product category (left frame in FIG. 10) → select a category → a list of main bodies is displayed → select an appropriate main body and designate a product category → A list of options or consumables suitable for the main body is displayed → a product selection route.

The fourth route is to select a product category (left frame in FIG. 10) → category of main unit (product type of main unit)
Is displayed (FIG. 11) → select a category → a list of models of the main body belonging to the category is displayed (FIG. 12) → for any model, the product category of the dependent product (option or consumable) Product) → a list of products that match the selected model and belong to the specified product category is displayed → product selection.

The fifth route is a method of designating a product code (or a product name). When a product code is entered in a predetermined input frame and “search” is clicked, the shopping server 15 searches for and displays the corresponding product from the product DB 254.

It is assumed that the user has put an arbitrary product into the shopping cart on any screen (that is, has indicated the intention to purchase). In response to this operation, the shopping server 15 starts the process of FIG. 16, and first determines whether or not the product put in the cart is registered in the related product DB 257 (step S21). If it has not been registered, the process ends.

On the other hand, if the product is registered, the product associated with the product placed in the shopping cart is determined (step S22), image data of the product is read from the material DB 252, and the provided price is calculated. Then, a display image is formed and displayed (step S24). That is, a product to be purchased at the same time as the product put in the cart or a product (related product) which is generally strongly purchased at the same time is displayed as shown in FIG. 18 to prevent the user from forgetting to place an order. The user determines whether to purchase the displayed product and proceeds with the process.

Upon completion of the selection of the product, or during the selection of the product, the user appropriately checks the current purchase state as shown in FIG. 17 by referring to the “contents of the cart” page. Can be. Shopping server 15
Creates the screen shown in FIG. 17 based on the product designated as “add to cart”, its quantity and unit price (offer price).

When the user checks the contents of the cart and places an order for a product, he or she clicks “Go to order procedure”. Then, a display for confirming the destination and the payment method is made based on the pre-registration. When the user confirms the contents and clicks "go", the destination and the settlement method are determined, and the necessary processing is performed.

For example, an order sheet printed with information for specifying the purchased product, the number, the unit price, the shipping address, etc. is printed and output. In addition, the purchased goods and the purchase mode are stored in the sales DB2.
Register at 55. This sales information is collected in the management DB 23 in a batch process on the night of the day, for example. Management server 1
3 updates, based on the collected data, information on the devices owned by each user and information on products sold at the same time.

When the purchaser is a corporation, it is necessary to form a bill by adding the sales at online shopping to the sales at the store in charge. For this reason, the management server 13 stores the sales information in online shopping,
Transmit to the store in charge. At the store, the information provided from the management server 13 is added to the bill for the customer on the bill DB 213. At this time, a flag indicating that the sales are made by online shopping is turned on (online? YES).

As a result, each shop terminal 11 provides each customer with
Issue invoices that mix in-store sales and online shopping sales. The form of the invoice is arbitrary. For example, the invoice amount may be a total value of the sales amount at the store and the sales amount at online shopping, or the billing (or statement) by selling at the store and the online shopping May be clearly distinguished from the billing details of the sale at.

The management server 13, for example, periodically checks the contents of the sales master DB 234 and updates the contents of the related product master DB 233. That is, the management server 13
Checks the sales histories (sales histories) in the past fixed period registered in the sales master DB 234, and simultaneously extracts products for sale. Then, by the statistical processing, when one product is sold, a combination of products whose probability of selling the other product is a reference value, for example, 5% or more, is extracted. Then, the extracted product group is registered in the related product master DB 233. Updated related product master DB
The necessary part 233 is copied to the related product DB 257 in the shopping DB 25, and is referred to when the user puts a product which is online shopping into the shopping cart.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the user can enjoy the service of the online shopping while enjoying the service at the existing dealer / service shop and the service of the door-to-door sales. it can. In addition, the service contents such as the discount rate set for the customer through the store transaction can be utilized in online shopping.

Further, based on the purchase history of the user, consumables and optional products used in the goods purchased and possessed by the user are determined and presented to the user. Therefore, the user can purchase consumables and options without going through complicated procedures. Furthermore, when purchasing consumables and options, it is very easy to select a product.

Further, when a certain product is purchased, the related product is presented, so that the purchase omission can be prevented.

In the case of a corporation (business entity), ID (corporation ID) is assigned to the business entity itself as information when logging in.
, And the ID and password of the person in charge of the purchase and the like are set therein. Generally, when an ID and a password are given to a company and these are simply used in the company, such information is easily leaked to the outside,
It can also be a cause for malicious third parties to commit fraud. But,
In this embodiment, since the password is a personal password of the person in charge of purchase, there is little possibility that the ID or the password is leaked outside. In addition, it is possible to clearly distinguish between a case of purchasing a product as a person in charge of a corporation and a case of purchasing a product as an individual.

Further, since the business entity having a transaction in the store network purchases the product by online shopping, the request from the store is unified, so that the customer receives the request from two places. Inconvenience and inconvenience can be prevented.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications and applications are possible. For example, in the above embodiment, the merchant system for selling goods and the online shopping system are combined,
The target of sale is arbitrary, and for example, a similar system can be applied to a store system and an online shopping system for providing digital contents (video, music, and the like), services, and the like.

Further, in the above embodiment, the commodities are classified into three types of “main body”, “option”, and “consumable”, but the classification method is arbitrary, and the main commodities and the subordinate commodities are classified. And can be arbitrarily divided into

Further, the configurations of the server and the DB can be arbitrarily changed. For example, in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, for ease of understanding, it has been described that one store terminal 11 is installed in each store, but a plurality of store terminals connected to a LAN or the like in each store. May be installed. The management server 13 and the shopping server 15 may also be configured from a plurality of servers operating in cooperation. Further, the configuration of the DB is not limited to the above configuration, and two or more DBs may be integrated, or one DB may be functionally divided into a plurality. In addition, overlapping data may be deleted. For example, in the above embodiment, the related product master DB
233, the relationship between the main body, the option, and the consumables is not set.
May be specified from the contents of the above.

Further, the related product master DB 233 may not be arranged, and the information on the related product may be processed by the related product DB 257. Similarly, the product master DB 231
May not have the link information of the product, and may set the link information only in the product DB 254.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the salesperson of each store sets recommended products and messages set in the customer DB 211 on the homepage. However, the salesperson directly accesses the shopping DB 25 and sets the recommended items. A product or a message may be registered. Alternatively, an e-mail describing these pieces of information may be transmitted to the shopping server, and necessary items may be cut out from the e-mail and posted on a homepage. Further, regarding the discount rate based on the customer classification, the rate may be different between store sales and online shopping.

A computer or a group of computers functions as the above-described system, or all or a part of a program required to execute the above-described steps is stored in a recording medium (ROM, floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, It may be recorded on a CD-ROM, MO, CD-R, flash memory, etc. and distributed / distributed.

[0095]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Products can be easily selected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a sales online shopping system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a store terminal and a store DB installed in each store.

3A is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a customer DB in a store DB, FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a sales DB in the store DB, and FIG. It is a figure showing the composition of the billing DB.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a management server and a management DB.

5A is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a product master DB in a management DB, and FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating a customer master D in a management DB;
FIG. 6B is a diagram showing the configuration of B, and FIG. 7C is a diagram showing the configuration of a related product master DB in the management DB.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of a shopping server and a shopping DB.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of a net member DB in a shopping DB.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of an online shopping login screen provided by a shopping server.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a process executed by the shopping server at the time of login.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a page edited for a customer displayed after login.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for selecting a main body in online shopping.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for selecting a copying machine in online shopping.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for selecting an option in online shopping.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen for selecting a consumable item in online shopping.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for selecting an option of a digital camera whose product category is “body” in online shopping.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of processing executed by a shopping server when a product is put into a shopping cart in online shopping.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for confirming the contents of a shopping cart.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for recommending related products in online shopping.

[Description of Signs] 1 Intra-company network system 2 Internet 3 Intra-company network

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tsukasa Fukudome 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ricoh Company, Ltd. (72) Inventor Tatsuto Toriko 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ricoh Company (72) Inventor Hiroshi Hosoda 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ricoh Company (72) Inventor Yasuyuki Shirai 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Ricoh Company (72) Inventor Eiji Shinohara 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ricoh Company (72) Inventor Sachiko Triangle 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ricoh Company (72) Invention Person Akihiro Nishida 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ricoh Company (72) Inventor Takuya Tomae 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stock Company Inside the co (72) Inventor Yoshiaki Ohno 1-36 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo F-term in Ricoh Co., Ltd. 5B049 AA01 AA02 BB11 CC02 CC05 CC10 DD01 EE05 FF03 GG04 GG07 5B075 ND20 ND36 ND40 NK44 NR03 NR12 PP02 PP03 PP12 PP13 PP30 PQ02 PQ32 PQ46 UU40

Claims (6)

[Claims] A plurality of products are classified into product categories indicating a main product and sub-products used dependently on the main product, and the main products are divided into a plurality of product categories and associated with each other. Product information storage means for storing and storing; a specifying means for specifying a product category of a desired product and a product category of a main product; a display means for displaying a list of main products belonging to the product category specified by the specifying means; Selecting means for selecting an arbitrary main product from the list; and matching the main product selected by the selecting means, and
A search unit for searching for a product belonging to the product category specified by the specifying unit from the product information storage unit; 2. The product information storage means stores a plurality of products,
The sub-product selection according to claim 1, wherein the sub-product is classified and stored in a product category indicating a main product and optional products used as options of the main product and / or consumables of the main product. Support equipment. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said specifying means includes: means for specifying a product category; means for transmitting a signal for displaying a list of product categories in response to the specification by the category specifying means; 2. A device for supporting selection of a dependent product according to claim 1, further comprising: means for receiving a signal for selecting an arbitrary product category from among them. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the specifying means includes means for receiving a specification from a customer via a network, and the display means transmits a signal for displaying a list of main products belonging to the specified product category. Means for transmitting via a network, the selection means comprises means for receiving a signal for selecting an arbitrary main product from the list, the search means is adapted to the selected main product, and 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: means for searching for a product belonging to a product category specified by the specifying means from the product information storage means, and configured for a network. 3. A device for supporting selection of a dependent product according to item 1. 5. A product category is selected, a first list of product categories of the main product is presented in response to the selection of the product category, and a selection of a product category is accepted from the presented first list. Presenting a second list of main products belonging to the selected category in response to the selection of the product category, accepting the selection of the main product from the presented second list, and responding to the selection of the product; Classifying a plurality of commodities that match the selected commodities and belong to the selected commodities into commodity categories that indicate a plurality of commodities as main commodities and subcommodities that are used subordinate to the main commodities; Further, a method of selecting a dependent product, wherein a main product is divided into a plurality of product categories and retrieved from a product information database that stores the product in association with each other. 6. A computer, comprising: a designating unit for designating a product category and a product category; a unit for displaying a list of products belonging to the product category designated by the designating unit; Means for selecting, a product conforming to the selected main product and belonging to the product category specified by the specifying means, classifying a plurality of products into product categories indicating a main product and a sub-product, A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for functioning as a means for searching for a product from a product information database that stores products in a plurality of product categories in association with each other.