JP2002092118A - Support system for shopping - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently conduct shopping, without omission of shopping or losing one's way to a store, and arrangement of a selling space. SOLUTION: A customer browses a shopping support web page 14 of a server 3 by using a terminal 1A and acquires shopping support information 15 to be required for shopping from the page. Merchandise information 11, regarding merchandise at the store 18 where the customer actually intends to do shopping, is included in the shopping support information 15. Pieces of information, such as the prices and kinds of the merchandise, are included in the merchandise information 11. Furthermore, direction information 12 for guiding the way for the customer to go to the store 18 and information about, where in the store 18 the merchandise desired by the customer is arranged, are included in the shopping support information 15. The customer can go shopping of the required merchandise by going to the store 18 without losing his way, while referring to the shopping support information 15.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a shopping support system that combines the advantages of Internet shopping and actual shopping.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The use of the Internet has become popular, and the number of cases of network shopping at home using personal computers has increased. In the case of network shopping, an image of an item to be actually purchased is displayed on a display of a personal computer, and the type and number of the item are specified and an order is placed. The store that receives the order performs electronic payment and then delivers the product to the customer.

[0003] The use of the Internet is not limited to such online sales. For customers who actually want to visit a store and do shopping, there are an increasing number of stores that provide advertisements of various products and provide information on the date of sale through the Internet. Further, even if the customer visits the store after watching the advertisement, the customer who is unfamiliar with the store may return without finding the target product. Therefore, in order to provide convenience to customers who visit a store, for example, a system in which the inside of the store is guided by a handy terminal has been developed. (JP-A-10-1435
No. 63, 09-28869, 08-030
No. 691, No. 08-103352)

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned prior art has the following problems to be solved. Network shopping using only personal computers connected to the network has the advantage that customers can purchase products very easily because they can save the trouble of visiting the store. However, since the product is confirmed on the display screen, there are many cases where a product different from the product intended by the customer is actually delivered. Therefore, there are not a few customers who go to a store and want to purchase the product after actually taking it.

[0005] However, even if the user decides on a product to purchase with reference to an advertisement on the Internet or a leaflet of a newspaper and goes to a store, he or she often forgets to purchase a part of the planned product. Also, the first customer
In many cases, it is not easy to find information not only in the store but also in the geography up to the store, so it is not always easy to go shopping for the first store casually.

[0006]

The present invention employs the following structure to solve the above problems. <Configuration 1> A terminal device and a server are connected via a network. The server guides the terminal device on product information on products to be sold at a store and directions to the store. A shopping support system for transmitting shopping support information including route guidance information and floor information indicating the location of the product at the store.

<Structure 2> The shopping support system according to Structure 1, wherein the guide information includes information including a transit guide for transportation from a designated point to the store. system.

<Structure 3> A shopping support system according to Structure 1, wherein the guide information comprises information including car navigation setting data for operating the car navigation device.

<Structure 4> In the shopping support system according to Structure 1, the shopping support information downloaded to the terminal device includes image data sequentially displayed on a display of the terminal device. Shopping support system.

<Structure 5> In the shopping support system according to structure 1, when the terminal device displays the shopping support information on a display and selects a product to be purchased, the terminal sends the product to the store. Shopping support system, wherein the reservation information of the user is transmitted.

<Structure 6> In the shopping support system according to Structure 5, when reservation information is transmitted from the terminal device to the store, a reservation code for confirming the reservation is transmitted to the terminal device. Shopping support system characterized by being returned.

<Structure 7> The shopping support system according to Structure 5, wherein the discount code is returned to the terminal device together with the reservation code.

<Structure 8> In the shopping support system according to Structure 6, the reservation code is stored in the store.
A shopping support system used for discount sales management.

<Structure 9> The shopping support system according to Structure 1, wherein the guide information includes character information for guiding a route to the store.

<Structure 10> The shopping support system according to Structure 1, wherein the guide information includes voice data for guiding a route to the store by voice.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below using specific examples. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of a shopping support system according to the present invention. As shown in the figure, a mobile phone 1 and a terminal device 1A are connected to a server 3 via a network 2 such as the Internet. In the present invention, information for shopping is acquired using the terminal device 1A such as the mobile phone 1 or a personal computer.

First, an example using the terminal device 1A will be described. The storage device 4 is connected to the server 3. The storage device 4 stores product information 11, road guidance information 12, floor position information 13, shopping support web page 14, and the like. The storage device 4 may be built in the server 3 or may be externally attached. Terminal device 1
A is connected to a printer 5.

In such a system, the server 3
Makes the terminal device 1A refer to the shopping support web page 14. The terminal device 1A is a shopping support web page 1
The shopping support information 15 acquired with reference to
To print out. In the system shown in the figure, the customer browses the shopping support web page 14 of the server 3 using the terminal device 1A, and obtains the shopping support information 15 necessary for shopping from the page.

This shopping support information 15 is the product information 1 about the product of the store 18 where the customer actually wants to shop.
Contains one. The product information 11 includes information such as the price and type of the product. In addition, shopping support information 15 includes
Road guidance information 12 for guiding the customer to the store 18
It is included. Also, the shopping support information 15 includes floor position information 13 including information on where in the store 18 the product desired by the customer is located.
The customer obtains such shopping support information 15 and then goes to the store 18 to shop for necessary products while actually referring to the shopping support information 15. In order to realize the above system, it is desirable that the shopping support information 15 includes the following information.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the contents of the shopping support information. This shopping support information includes product information 100, road guidance information 120, and floor position information 130.
All the information shown here may be included in the shopping support information, or only a part thereof may be included. Product information 1
00 includes, for example, a product code 102, a product name 103, a selling price 104, and product image data 105. The product code 102 is a code for specifying the type of product,
The product name 103 is the name. The sales price 104 is used for estimating calculation and the like. The product image data 105 is used to display an actual product image on the display of the terminal device 1A shown in FIG.

The route guidance information 120 is information indicating a route from a point designated by a customer to a store. In this example,
Transfer guide 106, walking map 109, road map 1
10. Parking information 111 Car navigation setting data 112 is included. The transfer guide 106 is information necessary for transfer of a transportation system used by the customer, and includes, for example, a timetable 107 and a required time 108. This is a result of searching and displaying a transportation system from a point designated by the customer to a station nearest to the store 18 from a database (not shown).

The walking map 109 represents a map from the nearest station of the store 18 or a map from a point designated by the customer to the store 18 as image information. The road map 110 is a similar car map. The parking lot guide 111 is a guide map showing the arrangement of parking lots and entrances and exits necessary for using the store 18. The car navigation setting data 112 is data necessary for setting the car navigation device when visiting the store 18 by car. Specifically, it includes the latitude and longitude data 113 of the store 18. In addition, it can also include character data and voice data 114 for guiding the road near the store.

The floor position information 130 includes a guide map 116 inside the store 18 and a store layout diagram for each specific product. Voice guidance data 117 can be included as needed. As will be described later, the voice guidance data 117 is data used when a mobile phone or the like is used as a terminal device, shopping support information 15 is stored inside the mobile phone, and a store is visited. is there. According to the voice guidance data 117, guidance of the counter in the store is performed.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a shopping support web page and shopping support information. While referring to the shopping support web page 14, an image 20 as shown in FIG. 3 is displayed on the terminal device 1A (FIG. 1). Here, for example, the product name, the product price, and the like are displayed for each product. For example,
If the customer wants to purchase this product, he or she clicks the download button 21. As a result, information on the product is stored in the internal memory 16 of the terminal device.

In this manner, the customer refers to images of various commodities, clicks the download button 21 in the image of the commodities to be purchased, and stores the information in the internal memory 16. At this time, the merchandise information 11, the road guidance information 12, or the floor position information 13 as described above is downloaded at the same time and stored in the internal memory 16. Thereafter, the printer 5 shown in FIG. 1 is driven to obtain a printer output 23 as shown in FIG.

The printer output 23 prints the name of the store, the name of the product, the price of the product, the location of the floor where the product is sold, the position of the sales floor, and the like. Further, a guide map for road guidance and a map for sales floor guidance are printed. The shopping support information 15 obtained by using the terminal device 1A as shown in FIG. 1 is carried as a printer output 23 as shown in FIG. 3, for example. When shopping with this, the customer can arrive at the store of the desired product at the corresponding store without hesitation and purchase the product.

When going to the store 18 by car, the user sets the longitude / latitude 25 in the car navigation device 26 of his / her car by referring to the car navigation setting data 24. This will automatically guide you to the store. In addition, dealer 1 using train and bus
When going to 8, the timetable 28 and the like of the transfer guide 27 are printed and used.

As in the above example, the product information 100, the route guidance information 120, the floor position information 130, etc. shown in FIG. 2 are data of various formats such as image format data and text format data, respectively. By mixing them, the convenience of the customer's shopping can be achieved. In addition, the shopping support information displays a list of all products that the customer intends to purchase, thereby preventing the customer from forgetting to buy. By associating the product list with the sales floor guide map, it is possible to provide a guide that enables the customer to move in the store most efficiently and purchase a desired product.

By the way, portable telephones are very conveniently used to obtain various information by connecting to the Internet as shown in FIG. When the shopping support information 15 as described above is downloaded to the mobile phone, the mobile phone main body can be used for shopping support from the time when the user starts shopping to the time when the shopping is completed. A specific example is shown below.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a procedure of shopping support using a portable telephone. First, using the mobile phone 1, FIG.
Connected to the server 3 shown in FIG.
Is referred to. On this web page 14, for example, information such as what kind of merchandise store is located at this store is displayed. Here, the customer operates a dial key or the like of the mobile phone 1 and designates one of the sales areas. As a result, the image 20 of the product at the counter is displayed.

For example, when a predetermined dial key of the mobile phone 1 is pressed in this state, the product information and other shopping support information 15 on the product are downloaded to the mobile phone 1. The shopping support information 15 can be downloaded in a similar manner for other various products. These are collectively stored in the internal memory of the mobile phone 1.
When the designation of the product to be purchased is completed, a shopping list 31 listing those product names is generated. In the example shown in this figure, a shopping list 31 including four types of product names and the total price of the purchase prices is generated.

This is also stored in the internal memory of the mobile phone 1 by downloading and displayed on the display of the mobile phone 1 upon request. When the shopping target is determined in this way, the customer presses a predetermined dial key of the mobile phone 1. Thereby, the reservation information 32 is transmitted to the server 3. That is, in this example, the shopping support information 15
With the acquisition of the product, a reservation is made for a product desired to be purchased. The reservation database 33 is stored in the storage device 4 of the server 3. In this database 33,
Reservation information 32 received from various customers is stored. This reservation information is notified to the inventory management system 34 of the corresponding store 18.

As described above, the product specified by the customer in the shopping list 31 is notified to the store 18 as the reservation information 32, and is prepared at the store until the customer visits the store 18. In this case, the reservation information 32 of the customer may include a date when the customer visits the store 18 or the like. This makes it easy to set up a schedule for preparing products at the store 18. Inventory management system 3 of dealer 18
4 accepts the reservation and issues a reservation code 35 and returns it to the mobile phone 1.

The reservation code 35 is stored in the mobile phone 1 as information for confirming that the reservation of the corresponding product has been accepted. At the same time, discount ticket data and the like may be transmitted to a customer who has made a reservation using this system, for example, as a service accompanying the reception of the reservation. This discount coupon data may be, for example, a message such as “5% discount on products reserved this time”. It can be used for sales promotion to promote the use of this system to customers.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a specific shopping support information acquiring operation using the above-mentioned portable telephone 1. First, in step S1, the mobile phone 1 is connected to the store site of the server 3. Next, in step S2, the shopping support web page is browsed. The customer selects a product in step S3, and displays the product information in step S4. The product information is information as shown in the image 20 shown in FIG. When the customer specifies download in step S5, the process proceeds to step S6. If the download is not performed, the process returns to step S2, and the shopping support web page 14 is displayed again.

When downloading is performed, step S5
Then, the process proceeds to step S6, where the reservation information 32 is transmitted to the server 3. Steps S7 and S8 on the right side of the drawing are operations performed by the store. The reservation information is transferred to the inventory management system 34 of the store 18. As a result, in step S7 in FIG. 5, the merchandise inventory management system in the store operates. Further, in step S8, a reservation code is issued. This reservation code is
Sent to.

Upon receiving the reservation code in step S9 of FIG. 5, the mobile phone 1 determines in step S10 whether all the products have been downloaded. The processing from step S2 to step S10 is repeated until the download of the product information is completed for all the products to be purchased. When these processes are completed, the process advances from step S10 to step S11, where the line is disconnected. Here, an example in which the reservation process is performed each time a purchase of one product is determined has been described, but after all product information has been downloaded, steps S6 to S9 are performed.
May be executed. After the line is disconnected, the customer displays and browses the entire downloaded shopping support information on the display of the mobile phone 1 in step S12.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when a user goes to a store and purchases a product with the portable telephone 1 to which shopping support information has been downloaded. The customer first presses the departure key when going out for shopping (step S21).
The departure key is set to one of the dial keys of the mobile phone 1. Here, the process proceeds to step S22, and the mobile phone 1
Starts a navigation announcement. In the example described with reference to FIG. 1, an example has been described in which a route from a designated place where a customer departs to a store is set in a car navigation device of an automobile. In this case, the setting is completed by setting the latitude and longitude. In the example shown in FIG.
The mobile phone 1 is used for navigation.

That is, an announcement for route guidance is output from the mobile phone 1 by voice. If the main intersection and the main geographical landmarks are sequentially displayed as images on the display of the mobile phone 1 and sound output, the route guidance is sufficiently possible. There are also mobile phones with a built-in GPS. Therefore, such a mobile phone can perform the same route guidance operation as a car navigation device connected to an automobile. Note that the route guidance information may be simple text information displayed on the display of the mobile phone 1 as long as main intersections and main geographical landmarks are only displayed in order.

Step S23 shows the processing when the vehicle arrives at the store. Here, the customer presses a predetermined key of the mobile phone 1. Thus, the route guidance ends, and the process proceeds to step S24, and floor guidance of the store is started. Also in this case, a guidance announcement on the floor of the product desired to be purchased is made by voice from the mobile phone 1. For example, 1
Each time the predetermined key is clicked, it is preferable to perform a process of guiding the floor on which the next product is arranged. The guidance on the floor is not limited to voice, and an image of the floor may be displayed. Note that when the mode has been changed to the mode for performing floor guidance inside the store, information on predetermined recommended products can also be transmitted from the broadcasting system inside the store to the mobile phone 1 and displayed (step). S
25).

When the customer arrives at the sales floor of the target product according to the floor guidance announcement, he or she presses the shopping key to purchase the product (step S26). The customer checks the product with his own eyes and brings it to the cash register. If the shopping key is pressed at this time, the reservation code is transmitted from the mobile phone 1 to the POS system in step S27. This reservation code is issued by the inventory management system of the store at the time of reservation. By sending this reservation code, P
The OS system recognizes that the item is reserved,
Automatically execute discount services that have already been notified to customers.

With such a procedure, for all products,
While listening to the announcement of the floor guidance, arrive at the corresponding sales floor and purchase the goods in order. That is, as described above, guidance to the store is provided by the mobile phone, and upon arrival at the store, guidance is provided to the counter of the product to be purchased in advance. Moreover, all the products to be purchased in advance can be efficiently and sequentially advanced in the store for shopping. As a result, you do not forget to shop. In this manner, the shopping can be efficiently completed without error by using the shopping support system according to the present invention.

Note that the above reservation system is not essential. It may be adopted as needed. If you visit a store using the shopping support system and come to the sales floor of a product and find that the product is out of stock, press the corresponding order key on your mobile phone and the product code and product information will be displayed. May be transmitted to the inventory management system of the company and the product can be reserved. In this case, a service of delivering the goods to the customer's house after the goods are received becomes possible.

Each functional block shown in each of the above-described figures may be constituted by a separate program module, or may be constituted by an integrated program module. Further, all or a part of these functional blocks may be configured by hardware using a logic circuit. Further, each program module may be operated by being incorporated in an existing application program, or may be operated as an independent program.

The computer program for realizing the present invention as described above can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, installed, and used. It can also be used by downloading it to the memory of a computer via a network.

[0046]

In the system of the present invention described above, the server provides the terminal device with the product information on the products to be sold at the store, the route guidance information for providing directions to the store, and the product of the store. Shopping support information including the floor information indicating the arrangement of the items can be transmitted to facilitate the customer's shopping. In particular, when a list of all products that the customer plans to purchase is displayed in the product information, it is possible to prevent the customer from forgetting to buy. Also, according to the guidance information,
The customer arrives at the store without hesitation, and the floor information enables the customer to efficiently move through the store and purchase a desired product.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of a shopping support system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of contents of shopping support information.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a shopping support web page and shopping support information.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a procedure of shopping support using a mobile phone.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a specific shopping support information acquisition operation using the mobile phone 1;

FIG. 6 is a mobile phone 1 that has downloaded shopping support information.
It is a flowchart which shows the processing procedure at the time of going to a store and purchasing goods.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cellular phone 1A Terminal device 2 Network 3 Server 4 Storage device 5 Printer 11 Product information 12 Directions information 13 Floor position information 14 Shopping support web page 15 Shopping support information 18 Shop

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A server, comprising: a terminal device connected via a network; and a server, wherein the server provides the terminal device with merchandise information on merchandise to be sold at a store and directions to the store. A shopping support system for transmitting shopping support information including road guidance information to be performed and floor information indicating the location of the product at the store. 2. The shopping support system according to claim 1, wherein the guide information comprises information including a transit guide for transportation from a designated point to the store. . 3. The shopping support system according to claim 1, wherein the road guidance information includes information including car navigation setting data for operating a car navigation device. 4. The shopping support system according to claim 1, wherein the shopping support information downloaded to the terminal device comprises image data sequentially displayed on a display of the terminal device. Support system. 5. The shopping support system according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device displays the shopping support information on a display and selects a product to be purchased. A shopping support system wherein reservation information is transmitted. 6. The shopping support system according to claim 5, wherein when reservation information is transmitted from the terminal device to a store, a reservation code for confirming the reservation is returned to the terminal device. Shopping support system characterized by being done. 7. The shopping support system according to claim 5, wherein merchandise discount information is returned to the terminal device together with the reservation code. 8. The shopping support system according to claim 6, wherein the reservation code is used for discount sales management at the store. 9. The shopping support system according to claim 1, wherein the guide information includes character information for guiding a route to the store. 10. The shopping support system according to claim 1, wherein the guide information includes voice data for guiding a route to the store by voice.