JP2002024642A - Commodity information providing device, commodity order receiving device, storing medium with commodity information stored therein, storing medium with commodity information providing program stored therein, storing medium with commodity order receiving program stored therein, and commodity information providing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a commodity information providing device for automatically presenting related commodities connectable or mountable to a desired commodity and a specified commodity when the desired commodity is intended to be purchased or a predetermined commodity is specified. SOLUTION: A first commodity information supplying means 22 extracts commodity information related to a specific commodity requested through a network from a commodity information storing means 21 and supplies it to a requested client device 3K, a commodity usable together with one or more specific commodities selected by the client device 3K in relation to the commodity supplied by the first commodity information providing means 22 is considered as a related commodity, and a second commodity information providing means 23 extracts commodity information related to the related commodity from the commodity information storing means 21 and transmits it to the client device 3K.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is to automatically purchase, when a desired product is purchased or a predetermined product is designated, an optional product that can be connected to or attached to the desired product or the designated product. A product information providing device that can be presented, a product order receiving device that can receive an order for a desired product and a presented related product, and a product information providing device that enables a computer to implement the product information providing device. The present invention relates to a storage medium storing a program, and a storage medium storing a product ordering program that enables the computer to implement the product ordering apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a customer purchases a specific product, there is a case where a customer purchases a product that can be used in cooperation with the specific product. For example, there is a case where a personal computer main body is purchased together with an additional memory (RAM; random access memory) or a so-called external flexible disk drive (FD). At a store or the like, a customer may inquire about whether or not connection or attachment is possible for each product, whether or not verification of operation (operation verification) has been completed when connection or the like has been performed. . In such a case,
At the store, respond based on the memory of the corresponding clerk, check the list of mounting operation verification results that indicate the connection availability of each product and the status of operation confirmation, or reply to the catalog of the corresponding product While answering, they make proposal sales.

[0003]

However, in the proposed sale of such a product, a sales clerk refers to a list of connection or installation operation verification results of an optional product or an installation operation verification result, or a product catalog, and so on. Therefore, there is a possibility that a product that cannot be connected by mistake due to a mistake of the sales clerk or a product that has been confirmed as inoperable may be erroneously proposed. Also, when responding to an operation or the like based on a store clerk's memory, there is a possibility that a product or the like that cannot be connected by mistake may be proposed.

[0004] Furthermore, since the connection or mounting operation verification result list of the optional products related to the current model only shows the connection or mounting operation verification result of the optional products related to the current model, the connection or mounting of the optional products related to the past model is attached or mounted. Since the operation verification result is not known, there is a possibility that the proposed sale is erroneously made or the proposed sale is performed with unknown operation.

[0005] On the other hand, a system for presenting a list of optional products using the Internet already exists. However, when a purchaser attempts to purchase a desired product, the user can connect to or attach to the desired product. There has not been provided a device for automatically displaying only separately sold products (sold separately after verification of operation). The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and can be used in cooperation with a desired product or a specified product when a customer attempts to purchase a desired product or when a predetermined product is designated. The purpose is to accurately present information about products.

[0006]

[Means for solving the problem] [Claims 1 to 6,
In the inventions described in claims 13 to 18 and claim 25, the product information relating to the specific product requested via the network is extracted from the product information storage means and provided to the requested client device. A product that can be used in cooperation with one or more specific products selected by the client device for the product is set as a related product, and the product information is extracted from the product information storage unit and transmitted to the client device. . As a result, it is possible to appropriately provide information on related products that can be connected to or attached to the product desired by the product applicant.

[0007] According to the inventions described in claims 7 to 12 and 19 to 24, the product information relating to the product requested via the network is extracted from the product information storage means, and the client requesting the request is extracted. A product that is provided to the device and used in cooperation with one or more specific products selected by the client device for the provided product is set as a related product, and the product information is extracted from the product information storage unit. An order product and order information transmitted from the client device and transmitted from the client device are acquired, and a product order is received. As a result, it is possible to reliably receive an order for a related product that can be connected or attached to the product desired by the product applicant.

[0008] According to the invention described in claim 2, claim 8, claim 14, or claim 20, the related product usable in cooperation with the specific product is a direct connection to the specific product, a wireless connection, or A wide range of cooperative relationships can be confirmed because the product is capable of at least one of detachable mounting, interior mounting, and indirect mounting. Claim 3,
According to the ninth, fifteenth, and twenty-first aspects of the present invention, a normally operating product is transmitted to the client device from the operation verification information as a related product. As a result, it is possible to confirm whether or not commercialization that operates reliably is performed. According to the fourth, tenth, sixteenth, and twenty-second aspects of the invention, a product supplier relates to a product that can be used in cooperation with a product whose product information is stored in the product information storage unit. The information is acquired and stored in the product information storage means, and the operation verification information for the product whose product information is stored in the product information storage means is obtained and stored in the product information storage means. Thereby, the latest product information and operation verification information can be provided.
According to the invention described in claim 5, claim 11, claim 17, and claim 23, when a product selected for a related product is overloaded with a specific product, a notice to that effect. Alert information to alert the user. As a result, the customer can recognize that the product is overloaded, and can provide a source for determining whether to purchase the product. Claim 6, Claim 12, Claim 18,
According to the invention described in claim 24, it is possible to acquire the purpose information for specifying the purpose of use or the purpose of purchase of the product, extract the related product from the product information storage means as a constraint, and transmit the related product to the client device. did. As a result, it is possible to propose a product that matches the customer's request.
According to the invention described in claim 26, product information on a specific product requested via a network is provided to the requested client device, and one or more specific products selected by the client device for the provided product are provided. The products that can be used in conjunction with are made related products and sent to the client device. As a result, it is possible to appropriately provide information on related products that can be connected to or attached to the product desired by the product applicant.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of various hardware connected to a product information providing device and a product order receiving device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1
As shown in FIG. 1, the product information providing device and the product order receiving device according to the present embodiment include a WWW (World Wide W).
eb) The server 2 is configured. This WWW server 2 is connected to the Internet 1. And
, 3N (hereinafter, 3N is used when client devices are collectively referred to) and product supplier devices 41, 42,..., 4M via the Internet 1. Hereinafter, when generically referring to the merchandise supplier devices, reference numeral 4M is used.).

The Internet 1 is a network composed of a number of computers and a computer network, and interconnects these computers via a communication link. When the computers are connected to each other via the Internet 1, information can be transmitted and received between the computers using various services such as electronic mail, Gopher, and WWW.

In the present embodiment, a case where the product information providing device and the product order receiving device connect the client device 3N and the product delivery device 4M via the Internet 1 will be described.
(Local area network), intranet, extranet, personal computer communication, and communication using a dedicated line may be used for connection. Further, these various communications and communications via the Internet 1 are not limited to wired communications as communication media, but also include a case where some or all of them are wirelessly connected.
For example, mobile phones and PHS (Personal Han)
This includes a case where wireless communication is used in part or all of the dy-phone system.

[0012] WWW server (or Web server, Web
2 are provided on the Internet 1 to provide WWW services. WWW server 2
Stores Web pages such as various types of character information and graphic information on its internal hard disk. Each resource of the WWW, such as the WWW server 2 and the Web page, is a URL (Uniform) which is an addressing technology for identifying a resource on the Internet 1.
Resource Locator). The client device 3N and the product supplier device 4 connected to the Internet 1
M and each device with the WWW server 2
(Hyper Text Transfer Prot
ocol) according to a predetermined transfer protocol, for example, a URL of a Web page desired to be browsed,
Various information such as page b is communicated.

Each client device 3N and each product supplier device 4M are at the same position with respect to the Internet 1 and the WWW server 2. That is, each client device 3
N and each of the merchandise supplier apparatuses 4M both function as computers on the side that uses services provided by the WWW server 2. Therefore, for the basic configuration and operation of both,
Similarly, the configuration and operation of the client device 3N will be mainly described, and different portions of the configuration and operation of the product supplier device 4M will be described.

The client device 3N and the product supplier device 4M have a CPU (Central Processing).
Unit), a storage medium such as a hard disk device for storing various data and control programs, and a storage device including its driving device, and a RAM mainly functioning as a work area
(Random Access Memory) and a computer system including a communication control device for performing communication by connecting to various communication means including the Internet 1.

The subject of use of the client device 3N is, for example, a customer who wants or is considering purchasing a product, and sells or explains each product to the customer. Stores (including explanations) (including special dealers, mass retailers, etc.) are targeted. Then, the client device 3 in the case where the customer is mainly used
N is a personal computer, word processor, television receiver (Internet TV, digital TV), mobile phone, PHS, PDA (Personal Digital) that can be connected to the Internet 1
Various electronic communication devices such as l Assistants are used. It is possible to use these various electronic communication devices even when the clerk of the store becomes the main use,
In many cases, personal computers are mainly used.

On the other hand, the entity that uses the product supplier device 4M is:
The traders who deliver the orderable products to the WWW server 2 are targeted. Products that can be ordered include, for example, BT
O (Build To Order) or CTO (Cus
(Tom To Order) and products that can be used in conjunction with specific products (related products)
Specifically, there are various storage devices such as a magneto-optical disk device and a semiconductor memory card, a power adapter, a connection cable, and the like. The above-mentioned various electronic communication devices can be used as the product supplier device 4M, but a personal computer is mainly used in many cases. The product supplier device 4M performs operation verification results on products and related products that can be used in conjunction with the product in order to perform maintenance such as verification results on products and related products that can be used in conjunction with the product. View and modify web pages for That is, when newly providing a related product, information on the relevant product can be transmitted to the WWW server 2 to newly register the product, and the registered product can be corrected for operation verification with another product.

[0017] Client device 3N, merchandise supplier device 4
M transfers the URL of the web page desired to be viewed or the web page browsing request to the specified WWW server 2 using a predetermined transfer protocol such as HTTP.
As a result, the client device 3N that has transferred the browsing request receives the web page transmitted from the WWW server 2 and displays it on the display. In this way, the web page is viewed by the subject (user) of the client device 3N and the product supplier device 4M.

Client device 3N, merchandise supplier device 4
In M, a WWW browser for executing transfer of a web page browsing request and displaying a received web page is stored in a hard disk device therein. A typical web page is HTM
L (Hyper TextMarkup Langua)
ge) and XML (extensible markup)
language is generally defined, and is created using this HTML or XML. The HTML and XML documents include various identifiers (tags) for controlling display of graphics, controls, and other functions. Further, in the HTML document, a link destination can be indicated including the URL of a web page that can be used by the server 2 that requests browsing of the web page or another WWW server 2. When requested to browse a web page, the client device 3N transmits the HTML document to the server 2. In the client device 3N and the product supplier device 4M, as a result of the transfer request, the WWW server 2
When receiving the HTML document etc. sent from
A web page is displayed according to the definition of the HTML document or the like, and the web page is displayed on the client device 3.
N, it can be viewed by the subject of use (user) of the product supplier device 4M.

(1) Provision of merchandise information (first embodiment) FIG. 2 shows a merchandise information providing apparatus according to the first embodiment, which presents merchandise to client device 3N, alerts the user, and the purpose of use. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram for explaining a function part that provides information on products that can be used in cooperation with each other and product verification according to a purchase purpose and operation verification information. In FIG. 2, a client device 3K (showing an arbitrary client device) is connected to the WWW via the Internet 1.
It can connect to the server 2.

The WWW server 2 includes a control unit 20 for performing various controls according to the present embodiment, a product information storage unit 21 composed of a large-capacity storage medium such as a hard disk, and other units via various communication units such as the Internet 1. And a communication control device 30 that communicates with other computers. The control unit 20 of the WWW server 2 includes a storage device such as a hard disk (not shown) in which various programs and data are stored, and a RAM that functions as a work area. Various programs such as a product information providing program are stored on the hard disk of the control unit 20, and by executing these programs, the first product information providing unit 22 and the second product information providing unit 23 are stored. And alert information transmission means 2
4 and the purpose acquisition means 25 are realized.

Here, the product information storage means 21 stores WW
Product information 21a relating to various products that can be ordered with the W server 2 is stored. The product information 21a includes various information related to the product, such as the name of the product, product specifications such as weight, size, and components, product category, formal model name, release date, and ID (identifier) of the product supplier. Is stored. In addition, product information storage means 2
1 stores operation verification information 21b indicating that each product normally operates in a state where another product is connected or mounted. As the operation verification information 21b, information for confirming whether or not all products stored in the product information 21a are related products that can be used in cooperation with other products is stored. The “related product” refers to a product that can be directly connected to a specific product, wirelessly connected, or removably attached, installed, or indirectly attached to at least one of the products. As the operation verification information 21b, information indicating which product and which product are related products, and information indicating which form of direct connection, wireless connection, or the like can be cooperated are stored. The operation verification information 21b includes
If the connection or the like is possible, verification information indicating whether or not the device normally operates in the connected state is also stored. Verification information is information indicating that it is confirmed that it operates normally, information that it is confirmed that it does not operate at all, and information that it is confirmed that it does not operate depending on conditions and that it does not operate Information indicating conditions and information indicating that confirmation as to whether or not to operate is not stored are stored.

FIG. 4 conceptually shows the relationship between the product categories stored in the product information and the cooperative relationship between the products in the operation verification information. As illustrated in FIG. 4, as the product category, the main body (the personal computer main body in the present embodiment), “accessories (A
CC), "other companies'products","memory / hard disk (HDD)", and "software" are equally classified. For example, accessories are comparable in terms of whether or not they can be used in cooperation with the main body without any master-slave relationship. In the example of FIG. 4, the main body of the personal computer is classified as the "main body", and digital cameras, digital videos, and the like that can be connected to the main body are classified as accessories, but these can operate independently. Since it is a good product, it may be classified into the main body. The competitor's product is a product delivered by the product supplier who is the subject of use of the product supplier device 4M. Then, as illustrated in FIG. 4, whether or not all products classified into each category can be used in cooperation with each other and the status of operation verification are stored in the operation verification information 21b of the product information storage unit 21. ing. In other words, it distinguishes between products for which mutual operation verification has been completed and products for which no operation verification has been completed, and stores a product for which operation verification has been completed for a specific specific product in association with the specific product. It has become.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram conceptually showing the contents of the operation verification information 21b. As illustrated in FIG. 5, an accessory (AC
Regarding C), A, B, C, ...
On the vertical axis, accessories (ACC) are
On the horizontal axis, “Otsu”, “Hei”,... Are stored whether or not these intersections can be used. Here, in FIG. 5, “は” indicates usable and “×” indicates unusable, but information corresponding to actually usable or unusable is stored. Therefore, for example, when the personal computer main body A is selected, Party A can be used, Party B cannot be used, Hei can be used,
.., And only the information of the available accessories (ACC) may be extracted and provided to the client device 3K. As a result, since only the related products that can be used in cooperation are displayed on the client device 3K, if the client device 3K is the customer, the customer can place an order via the Internet 1 with ease and purchase at the store. can do. Also the client device 3K
If the user who is a clerk of the store is a store clerk, he can respond appropriately to the customer's inquiry.

In FIG. 5, the main body and accessories (AC
Although the example of the operation verification information 21b between C and C has been illustrated, the mutual relationship between other products is also equivalent in FIG.
It has been created as well. In addition, in the operation verification information 21b illustrated in FIG. 5, the correspondence is displayed in a category-to-category manner, but it is possible to confirm whether or not a connection can be made between the products in the same category. Therefore, in practice, a table format in which all products stored in the product information 21a are displayed on the vertical axis and the horizontal axis in FIG. 5 and operation verification information (information indicating whether or not use is possible) is stored. Since two identical products may be able to be connected to each other in cooperation with each other, the operation verification information is also stored between the same products.

The product information storage means 21 stores alert information 21c. Alert information 21c
Is stored in such a manner that a combination in a case where a newly selected product is overloaded with respect to a specific product already selected can be determined. Here, “overloaded equipment” refers to a case where the same function is redundantly provided. FIG. 6 is a diagram conceptually illustrating the contents of the alert information 21c. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the alert information 21c includes:
Information indicating whether or not all the products stored in the product information 21a are overloaded in a table format displayed on the vertical and horizontal axes in FIG. In some cases, it is possible to connect two identical products in cooperation with each other, and therefore information on whether or not the same product is overloaded is stored. The alerting information 21c includes information indicating whether or not the product is overloaded at the intersection of both products in the table of FIG. 6 when the relationship between the products is overloaded, and when the relationship is overloaded. Information for specifying data for commenting on the state of the heavy equipment is stored. In the example of FIG. 6, “○” indicates that the vehicle is not heavy equipment, “△” indicates that the vehicle is heavy equipment, and
A number indicating the comment number after "@" is attached and displayed. For example, "The newly selected product xx is
Selected products ◎◎ have the same function. Keep selection? ., Etc., are stored in the product information storage means 21 as comment data (not shown).

In FIG. 2, first product information providing means 2
2 extracts, from the product information storage unit 21, product information 21a relating to a specific product (for example, the name, model, etc. of the computer main body) requested from the client device 3K via the Internet 1 and sends the extracted product information 21a to the requested client device 3K. It can be provided via the Internet 1. The reception of the request with the client device 3K and the transmission of the product information 21a are performed via the communication control device 30 (the same applies hereinafter).

The second product information providing means 23 can use the product information 21a provided by the first product information providing means 22 in cooperation with one or a plurality of specific products selected by the client device 3K. Product is a related product, and product information 21a on the related product is stored in a product information storage unit 21.
, And can be transmitted to the client device 3K. In addition, the second product information providing unit 23 can extract only normally operating products from the operation verification information 21b stored in the product information storage unit 21 and transmit the extracted products to the client device 3K as related products. .

The alerting information transmitting means 24 is provided with a product selected by the client device 3K from among the related products presented by the second product information providing means 23, which is overloaded with respect to the selected specific product. Alert information 2 to judge whether or not the equipment is overloaded and to give attention to that effect.
1c can be extracted and transmitted to the client device 3K. Here, “overloaded equipment” refers to a case where the same function is provided redundantly. For example, when a specific spreadsheet software is provided as standard and a personal computer is used as a specific product, a case where another similar spreadsheet software is selected and purchased is applicable. Also,
This also applies to the case where a power adapter is included and a power adapter is selected and purchased.

The purpose acquiring means 25 can acquire purpose information for specifying the purpose of use or the purpose of purchase of the product.
The purpose acquisition means 25 sends the request to the client device 3K.
For example, (i) whether to use for communication,
The purpose of use or purchase of a product such as (ii) whether to use it for creative work or (iii) for entertainment is presented on a Web page, and the item selected by the client device 3K is used as purpose information. To get as In addition to the above examples, the purpose information is classified in more detail,
The b page may be presented. When the purpose information is acquired by the purpose acquiring unit 25, the second product information providing unit 23 extracts the related product from the product information storage unit 21 using the acquired purpose information as a constraint and transmits the related product to the client device 3K. be able to. The purpose acquisition unit 25 is a configuration in a second embodiment described later,
This is unnecessary in the first embodiment.

(2) Operation Verification FIG. 3 shows functions related to the maintenance of related products and the maintenance of operation verification information 21b for the product supplier device 4M in the product information providing device according to the first embodiment. It is a functional block diagram for explaining a part. In FIG. 3 as well, the goods supplier device 4J (J is an arbitrary numerical value)
Can be connected to the WWW server 2 via the Internet 1. The product supplier device 4J is created based on the product information 21a and the operation verification information 21b,
The product information 21a and the verification information can be added and corrected by a Web page provided from the WW server 2. By transmitting the ID determined for each product supplier, each product supplier device 4J can correct the product information 21a and the verification information only for the product delivered by itself. ing.

The control unit 20 of the WWW server 2 executes the product information providing program in addition to the functions realized by the first product information providing unit 22 described with reference to FIG. As shown, the goods supplier device 4M
Product information acquisition means 26 and verification information acquisition means 2
7 is realized.

The merchandise information acquiring means 26 acquires, from the merchandise supplier apparatus 4J, merchandise information 21a relating to merchandise (related merchandise) usable in cooperation with the merchandise stored in the merchandise information 21a of the merchandise information storage means 21. Product information storage means 21
Is to be stored. Product information acquisition means 26
Thereby, the product information 21a on the related product can be updated to the latest one. The verification information acquisition unit 27 outputs the operation verification information 2 about the product stored in the product information 21a of the product information storage unit 21 from the product supplier device 4J.
1b is acquired and stored in the product information storage means 21. The verification information acquiring unit 27 can update the operation verification information 21b for another product to the latest one.

In this embodiment, the "product information 21a usable in cooperation" and the "operation verification information 21b"
Although the description has been made assuming that the product is obtained by the product supplier device 4J via the Internet 1, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the product information 21a that can be used in cooperation with a flexible desk (FD) or The “operation verification information 21b” may be received in a stored state and acquired by driving the FD drive device. Also,
The information may be acquired via the communication control device 30 by communication means other than the Internet 1, for example, wireless, optical cable, CATV, or the like. Furthermore, the user may receive the "product information 21a that can be used in cooperation" or "operation verification information 21b" described on a piece of paper and input the information by operating a keyboard or the like.

Further, the “commodity information 21 that can be used in conjunction with
"a" and "operation verification information 21b" store information that specifies the entity that has performed the operation verification, for example, whether it is a merchandise supplier or an owner of the merchandise information providing device. This is to clarify the responsibilities in the case where the operation has not been performed even though the operation is guaranteed. Since the information on the subject that has performed the operation verification is stored in the product information storage unit 21 of the WWW server 2, the WW
The second product information providing means 23 of the W server 2 can transmit information on the subject to the client device 3K. As a result, the name or telephone number of the operation assurance subject can be displayed at the bottom of the screen of the display of the client device 3K, and an inquiry about handling or non-operation may be made.

(3) Presentation of Related Goods FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an overall and schematic flow of the service image according to the first embodiment. FIG. 8 shows a screen of a common portion of a Web page provided from the WWW server 2 to the client device 3K by the first product information providing unit 22 and the second product information providing unit 23. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of a product selection screen that changes according to an operation by the client device.

Client device 3K (K is an arbitrary numerical value)
Requests the WWW server 2 to transmit a product selection screen to the WWW server 2 via the Internet 1 when a transmission request key for selecting a product is selected by an operation of a customer or a sales clerk (FIG. 7). S1). Upon receiving this request, the first product information providing unit 22 of the WWW server 2
Transmits a Web screen including a product selection screen shown in FIG. 8 to the client device 3K (S2 in FIG. 7). Accordingly, the client device 3K receives the Web screen 302 transmitted from the WWW server 2 via the Internet 1, and displays the Web screen 302 on the display screen 300 of a display device such as a display or a liquid crystal display device as a Web screen. (S3 in FIG. 7).

The Web screen (S3) displayed on the display device of the client device 3K has a display section 325 for selecting a PC (personal computer) main body as exemplified in the product selection screen 302 in FIG. And a display unit 326 for displaying a hard disk device (HDD)
A display unit 327 for displaying a memory, a display unit 328 for displaying an accessory (ACC), a display unit 329 for displaying an accessory (ACC) of another company,
And a display unit 330 for displaying software. Each of the display units 325 to 330 displays the product information 21.
This is provided for each product category stored in a.

Each of the display sections 325 to 330 is provided with a category display section 321, an individual product display frame 322, a pull-down button 323, and a selection button 324.
In the category display section 321, corresponding to the display sections 325 to 330, the name of the category into which each product is classified is "PC body", "HDD", "Memory", "ACC", "Company A"
CC "and" software "are displayed.

A pull-down button 323 is pressed when this button is selected by a mouse operation, a keyboard operation, or the like.
The product list screen is displayed as a pull-down. On the product list screen, a list of products classified into the category corresponding to the selected button is transmitted from the WWW server 2 and displayed. In the product list, for example, a product name or a product name and a model number are displayed. When there is no product selected by the selection button 324 on the product list screen, all products classified into the product category are displayed in a list. If there is a selected product, only the related products with the selected product as the specific product are displayed in a list.

When any product is selected from the product list displayed on the product list screen, the pull-down screen is closed, and the selected product name (or product name and model number) is displayed in the individual product display frame 322. It has become so. In this embodiment, the selection of a product on the product list screen is performed by left double-clicking with a mouse or pressing of an enter key. However, a selection button is arranged in the product list screen and operated by mouse click or the like. You may do so.

Select button 324 on product selection screen 302
Are buttons for selecting a product displayed in the individual product display frame 322 as a specific product. This selection button 3
When 24 is selected, the display unit 325 including the selection button 324 visibly displays that it has been selected. For example, the display color in the individual product display frame 322 is displayed in a different color from the case where the display color is not selected. The selection by the selection button 324 can be canceled. In the present embodiment, when the selection button 324 is selected, the display of the button is changed from “selection” to “cancel”, and is canceled by selecting the button again. However, other methods are also possible. For example, a cancel key is displayed in a pop-up display by a predetermined operation (for example, a right-click operation of a mouse, pressing of a specific function key) in a selected display frame, and the user can select this. May be canceled. In addition, each display unit 3
A cancel button may be arranged in 25 to 330.

FIG. 9 shows a display state of the product selection screen 302 displayed on the client device 3K.
This shows how K changes by a user operation. Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 9, the operation of the related item presenting process will be described. When the user selects a pull-down button 323 corresponding to the product category of the product desired by the user on the product selection screen 302 (FIG. 8) received from the WWW server 2 by a mouse click operation or the like, the client device 3K selects the client device 3K. The WWW server 2 requests the WWW server 2 to transmit a product list corresponding to the specified product category (S1 in FIG. 7). When this request is received by the WWW server 2, the selection button 32
4 is not selected (that is, there is no specific product)
Therefore, the first product information providing unit 22 displays a product list screen (We) for displaying a product list extracted from the product information 21a of all products included in the requested product category.
b) is transmitted to the client device 3K.

Upon receiving the product list screen 340 corresponding to the request, the client device 3K displays a pull-down display on the displayed product selection screen 302 as illustrated in FIG. 9A. FIG. 9A illustrates a state in which the pull-down button 323 for the PC body is selected and all corresponding products are displayed on the product list screen 340. In the product list screen 340, when the user double-clicks the desired PC main body, for example, "PCV-SR9 / K", or operates the enter (or select) key after inverting information with the cursor movement key of the keyboard, the pull-down menu is displayed. The displayed product list screen 340 disappears from the screen, and the selected product name “PCV-SR;
"K" is displayed in the individual product display frame 322. The product selection on the product list screen 340 is not limited to one product, and a plurality of products can be selected. When a plurality of products are selected, all the selected products are displayed in the individual product display frame 322.
The size of the frame is enlarged, and a list is displayed in this frame.

When the user of the client device 3K selects the selection button 324 on the display unit 325, the selection of the product displayed in the individual product display frame 322 is determined. FIG. 9B illustrates this state. Select button 3
When 24 is selected, the product selection screen 302 displays the individual product display frame 322 of the selected display unit 325 in a different color from the other frames that are not selected, and displays the selection button 324. Is changed from “select” to “cancel”. When the selection button 324 displayed as “cancel” is selected, the selection is canceled and the display color of the individual product display frame 322 also returns to the color in the unselected state. If the pull-down button 323 of the display unit 325 is selected again before the selection button 324 is selected, the screen of FIG. 9A is displayed again.

In the product selection screen 302 (a screen in a state where a product is selected) of the client device 3K illustrated in FIG. 9B, one of the pull-down menus arranged in the unselected display units 326 to 330 is displayed. When the button 323 is selected by a user operation, the client device 3K
Transmits a product list of related products corresponding to the selected product category because there is a product already selected.
A request is made to the WW server 2 (S4 in FIG. 7). For example, FIG.
In the screen illustrated in (b), the accessory (ACC)
When the pull-down button 323 in the display section 328 is selected, the client device 3K selects the product “PCV-SR9 / K” as the PC main body. Request a product list. In this request, information of the selected specific product is transmitted together with the product category of the requested product list. Note that the client device 3K or the WWW server 2 automatically recognizes whether or not the product is a specific product, a request for a related product, or the like depending on the product selection state, so that the user of the client device 3K is completely unaware. Operation can be continued.

When the request for transmitting the list of related products is received, the second product information providing means 23 executes the related product extracting process on the WWW server 2 since the specific product has been selected. That is, the second product information providing means 2
3 extracts related products for one or more specific products received from the client device 3K. The extraction of the related product is performed by extracting, from the operation verification information 21b shown in FIG. 5, a product that can be used in conjunction with a specific product and whose normal operation is guaranteed. For example, when “C” of the PC main body is a specific product, the operation verification information 21b illustrated in FIG.
"Otsu", "Hei", ... are extracted.

When there are a plurality of specific products,
A product whose operation is guaranteed with any one specific product is extracted as a related product. In this case, information indicating which specific product is guaranteed to operate may be attached. Further, in the embodiment described above, a product which can be used in cooperation with a specific product and whose normal operation is guaranteed is regarded as a related product, but is not limited to this, and is not limited to this. Products that can be used in cooperation with each other may be set as related products. Further, any of the cooperative use and the cooperative use and operation assurance may be selected on the client device 3K side.

The WWW server 2 creates a product list screen of the related product extracted for the specific product and transmits it to the client device 3K (S5 in FIG. 7).

As a result, the client device 3K receives the product list screen 340 of the related product, and the product selection screen 302 of the client device 3K shows that the cooperative use is possible and the operation is guaranteed as illustrated in FIG. 9C. Only the products that are listed are displayed in a pull-down menu. As described above, the WWW server 2 displays, on the client device 3K, a product list screen 340 listing only relevant products for specific approval.
Therefore, if the user of the client device 3K displaying this on the screen is a customer, it is possible to place an order via the Internet 1 or purchase at a store with confidence. Also, if the client 3K is the clerk at the store, the client 3K can respond to the customer's questions appropriately and promptly.

On the product list screen 340 illustrated in FIG. 9C, the user selects a desired product, for example, “CD-ROM drive PCGA-CD51 / A” among accessories in the same manner as described above. Then, the product list screen 340 disappears, and the selected product is displayed in the individual product display frame 3
22 is displayed. Then, when the selection button 324 of the display unit 328 is selected by the user, the product “CD-ROM drive” displayed in the individual product display frame 322 is displayed.
The selection of "PCGA-CD51 / A" is confirmed, and the individual product display frame 322 is displayed in a different color. Thereafter, the selected product is handled similarly as the specific product.

(4) Reminder for Overloaded Equipment In the client device 3K, when a related product is selected by the selection button 324, selection information indicating the selection is transmitted. The selection information also includes information for specifying a newly selected product from the selected specific product and related products to the specific product. Upon receiving the selection information, the WWW server 2 determines whether or not the alert information transmitting unit 24 becomes overloaded in the relationship between the selected specific product and the newly selected product, as the alert information 21c (FIG. 6).

For example, the PC main unit “PCV-SR9 / K” as a specific product already selected by the client device 3K.
Is selected, the accessory “CD-ROM drive PCGA-C” as illustrated in FIG.
D51 / A "is newly selected. In this case, the PC body "PCV-SR9 / K"
Since the “ROM drive PCGA-CD / A” is an optional product, the alert information 21c does not store information indicating that the equipment is overloaded. That is, since the information “」 ”indicating that there is no excessive equipment is stored in the column where the two products intersect in the illustrated alerting information 21 of FIG. 6, the alerting information transmitting unit 24 determines whether the two products are It is determined that there is no excess equipment, and the client device 3
No alert information is provided to K. on the other hand,
The selected specific product is the PC body "PCV-SR1 / B
P "(this PC body is assumed to be equipped with a CD-ROM as standard equipment, and when the user newly selects the accessory" CD-ROM drive PCGA-CD51 / A ", alert information is transmitted. The means 24 confirms from the alert information 21c that the equipment is excessively heavy (information “△” indicating excessive equipment is stored at the intersection of the two), and acquires comment information from the alert information 21c. That is, the alert information transmitting unit 24 reads out the comment number p included in the excess equipment information stored at the intersection of the two, reads out the comment corresponding to the comment number from the product information storage unit 21, and reads the comment sentence from the client device 3K. Send to

The client device 3K, which has received the comment, displays the contents of the comment on the display screen, so that the user can be alerted that the equipment is overloaded. The purchaser is the client device 3K
It is determined whether or not to make a purchase by looking at the comment displayed on the display screen of or based on the advice of a clerk who has seen the comment. When canceling the purchase, the user can cancel the selection by selecting one of the selection buttons 324 of the corresponding display frames 325 to 330 whose display is “cancel”.
If the equipment may be overloaded, such as when two are required for home or office use, the displayed comment is ignored and other processing is continued.

(5) Maintenance of merchandise information and operation verification information by the merchandise supplier device The user (user) of the merchandise supplier device 4J (J is an arbitrary numerical value) is browsed by a predetermined transfer protocol such as HTTP. URL of a Web page (in this case, a verification result table) for which
For maintenance via the Internet 1
An eb page request is transmitted (S16 in FIG. 7). At this time, the user of the merchandise supplier apparatus 4J transmits an ID assigned to the company and information for specifying a maintenance target together with the request.

When this request is received by the WWW server 2,
When the maintenance target is the product information 21a, the product information obtaining unit 26 reads out the product information 21a for all products delivered from the product supplier specified by the received ID from the product information obtaining unit 26, and Is created and transmitted to the product supplier apparatus 4J. Commodity supplier device 4 receiving this
In J, the product information portion that needs to be corrected is corrected, or when a newly delivered product is added, the product information on the new product is input and transmitted to the WWW server 2. As a result, the product information acquisition means 26 of the WWW server 2 acquires the correction information on the product information, and corrects the corresponding part of the product information 21a according to the correction information. Note that the correction history is separately stored. The correction history to be stored includes the product to be corrected, the correction date and time, the correction content, and the corrector ID.
Is saved.

On the other hand, when the maintenance target received by the WWW server 2 is the operation verification information 21b, the verification information acquiring means 27 determines all the products delivered from the product supplier specified by the received ID and the product information 21a. Is created as a maintenance Web page with all the products stored in the web server. That is, the verification information acquisition unit 27
In the case of the table of FIG. 5, only the delivered product of the product supplier is extracted from the vertical axis product, and a maintenance table including all products is created on the horizontal axis, and the maintenance web page is sent to the product supplier device 4J as a maintenance Web page. Send. Upon receiving this, the product supplier device 4J rewrites the operation verification information between the products whose operation has been newly confirmed on the Web screen and
Send to W server 2. As a result, the verification information acquisition unit 27 of the WWW server 2 acquires the corrected operation verification information, and corrects the corresponding part of the operation verification information 21b according to the correction information. For the correction history, see the product information 21a.
As in the case of the modification, the history is separately stored. The modification history to be saved includes both products to be modified, modification date and time,
The correction contents and the corrector ID are stored. Thereby, the latest product information and operation verification information are always obtained in the information 21a and 21b in the product information storage unit 21 of the WWW server 2.

As described above, in the first embodiment, when checking related products on the Internet, only related products that have been subjected to operation verification are presented. Can be avoided, and the risk of erroneously presenting related products that can be connected or mounted but whose operation has not been verified, can be avoided. Also, at the store, the clerk can use the product information providing device to propose only related products that have been verified for operation. Even if there is, it is possible to avoid the risk of erroneously suggesting a related product that has not been verified.

(6) Acquisition of Purpose of Use, etc. (Second Embodiment) In the second embodiment, when merchandise information is presented to the client device 3K, the W on the merchandise selection screen 302 is displayed from the beginning.
Rather than transmitting an eb screen, the first step is to ask the user how to use the product and to select a device according to the purpose.

The WWW server 2 first checks the purpose information, for example, (i) whether to use it for communication or (i)
i) use it for creative work, or
(Iii) A message as to whether or not to use for entertainment is transmitted as a web screen to the client device 3K via the Internet 1 to wait for input.

On the other hand, the customer looks at the web screen displayed on the display of the client device 3K, and (i) communication, (ii) creative, (iii)
Choose another of entertainment. Then, this information is transmitted to the WWW server 2 via the Internet 1.

Upon receiving this information, the purpose acquiring means 25 of the WWW server 2 judges the content. For example, in the case of (i) communication, the purpose acquisition unit 25 acquires and stores the purpose information (communication) as a constraint condition. The constraint condition is that the first product information providing unit 22 first transmits product information in order to select a specific product, or the second product information providing unit 23
Is used as a condition for extracting a related product for a specific product. For example, a PC having no communication function is excluded from the product information 21a as being excluded from the product information.

When the content of the acquired information is (ii) creative, the purpose acquiring means 25 of the WWW server 2 acquires and stores the purpose information (creative) as a constraint. The first merchandise information providing unit 22 and the second merchandise information providing unit 23 transmit the merchandise information and extract the related information by using the constraint conditions, and transmit to the client device 3K. For example, a PC main body equipped with a CPU having no processing capability required for video editing is excluded.

When the content of the acquired information is (iii) entertainment, the purpose acquiring means 25 of the WWW server 2 acquires and stores the purpose information (entertainment) as a constraint. The first merchandise information providing unit 22 and the second merchandise information providing unit 23 transmit merchandise information and extract related information using the constraint conditions,
The message is transmitted to the client device 3K.

(7) Commodity Order Receiving Apparatus (Third Embodiment) In the third embodiment, each of the processes (providing the commodity information, verifying the operation, and acquiring the related commodity) performed in the first embodiment is performed. In addition to the presentation, the alert for the overloaded equipment, the maintenance of the product information and the operation verification information by the product supplier device), and / or the second embodiment (acquisition of the purpose of use, etc.),
The client device 3K can place an order for the selected product, and the WWW server 2 can place an order for the ordered product.

In the case of this embodiment, the product selection screen 302 transmitted from the WWW server 2 to the client device 3K
For example, an order button is arranged in the lower right corner (see FIG. 8). When the client device 3K selects this order button, a final confirmation screen is displayed, and the order is completed by selecting the OK button. On the final confirmation screen, for example, confirmation characters such as "Order is placed for product XX and product XX. Are you sure?" Then, when the OK button is selected on the final confirmation screen, the client device 3K transmits order information on the product selected by the selection button 324 to the WWW server 2.

In the WWW server 2, upon receiving the order information, the order information obtaining means of the control unit 22 obtains the order information. Then, according to the acquired order information, the product order receiving means of the WWW server 2 receives an order for a product. In particular,
It is stored in the order management master secured in the product information storage means 21. As information stored in the order management master,
Information such as the number of products to be ordered and the number, the order date, the ID of the client device 3K, and the scheduled date of product shipment is stored, and the order is completed. With the completion of the order, the WWW server 2 transmits the order information to the delivery source of the order-receiving product, and requests the product to be shipped. The destination of the product is a warehouse or the like designated by the store where the client device 3K is installed.

In the case of a special agent having no sales stock, the ordered product may be sent directly to the customer without sending the special item to the special agent. In this case, on the final confirmation screen displayed on the client device 3K of the dealer,
An input field for customer information for purchasing a product is formed on the Web screen, and the customer information is transmitted to the WWW server 2 together with the final confirmation. Here, the customer information includes various kinds of information about the customer, but includes the customer's name, zip code, address, telephone number, and the like. The customer information on these addresses and names is used as the delivery address of the product.

As described above, in the third embodiment of the present invention, when receiving an order for a product on the Internet, it is possible to select and purchase only the related product whose operation has been verified. It is possible to avoid the risk of erroneously selecting and purchasing a related product that has not been presented and that has not been verified for operation even though it can be connected or mounted. Also, at the store, the clerk can use the product ordering device to propose and sell only the related products that have been verified for operation. Even if there is, the risk of erroneously proposing and selling related products for which operation verification has not been performed can be avoided.

(8) Storage Medium in which Product Information Providing Program is Stored The contents of the operations described in the first, second, and third embodiments are programs corresponding to each operation. Is stored in the control unit 22 and is operated according to this program. At least one of the programs of each of the operations described above (providing product information, verifying operation, presenting related products, alerting to excessive equipment, maintaining product information by a product supplier device, maintaining operation verification information, and receiving product orders) May be stored in a storage medium. Here, the storage medium includes, for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, C
D-RW, DVD, magnetic tape, ROM cartridge,
Includes RAM memory card with battery backup, flash memory cartridge, nonvolatile RAM card, and the like. The storage medium stores information (mainly digital data and programs) by some means, and may be any medium that allows a computer or a dedicated processor to realize a predetermined function. The same applies hereinafter.

[0070]

As described above, according to the invention described in claims 1 to 6, claim 13 to claim 18, claim 25, and claim 26, when a related product is confirmed on the Internet. In addition, since only related products that have been verified for operation are presented, related products that cannot be connected or cannot be installed are not presented. The risk of incorrect presentation can be avoided. In addition, according to the product information providing device, the store clerk can use the product information providing device to suggest only related products that have been verified for operation, so that the connection is impossible or the product cannot be installed. It is possible to avoid the risk of erroneously suggesting a related product or a related product that can be connected or mounted but whose operation has not been verified.

According to the inventions described in claims 7 to 12 and 19 to 24, when receiving an order for goods on the Internet, it is possible to select and purchase only related goods whose operation has been verified. It is possible to avoid the risk of incorrectly selecting and purchasing related products that can be connected or installed but have not been tested for operation, even if they can be connected or installed. There is an effect that can be done. Also, at the storefront, since the clerk can use the product ordering device to propose and sell only related products that have been verified for operation,
This has the effect of avoiding the risk of erroneously proposing and selling a related product that cannot be connected or cannot be mounted, or a related product that has been connected or mounted but has not been tested for operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of hardware for realizing a product information providing device and a product order receiving device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a product information providing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, which is a product presentation, a warning, a product presentation based on a purpose of use or a purpose of purchase, and information and operation verification on products usable in cooperation with each other. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus including a function capable of providing information.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an apparatus provided with a function related to maintenance of products that can be used in cooperation and maintenance of operation verification information, among the product information providing apparatuses according to the first embodiment of the present invention. .

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram conceptually showing a relationship between product categories stored in product information and a cooperative relationship between products in operation verification information in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram conceptually showing the contents of operation verification information in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram conceptually showing the contents of alert information stored in a product information storage unit in the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an overall and schematic flow of a service image according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram exemplifying a product selection screen presented to the client device 3 in order to present usable products in the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of a product selection screen that changes according to an operation by a client device in the first embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Internet 2 WWW servers 31, 32, 33, ..., 3N, 3K client devices 41, 42, 43, ..., 4N, 4J Product supplier device 21 Product information storage means 22 First product information provision means 23 Second Commodity information providing means 24 Warning information transmitting means 25 Purpose acquiring means 26 Commodity information acquiring means 27 Verification information acquiring means 28 Ordering information acquiring means 29 Commodity order receiving means 31, 41 Computer body 32, 42 Display

Claims (26)

[Claims] 1. Product information storage means for storing product information on various products, and product information on a specific product requested via a network are extracted from the product information storage means and provided to the requested client device. A first product information providing unit to be used, and a product that can be used in cooperation with one or more specific products selected by the client device for the product provided by the first product information providing unit is set as a related product And a second product information providing means for extracting the product information from the product information storage means and transmitting the product information to the client device. 2. A related product that can be used in cooperation with the specific product is a product that can be directly connected to the specific product, wirelessly connected, or at least one of detachably mountable, interior, and indirect mountable. The product information providing device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The merchandise information storage means stores operation verification information indicating that each merchandise operates normally in a state where another merchandise is connected or mounted, and the second merchandise information provision is performed. The merchandise information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means transmits a merchandise that operates normally from the operation verification information to the client device as a related merchandise. 4. A product information obtaining means for obtaining information on a product which can be used in cooperation with a product having product information stored in the product information storage means from a product supplier and storing the information in the product information storage means. And verification information acquisition means for acquiring operation verification information for a product whose product information is stored in the product information storage means from a product supplier and storing the verification information in the product information storage means. The product information providing device according to claim 3. 5. Alert information that alerts the user when a product selected for a related product provided by the second product information providing means is overloaded with respect to the specific product. 2. The product information providing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an alert information transmitting unit that transmits the information. 6. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a purpose acquisition unit configured to acquire purpose information for specifying a purpose of use or a purpose of purchase of the product, wherein the second product information providing unit relates the purpose information acquired by the purpose acquisition unit as a constraint. 2. The product information providing device according to claim 1, wherein a product is extracted from the product information storage unit and transmitted to the client device. 7. A merchandise information storage means for storing merchandise information relating to various merchandise, and merchandise information relating to a specific merchandise requested via a network is extracted from the merchandise information storage means and provided to the client device which has been requested. A first product information providing unit to be provided, and a product available in cooperation with one or more specific products selected by the client device with respect to the product provided by the first product information providing unit. A second merchandise information providing unit that extracts the merchandise information from the merchandise information storage unit and transmits the merchandise information to the client device; and the first merchandise information providing unit and the second merchandise information providing unit provide the merchandise information. Order information acquisition means for acquiring the ordered product and order information transmitted from the client device for the selected product; and an order information acquired by the order information acquisition means. Product order processing apparatus, characterized by comprising: a merchandise order receiving means for a product order, the following information. 8. A related product that can be used in conjunction with the specific product is a product that can be directly connected to the specific product, wirelessly connected, or at least one of detachably mountable, interior, and indirect mountable. The product order receiving device according to claim 7, characterized in that: 9. The merchandise information storage means stores operation verification information indicating that each merchandise operates normally in a state where another merchandise is connected or mounted, and the second merchandise information provision is performed. The product order receiving apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the means transmits a normally operating product from the operation verification information to the client device as a related product. 10. A product information obtaining means for obtaining information on a product that can be used in cooperation with a product whose product information is stored in the product information storage means from a product supplier and storing the information in the product information storage means. Verification information acquisition means for acquiring operation verification information on a product whose product information is stored in the product information storage means from a product supplier and storing the operation verification information in the product information storage means. The product order receiving device according to claim 9. 11. Alert information for alerting the user when a product selected for a related product provided by the second product information providing means is overloaded with respect to the specific product. 8. The product order receiving device according to claim 7, further comprising a warning information transmitting unit that transmits the information. 12. A method according to claim 1, further comprising: acquiring purpose information for identifying a purpose of use or a purpose of purchase of the product, wherein the second product information providing unit relates the purpose information obtained by the purpose obtaining unit as a constraint. The product order receiving device according to claim 7, wherein the product is extracted from the product information storage unit and transmitted to the client device. 13. First merchandise information for extracting merchandise information relating to a specific merchandise requested via a network from merchandise information storage means storing merchandise information relating to various merchandise, and providing the extracted merchandise information to the requested client device. A product that can be used in conjunction with one or more specific products selected by the client device for the product provided by the providing function and the first product information providing function is set as a related product, and the product information is used as the product. A storage medium storing a product information providing program that causes a computer to implement a second product information providing function that is extracted from information storage means and transmitted to the client device. 14. Related products that can be used in cooperation with the specific product include a direct connection to the specific product, a wireless connection,
2. The product according to claim 1, wherein at least one of detachable attachment, interior decoration, and indirect attachment is possible.
A storage medium storing the product information providing program according to 3. 15. The product information storage means stores operation verification information indicating that the product normally operates in a state where another product is connected to or attached to each product. 14. The storage medium storing the product information providing program according to claim 13, wherein the second product information providing function transmits a normally operating product from the operation verification information to the client device as a related product. 16. A merchandise information acquisition function for acquiring, from a merchandise supplier, information on merchandise usable in cooperation with merchandise whose merchandise information is stored in the merchandise information storage means, and storing the information in the merchandise information storage means. Product information for realizing, from the product supplier, a verification information acquisition function for acquiring operation verification information for a product whose product information is stored in the product information storage unit and storing the verification information in the product information storage unit; The storage medium according to claim 15, wherein the provided program is stored. 17. Alert information that alerts the user when a product selected for a related product provided by the second product information providing function is overloaded with respect to the specific product. The storage medium according to claim 13, wherein a product information providing program for causing the computer to implement an alert information transmission function of transmitting a notification is stored. 18. A computer which realizes a purpose obtaining function for obtaining purpose information for specifying a use purpose or a purchase purpose of a product, wherein the second product information providing function realized by the computer is the purpose obtaining function. 14. The storage medium storing the product information providing program according to claim 13, wherein a related product is extracted from the product information storage unit using the acquired target information as a constraint and transmitted to the client device. 19. First merchandise information for extracting merchandise information relating to a specific merchandise requested via a network from merchandise information storage means storing merchandise information relating to various merchandise, and providing the extracted merchandise information to the client device which has requested the merchandise information. A providing function, and a product that can be used in cooperation with one or more specific products selected by the client device with respect to the product provided by the first product information providing function is set as a related product, and the product information is used as the related product. A second merchandise information providing function that is extracted from the merchandise information storage means and transmitted to the client device; and a merchandise provided by the first merchandise information providing function and the second merchandise information providing function. An order information acquisition function for acquiring ordered items and order information transmitted from the client device, and a product order is received in accordance with the order information acquired by the order information acquisition function. A storage medium in which a product order receiving function to be performed and a product order receiving program that causes a computer to realize the function. 20. Related products that can be used in cooperation with the specific product include a direct connection to the specific product, a wireless connection,
2. The product according to claim 1, wherein at least one of detachable attachment, interior decoration, and indirect attachment is possible.
A storage medium storing the product order program described in Item 9. 21. The product information storage means stores operation verification information indicating that the product normally operates in a state where another product is connected or mounted to each product, and 20. The storage medium according to claim 19, wherein the second product information providing function transmits a normally operating product from the operation verification information to the client device as a related product. 22. A merchandise information obtaining means for obtaining information on usable merchandise from the merchandise supplier in cooperation with the merchandise whose merchandise information is stored in the merchandise information storing means, and storing the information in the merchandise information storing means. A verification information acquisition function of acquiring operation verification information for a product whose product information is stored in a product information storage unit from a product supplier and storing the operation verification information in the product information storage unit. 22. The storage medium according to claim 21, wherein a product order receiving program is stored. 23. Alert information that alerts the user when a product selected for a related product provided by the second product information providing function is overloaded with respect to the specific product. 20. The storage medium according to claim 19, wherein a product order receiving program for causing the computer to implement an alert information transmission function of transmitting a notice is stored. 24. The computer realizes a purpose acquisition function for acquiring purpose information for specifying a use purpose or a purchase purpose of a product, and the second product information providing function realized by the computer is the purpose acquisition function. 20. The storage medium according to claim 19, wherein a related product is extracted from the product information storage unit using the acquired target information as a constraint condition and transmitted to the client device. 25. Receiving a correction request from a product supplier,
Means for providing product information or operation verification information on the product corresponding to the product supplier device; and product information or operation verification information corrected by the product supplier device based on the provided product information or operation verification information. A means for acquiring correction information for: and a means for modifying the product information or the operation verification information stored in the product information storage means based on the acquired correction information. 2. The product information providing device according to 1. 26. A first merchandise information providing step of providing merchandise information relating to a specific merchandise requested via a network to the requested client device, and a merchandise provided in the first merchandise information providing step. And a second product information providing step of, as a related product, a product that can be used in cooperation with one or more specific products selected by the client device, and transmitting the product information to the client device. Product information providing method characterized by the following.