JP2002170044A - Information providing system and information providing server - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information providing system for providing various kinds of information providing purchased commodity information related to a commodity purchased by a consumer to the consumer, and surely delivering the information related to a commodity from a maker, a shop or the like to a purchaser of this commodity, and the like. SOLUTION: When the consumer purchaser the commodity, the purchased commodity information related to the commodity is read by a shop terminal 1, and consumer information for specifying the consumer is inputted thereto. The purchased commodity information and consumer information are transmitted to a server 2, and mutually conformed and accumulated therein. The consumer can read the own purchased commodity information by the access through an Internet homepage 3 from a user terminal 4. When the information for consumer for a certain commodity is provided from a retail trader 5 or a maker 6, the information for consumer is delivered on the basis of the consumer information conformed to the purchased commodity information of this commodity. Accordingly the information can be surely delivered to the purchaser of this commodity.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information providing system and an information providing system which provide a consumer with information on a product purchased by the consumer and provide various kinds of information using the purchased product information at that time. It relates to a providing server.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a consumer purchases a product at a store such as a supermarket, a bar code describing price information is pasted on the product, and a POS for performing payment by reading the bar code is performed. The system has been introduced. This POS system shortens the settlement time and is used as data for inventory management on the store side, and is also used to cultivate top selling products by analyzing consumer trends within the store or store group. I have. However, the data read by the POS system is used exclusively at the store side, and is actually used only at the time of payment from the viewpoint of the consumer. Further, such information is information that is totaled for each store or store group, and is not information that is fed back to a manufacturer, for example.

[0003] In recent years, there has been a series of collections due to product defects and the like, and such collection information needs to be reliably transmitted to consumers who have purchased the product. But,
At present, such collected information relies on mass media such as newspapers and broadcasts, and it is not known whether information is actually transmitted to consumers. As a result, the damage may increase.

[0004] Even without such a serious situation such as product recovery, there is a great demand for distributing various information such as advertisements only to a purchaser of a certain product. However, at present, there is no system that can satisfy such requirements.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and provides purchaser information on goods purchased by consumers to consumers and purchases information from manufacturers and the like. Providing an information providing system and an information providing server for providing various information such as enabling information based on product information to be provided, and reliably distributing information on products from manufacturers and stores to purchasers of the products. It is intended to do so.

[0006]

According to the present invention, when a consumer purchases a product, the store terminal acquires the purchased product information and the consumer information for specifying the consumer regarding the purchased product. The acquired purchased product information and consumer information are stored in the server in association with each other. The purchased merchandise information stored in the server, in response to a request from the consumer, converts the purchased merchandise information associated with the consumer into
Can be provided to consumers who have requested it. As a result, the consumer can use the purchased merchandise information that was previously available only on the store side.

[0007] Further, since the purchased merchandise information is associated with the consumer information, the server knows who purchased which merchandise. Therefore, when the consumer-related information on the product is received, the consumer-oriented information can be distributed to the consumer according to the consumer information associated with the product. As a result, information on a product from a maker or a store can be reliably delivered to a consumer who has purchased the product. For example, marketing activities such as advertising for only consumers who have purchased a specific product can be performed. In addition, important information such as collection of a specific product can be reliably delivered, and follow-up can be quickly performed, and product guarantee can be performed for any product.

Further, the purchased merchandise information stored in the server is collected from, for example, many stores, so that the purchasing behavior of the consumer as a whole market is grasped, not the conventional information for each store. It can be used as information for performing Therefore, it is possible to provide such information on the entire market not only to retailers but also to businesses such as manufacturers. Of course, for consumers who allow the provision of information, information provision based on the consumer information together with the purchased product information can be performed.

[0009]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an information providing system according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the same server. In the figure, 1 is a store terminal, 2 is a server, 3 is an Internet homepage, 4
Is a user terminal, 5 is a retailer, 6 is a manufacturer, 11 is a product information acquisition unit, 12 is an information storage unit, 13 is an information acquisition and distribution unit, 14 is a distribution destination acquisition unit, and 15 is an information search unit.

The store terminal 1 includes a POS terminal such as a register, or a computer that supervises such a POS terminal and information from each POS terminal.
In the store terminal 1, purchased product information on a product purchased by a consumer is input. For example, a bar code attached to a product may be read. The read purchased merchandise information is managed as data for each store as in the past, and the purchased merchandise information for each consumer is sent to the server 2 via a communication path such as the Internet, a dedicated line, or a public line. . When a consumer purchases a product, he or she inputs consumer information that can identify the consumer. For example, a consumer can input a unique identification code such as a personal identification number, or can input a predetermined card such as a credit card or a cash card.
When reading the D number or registering as a member in the present information providing system, the member number or the like may be input as consumer information. This consumer information is also sent to the server 2 together with the purchased product information.

The server 2 stores various kinds of information and provides information. In particular, it receives the purchased merchandise information and the consumer information sent from the store terminal 1 and stores them in association with each other. Then, in response to a request from the consumer, the purchased product information associated with the consumer is extracted using the consumer information, transferred to the user terminal 4, and used by the consumer. At the same time, consumer-related information on the product is received from a business such as the retailer 5 or the maker 6, and the consumer-oriented information is distributed to the consumer according to the consumer information associated with the product. Further, various information based on the purchased merchandise information can be provided to businesses such as the retailer 5 and the manufacturer 6.

The server 2 includes, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, a product information acquisition unit 11, an information storage unit 12, and an information acquisition and distribution unit 1.
3. A configuration including a distribution destination acquisition unit 14, an information search unit 15, and the like can be adopted. The product information acquisition unit 11 acquires purchase product information and consumer information regarding products purchased by the consumer, which are sent from one or more shop terminals 1.

The information storage unit 12 stores the purchased product information obtained by the product information obtaining unit 11 and the consumer information in association with each other. Of course, various other information can be stored.

When a consumer accesses the server 2 via the Internet homepage 3 to be described later and requests acquisition of purchased merchandise information, the information acquisition / distribution unit 13 sends the consumer information of the consumer from the information storage unit 12 to the server 2. And retrieves the purchased product information associated with the user terminal 4 and transfers it to the user terminal 4. Also, the retailer 5 and the maker 6 are provided to the user terminal 4 corresponding to the consumer information acquired by the distribution destination acquiring section 14.
Distribute information for consumers provided by businesses such as. This delivery may be delivered together with the purchased merchandise information when the consumer accesses from the user terminal 4 via the Internet homepage 3, or may be delivered by e-mail or the like.

[0015] The distribution destination acquiring section 14 receives consumer information for specifying a consumer who purchased the product when information such as the product is provided to the consumer from a business such as the retailer 5 or the manufacturer 6. It is obtained from the storage unit 12. Then, in accordance with the acquired consumer information, the information acquisition / distribution unit 13 is requested to distribute the consumer information on the product. Examples of the consumer-related information on the product include important information such as collection and notices on the product, as well as advertisements and event guides for purchasers of a certain product. Such information will be distributed pinpointly to consumers who have purchased the product.

[0016] The information search unit 15 is provided by the retailer 5 and the maker 6.
In response to a request from a business operator such as, for example, the purchased product information stored in the information storage unit 12 is searched, and various information based on the purchased product information is provided to the business. Examples of the information to be provided include statistical information obtained from purchased merchandise information, statistical information in consideration of consumer information, and provision of consumer information after the consumer has agreed.

The configuration of the server 2 shown in FIG. 2 is an example, and any configuration may be used as long as the configuration realizes the above-described functions. In addition, if the consumer consent cannot be obtained because personal information is handled, the information search unit 15 is not provided,
A configuration that does not have an information providing function for a business operator may be used.

Returning to FIG. 1, the Internet homepage 3 provides a user interface when a consumer accesses the server 2 via the Internet using the user terminal 4. For example, when extracting the purchased product information stored in the server 2, an input screen for inputting information for identifying a consumer who purchased the product is provided.
In addition, when information for a consumer provided by a business such as a retailer 5 or a maker 6 is also provided in response to a consumer's request, an input to request acquisition of the information is also provided. This can be performed from the Internet homepage 3.

The user terminal 4 includes, for example, a computer installed in a consumer's home or the like, a portable terminal carried by the consumer, and the like, and has a function of communicating via the Internet. By accessing the Internet homepage 3 via the Internet and instructing the transfer of the purchased merchandise information, the transfer of the purchased merchandise information of the consumer stored in the server 2 can be received. The received information on the purchased goods is taken into the household account book software and can be used as a part of the household account book information.

A business such as a retailer 5 or a maker 6 provides information on products to consumers. Further, the user can access the server 2 to acquire various types of information based on the purchased product information and use the acquired information for business. It should be noted that the business may acquire various types of information via the Internet homepage 3. In addition, a service is also conceivable in which information based on, for example, purchased merchandise information is periodically distributed according to a contract with a company managing the server.

Next, the operation of the information providing system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation when a consumer acquires purchased product information in the embodiment of the information providing system of the present invention. In S21, when a consumer purchases a product at a store, for example, a barcode or the like attached to the product is read by the store terminal 1 to perform settlement. The information of the prize read at this time is the purchased product information. Also, when purchasing a product, for example, the consumer can enter a unique identification code such as a personal identification number, read the ID number of a predetermined card such as a credit card or a cash card, or register as a member in the information providing system. If so, the member number or the like is input as consumer information.

The purchased merchandise information and the consumer information thus input to the store terminal 1 are transferred from the store terminal 1 to the server 2 in S22. The purchased merchandise information and the consumer information transferred to the server 2 are received by the merchandise information acquisition unit 11 and stored in the information storage unit 12 in association with the purchased merchandise information and the consumer information.

After shopping, in S23, the consumer accesses the Internet homepage 3 from the user terminal 4 via the Internet, and requests the server 2 for the purchased product information of the consumer. In addition, you may comprise so that it may authenticate whether the requesting consumer is a genuine consumer. When the consumer information sent from the store terminal 1 and the consumer information when the consumer accesses from the user terminal 4 are different, the association is also performed. The table for association and the like are stored in the information storage unit 12.
Or can be stored separately.

The request from the consumer is transmitted to the information acquisition / distribution unit 13 in the server 2, and in S24, the purchased commodity information associated with the consumer is acquired, and the acquired purchased commodity information is transmitted to the request source. To the user terminal 4. The purchased product information transferred to the user terminal 4 is electronic data and can be used for various purposes. For example, it can be input to household account book software and used as household account book information.

The transfer of the purchased merchandise information to the user terminal 4 is performed after the access from the user terminal 4 to the Internet homepage 3 as described above, and the purchased merchandise information is transferred to the consumer by e-mail or the like. For example, another method may be used.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an example of the operation of distributing information for a consumer from a business in an embodiment of the information providing system of the present invention. In order to perform information distribution for the consumer from the business, this is an effective process after the consumer purchases the product and the purchased product information and the consumer information are stored in the information storage unit 12.

When the retailer 5 or the maker 6 provides information for a consumer regarding a specific product, S3
At 1, the server 2 acquires the provided information. Then, based on the specific product corresponding to the information for the consumer, the distribution destination acquisition unit 14 searches the information storage unit 12 and obtains information on the consumer who has purchased the specific product. Get information. Further, in S33, the information acquisition / distribution unit 13 distributes information for a specific product provided by the business operator to the consumer corresponding to the consumer information acquired in S32. The distribution method is arbitrary. For example, when the consumer requests the transfer of the purchased merchandise information, the merchandise information may be transferred together, or may be distributed in the form of e-mail or the like.

For example, when information such as collection and recall of merchandise is provided to the server 2 from the maker 6, the information is used for consuming the merchandise purchased based on the purchased merchandise information stored in the information storage unit 12. Consumer information corresponding to the consumer is retrieved. Then, based on the searched consumer information, the information is distributed to the consumer who purchased the product. Therefore, even if a defect is found in the product,
The information can be reliably and pinpointly delivered to the consumer who purchased the product. As a result, follow-up can be performed promptly, and products can be guaranteed not only for durable consumer goods such as home appliances, but also for fresh foods with a short shelf life and expiration date. Become like

The information to be distributed is arbitrary, and various types of information such as distribution of advertisement information of another product or distribution of event information to only consumers who have purchased a certain product are distributed. can do. Further, a questionnaire for a certain product can be conducted only to the consumer who purchased the product. of course,
It is also possible to distribute information for consumers by specifying a plurality of products, product categories, and the like. In addition, different information may be distributed among consumers who have purchased the same product, such as in the case of notifying a loss of winning in a prize for a consumer who has purchased the product. Further, if the personal information corresponding to the consumer information is stored in the server 2, it is possible to distribute the information by gender, age, region, and the like.

In this case, information provided from a business such as a retailer 5 or a maker 6 is distributed from the server 2 to consumers. Therefore, if the information storage unit 12 is managed in the server 2, the consumer information and the personal information, which are the information about the consumer, are not leaked to the retailer 5 or the maker 6, and the privacy of the consumer is protected. It is possible to Of course, with the consumer's consent, the consumer's personal information is disclosed to a business such as the retailer 5 or the maker 6, and the business provides the one-to-one information to the consumer via the server 2. May be configured.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation when providing information for a business operator in the embodiment of the information providing system of the present invention. In order to perform the information distribution for the business, the process is effective after the consumer purchases the product and the purchased product information and the consumer information are stored in the information storage unit 12. In particular, in the case of statistical information and the like, it is desirable that a large amount of purchased product information and consumer information be stored in the information storage unit 12.

In S41, the server 2 sends the information to the retailer 5
A request for information related to purchased merchandise information is obtained from a business such as a manufacturer or manufacturer 6. At this time, it is desirable to authenticate that the user is a genuine business that can obtain information. When the server 2 obtains the request from the business operator, the information search unit 15 searches and obtains, in S42, the purchased product information necessary for obtaining the requested information from the information storage unit 12. Then, in S43, the purchased merchandise information acquired by the search is processed in response to a request from the business, and is provided to the business that has requested the information. Although the processing method of the purchased product information is arbitrary, for example, statistical processing or the like can be considered. In addition, consumer information is used to some extent along with purchased product information, and consumers who purchase a certain product,
In addition, information such as what kind of product is purchased can be obtained. Of course, by linking to consumer personal information, more detailed information such as gender and age can be obtained. In addition, when acquiring the purchased merchandise information and the consumer information from the shop terminal 1, if information about the shop is also acquired, for example, according to the purchase area or business type (supermarket, convenience store, department store, individual store, etc.) Information can also be obtained.

As described above, for example, if the purchased merchandise information is obtained from a plurality of stores, it is possible to obtain information not only for each store or store group as in the conventional POS system but for the entire market widely. It is. By using this information, businesses can accurately understand the purchasing behavior unique to consumers in the entire market, and use it in sales activities such as product planning and production activities such as production planning. I can do it.

[0034] In the example shown in FIG. 5 described above, registers the you want has been described as providing information based on the purchased product information in response to a request from operators, kindly provided, for example, advance what information By doing so, automatic distribution may be performed periodically. Alternatively, it is also possible to distribute in real time based on purchased merchandise information accumulated every moment.

After distributing questionnaire and prize application requirements using the above-described distribution of consumer information, the server 2 collects answers and applications from consumers, and then sends the information to the business entity. It is also possible to collect and provide information from consumers, such as providing

[0036]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, consumers can use purchased merchandise information on merchandise purchased by consumers, for example, in a household account book. At the same time, businesses such as retailers and manufacturers,
Information can be distributed to consumers who have purchased products in a pinpoint manner. By using this, for example, it will be possible to conduct marketing activities by distributing information such as advertisements, and to accurately transmit the information to consumers even if a defect is found in the product And follow-up can be done quickly.
Therefore, the product guarantee, which could be made only for products having a long service life, can be extended to consumer goods such as foods which are consumed in a short time.

In addition, by aggregating the purchased product information from not only one store but many stores, consumer behavior that could only be grasped by a part of retailers by a POS system or the like can be performed more widely. Become like In addition, it becomes possible to accurately grasp information peculiar to consumers, which could only be roughly grasped. According to the present invention, there are various effects as described above.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an information providing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a server according to the embodiment of the information providing system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation when a consumer obtains purchased product information in an embodiment of the information providing system of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation when distributing information for a consumer from a business in an embodiment of the information providing system of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation when providing information for a business operator in the embodiment of the information providing system of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... store terminal, 2 ... server, 3 ... internet homepage, 4 ... user terminal, 5 ... retailer, 6 ... manufacturer,
11: product information acquisition unit, 12: information storage unit, 13: information acquisition and distribution unit, 14: distribution destination acquisition unit, 15: information search unit.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A store terminal for obtaining purchase product information on a product purchased by a consumer and obtaining consumer information for identifying the consumer, and receiving the purchase product information and the consumer information from the store terminal. A server that associates the two with each other and accumulates the information. The server provides the consumer with the purchased merchandise information associated with the consumer in response to a request from the consumer, An information providing system for receiving information for a consumer and distributing the information for the consumer to a consumer in accordance with the consumer information associated with the product. 2. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the server further provides information based on the purchased merchandise information in response to a request from a business or the like. 3. A merchandise information acquiring means for acquiring purchased merchandise information and merchandise information for identifying a consumer sent from a store or the like, and said merchandise information acquired by the merchandise information acquiring means. An information storage unit that stores the purchased product information and the consumer information in association with each other, and acquires the purchased product information associated with the consumer from the information storage unit in response to a request from the consumer, An information acquisition / distribution means for distributing to a consumer, and consumer information associated with a product received from the information storage means and consumer information associated with the product, and acquired by the information acquisition / distribution means An information providing server, comprising: distribution destination acquisition means for distributing information for a consumer to a consumer corresponding to the obtained consumer information. 4. The information according to claim 3, further comprising an information search unit that searches the information storage unit in response to a request from a business entity and provides information based on the purchased product information. Provisioning server.