JP2002298010A - Product information providing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow users to use the contents of the instruction manual and the guarantee of a product as reference information for the purchase of the product and also to browse them after purchasing the product by making it possible to use them as a data base, and to make it be charged for the browse of product information at need. SOLUTION: With a home electronics manufacturer 1, the support center 2, a store 3, the database center 4, and a user 5 mutually connected using a communications network, the user 5 can browse the product information including the contents of the instruction manual and the guarantee of the product which are registered into the database center 4 before and after the purchase of the product. Moreover, the user or the support center, at least when browsing the product information after purchasing the product, are made to be charged for the browse at need.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a product information providing system, and more specifically, a database of product information including instruction manuals and warranty information relating to various products such as home electric appliances, which is registered in a database center. The present invention relates to a product information providing system which provides product information when a user before or after purchase accesses the product information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 8 shows a schematic configuration of a conventional general home appliance purchase system. In FIG. 8, reference numeral 100 denotes a home appliance manufacturer, and a support center 110 for repairing a product in the event of a product failure is set up inside or outside the organization. Then, the home electric appliance maker 100 stores the store (including the online store) 12 inside or outside the organization.
0 is provided. Store 120 (or home appliance manufacturer 1)
00) sells the product to the user 130. The user 130 receives the product and collects the price of the product at the store 1
Pay 20 (or home appliance manufacturer 100).

Conventionally, an instruction manual has been attached to each home appliance for each product (set) in order to correctly handle the product. Also, in the event that the product breaks down, a warranty is provided to guarantee that repair or parts replacement service will be performed free of charge for a certain period after purchase.

[0004] Usually, when selling home appliances, products +
One set of instruction manual + warranty card (signed and filled out necessary information) is given to the user 130, and the user 130
The product price paid to 20 (or the home appliance manufacturer 100) includes an instruction manual fee and a guarantee fee in addition to the product fee.

[0005] In the case of a failure of the purchased product, the user 130 brings the product and a warranty together as a set and carries it to the support center 110 or sends it to the support center 110 to receive a predetermined warranty or service.

The above instruction manual is generally in the form of a book printed on paper. The contents of the instruction manual include an external photograph or an external drawing of the product, each part structure, each part name, each part function, usage, and handling precautions. Since there are a wide variety of items, failure modes and how to deal with them, in the case of products with advanced technology and products with complicated structures, the number of pages increases and the portion becomes considerably thick. In particular, in the case of a product having a display such as a personal computer and the display contents of which are variously changed by operation, it is necessary to indicate a change state of the display in order to understand the handling method, and the instruction manual is further thickened. Become. In addition, when the change state includes a moving image, it may not always be possible to clearly display the booklet. For this reason, recently, instead of a booklet, a tape or CD-ROM for a VTR has been used.
A recording of a moving image on such a medium is also provided as an attachment to the product.

[0007] On the other hand, the warranty is usually only one piece and is not particularly bulky, but the name of the purchased product, the date of purchase, the address and name of the purchaser, the address, store name, telephone number, and the warranty period of the store This is a printed matter because of the nature of handing over to the purchaser after filling out and stamping the information at the store.

[0008]

By the way, once the above manual and warranty card are read once at the time of purchase, there is almost no chance to read it afterwards. In order to check the response method and the contents of the guarantee, and to check the support center 110, it is necessary to read the information.

However, recently, product design / production /
A quality assurance system has been established for all aspects of distribution, such as defective products are rarely shipped, and the life of products is getting longer.
Usually, after several years of use of the product, you have lost or kept the instruction manual and warranty card, but you have forgotten where you stored it. Often I couldn't find it.

[0010] Even if it is found,
Information such as the contents of the instruction manual, the warranty content of the warranty card, and the address and telephone number of the support center are as of the time of sale of the product, and after that, the support center has already disappeared or support is closer to the user's address Even if a new center is established, or if a new warranty period is set due to replacement of a main unit or main part of the product, or if the warranty period is extended by payment of money, the user side Without careful attention, the information was difficult to communicate to users. For this reason, various information such as changes after product purchase is unknown, so that more appropriate instruction manuals cannot be obtained, repair requests cannot be made smoothly, and the warranty that can be received cannot be obtained. Was.

[0011] Furthermore, even if a large amount of the same product is purchased, an instruction manual and a warranty card are attached to each product. In such a case, the home appliance manufacturer attaches an instruction manual and a warranty card to each product. This is not only wasteful, and the user has to pay for unnecessary instruction manuals, but also has troublesome storage of the instruction manuals. In particular, the instruction manuals for high-tech products such as personal computers are divided into several volumes, and each individual volume is thick, so even the home appliance maker has a large packing to secure a space for the instruction manuals. As a result, packaging costs and transportation costs increase, and users need a considerable storage space.

[0012] Furthermore, in a thick manual which is divided into many volumes, it is not clear which item is to be viewed and in which part of which volume, so that necessary manuals may not be available. Was.

Also, in order to receive a guarantee, a warranty written and stamped at the store is required. Even if the sales are online, the warranty must be attached at the store, so that the merits of online sales are sufficient. Was not alive.

[0014] Also, when trying to receive a warranty service,
There are various problems that services suitable for the product may not be available because the product name, model name, date of purchase of the product, and the like are unknown.

[0015] Therefore, a product guidance information presentation system in which the contents of an instruction manual of a product are stored as electronic database information, and a purchaser of the product uses the information through a communication line has been considered. (Japanese
-63682).

According to the information providing and utilizing system described above, the contents of the instruction manual of the product can be conveniently accessed because the user can access the digitized database information. However, the warranty is handled as usual. However, the above-mentioned problem remains. In addition, there is a problem that the cost of constructing the database and the cost of maintaining the database increase.

Further, information such as a product instruction manual and a product warranty card is stored in a host computer of a store, and a user can write-once a write-once recording area where product-specific warranty data is recorded and a product-common product. A product assurance system using a recording medium using an optical ROM disk having a stamped data recording area in which a guarantee program is recorded and making the information accessible by using a general telephone line network has been considered ( JP Hei 10
-92103).

According to the product assurance system using the above-mentioned recording medium, the user does not need to keep the instruction manual and the warranty, etc., but it is convenient. However, the optical ROM and the optical ROM in which the user has recorded the guarantee data are provided. If the player does not have the playback device, the database cannot be accessed, so that there is a problem that the contents of the warranty cannot be confirmed before purchasing the product and used as reference information for purchasing the product. In addition, there is a problem that the cost of building a database at a store and the cost of maintaining the database increase.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the user can access the product information including the instruction manual and warranty information of the product for the product desired to be purchased and the product already purchased, and when the user or the support center browses the product information. It is an object of the present invention to provide a product information providing system for charging as needed.

[0020]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a product information providing system, comprising: a manufacturer, a support center, a store, and a database center storing product information. In a product information providing system that allows a user to access a database center using a communication network to obtain product information, the product information stored in the database center includes at least a product instruction manual. And warranty information, and the user can access the product information before and after purchasing the product.

According to the above-mentioned product information providing system, before purchasing the product, the user can check the difficulty of handling the product by browsing the instruction manual information as well as the information of the product itself, or browse the warranty information. You can use it to check the warranty details and use it as reference information for purchasing the product. Therefore, the user can make a more accurate product purchase decision. Also, the manufacturer does not have to include the instruction manual and warranty card when shipping the product,
Packaging is reduced in size and weight, and packaging and transportation costs are reduced. In addition, since the warranty is not issued together with the product, the complexity of online sales is eliminated, and the merits of online sales can be utilized. Not only does the user not have to pay for unnecessary manuals, but there is no need to keep the manuals and warranty cards, and the manuals registered in the database center as needed. And the contents of the warranty card can be viewed, so there is no loss as in the case of a conventional booklet instruction manual or warranty card. Furthermore, even if the content of the instruction manual or the warranty content changes after the product is purchased, the user can always view the latest content.

A product information providing system according to a second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that a fee is charged when at least the user or the support center after purchasing the product browses the product information.

Here, the expression "at least the user after purchasing the product" may be charged when the user before purchasing the product browses the product information, but the user before purchasing the product purchases the product. This is because the browsing is used as reference information as to whether or not to do so, and it may be better not to charge for purchasing the product.

According to the above-described product information providing system, not only the same effects as above, but also a fee is charged when the user or the support center browses the product information, so that the database construction cost and the maintenance and management cost are reduced. The effect that a part can be collected is produced.

The product information providing system according to a third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the shop includes an online shop.

With such a configuration, before purchasing the product, the user browses the product information including the information on the product itself, including the instruction manual and the contents of the warranty, and purchases the product comprehensively before purchasing the product. The information can be used as reference information, and if a purchase is determined, online shopping can be performed immediately, and the actual warranty as in the past is not handed over, so that the merits of online shopping can be utilized.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the product information providing system, wherein when the user accesses the product information registered in the database center, an inquiry is made as to whether the user is a new user or a registered user. Is characterized in that a user is registered in a customer database, and in the case of an already registered user, authentication is performed by comparing with registered data in the customer database.

With this configuration, regardless of whether a product has been purchased or not, a new user accesses the product information and registers as a user. Therefore, when a new product is released, the manufacturer or the retailer informs the user. New product information can be notified to encourage purchase. In the case of a registered user, authentication can be performed using registered data, preventing double registration of the user and enriching customer data. The number is reduced, the complexity of access is reduced, and the user can easily access.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the product information providing system, wherein the user's access requirement is to purchase the product or read the instruction manual / warranty information, and inquires the access content to the customer of the database center. It is characterized in that it is registered in a database.

With this configuration, it is possible to accurately cope with the contents of the user's access request and to register the contents of the access in the database center. Can be notified, and purchase can be encouraged with a higher probability.

The product information providing system according to claim 6 of the present invention is characterized in that the support status of the support center is registered in the database center.

With this configuration, it is possible to know which user has received the support of which part or part of which product, and when, so it is possible to predict the next support time and necessary support parts. Not only can it provide a more user-oriented support system and provide accurate support, but it also gains trust in the support system, so it can be expected that it will lead to new product purchases based on that trust.

[0033]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a product information providing system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of the entire product information providing system according to the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG.
The home appliance manufacturer 1, which is the original provider of product information, has a support center 2 that repairs or replaces parts when the product breaks down inside the organization or in another organization. The home appliance manufacturer 1 has a store 3 inside the organization or in another organization. The store 3 includes an online store in addition to a normal mass store and a retail store. Further, the store 3 has a database center (hereinafter referred to as a DB center) 4 inside the organization or in another organization. 5 is a user who has purchased or has already purchased the product. Information is exchanged between the home appliance maker 1, the support center 2, the store 3, and between the user 5 and the DB center 4 via the Internet or a communication network using a public / private line. Note that a network may be formed with a plurality of home appliance manufacturers 1A, 1B,...

Next, an outline of the operation will be described with reference to FIG. The home appliance maker 1 provides the DB center 4 with product information such as a product catalog, an instruction manual, and a warranty, and the DB center 4 registers the product information as data. The user 5 accesses the DB center 4. When the user 5 accesses, an inquiry is made as to whether or not the user is a new user. If the user is a new user, the user number and the user ID are given to the user 5 and the user number and the user ID are registered in the DB center 4.
If the user is a registered user, authentication is performed by comparing the registered user data in the DB center 4. The DB center 4 inquires of the user 5 about the purchase of the product, the reading of the instruction manual / warranty information, or the requirement. In the case of product purchase, necessary product information is provided, and the user 5 browses the information and examines whether the product can be purchased. When the user 5 decides to purchase the product, the store 3 (or the home appliance manufacturer 1)
The product is delivered to the user 5. When the product arrives, the user 5 pays the product to the store 3 (or the home appliance manufacturer 1). This payment is settled by credit. If the user wants to view the instruction manual / warranty information, the user provides the instruction manual / warranty information, and the user 5 browses the information. A fee is charged for the browsing, and the payment is settled by credit.

If the user 5 wants to view the product information such as the instruction manual and the contents of the warranty after purchasing the product, the user accesses the DB center 4 and receives the instruction manual /
Receive warranty information. When browsing the product information, the DB center 4 charges the user 5 a usage fee, and the user 5 is settled with a credit.

If the product breaks down, the user 5 contacts the support center 2 and requests fulfillment of the guarantee contents. At this time, the user 5 can directly contact the support center 2 and request a guarantee.
The data of the support center 2 may be browsed and applied to the B center 4, and after confirming the address, telephone number, and guarantee contents of the support center 2, the support center 2 may be contacted to request a guarantee. A usage fee is charged for viewing this product information.

Upon receiving a guarantee request from the user 5, the support center 2 accesses the DB center 4 and checks the user 5 and the guarantee contents. A fee is charged for viewing the user confirmation and the guarantee content confirmation from the support center 2.

After the confirmation, the user 5 brings the product to the support center 2 or sends it to the support center 2, provides support such as repair at the support center 2, and then delivers the repaired product from the support center 2 to the user 5.

The DB center 4 collects the access status from the user 5 and the support center 2 as marketing data and provides it to the home appliance manufacturer 1 and the support center 2.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the entire product information providing system showing an example of the configuration of the DB center 4 in FIG. 1 in particular. The DB center 4 is connected to a home appliance manufacturer 1, a store 3, and a user 5 via a communication network 6 such as the Internet or a public / private line. In FIG. 2, the display of the support center 2 is omitted due to space limitations.

The DB center 4 is roughly composed of a processing unit 41 for performing various repairs, a storage unit 42 for storing various data, and an input / output unit 43 for obtaining or outputting data. ing.

The processing unit 41 includes a main processing module 41
A, Instruction Manual / Warranty Digitization DB Conversion Module 41
B, an access authentication module 41C, a purchase / after-sales service contract module 41D, and an information providing module 41E. Each module 4
The operations of 1A to 41E will be described later in detail with reference to a flowchart, but the outline operations are as follows.

The main processing module 41A manages the entire processing. The instruction manual / guarantee card digitization DB conversion module 41B performs conversion of a product catalog, instruction manual, and warranty card into an electronic database, data update, history management, and the like. The access authentication module 41C performs an authentication process for an access from a user. The purchase and after-sales service contract module 41D performs processing related to product purchase and after-sales service contract. The information providing module 41E provides all information related to the product such as a product catalog, an instruction manual, a warranty card, and the like.

The storage unit 42 in the DB center 4
Is a customer DB 42A, a warranty DB 42B, an instruction manual DB 42C, and a product DB 42D.
Register various data such as name, telephone number, FAX number, e-mail address, date of birth, date of DB access, name of purchased product, and date of product purchase. The warranty DB 42B registers various data such as the purchaser name, address, purchased product name, product purchase date, purchase shop name, address, telephone number, FAX number, home page, and warranty period. Instruction manual DB42
C registers the data of the instruction manual of the product, and particularly, when the edition is revised, registers the edition number, the edition date and the edition content. The product DB 42D stores the model name, product name,
Register various data such as model name.

The input / output unit 43 in the DB center 4
Is composed of a communication control device 43A, a scanner 43B, a mouse 43C, a keyboard 43D, and a display 43E.

The communication control device 43A is a home appliance manufacturer 1,
It controls all communication with the support center 2, the dealer 3, the DB center 4, and the user 5. The scanner 43B optically reads data such as an instruction manual, a warranty card, and a product catalog and converts the data into electronic data. The mouse 43C clicks a predetermined location on the display, or drags and drops data and icons to the predetermined location. The keyboard 43D inputs data and gives instructions. The display 43E displays various screens necessary for database construction, additional registration and maintenance of data.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the entire information providing system of the present invention. The operation of the product information providing system of FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described with reference to this flowchart.

When the user 5 accesses the DB center 4 (10), an inquiry is made as to whether the user is a new customer (11). If YES (new user), add a user number, user ID number, etc. to the customer DB
42A is registered (12). If NO (registered user), the customer is required to input a customer number, a customer ID number, etc., and authenticates the customer by comparing it with the data of the registered user (13).

When the above steps are completed, an inquiry is made as to whether the product is to be purchased or to read the instruction manual and warranty card information (14). If it is a product purchase, it is connected to the online shopping screen (15), and a desired product search screen is displayed on the display (16). The user 5 selects a desired product from the desired product search screen (16).

Then, the selected product information is displayed on the display (17). Instructions and warranty information are presented as needed. The user 5 considers whether to purchase the product with reference to these various information.

Thereafter, an inquiry screen as to whether or not to purchase the product is displayed on the display (18), and the user 5 selects YES or NO for the purchase. N
In the case of O, the display returns to the desired product selection screen (16) again.
In the case of YES, the purchase contract for the product is displayed on the display.
The contents of the after-sales service contract are presented (19). Indicate that the instruction manual and product warranty will be provided online separately based on the after-sales service contract.

When the user 5 agrees with the contents of the product purchase contract / after-service contract, the user 5 concludes the product purchase / after-service contract (20).

When the product purchase / after-sales service contract is concluded, the purchase record / after-service contract record contents are recorded in the customer DB 42A (21).

When the registration in the customer DB 42A is completed, an inquiry screen is displayed on the display as to whether or not the purchase is completed (22). If NO, the screen returns to the desired product search screen (16) again. If YES, the purchase end inquiry screen (22) is closed and an access end inquiry screen is displayed (23).

In response to the access end inquiry,
Then, new customer inquiry screen (11)
Return to If YES, access content to customer DB
42A and recording is completed (24).

On the other hand, when the user selects browsing of instruction manual information on the business inquiry screen (14), the user is connected to the instruction manual / guarantee information browsing screen (25). Then, an instruction screen for browsing the instruction manual information, guarantee information or browsing content is displayed (26).

When browsing of the instruction information is selected, a target product selection screen is displayed (27). At this time, in the case of an already purchased user, the already purchased product may be listed up and selected from the list. When a product is selected, what kind of description is desired may be selected from the instruction code.

When the target product (handling explanation code) is selected, a handling explanation search screen for the product is displayed (2).
8). The user 5 looks at the search screen and searches for the contents of the instruction manual. Then, the instruction manual is displayed (29). If the user is a purchased user, the instruction manual is confirmed. If the user is a new user, he / she considers whether or not to purchase the product by referring to the difficulty of handling the product based on the contents of the instruction.

When the study of the handling method or the difficulty of handling is completed, a search completion inquiry screen appears (3).
0). If NO, the instruction manual search screen again (28)
Return to If YES, search end inquiry screen (3
0) is closed, and a browsing end inquiry screen is displayed (31). If the browsing end is NO, the screen returns to the browsing content inquiry screen (26) again. If the browsing end is YES, the browsing content / billing information is recorded in the customer DB 42A (32). When the registration is completed, the above-mentioned access end screen (23) is displayed.

The browsing content inquiry screen (26)
When the user selects browsing of warranty information, a target product selection screen is displayed (33). At this time, as described above, in the case of an already purchased user, the already purchased products may be listed up and selected from the list. When a product is selected, a guarantee code may be selected to indicate what kind of guarantee content is desired.

When the target product (or guarantee code) is selected, the contents of the guarantee are presented (34). When the user confirms the guarantee contents, the browsing end inquiry screen (3
1).

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the operation manual / warranty digitizing DB conversion module 41B constituting the DB center 4. The operation will be described with reference to this flowchart.

First, when there is a registration instruction, an inquiry is made as to whether or not it is a new registration (50). If YES (new registration), the instruction manual data is created (51) and registered in the instruction manual DB 42C. In addition, the warranty data is created (52) and registered in the warranty DB 42B.

If NO (update of registered data), the instruction manual data is updated (53), and the instruction manual DB4 is updated.
Register additionally in 2C. Further, the warranty card data is updated (54) and additionally registered in the warranty DB 42B. further,
When the instruction manual / warranty card content is updated, the user 5 is notified of the update of the instruction manual / warranty card content (55), and additionally registered in the customer DB 42A.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the access authentication module 41C constituting the DB center 4. The operation will be described with reference to this flowchart.

First, when there is access from the user 5,
Inquire whether the customer is a new customer or an already accessed customer (60). If YES (new), the customer data (name, date of birth, address, phone number, email address,
Create a new payment method, credit card number, customer number, temporary password, etc.
A new registration is made in B42A.

At this time, there is a case where a registered user hides his / her identity and gains unauthorized or malicious access as a new user. Therefore, when the new registration in the customer DB 42A is completed, the product information is not presented. Then, the existing customer information and credit information are checked (62).
As a result of the check, if YES (there is no problem), the access is permitted, the contents of the access permission are recorded in the customer DB 42A, and the process ends (63). If the check result is NO (there is a problem), the access is denied, and the access denied contents are
B42A is recorded and the process is terminated (64).

If the inquiry (60) as to whether or not the customer is a new customer is NO, the customer is asked to enter a customer number, a password, etc., and is checked against the registered data in the customer DB 42A. Authenticate (65).

When the authentication of the customer is completed, an inquiry is made to the warranty DB 42B and the instruction manual DB 42C as to whether or not the operation instruction data has been changed since the previous access date (66). If YES (there is a change), a change summary of the instruction data is displayed (67). Also, N
If O, the process proceeds to the access permission screen (63) described above.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing purchases and purchases constituting the DB center 4.
It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the after-sales service contract module 41D. The operation will be described with reference to this flowchart.

First, when the purchase / after-sales service contract module 41D is accessed, a desired product search screen is displayed on the display (70), and the product classification, product name,
Search for products you want to purchase from model, nickname, manufacturer name, etc., and present the target products.

When the target product is selected, the product information is presented (71), and the product information (appearance photograph, main specifications, selling price, handling information,
Warranty information, delivery date, etc.).

When the above product information is presented, the user
Inquire of 5 whether or not there is a purchase request (72). If NO (do not purchase), desired product search screen (70) again
Return to If YES (purchase request), purchase contract
After-sales service contract contents are presented (73). This contract must be presented, for example, by providing the instruction manual / warranty card online, when there is a change in the contents of the instruction manual, notifying the e-mail address of the change, and by sending important product information It is as follows, and upon confirmation of this information, it is considered that explanation of important information has been received.

When the user 5 confirms and accepts the contents of the contract and decides to purchase, a product purchase contract and an after-sales service contract are concluded (74). When the contract is concluded, the contents of the contract are confirmed (eg, password input).

When the contract is concluded, the contents of the product purchase and the contents of the after-service contract are recorded in the customer DB 42A (75).

When the recording in the customer DB 42A is completed,
An inquiry screen asking whether the purchase has been completed is displayed (76).
If NO (do not end), the display returns to the desired product search screen (70) again. If YES (end), the purchase end inquiry screen is closed and the processing ends.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the information providing module 41E constituting the DB center 4.
The operation will be described with reference to FIG.

First, when there is access to the information providing module 41E, an inquiry is made as to the contents to be browsed (80). When browsing the instruction information is selected, a target product selection screen is displayed (81). This target product selection may be made by an instruction code.

When the target product is selected, an instruction manual search screen is displayed (82). When the desired instruction is selected from the list, the instruction is displayed (8
3).

When the displayed instruction manual is referred to when purchasing a product or when the instruction manual of an already purchased product is understood, an inquiry screen as to whether search can be completed is displayed (8).
4). If NO (do not end), the display returns to the instruction content search screen (82) again. If YES (end), the search end inquiry screen (84) is closed, and an inquiry screen as to whether browsing can be ended is displayed (85).

If the browsing end is NO (do not end),
Again, the screen returns to the browsing content inquiry screen (80). YES
If (end), the browsing content and the billing information are recorded in the customer DB 42A (86), and the process ends.

On the other hand, the browsing content inquiry screen (8
If the user selects browsing the warranty information in step 0), a target product selection screen is displayed (87). The target product selection screen may be selected by a guarantee code.

When the target product is selected, the contents of the guarantee are displayed (88). When User 5 confirms the warranty,
The above-mentioned browsing end screen (85) is displayed.

Although the specific configuration and operation have been described in the above embodiment, the present invention can be modified in various configurations and operations without departing from the spirit thereof.

For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of home appliance manufacturers 1B, 1C
.. May be used. By doing so, there is no need for the user to individually access a plurality of home appliance manufacturers according to the respective rules, and the convenience on the user side is remarkably improved, especially when considering purchasing a product.

The “product” in the present invention includes all products / commodities, plants, buildings, rental properties, etc., which are on the general market, in addition to the above home appliances.

Further, FIG. 1 shows a case where the home appliance manufacturer 1 and the support center 2 are grouped, and the store 3 and the database center 4 are grouped. However, these groupings can be arbitrarily performed. May be independent.

[0089]

As described above, the present invention has a maker, a support center, a store, and a database center in which product information is stored. In a product information providing system that allows access to obtain product information, the product information stored in the database center includes at least a product instruction manual and warranty information, and the product information includes information before and after product purchase. The feature is that the product can be accessed after the product is purchased.Before purchasing the product, the user browses the product information including the instruction manual and warranty information, and provides reference information on whether or not the product can be purchased. And make more accurate product purchase decisions. Also, since the instruction manual and warranty information are stored in the database center, the user can access the database center as needed and save the instruction manual and warranty information without storing the instruction manual and warranty. It can be viewed, and there is no need for storage space for instruction manuals and warranty cards. In addition, since the registration information of the database center has been changed to an update for changes such as the instruction manual and warranty contents after product purchase,
Users can always view the latest information. In addition, when the user purchases a large number of the same product, the cost of the instruction manual can be reduced. In addition, if necessary, at least if the user or support center after purchasing the product browses the product information stored in the database center,
By charging, a part of the database construction and maintenance costs can be recovered.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating a configuration example of a database center in the product information providing system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining an operation in the product information providing system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of an instruction manual / guarantee card digitization database conversion module constituting a database center in the product information providing system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of an access authentication module configuring a database center in the product information providing system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of a purchase / after-sales service contract module constituting a database center in the product information providing system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of an information providing module constituting a database center in the product information providing system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional home appliance purchase system.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 1A, 1B Home appliance maker 2 Support center 3 Retailer (online store) 4 Database center (DB center) 5 User 6 Communication network 41 Processing unit 41A Main processing module 41B Instruction manual / guarantee digitization database conversion module 41C Access Authentication module 41D Purchase / after-sales service contract module 41E Information providing module 42 Storage unit 42A Customer database 42B Warranty database 42C Instruction manual database 42D Product database 43 Input / output unit 43A Communication control unit 43B Scanner 43C Mouse 43D Keyboard 43E Display

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Claims (6)

[Claims] An information processing apparatus includes a maker, a support center, a store, and a database center storing product information, so that a user can access the database center using a communication network to obtain product information. In the product information providing system, the product information stored in the database center includes at least a product instruction manual and warranty information, and the user can access the product information before and after product purchase. Product information providing system. 2. The product information providing system according to claim 1, wherein a fee is charged when at least a user or a support center after purchasing the product browses the product information. 3. The product information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the store includes an online store. 4. When the user accesses product information registered in the database center, an inquiry is made as to whether the user is a new user or a registered user. If the user is a new user, the user is registered in a customer database, and the registered user is registered. 4. The product information providing system according to claim 1, wherein in the case, the authentication is performed by comparing the data with registered data in a customer database. 5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the user's access requirement inquires whether to purchase a product or browse instruction manual / warranty information, and registers the access content in a customer database of the database center. 4. The product information providing and charging system according to any one of 4. 6. The product information provision and billing system according to claim 1, wherein the support status of the support center is registered in the database center.