JP2002318950A - Commodity sales system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sales system capable of contributing to sales promotion and service improvement by enhancing the purchasing inclination of customers. SOLUTION: This commodity sales system comprises a customer specifying means A, a commodity selecting means B and a display that is a reporting means. This customer specifying means A for specifying a customer P, for example, comprises a cellular phone 1, a Web server device 5 and a customer information database 7. The commodity selecting means B reads the customer information related to the customer P specified by the customer specifying means A from the customer information database 7 for storing customer information. A commodity recommended to the customer is selected on the basis of the customer information. The selected commodity is recommended to the customer. Since this commodity fits to the taste of the customer, sales promotion can be expected.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a merchandise sales system for selecting merchandise preferred by a customer based on customer information on the customer when purchasing the merchandise, for example, and recommending the merchandise to the customer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a system for selling ready-made suits, jackets, pants and the like in men's men's clothing stores, for example, the above-mentioned products are displayed by size and the like, and a product desired by a customer is selected from the displayed products. It is common to let them choose. If the purchase applicant who visits the store selects a product to be purchased, the user brings the product to a cash register and pays the price. It should be noted that the store is provided with a credit card reader so that customers can pay by credit card.

[0003] In the case of the above-described conventional sales system, a store wants to sell a shirt and a tie together when a customer purchases a suit, for example. If the customer is a fixed customer, the customer is given a certain amount of discount, for example, to give a benefit in accordance with the frequency of use of the customer at the store or the amount paid, and wish the customer to use the store further. That is humanity.

[0004] However, in the above-mentioned stores, there are many part-time and part-time employees, and since they do not know the taste of the customer, they may have other types of shirts (such as colors) or ties that the customer seems to like. It may not be possible to recommend the purchase of a product. It is also conceivable that these part-time or part-time employees may not be able to provide services according to the customer because they do not know the total purchase amount of the customer in the past. of course,
It is not permissible for a part-time or part-time employee to change the discount rate or the like without permission, but if the employee has any information on the customer, the manager of the dealership, etc. With the permission, we can provide appropriate services,
As a result, it is possible to contribute to the sales improvement of the store.

In order to solve the above-mentioned inconveniences, a database relating to the customer is constructed using a computer device, and information on the customer is extracted from the database as necessary to improve the sales performance. There are also dealers. However, even with such a system, if the employee does not know the name or the like of the customer or there is no application for the name or the like from the customer, the customer information cannot be extracted from the database, After all, it is not possible to recommend another product or provide services tailored to customers.

Further, even if an employee knows the name of the customer or the like, or if there is an application for the name or the like from the customer, it takes time and effort to search the database each time. It is. For this reason, the customer cannot recommend a product other than the product purchased when paying at the cash register, and cannot give a special privilege. In other words, while retrieving information about the customer from the database, the customer may pay and leave the store.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A sales system according to the present invention has been conceived in view of the above-described circumstances, and is used when a customer purchases a product based on customer information concerning the customer. Selects a preferred product and provides a product sales system recommended to the customer.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a merchandise selling system according to the present invention, which is used by a customer based on customer information at the time of or before and after the purchase of the merchandise. This is a merchandise sales system that selects and recommends merchandise to be liked. In the merchandise sales system according to the first aspect of the present invention, the customer specifying means for specifying the customer and the customer information relating to the customer specified by the customer specifying means are extracted from the customer information database storing the customer information. Product selection means for selecting a product recommended to the customer based on the customer information, and notification means for notifying the customer of the product selected by the product selection means. It is.

[0009] As the customer specifying means, as described in claim 2, a terminal device capable of freely inputting information about the customer, receiving the information about the customer input by the terminal device, and storing the information in the storage means in advance. And a first server device capable of selecting the customer from the stored customer information.

Further, as the terminal device, a terminal device having input means for freely inputting data given to the customer for confirming the identity of the customer can be adopted. Alternatively, as described in claim 4, a mobile phone or a portable information terminal that can be connected to the first server device via the Internet may be used. Further, as described in claim 5, a card reader which can read information recorded on a credit card owned by a customer can be used.

Further, as the product selection means, the customer information database and a product information database storing various information on the products for sale are connected to the customer information database and the product information database, respectively. Server device can be adopted. In this second server device,
An analysis function for analyzing the preference tendency of the customer based on the obtained customer information, and a selection function for selecting a product that matches the analysis result from the product information database based on the analysis result obtained by the analysis function, Have. The selection function can be realized by a program using mathematical statistics incorporated in the second server device, as described in claim 7.

[0012] As described in claim 8, as the notification means, a display device capable of freely displaying information on a product obtained by the selection function can be employed. Further, as described in claim 9, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which a privilege for each customer is provided according to the total purchase amount of each customer stored in the customer information database.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail based on an embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings. In this embodiment, the sales system according to the present invention is applied to a men's clothing section S in a department store as shown in FIG.

The merchandise sales system according to the present embodiment is a merchandise sales system for selecting and recommending a favorite product of a customer based on customer information on the customer at the time of or before and after the purchase of the product. . In the merchandise sales system according to this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The customer information relating to the customer P (see FIG. 1) identified by the customer identification means A is extracted from the customer identification means A for identifying the customer and the customer information database 7 storing the customer information, and based on the customer information. A product selection means B for selecting a product recommended for the customer P, and a display means 1a of the mobile phone 1 and a notification means for notifying the customer P of the product selected by the product selection means B. A display 24 of a computer device to be described later.
And

In the case of this embodiment, the customer specifying means A is:
As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile phone 1 owned by the customer P is connected to the mobile phone 1 via the Internet, and information for identifying the customer transmitted from the mobile phone 1 (for example, the mobile phone 1). It receives the number of the telephone 1 or the ID number of the customer that can be transmitted from the mobile phone 1) and selects from the customer information stored in advance in the customer information database 7 (storage means such as a hard disk constituting the computer device). Web server device 5 that can freely select the customer P
And The Web server device 5 utilizes a conventionally known computer device. The above We
The server device 5 is a first server device described in the claims.

The mobile phone 1 corresponds to a terminal device described in the claims.
In addition to the above-described mobile phone 1, any mobile phone having input means (various pointing devices, etc.) that can be freely connected to the Internet and can input an ID number assigned to the customer P can be used. For example, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) that has become popular in recent years can be adopted. The PDA is a mobile phone or a PHS (Personal Handy Phone).
By connecting e), it is possible to freely connect to the Internet, and it is possible to freely input the ID number and the like by using the tablet function. The ID number corresponds to data for confirming the identity of the customer described in the claims.

Further, in this embodiment, in addition to the portable telephone 1, a card reader 21 arranged near the cash register 20 is provided.
Are also used as the terminal device described in the claims. That is, if you pay by credit card,
The card reader 21 reads information recorded on a credit card (not shown) of the customer P. In the case of the present embodiment, this information is transmitted to the Web server device 5 as it is.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 3 denotes a bar code reader. The bar code reader 3 constitutes a so-called POS system, and reads a bar code attached to a tag 23 attached to a product 22 decided to be purchased by a customer with the bar code reader 3 composed of an optical reading device. Product information such as the name and price of the product 22 can be displayed. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 4 denotes a so-called firewall provided in the Web server device 5. This firewall 4
Like the one provided in a general server device, the one that prevents illegal intrusion into the Web server device 5 from outside is used, and a conventionally known one is adopted.

On the other hand, the merchandise selection means B includes a data mining server 8 connected to the customer information database 7 and a merchandise information database 11 for storing various information on the merchandise 22 for sale.
Is provided. This data mining server device 8
This is a second server device described in the claims. In the present embodiment, the data mining server device 8
Is connected to a data mining database 10 in addition to the databases 7 and 11 described above. The data mining database 10 stores various data (store location,
Price, color, design, etc.).

As the data mining server device 8, a generally known computer device is used, and analysis software and selection software are incorporated in an internal hard disk or the like. The analysis software has a function of analyzing a customer's preference tendency based on customer information obtained from the mobile phone 1 or the card reader 2 or the like, and uses mathematical statistics such as a multivariate analysis technique. There is a program. Such a program, for example, makes a list of which customers purchased which products at the same time based on the sales information (product name and price) obtained by the POS system and the purchased customer information. Ask. Furthermore,
A correlation coefficient is calculated from the correlation, and furthermore, the tendency of buying together is determined based on the technique of the experimental design method in consideration of the relevant information such as the weather of the day and the presence or absence of advertisement. Further, the above analysis is performed by taking into consideration what kind of product, what kind of design, and the like are purchased based on the customer information. These series of processes may be displayed on a display constituting a computer device handled by a worker, or may be simply internal processes.

The selection software has a function of selecting a product conforming to the analysis result from the product information database based on the analysis result obtained by the function of the analysis software.

The information on the product obtained by the selection software can be freely displayed on the display 1a of the mobile phone 1 or the display (CRT or liquid crystal display) 24 installed near the cash register 20. For this purpose, information on the product selected by the selection software is converted in the data mining server device 8 into a file format that can be displayed on the displays 1a and 24. For such a function, conventionally known software can be used.

Further, in the present embodiment, a configuration is adopted in which a privilege for each customer P is provided according to the total purchase amount of each customer P stored in the customer information database 7.

The operation of selling the men's clothing at the men's clothing section S using the commodity sales system according to the present embodiment configured as described above is as follows.

First, a customer P who has visited the men's clothing section S
While selecting a desired product 22, as shown in step 1 of the flowchart of FIG. 3, the user connects to the Internet using his / her mobile phone 1 and displays the portal page of the department store on its display 1a. Enter the customer's ID number etc. on this portal page,
The counter S is made to recognize the customer P. That is, the fact that the customer P intends to purchase is notified to the counter S side.
From the input of the ID number, the Web server device 5
The customer P is searched from the customer database 7 and information about the customer P is displayed on the display 24 of the computer unit on the counter S provided separately.

As shown in step 2 of FIG. 3, a bar code specifying the customer P is displayed on the portal page, and the displayed bar code is set near the cash register 20 of the sales floor S. By reading the information with the barcode reader 3, information on the customer P can be displayed on the display 24 of the computer device by the web server device 5 and the customer database 7. Also, as shown in step 3 of FIG.
The customer is provided with a customer card (for example, a magnetic card,
C card), and the customer information (name, address, etc.) recorded on the customer card is stored in the cash register 2
By reading with a card reader installed near 0,
Information about the customer may be displayed on the display 24 of the computer device. Further, by reading the credit card owned by the customer P with the dedicated card reader 21, information on the customer P can be displayed on the display 24 of the computer device.

A tag 23 is attached to the product 22 selected by the customer P, and the bar code attached to the tag 23 is read by the bar code reader 3 constituting the POS system (step 5 in FIG. 3). The price is displayed on a display screen of a register (not shown). In this embodiment, the bar code reader 3 constituting the POS system is used.
Can also be used as a barcode reader for reading a barcode specifying the customer P, which is displayed on the display 1a or the like of the mobile phone 1 (step 4 in FIG. 3). The contents read by the barcode reader 3 are immediately transmitted to the Web server device 5 (step 6 in FIG. 3), and the databases 7 and 11 are read.
(Step 7 in FIG. 3).

When the price of the product 22 is displayed on the register, the customer P pays the employee Q at the cash register 20. At this time, as described above, the Web server device 5 stores the customer database 7 And displays the information on the customer P on the display 24 of the computer installed near the cash register 20. At the same time, the customer information is automatically transmitted to the data mining server device 8, where the customer's preference is analyzed. That is, as described above, the analysis software and the selection software are incorporated in the hard disk and the like inside the data mining server device 8, and the analysis software uses the customer information based on the obtained customer information to determine the preference tendency of the customer P. Analyze
Further, the selection software selects a product matching the analysis result from the product information database 11 based on the analysis result obtained by the function of the analysis software. The selected product 22 is converted into a file format (for example, HTML) that can be displayed on a display constituting a computer device on the data mining server device 8 and displayed on the display 24.

More specifically, when customer information is sent from the customer information database 7 to the Web server device 5, as shown in step 1 of FIG. 4, the Web server device 5 immediately transmits the data mining server device. 8 and calculates the product 22 that the customer P is likely to like.
That is, the data mining server device 8 selects the product 22 that the customer P is likely to like by using the analysis software and the selection software incorporated therein. If this selection result is obtained, as shown in step 2 of FIG. 4, the information on the product 22 (the place where the product 22 is displayed, the price, etc.) is converted into a file format that can be displayed on the display 24. The data is converted and transmitted to the Web server device 5. Thereby, various information of the product 22 is displayed on the display 24. These displays may be displayed on the display 1a of the mobile phone 1 of the customer P.

The employee Q at the cash register 20 sees this display and recommends the displayed product to the customer P waiting for payment. For example, if the customer P purchases a suit, the analysis software analyzes the colors and designs of the shirts and ties previously purchased by the customer P,
The selection software selects a shirt or tie to recommend from the group of products sold on the day in consideration of the color and design, and displays it on the display 24. I recommend those shirts and ties. The display 24 also displays these product names, their photographs, manufacturers, sales floors, prices, and the like, so that the employee Q can explain the products 22 to the customer P according to these displays. As a result, it contributes to sales promotion.

Further, on the display 24, as part of the customer information, the purchase history of the customer P up to that time and the like are also displayed. Further, a discount point or the like planned by the department store is displayed. That is, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5, the Web server device 5 accesses the customer information database 7 by receiving data indicating that the customer P has visited the sales floor S, and A past purchase history is acquired (step 1). Next, the Web server device 5 determines a discount rate and other service contents based on the acquired purchase information, and automatically generates a barcode indicating the information (step 2). Then, the display is displayed on the display 1a of the mobile phone 1 of the customer P and the display 24 of the employee Q, respectively. The employee Q reads the barcode displayed on the display 1a or the display 24 with the barcode reader 3, and transmits privilege information to the customer P (step 3). As a result, it is possible to provide a sufficient service without omission to the customer P.

In other words, the employee can use the above display
It determines how much service is available to the customer P and provides a service according to the purchase history of the customer P. As the customer P, it is possible to obtain advice in consideration of the colors and designs of the shirts and ties that have been purchased up to that time, and to receive appropriate services without omission, thereby having the advantage of being able to shop happily. .

The information on the customer and the information on the merchandise purchased on that day, which are input from the mobile phone 1 or the like, are immediately transmitted to the respective databases 7 via the Web server 5.
11 and the databases 7 and 11 are updated. In addition, the data mining server device 8 is configured as shown in FIG.
As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7, it is checked at regular time intervals (for example, every hour) whether or not the customer database 7 has been updated (step 1). After step 1, if it is determined in step 2 that the customer database 7 has been updated, the next step 3
If it is determined that it has not been updated, the process returns to step 1. In step 3 described above, the updated data portion is searched for from the recorded data, and the updated data is stored in the data mining database 10 in step 4. This series of processing makes it possible to immediately cope with the case where the customer P goes shopping next time.

The merchandise sales system according to the present embodiment is configured and operates as described above, so that the customer's willingness to purchase can be enhanced, which greatly contributes to sales promotion and service improvement. In addition, since the customer can obtain a corresponding service without omission, shopping can be performed happily.

FIG. 7 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the present invention is applied to a system in which a customer P can purchase a product via an Internet terminal 30 at home. The same parts as those in the first embodiment described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

In the present embodiment, the Internet terminal 30 accesses the Web server device 5, browses the portal page described above, and further purchases a product by filling in the portal page. When purchasing a product, the data mining server device 8 analyzes the preference tendency of the customer P and recommends further purchase of the product. In FIG.
Reference numeral 32 denotes a communication server device for controlling communication, and reference numeral 32 denotes a client device installed in the counter S. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment.

The operation of the merchandise sales system according to the second embodiment configured as described above is as follows. That is, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8, first, information on the purchase intention and the purchased product from the Internet terminal 30 is obtained (step 1). If the Web server device 5 has obtained the information, the process proceeds to step 2 and the Web server device 5
The server device 5 accesses the product information database 11 and records the information. At the same time, the Web server device 5 accesses the data mining server device 8 to analyze and select products that the customer P tends to prefer (Step 3). When a product to be recommended to the customer P is selected in this way, the product list is stored in the data mining database 1 as shown in step 4.
Record at 0. Then, when the customer P comes to the store to purchase the purchased product, the employee Q at the cash register 20 notifies the customer P that the customer P has visited the store by presenting the voucher possessed by the customer P or the equivalent. Send to Web server 5. Then, in response to a command from the Web server device 5, the previously selected product list is displayed on the display 24 (step 5). Other operations are the same as those of the first embodiment.

In the first embodiment described above, an example in which the present invention is applied to a men's clothing section of a department store has been described. However, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, applying the present invention to a so-called personal computer shop, for example, for a customer who has purchased a personal computer, printers, scanners, and various consumables are listed and recommended for purchase, and for customers who are advanced users, A motherboard or software that the customer may like may be recommended. Further, at a cosmetics store, other products such as a moisturizing liquid and shampoo can be recommended to customers who have purchased basic cosmetics.

[0039]

According to the present invention, as described above, a customer's willingness to purchase can be increased, and it greatly contributes to sales promotion and service improvement. In addition, since the customer can obtain a corresponding service without omission, shopping can be performed happily.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the same configuration.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the same basic operation.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation when selecting a product to be recommended to a customer.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation for obtaining service contents to be provided to a customer.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining each database update.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the same operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A Customer identification means B Product selection means P Customer Q Employee S Sales floor 1 Cellular phone 1a Display 2 Card reader 3 Barcode reader 4 Firewall 5 Web server 7 Customer information database 8 Data mining server 10 Data mining database 11 Product information database 20 cash register 21 card reader 22 commodity 23 tag 24 display

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) G06F 17/60 330 G06F 17/60 330 502 502 506 506 ZEC ZEC

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A merchandise sales system for selecting and recommending merchandise preferred by a customer based on customer information on the customer at the time of or before and after the purchase of the merchandise. Means, product selection means for extracting customer information relating to the customer identified by the customer identification means from the customer information database storing customer information, and selecting a product recommended for the customer based on the customer information, And a notifying unit for notifying the customer of the product selected by the product selecting unit. 2. The customer identification means, wherein the terminal information capable of inputting information relating to the customer is received, and the information relating to the customer input by the terminal device is received. 2. The merchandise sales system according to claim 1, further comprising: a first server device capable of selecting the customer from the first server device. 3. The merchandise sales system according to claim 2, wherein the terminal device has an input means for freely inputting data given to the customer for confirming the identity of the customer. . 4. The merchandise sales according to claim 2, wherein the terminal device is a mobile phone or a portable information terminal that can be connected to the first server device via the Internet. system. 5. The merchandise sales system according to claim 2, wherein said terminal device is a card reader capable of reading out information recorded on a card owned by a customer. 6. The product selection means has a second server device connected to the customer information database and a product information database storing various information on products for sale, respectively. The server device has an analysis function of analyzing the preference tendency of the customer based on the obtained customer information, and a product matching the analysis result from the product information database based on the analysis result obtained by the analysis function. 6. The merchandise sales system according to claim 1, further comprising a selection function for selecting a product. 7. The merchandise sales system according to claim 6, wherein the selection function is a program using mathematical statistics incorporated in the second server device. 8. The merchandise sales according to claim 1, wherein the notifying means is a display device capable of freely displaying information on the merchandise obtained by the selection function. system. 9. The system according to claim 1, wherein a benefit for each customer is provided in accordance with the total purchase amount of each customer stored in the customer information database. Product sales system.