JP2002342501A - Customer registration method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain contents for a site which provides customer services. SOLUTION: A service provider installs a server at a data center and a service user connects to the Internet through a terminal to retrieve the Web site. When the service user specifies the URL of the Web site server from the terminal through which the Internet can be accessed, data of contents stored on the server side are read out and sent to the terminal of the service user. The contents are classified into seven categories of member registration, new information, product information, service support, an on-line album, on-line shops, and communities.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to customer service via the Web and the like.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION An information retrieval system called a Web, which retrieves information on the Internet using hypertext, is known. In this system, contents are registered in a Web server having an Internet Protocol (IP) address, and contents registered in the Web server are searched from a terminal connected to the Internet using a browsing program. Content is registered on the Web
Called site. According to the Web, content containing unique information is prepared on a website, and information is provided to people who use the content by searching this website, while information is also obtained from people who receive the information. It is possible.

[0003] The inventor has thought that a new customer service can be constructed by providing a content for posting product information, collecting information from the content and collecting information from a person who purchased the product into the content. .

An object of the present invention is to provide a customer registration method for performing customer service.

[0005]

(1) A customer registration method according to the first aspect of the present invention provides a customer registration method including information on a customer who has purchased a product and information on a product that the customer has purchased. By receiving the information, storing the received customer information in the storage means, and transmitting the information for guiding the member registration different from the customer registration to the customer after the customer registration is completed,
Achieve the above objectives. (2) According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the customer registration method according to the first aspect, the member registration is a member registration for receiving a Web service. (3) According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the customer registration method according to the first aspect, the customer information includes information as to whether the customer is a corporation or an individual. It is characterized by not transmitting information for member registration. (4) The invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that, in the customer registration method according to claim 1, when the registered customer is already registered as a member, information for guiding the member registration is not transmitted. I do. (5) The customer registration method according to the invention described in claim 5 is a customer registration method for registering a customer registered together with customer information transmitted from the customer including information on the customer who purchased the product and information on the product purchased by the customer. If the authentication information for authenticating the user and the authentication information for authenticating the membership of a member registered differently from the customer registration, if the same registrant, part or all of the authentication information must be the same. By doing so, the above-mentioned object is achieved. (6) According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the customer registration method according to the fifth aspect, when registering one authentication information of the customer registration or the member registration, whether the other has already been registered by the same registrant. It is characterized by detecting whether or not the authentication information is registered, and when the other is registered, a part or all of the authentication information already registered in the other is registered as the authentication information. (7) In the customer registration method according to the invention described in claim 7, a plurality of items of customer information transmitted from the customer including information on the customer who purchased the product and information on the product purchased by the customer are stored as the customer registration. In addition, the member information of a plurality of members different from the customer registration is stored as a member registration, and the information registered by the customer registration and the member registration has a common item. Information registration of the common item in one of the customer registration and the member registration At this time, if the common item is already registered on the other side, the above-mentioned object is achieved by updating the information on the other common item. (8) According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the customer registration method according to the seventh aspect, when information of one common item is blank data, information of the other common item is not updated. I do. (9) According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the customer registration method according to the seventh aspect, the customer registration and the member registration are centrally managed. (10) According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the customer registration method according to any one of the first to ninth aspects, the customer registration is a web-based customer registration method. (11) In the customer registration method according to the eleventh aspect, the customer information transmitted from the customer including the information of the customer who purchased the product and the information of the product purchased by the customer is received, and the received customer information is received. The above object is achieved by further transmitting, to the customer, information for guiding the member registration different from the customer registration for receiving the Web service after the customer registration for recording the service is completed. (12) In the customer registration method according to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, the first information transmitted from the customer including at least information of the customer who purchased the product, information of the product purchased by the customer, and authentication information of the customer. Record registration information for at least the web
The second registration information transmitted from the customer including the information of the customer who receives the service by the customer and the authentication information of the customer is recorded, and when the customer of the first registration information and the second registration information is the same, The above-mentioned object is achieved by permitting the same registration of authentication information. (13) In the customer registration method according to the twelfth aspect, when the same registration of the authentication information is permitted, the first registration information and the second registration information may be used. If there is a difference in common items, old information is updated with the latest information. (14) According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the customer registration method according to the thirteenth aspect, when the latest information is blank data, it is not updated.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Web according to one embodiment of the present invention
Site content is provided by web service providers.
It provides information and services related to products to service users. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a Web site in which Web site contents are registered. In FIG. 1, a service provider arranges a server in a data center, and a service user connects to the Internet from a terminal and searches for a Web site. When the service user specifies the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the website server from a terminal that can access the Internet, the content data stored on the server side is read and sent to the service user terminal. . In the present embodiment, a camera is taken as an example of a product, and the camera and information and services related to the camera are provided to a service user. The contents according to the present invention are classified into the following seven categories as shown in the site map of FIG. 1. Member registration 2. What's New Product information 4. Service and support 5. Online album 6. Online shop 7. community

[0007] Member registration 1 is a page for registering a service user on the Web. What's New 2 is Web
This page is for introducing information such as content newly registered to the site to service users. Product information 3
Is a page for introducing products such as cameras to service users. The service support 4 is a page for introducing a question received from a product user and an answer to the question to a service user. The online album 5 is a page that provides a service user with a service that handles electronic image data. For example, in the online album 5, image data captured by the service user is stored free of charge up to a predetermined capacity, or image data selected by the service user from the stored image data is printed out in high detail. Provide services such as enabling delivery. The online shop 6 is a page for selling products to service users. The community 7 is a page that provides a place for communication between service users. For example, the community 7 provides a bulletin board function or the like in which a service user having a question posts a question and a service user who knows the answer to the question posts an answer.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of a web top page 10 displayed on a display of a service user terminal. This screen is displayed on the display of the terminal of the user of the service by a browsing program provided in the terminal of the user, based on the data stored in the URL specified by the terminal of the person using the Web service. In FIG. 3, link destination buttons 21 to 27 for the above-described seven category pages are displayed. In addition, a link button 2 to the "article 1" page
8, a link destination button 29 to the “article 2” page,
A link destination button 30 to the “article 3” page and a link destination button 31 to a “search” page described later are displayed.

[0009] When a user of the Web service operates a pointing device (not shown) provided on the terminal and clicks a link button, information on a link destination pasted corresponding to each link button is displayed. That is, a URL is specified. As a result, the data stored in the URL is transmitted to the terminal, and a screen based on the data is displayed on the display of the terminal. For example, when the Web service user clicks the link button 21 of "new information", the new information 2 shown in FIG.
The screen of the top page of the category is displayed on the terminal display.

[0010] In FIG. 4, on the screen of the category page of the new arrival information 2, “news”, “new product information / news”, “service / support information”, and “site” described in the site map of FIG. Update information "is displayed. These display contents may be provided on the page screen of FIG. 4 by providing a link destination button, and displayed on a page screen of a link destination different from the page screen of FIG. The screen in FIG. 4 further includes link destination buttons 21 to 26 for jumping to another category page, a link destination button 31 for a “search” page, and a link destination button 32 for “return to a top page”. Is displayed. When each of these link destination buttons is clicked, a page corresponding to each button is displayed on the display of the terminal. When the link button 21 for the category page of “new arrival information” is clicked while the page screen shown in FIG. 4 is displayed, the page screen shown in FIG. 4 remains displayed.

In FIG. 3, when a link destination button 26 of "community" is clicked, a top page screen of the category of the community 7 shown in FIG. 5 is displayed. In FIG. 5, on the screen of the category page of the community 7, link buttons 28, 29, and 30 to pages corresponding to articles described in the site map of FIG. 71, a link destination button 72 to a page for downloading image data, and a link destination button 27 to a page for “member registration” are displayed. These display contents may be displayed in the page shown in FIG. 5 without providing a link destination button.

The screen of FIG. 5 further includes link destination buttons 21 to 26 for jumping to another category page, a link destination button 31 for a “search” page, and the like, similarly to the screen of FIG. 4 described above. A link destination button 32 for "return to the top page" is also displayed. When the link destination button 26 for the category page of "community" is clicked while the page screen shown in FIG. 5 is displayed, the page screen shown in FIG. 5 remains displayed.

In each of the page screens shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, for example, link destination buttons 21 to 2
As shown in FIG. 6, there is a link destination button commonly provided for each page. Further, there are link destination buttons commonly provided on a predetermined page, such as link destination buttons 28 to 30. By providing a common link destination button between different pages, when switching the display of each page shown in the site map of FIG. 2, the page screen is switched between the category pages without returning to the top page 10 once. be able to. Furthermore, if the link destination button is provided in common between the pages, the link destination button is more likely to be noticed by a Web service user. As a result, the service user is provided with an incentive to display a page corresponding to the link destination button.

In the present embodiment, "member registration", "online shop", "online album", and "bulletin board" have characteristics in the above-mentioned categories.
Explanations will be made focusing on these categories.

-Member Registration- A service provider via the Web is required to register a service user name or the like for the purpose of providing a service to a registered service user. The member registration page is also used for customer registration in which a user who has purchased a product sold by a service provider registers customer information and the like, in addition to member registration for service use via the Web. In the customer registration, instead of the user writing and returning customer information on a postcard called a customer registration card, the customer information is transmitted online using the member registration page. When the service user clicks the link destination button 27 for “member registration” on the page screen in FIG. 3, a selection screen (not shown) for member registration is displayed on the display of the terminal. This selection screen is: 1. A person who has not registered as a member for using the service via the Web registers a new customer. 2. A person who has already registered as a member of the service using the Web performs new customer registration. 3. Register as a member of the service using the Web. This is for selecting the four input screens for a customer who has already registered (member registration) to change the registered contents.

-In the case where a non-member who uses the Web service registers a customer-In the above selection screen, the service user corresponds to "a person who has not registered as a member using the Web service newly registers a customer" When the user clicks a link button (not shown), the Web site server, that is, the server of the service provider transmits display data to the terminal of the service user, and displays a screen for inputting product information shown in FIG. To be displayed. Generally, as shown in FIG.
There are a plurality of Web site servers, such as a Web server, a content management server, a mail server, a bulletin board server, and a shop server. Each of the web servers stores web screen data, and the content management server performs content management. The mail server stores mail data, the bulletin board server stores data written on the bulletin board, and the shop server stores shop data. In this description, these plurality of servers are collectively referred to as servers.

When a screen for inputting product information is displayed on the display of the terminal, the service user writes the registered contents in the frame of the display screen according to the displayed contents. In FIG. 6, a pull-down menu is prepared in a frame where a downward triangle is displayed. The service user selects a corresponding item from a menu previously written by the service provider.

For example, when a pull-down menu button 6A displayed in the frame of the product name is clicked, the product names such as product 1, product 2, product 3,... Are displayed. The service user selects a product name purchased by himself / herself from a menu of product names. If there is no corresponding product name in the pull-down menu, or in a frame where no pull-down menu is prepared, the service user operates a terminal key (not shown) to write the registered contents. When the service user clicks the OK button 6B, the registration data of the product information is transmitted to the server of the service provider.

Upon receiving the registration information of the product information transmitted from the service user, the server of the service provider transmits display data to the terminal of the service user, and inputs customer information (customer information) shown in FIG. Display on the terminal display. The service user writes the registered content in the frame of the display screen according to the display content on the display. In FIG. 7, a service user inputs a password in a password frame 7A. If the service user later changes the registered contents, the password is entered and the change is made. The password input from the customer information input screen is also used as a common password when registering a service using the Web described later.

The above-described pull-down menu is prepared in a frame in which a downward triangle is displayed. When there is no corresponding item in the pull-down menu, and in a frame where no pull-down menu is prepared, the service user operates a terminal key (not shown) to write the registered contents. The password in the password frame 7A is displayed as ***... Without displaying the password input by the service user as it is. When the service user clicks the OK button 7B after writing the registered contents, the registered data of the customer information is transmitted to the server of the service provider.

Upon receiving the customer information registration data transmitted from the service user, the server of the service provider transmits display data to the terminal of the service user, and displays a screen for answering the questionnaire shown in FIG. Display on the display. The service user writes an answer in the frame of the display screen according to the display content on the display.
Here, the questionnaire question is determined as follows. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a question process performed by the server of the service provider. The process according to FIG. 9 starts when registration data of customer information is received.

In step S201, the server
From the product information input screen, information on the product name registered by the service user is read from a predetermined database in the server, and the process proceeds to step S202. Step S20
In 2, the server selects a question according to the registered product name, and proceeds to step S203. Here, questions are prepared in advance for all products, and these questions are recorded in a database in the server. Each question recorded in the database is managed so that a question common to a plurality of products and a question unique to a certain product can be determined. The server selects a question corresponding to the product by the registered product name.

When the service user has purchased a plurality of products, questions corresponding to the plurality of products are respectively selected. If there is a common question among the selected questions, the server deletes the remaining one duplicate question so as not to transmit the same question to the terminal of the service user. In step S203, the server creates page data for displaying the questionnaire input screen of FIG. 8, and proceeds to step S204. In step S204, the server transmits data necessary for displaying the created questionnaire input screen to the terminal of the service user, and ends the processing in FIG. As a result, for example, questions 1 to 5 in FIG. The question 6 displays a question about the product 1, and the question 7 displays a question about the product 2. Even if a plurality of products are purchased, the service user can answer questions for a plurality of products in one questionnaire input screen.

When the service user writes an answer to each question in each of the frames 8A to 8G on the screen of FIG. 8 and then clicks the registration button 8H, the registration data of the questionnaire is transmitted to the server of the service provider. Is done. Upon receiving the registration data transmitted from the service user, the server of the service provider transmits display data to the terminal of the service user, and displays a prize selection screen shown in FIG. 10 on the display of the terminal. FIG. 10A shows an example of a page screen when an individual registers, and FIG. 10B shows an example of a page screen when a corporation registers.

The service user selects a desired prize according to the contents displayed on the display. Here, the prize selection screen is determined as follows. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a prize selection screen creation process performed by the server of the service provider. The process according to FIG. 11 is started when registration data of a questionnaire is received. In step S101, the server checks the product name, purchase category (individual or corporate), and purchase quantity input from the above-described product information input screen shown in FIG. Information such as the name and address of the person is read from a predetermined database in the server, and the process proceeds to step S102.

In step S102, the server
It is determined whether the purchase category is a corporation. In the case of a corporation, step S102 is affirmatively determined and the process proceeds to step S104. In the case of an individual, step S102 is negatively determined and step S104 is performed.
Go to 103. In step 103, the server
Data for a personal page screen as shown in FIG. 10A is prepared. FIG. 10 (a) introduces a prize for a person who has purchased one single-lens reflex camera, and selects one of a booklet containing information on shooting, a camera strap, and points that can be used in a web-based service. Screen. Here, the points are prizes prepared for individuals, and are not prepared as prizes for corporations. When the server creates the data for the page screen, the server proceeds to step S1.
Go to 05.

The point is the online shop 6 in FIG.
It can be used when shopping at, and you can purchase products at discounted prices according to this point. In the service using the online album 5, the storage capacity of image data can be increased more than usual according to points, and a printout service can be received free of charge. In addition, in the community 7, there is also a usage method in which a service user who has posted a question gives points as a reward to a service user who has posted an answer.

When proceeding to step S104, the server prepares data for a corporate page screen as shown in FIG. 10 (b). FIG. 10 (b) shows a prize for a corporation that purchased a total of three single-lens reflex cameras and a compact camera. This is a screen for selecting up to three points in total. In the case of corporations, points are not prepared as prizes unlike individuals. In addition, a case is prepared as a prize corresponding to a purchased product, here, a compact camera. When the server creates the data for the page screen, the server proceeds to step S10.
Proceed to 5.

In step S105, the server
The data is transmitted to the terminal of the service user, and the processing in FIG. 11 ends. As a result, the screens shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B are displayed on the display of the service user terminal. The service user checks the desired prize on one of the screens shown in FIGS.
Click button 10B. When a plurality of premiums can be selected as shown in FIG. 10B, a quantity frame 10C is displayed, and the service user opens a pull-down menu and selects a desired quantity. In FIGS. 10A and 10B, a description of the prize is displayed beside the prize image 10A. The image 10A also serves as a link destination button, and when the service user clicks this button, new data is transmitted from the server to the terminal, and a page screen for introducing the premium in detail is displayed on the display of the service user's terminal. Is done. FIG. 12 is an example of a screen for introducing a booklet.

When the service user clicks the OK button 10B in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the selection data is transmitted to the server of the service provider. Upon receiving the selection data transmitted from the service user, the server of the service provider transmits page screen data corresponding to the prize to the terminal of the service user. Thus, in the case of a prize that needs to be delivered to the service user, a screen for notifying the destination is displayed on the display of the terminal of the service user as shown in FIG. In addition, in the case of a prize that does not need to be delivered such as points, a screen notifying of the point addition is displayed on the display of the terminal of the service user as shown in FIG.

When the service user clicks the OK button on the screens shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B, customer registration by a person who has not registered as a member of the service using the Web ends. At this time, the server leads to the member registration page for using the service via the Web when the purchase category is individual.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a member registration guidance screen creation process performed by the service provider server. The process shown in FIG. 14 is started when the customer registration is completed. In step S301, the server determines whether the purchase category is a corporation. In the case of a corporation, an affirmative determination is made in step S301 and the process proceeds to step S304. In the case of an individual, a negative determination is made in step S301 and the process proceeds to step S302. In step S302, the server determines whether the service user is a registered member. In the case of a registered member, a positive determination is made in step S302, and the process proceeds to step S304. In the case of a non-member, the process proceeds to step S3.
02 is negatively determined, and the process proceeds to step S303. here,
Information as to whether the registered customer is a member of the service using the Web is transmitted to the server by the link button clicked when the customer registration is started. That is,
If the button for "Newly registering a customer who does not use the Web service to register a customer" button is clicked, it is regarded as a non-member. If the "Execute" button is clicked, it is regarded as a member.

In step S303, the server
Data for displaying a page screen as shown in FIG. 15 is created. FIG. 15 is an example of a screen that displays a notice of accepting a prize order indicating the end of customer registration and a message for guiding the user to a member registration page for using the service via the Web. After preparing the data for the page screen, the server proceeds to step S305. In step S305, the server transmits the data to the service user terminal, and ends the processing in FIG. Thus, the screen of FIG. 15 described above is displayed on the display of the terminal of the service user. When the service user clicks the link destination button 15A of the member registration of the service using the Web, the server transmits data necessary for displaying the member registration screen to the terminal of the service user. Member registration for using the service via the Web will be described later. On the other hand, when the service user clicks the "return to top page" link destination button 32, the server transmits data necessary for displaying the above-described top page 10 of FIG. 3 to the terminal of the service user.

When proceeding to step S304, the server does not recommend membership registration for using the Web service. This is to avoid recruiting corporations to service members and to prevent members who have already registered from registering more than once. In step S304, the server displays a prize order acceptance notification, creates page screen data indicating the end of customer registration, and proceeds to step S305. As a result, a screen (not shown) of the end of the customer registration is displayed on the display of the service user terminal. When the service user clicks the "return to top page" link destination button, the server transmits the data necessary for displaying the above-described top page 10 of FIG. 3 to the terminal of the service user.

In the case where a member who uses the Web service registers a customer, the service user is prompted by the member registration selection screen corresponding to the link destination button 27 that "a person who has already registered a Web service member is a new customer. When a link button (not shown) corresponding to “register” is clicked, the server of the service provider transmits display data to the terminal of the service user, and a screen for member authentication of the use of the service using the web shown in FIG. 16 is displayed. Is displayed on the terminal display. The service user inputs the login name and password registered at the time of member registration, and clicks the OK button 16A.
Thereby, the login name and the password are transmitted to the server of the service provider.

The server of the service provider performs the following processing when the transmitted login name and password match those stored in the database in the server. For items common to information registered at the time of Web membership registration and information registered at the time of customer registration,
If there is a difference, the new content is overwritten (updated).
FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a registered content update process performed by the server of the service provider. The process shown in FIG. 17 is started when the login name and the password transmitted from the service user match the contents of the database on the server side, respectively.

In step S401, the server
From the data of Web member registration already registered,
Data of items common to the customer registration data is read from the database, and the process proceeds to step S402. Step S4
In 02, the server prepares page data for displaying the above-described screen for inputting product information shown in FIG. 6, and transmits the page data to the terminal. The service user writes the registered contents in the frame of the display screen in accordance with the display contents on the display as in the case where the non-member of the service using the Web registers the customer as described above. Service user clicks OK button 6B
When you click, the registration data is sent to the service provider's server.

Upon receiving the registration information of the product information transmitted from the service user, the server of the service provider prepares page data for displaying a screen for updating customer information (customer information) and transmits the page data to the terminal. Step S40
Proceed to 3. As a result, the page screen shown in FIG. 18 is displayed on the display of the terminal of the service user. FIG.
At 8, the contents at the time of Web member registration are displayed in the frame of items common to Web member registration and customer registration. The service user can check the contents displayed on the display and write only the parts that have changed. When the service user clicks the OK button 18B after writing the change contents, the change data is transmitted to the server of the service provider.

In step S403, the server
It is determined whether or not the change data has been received. If the change data has been received, a positive determination is made in step S403 and the process proceeds to step S404. If the change data has not been received, a negative determination is made in step S403 and the determination process is repeated.
In step S404, the server compares the received data with the data at the time of Web member registration, and determines whether or not there is a change. If a change has been made, a positive determination is made in step S404, and the flow advances to step S405.
If the change has not been made, a negative determination is made in step S404, and the process proceeds to step S408.

In step S405, the server
The page screen shown in FIG. 18 is changed to the content based on the change data transmitted from the service user to create a page screen (not shown). Further, the server transmits the created page screen data to the service user terminal together with, for example, the data of the message "Do you want to overwrite with this content?", And proceeds to step S406. In step S406, the server determines whether to change the database. When the service user clicks the OK button (not shown) on the terminal display,
A change instruction is sent from the terminal to the server. When the server receives the change instruction, the server makes an affirmative determination in step S406 and proceeds to step S407. When the server does not receive the change instruction, the server makes a negative determination in step S406 and proceeds to step S408.

In step S407, the server
The contents of the database are overwritten with the changed data, and the process proceeds to step S408. In step S408, the server registers the data of the item, which is not common with the data at the time of Web member registration, in the database.
The server further transmits data of a message notifying that the registration has been completed to the terminal of the service user, and ends the processing in FIG. If the change data is blank data, that is, if the service user sends the change data with the frame blank, the server does not overwrite the database with the blank data. In this case, the server creates message data notifying that the changed content has not been input, and transmits the message data to the service user terminal.

Next, the server transmits the display data to the terminal of the service user, and displays the screen for answering the questionnaire shown in FIG. 7 on the display of the terminal. Subsequent procedures are the same as those in the case where a non-member who uses the service through the Web registers a customer, and thus description thereof is omitted. However, it is not recommended to use the Web for membership registration when customer registration is completed. That is, in step S302 of the above-described processing in FIG. 14, the server makes an affirmative determination because the service user is already a Web member. As a result, a screen (not shown) for notifying the end of the member registration is displayed on the display of the terminal of the service user, and the Web member registration is not recommended.

-In the case of registering a service using the Web-Among the seven categories of contents registered on the Web site described above, the services of each page of the online album 5, the online shop 6, and the community 7 are:
Provided to registered members who use the service via the Web. That is, the service user needs to register as a member in order to receive these three categories of services. After registering as a member, login to receive services in these three categories is permitted.

In the member registration selection screen corresponding to the link destination button 27, when the service user clicks a link destination button (not shown) corresponding to "register a member for using the service via the Web", The server sends the display data to the service user's terminal,
A screen (not shown) that describes the membership agreement of the service using b is displayed on the display of the terminal. The service user clicks an OK button (not shown) when agreeing to the terms. Upon receiving the data indicating the consent transmitted from the service user, the server of the service provider transmits display data to the terminal of the service user, and the login name,
A screen (not shown) for inputting a password and a nickname is displayed on a display of the terminal. The service user writes the registered content in the frame of the display screen according to the display content on the display. The login name is a user name registered by the service user to receive the service. The password is used for authentication. The nickname is essential when using a bulletin board included in the category of the community.

When the service user clicks an OK button (not shown) after writing the login name, password and nickname by operating the keys of the terminal, the registration data is transmitted to the server of the service provider. Upon receiving the registration data transmitted from the service user, the server of the service provider transmits display data to the terminal of the service user, and displays a screen for inputting member information on the Web similar to FIG. Display on the display. The service user writes the registered contents in the frame of the display screen according to the contents displayed on the display. However, the password is omitted because it has already been transmitted as described above.
OK button 7B after service user writes registration contents
By clicking, the registration data of the member information is transmitted to the server of the service provider.

When the server of the service provider receives the registration data of the Web member information transmitted from the service user, the server transmits the display data to the terminal of the service user. As a result, a message notifying the completion of the Web membership registration is displayed on the display of the service user terminal.

The above explanation shows that a person who has not registered a customer
Although the case where the member registration of the use of the service using the Web has been described as an example, a person who has already registered the customer can also perform the member registration of the Web. In this case, the server
Is displayed on the display of the terminal. The service user has registered the I
Enter D and password and click OK button 19A. Thereby, the ID and the password are transmitted to the server of the service provider.

The server of the service provider performs the following processing when the transmitted ID and password respectively match those recorded in the database in the server. If there is any difference between the information registered at the time of customer registration and the information registered at the time of Web member registration, the new content is overwritten (updated). this is,
When a Web member described above registers a customer, overwrites the latest information on items common to the information registered at the time of Web member registration and the information registered at the time of customer registration
(Update).

When the ID and password transmitted from the terminal match with those recorded in the database in the server, the server of the service provider updates the Web member information screen similar to FIG. 18 described above. Prepare page data for displaying and send it to the terminal. As a result, a page screen similar to that shown in FIG. 18 is displayed on the display of the terminal of the service user, and the data at the time of customer registration is displayed in the frame of items common to the items at the time of customer registration. The service user only needs to check the contents displayed on the display and write only the portions that have changed. If the service user clicks the OK button 18B after writing the change content, the change data is transmitted to the service provider's server. In this way, if only information different from the information registered at the time of customer registration is written, the member registration of the service using the Web can be performed without repeatedly writing the same content as at the time of customer registration.

-When a customer who has completed customer registration (Web member registration) changes the registration contents-On the member registration selection screen corresponding to the link destination button 27, the service user enters "customer registration (member registration)". Clicking a link destination button (not shown) corresponding to "A registered person changes the registered content", the server of the service provider transmits display data to the terminal of the service user, and FIG.
9 is displayed on the display of the terminal. When a person who has been registered as a Web member changes the registered contents, a Web member authentication screen shown in FIG. 16 is displayed on the display of the terminal.

The service user who has registered the customer inputs the password and ID registered at the time of customer registration, and clicks the OK button 19A. Thereby, the ID and the password are transmitted to the server of the service provider. Meanwhile, We
The service user registered as a member b enters the password and login name registered at the time of member registration, and clicks the OK button 16A. Thereby, the login name and the password are transmitted to the server of the service provider.

The server of the service provider prepares page data for displaying a screen for updating customer information when the transmitted ID and the password respectively match those recorded in the database in the server. Send to terminal. On the other hand, if the submitted login name and password match those recorded in the server's database,
Prepare page data for displaying a screen for updating member information on the Web and send it to the terminal. As a result, a page screen similar to that of FIG. 18 described above is displayed on the display of the terminal of the service user. In FIG. 18, the data at the time of registration is displayed in the frame of the registration item.

The service user checks the contents displayed on the display, and only needs to write the portions that have changed. If the service user clicks the OK button 18B after writing the change content, the change data is transmitted to the service provider's server. Subsequent processing is the same as that in step S403 and subsequent steps in FIG. That is, the server overwrites only the change data transmitted from the service user among the registered data registered in the database.

In the above description regarding the member registration, the server has been described in which the password at the time of customer registration and the password at the time of member registration on the Web can be used in common, and the service user registers both passwords in the same manner. .
On the other hand, the service user may register different passwords for customer registration and Web member registration. In this case, customer registration and Web membership registration are performed independently.
That is, even if there is an item common to the registration data between the customer registration and the Web member registration, the data at the time of one registration is not used at the time of the other registration.

Further, when a person who has purchased a product makes a customer registration online from the terminal to the server as described above, the service provider can shorten the warranty period of the product as compared with the case of registering the customer using a postcard or the like. Give extra benefits. The warranty period is extended when a product is purchased through an online shop described later and customer registration of the product is performed online.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of the warranty period extension process performed by the server of the service provider. The process shown in FIG. 20 is started when the customer registration is completed. In step S801, the server determines from the data registered with the customer whether or not the product is purchased at an online shop. In the case of the online shop, a positive determination is made in step S801, and the process proceeds to step S802. In this case, the process of extending the warranty period is not performed.

In step S802, the server
The system accesses a predetermined database associated with the customer information, reads out support information such as the warranty period of the product, and proceeds to step S803. In step S803, the server extends the warranty period of the read support information by, for example, six months and changes the data in the database. When the server changes the database, the process proceeds to step S804. In step S804, the server performs processing for enabling the warranty card with the extended warranty period to be sent to the purchaser, and ends the processing in FIG.

Although an example of extending the warranty period has been described as a privilege for registering a customer online using a Web service, for example, points that can be used in a Web service may be given.

According to the member registration performed using the content according to the above-described embodiment, the following operation and effect can be obtained. (1) On the screen for selecting a prize (FIGS. 10A and 10B), a link button is also used for the prize image 10A,
When the service user clicks the image 9A, a page screen (FIG. 12) for introducing the prize in detail is further displayed. Therefore, the service user can obtain detailed information of the premium without having to search the introduction page screen for the premium. (2) We have prepared points that can be used for Web services as prizes. Thus, an incentive can be given to the service user so that the service user uses the Web service after the customer registration. (3) The password at the time of registering customer information and the password at the time of member registration for using the Web service are used as a common password. As a result, as compared with the case where a plurality of passwords are properly used, a password input error by the service user is reduced, and the burden on the service user can be reduced. (4) Items common to the information registered at the time of Web member registration and the information registered at the time of customer registration are overwritten (updated) with the latest contents if there is any difference. This makes it possible to centrally manage the registration data of the same service user. In the case of blank data, the data is not overwritten with blank data, so that the original information is not lost. (5) A questionnaire question is prepared for each product and managed so that these questions can be determined as questions common to a plurality of products and questions unique to the product. The server selects a question according to the registered product name and sends it to the terminal of the service user. Thereby, even when the service user registers a plurality of products, the same question is not transmitted redundantly, and a plurality of products can be asked in a single questionnaire input screen. (6) When the customer registration is completed, the Web member registration is continued, so that the number of Web members can be increased as compared with the case where the member registration is not performed. As a result, the number of Web service users can be increased. (7) When a person who has purchased a product registers the customer online from the terminal to the server, the service provider extends the warranty period of the product. For this reason, an effect is obtained that prompts the purchaser to perform online registration with less burden on the service provider than when registering using a postcard or the like.

In the above description, points that can be used in Web services are provided in addition to “things” such as booklets and straps, as prizes for persons registered as customers. Instead of the points, the memory size and the validity period of the album data storage area provided by the service provider to the service user in the album print service described later are set to be larger than the normal memory size and longer than the normal validity period. You may prefer.

-Online Shop- The categories of online shopping 6 will be described. Online shops are also called electronic shops.
While the screen of the above-described top page 10 of FIG. 3 is displayed on the display of the terminal, the web-based service user operates a pointing device (not shown) provided on the terminal to link to the “online shop” link destination button 25.
Click on the button to open the online shop 6 shown in FIG.
Is displayed on the terminal display. The service use of online shop 6
As described above, the service user who has registered as a member of the service using the Web inputs the login name and the password and logs in to receive the service.

In FIG. 21, merchandise A to merchandise F are introduced as recommended merchandise by an image (not shown) and a description. Link information is pasted on the display positions of the products A to F, respectively, and the user operates a pointing device (not shown) to click any of the images and characters of the “product A” to “product F”. Then, a page screen describing the product in detail is further displayed. In this manner, the place where the information of the link destination is pasted is indicated by underlining. As a shop menu, a product group 1, a product group 2, a product group 3,... Are categorized and displayed. The product group 1 is, for example, a film camera,
The product group 2 is an accessory for a single-lens reflex camera. In this case, when the character of "commodity group 1" underlined is clicked, a page screen for introducing the film camera in detail is further displayed. Clicking the underlined letter of “Product Group 2” further displays a page screen that introduces the SLR camera accessory in detail.

The top seller ranking introduces the names of products that sell well in the online shop along with the first, second, third,... These ranking displays,
Alternatively, the link information is also pasted on the product name. Therefore, by clicking on the underlined order or the character of the product name, a page screen that describes the product in detail is further displayed. A link destination button for jumping to a category page different from the current category page is provided at the upper part of the screen in FIG.

The flow of purchasing goods in the online shop is as follows: a buyer logs on to the service provider's online shop, the buyer selects a product from the shop menu, and introduces in detail the product selected by the buyer. Confirmation on the screen, the buyer puts the product in a virtual shopping cart, the buyer checks the payment amount, payment method and delivery destination of the product, and the purchaser places an order The service provider processes the payment This is done in the flow of the provider sending out the product. In the online shop service according to the present invention, the service provider provides the service user with a service as described below. In the description of the online shop, a user of the Web service is referred to as a purchaser. In addition, the actual shop operation may be performed by the service provider, or the service provider may entrust a third party.

-Providing an Image with the Accessory Mounted-The purchaser can check the image with the accessory mounted on the product, for example, with the accessory mounted on the camera body. The service provider prepares a polygon image of the camera body and a polygon image of each accessory such as an interchangeable lens and a flash device.
In these polygon images, the images of the camera body and each accessory are configured in accordance with the ratio of the actual device size. Therefore, when the images of the camera body and the accessory are joined together, the image looks the same as when the camera body and the interchangeable lens or the camera body and the flash device are mounted on an actual device. The joined image obtained by joining the image of the camera body and the image of the accessory can be integrally rotated and moved in the display screen. Such polygon images are stored in advance in a predetermined database of a service provider server.

When the purchaser clicks a link button (not shown) corresponding to “confirm accessory mounting state” on a screen (not shown) of the terminal of the purchaser, the server of the service provider displays the button on the terminal of the purchaser. Send data for
The item selection screen shown in FIG. 22 is displayed on the terminal display. In FIG. 22, when the item selection screen is displayed on the display of the terminal, the purchaser writes the selected contents in the frame of the display screen according to the displayed contents. FIG.
In the above, a pull-down menu is prepared in a frame in which a downward triangle is displayed, and the purchaser selects a desired item from the menu. In the example of FIG.
A screen for selecting an interchangeable lens to be combined with the camera body is shown.

When the purchaser clicks the OK button 22B, the data of the selected item is transmitted to the server of the service provider. FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of polygon image processing performed by the server of the service provider. 23 starts when the server receives the data of the selected item. Step S
In 501, the server reads a polygon image corresponding to the selected item from the database and information associated with the polygon image, and proceeds to step S502. In step S502, the server determines whether images of the selected item can be joined. Here, “joinable” means that an accessory can be attached to the camera body. If the server can be joined, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S502 and proceeds to step S503.
If joining is impossible, a negative determination is made in step S502, and the process proceeds to step S505.

In step S503, the server
The images of the selected item are joined together, and the process proceeds to step S504. The joining of the images shows how the accessory is actually attached. That is, when the selected item is an interchangeable lens, image synthesis is performed so that the mount section of the camera body and the mount section of the interchangeable lens are aligned, and FIG.
To obtain an integrated image as shown in FIG.

In step S504, the server
The data of the joined polygon image (FIG. 24) is transmitted to the terminal of the purchaser, and the processing in FIG. 23 ends. By operating a pointing device (not shown) of the terminal while the display in FIG. 24 is being performed, the purchaser can rotate the joined image to an image viewed from an arbitrary angle.

In step S505, the server
The data of the message notifying that the selected item is not a combination that can be joined is transmitted to the terminal of the purchaser, and the process proceeds to step S506. In step S506, the server transmits the display data to the terminal of the purchaser, and ends the processing in FIG. Thereby, the item selection screen shown in FIG. 22 is displayed again on the terminal of the purchaser, and the purchaser is prompted to reconsider the item selection.

-Proposing another recommended product according to the product owned by the purchaser-The purchaser can receive a proposal for a new product according to the product owned. The service provider prepares a recommended product for each product. For example, an interchangeable lens aaa, a flash device bbb, a battery pack ccc, and a case ddd are prepared for the camera body, and these are given priority. Data of such recommended products is stored in advance in a predetermined database of the server of the service provider.

When the purchaser clicks a link button (not shown) corresponding to "confirm recommended products" on a screen (not shown) of the terminal of the purchaser, the server of the service provider displays on the terminal of the buyer. The data is transmitted, and an introduction screen for recommended products shown in FIG. 25 is displayed on the display of the terminal. FIG. 25 is an example of a screen that introduces the image, specifications, and merits of purchasing the flash device bbb. If the buyer wants to buy a recommended product, click "Add to Shopping Cart"
When button 25B is clicked, data indicating the intention of purchase is transmitted to the server of the service provider.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of the recommended product proposal processing performed by the server of the service provider. The process shown in FIG. 26 is activated when a “check recommended products” button (not shown) is clicked by the purchaser's terminal. In step S601, the server determines whether the purchaser has logged in. If the user has been logged in, a positive determination is made in step S601, and the process advances to step S602. If the user has not been logged in, negative determination is made in step S601 and step S6 is performed.
Proceed to 06.

In step S602, the server
The database in which the customer registration information of the logged-in purchaser is stored is read, and the model information of the camera and the like already purchased and owned by the purchaser is read from the registered data, and the process proceeds to step S603. In step S603, the server extracts a recommended product from the read model information, and proceeds to step S604. Recommended product extraction
For example, when the purchaser owns a camera, the order is performed in the order of priority from among the interchangeable lens aaa, flash device bbb, battery pack ccc, and case ddd for the camera. Priority is 1. Interchangeable lens aaa2. 2. Flash device bbb Battery pack ccc 4. When the order of the cases ddd is determined, the purchaser can exchange the lenses aaa
If the user does not own the camera, the interchangeable lens aaa is extracted.
In addition, the purchaser can select the interchangeable lens aaa and the flash device bbb.
, The battery pack ccc is extracted. The information of the model owned by the logged-in buyer is
In addition to the above-described customer registration, the owned model can be arbitrarily additionally registered on the customer information update page screen.

In step S604, the server
The page data necessary for displaying the screen of FIG. 25 introducing the extracted recommended products is created, and the process proceeds to step S605. In step S605, the server transmits the created page data to the terminal of the purchaser, and ends the processing in FIG.

In step S606, the server
The display data is transmitted to the purchaser's terminal, and the data shown in FIG.
The same type of input screen as in the above is displayed on the terminal display. In FIG. 22, the purchaser writes the possessed model and accessories in the frame of the display screen according to the display contents. When the buyer clicks the OK button 22B,
The data of the owned model is transmitted to the server of the service provider.

In step S607, the server
It is determined whether or not the data of the owned model has been received. If data has been received, a positive determination is made in step S607, and the flow advances to step S603. If data has not been received, the determination process is repeated.

-Proposing another recommended product according to the product put in the cart by the purchaser-The purchaser can receive a proposal of a new product according to the product put in the shopping cart. As described above, the service provider prepares recommended products for each product, sets priorities, and stores them in the database.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of the recommended product proposal processing performed by the server of the service provider. The process shown in FIG. 27 is activated when a “put product into cart” button (not shown) is clicked on the terminal of the purchaser. In step S701, the server determines whether or not the purchaser has logged in. If the user has been logged in, an affirmative determination is made in step S701, and the process advances to step S702. If the user has not been logged in, a negative determination is made in step S701, and step S7 is performed.
Go to 03.

In step S702, the server
The database accessing the Web member registration information of the purchaser who has logged in is accessed, and the model information of the camera and the like that the purchaser has already purchased and owned is read from the registration data, and the process proceeds to step S703. Step S7
At 03, the server extracts recommended products from the product name put in the shopping cart and the model information owned by the purchaser, and proceeds to step S704. For example, when the purchaser owns the camera and the thing put in the shopping cart is the flash device bbb, the extraction of the recommended product is performed by extracting the interchangeable lens aaa for the camera.
If a negative determination is made in step S701 (the user is not logged in), recommended products are extracted from the product names put in the shopping cart, and the process proceeds to step S704.

In step S704, the server
The page data necessary for displaying the screen of FIG. 25 introducing the extracted recommended products is created, and the process proceeds to step S705. In step S705, the server transmits the created display page data to the terminal of the purchaser, and ends the processing in FIG.

-Virtual Inventory Management- The service provider manages the inventory of merchandise not by an absolute number but by a relative number. The stock quantity decreases according to the quantity of the product when the purchaser puts the product into the shopping cart, and increases according to the quantity of the product when the purchaser puts the product out of the shopping cart. In the online shopping service, a large number of buyers access at the same time, so the stock of goods changes every moment. For this reason, the service provider
The stock (called a virtual stock in this description) is managed by a relative increase / decrease number based on the initial absolute stock number and a stock number that changes in real time.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing an example of a management page screen for managing product information. The management page screen is prepared by the service provider for each product handled by the online shopping service. Even for the same product, a wrapped product, a product with a name given to the product, and the like are assigned as product IDs different from normal products, and are managed as different products.

When the administrator predetermined by the service provider performs a predetermined operation on the server, the server sends the data of the management page screen to the terminal of the administrator, and transmits the data of FIG. 28 to the terminal of the administrator. Is displayed. In FIG. 28, the outline of the product is entered in the frame 28A of the description 1. The detailed description of the product is entered in the frame 28B of the description 2. The keyword for the product is entered in the search keyword frame 28C. For example, when the product is a flash device, a flash, a speedlight, a lighting, and the like are entered. It is preferable that the keyword is not described in the description 1 and the description 2 as much as possible. The reason for this is that, in the search function described later, a phrase entered in each box of the explanation 1 and the explanation 2 is also referred to in addition to the keyword.

In the posting period frame 28D, a period for posting the product on the page screen of the online shop is entered. The publication means that it is displayed as a shop menu or a recommended product on the online shop page screen shown in FIG. 21 described above. The server publishes the product on the online shop within the period described in the publishing period frame 28D. If the administrator unchecks the display on the right side of the publication period frame 28D and does not perform the publication, the publication of the product on the online shop page is stopped even during the publication period.
That is, the display as the shop menu or the recommended product is stopped. In the period 28E of the sales acceptance period, a period for receiving an order for the product by the online shop is entered. The server accepts the order for the product within the period entered. If the administrator unchecks the display on the right side of the sales acceptance period frame 28E, the order acceptance of the product is stopped even during the acceptance period.

In the related product frame 28F, a product ID of another product related to the product is entered. By entering the product ID of the recommended product described above in the frame 28F of the related product, when the purchaser puts the product in the shopping cart, the recommended product described in the frame 28F is proposed. The processing to be performed by the server when the product is out of stock is checked in the out-of-stock processing column 28G. In the example of FIG. 28, it is checked to post the out-of-stock display and stop selling. In this case, when the product is out of stock, an out-of-stock display is placed at the product on the shop menu or the recommended product page screen. At this time, if the expected storage date is entered in the out-of-stock processing column 28G,
Scheduled warehousing date is posted on the page screen.

In the inventory increase / decrease box 28H, a relative increase / decrease number based on the initial inventory quantity is entered. The administrator adds +1 when adding 10 pieces to the initial stock quantity.
To reduce 0 or 5, enter -5. Therefore, the manager can know how much the original stock quantity has been increased or decreased based on the numerical value entered in the box 28H. In the current stock quantity box 28I, the stock quantity is displayed in real time depending on whether or not the purchaser has put the product in the shopping cart. The virtual stock manages the stock according to the increase and decrease of the stock and the current stock number.

When the administrator operates the pointing device (not shown) and clicks the registration button 28J, the registration data is transmitted from the terminal of the administrator to the server. When the server receives the registration data, it changes the database and reflects it on the online shop page. In this way, the manager can change the description content in each of the above-mentioned frames except for the stock number in the current stock number box 28I.

-Notify that the virtual stock is equal to or less than a predetermined number-The server sends an e-mail to the administrator when the current stock number of the product is equal to or less than the predetermined number, and issues a warning. Also,
The server notifies the buyer that there is no stock when the current stock quantity of the product is 0 or a negative number when the purchaser puts the product in the shopping cart.

FIG. 29 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of the inventory notification process performed by the server of the service provider. The process according to FIG. 29 is always executed when the online shop service is provided. In step S1801, the server determines whether X items (X is an integer of 1 or more) have been added to a shopping cart. If the product A has been added to the cart, the affirmative determination is made in step S1801 and the process proceeds to step S1802.
A negative determination is made in step 801 and the process advances to step S1803.

In step S1802, the server checks the current stock number n = n−X of the virtual stock of the product A.
To step S1805. Step S1805
In, the server determines whether or not the stock quantity n is equal to or less than a predetermined value Z. Here, Z is a quantity regarded as out of stock, and is a value determined for each product (product ID). If n ≦ Z holds, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S1805 and proceeds to step S1806. If n> Z holds, the server makes a negative decision in step S1805 and makes a step S18.
Proceed to 08.

In step S1806, the server determines whether the affirmative determination in step S1805 is the first time counted from a predetermined time. The prescribed time is
For example, it is 0:00 am or the time when the virtual stock is increased or decreased. The server makes an affirmative decision in step S1806 if it is the first time counted from the predetermined time and proceeds to step S1807. If it is not the first time, it proceeds to step S18.
06 is negative, and the process proceeds to step S1808. In step S1807, the server sends an e-mail notifying the manager who manages the virtual inventory that the stock is low, and proceeds to step S1808. Thus, only when the stock number n becomes equal to or smaller than the predetermined value Z for the first time after the predetermined time, an e-mail notifying of the stock reduction is sent to the administrator.

In step S1808, the server determines whether the current inventory number n of the virtual inventory is 0 or less. If n ≦ 0 is satisfied, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S1808, and proceeds to step S1809.
If n> 0 holds, a negative determination is made in step S1808 and the process returns to step S1801. In step S1809, the server sends an e-mail notifying that the inventory has become 0 to the administrator who manages the virtual inventory, and proceeds to step S1810. Thus, every time the stock number n becomes 0 or less, an e-mail notifying the stock out is sent to the administrator. In step S1810, the server
The display data is transmitted to the terminal of the purchaser who put the product A in the cart, and a message notifying that the product is out of stock is displayed on the display of the terminal of the purchaser. After transmitting the display data to the purchaser's terminal, the server returns to step S1801.

On the other hand, in step S1803, to which the operation proceeds after making a negative determination in step S1801, the server determines whether or not the product A has been removed from the Y shopping carts (Y is an integer of 1 or more). If the product A has been removed from the cart, a positive determination is made in step S1803 and the process proceeds to step S1804. If the product A has not been removed from the cart, the process returns to step S1801 with a negative determination in step S1803. In step S1804, the server sets the current stock number n of the product A to n = n + Y and returns to step S1801.

The current inventory number n of the virtual inventory calculated by the processing in FIG. 29 described above is linked with the display content of the management screen of FIG. 28 for the manager described above. That is, the value of n is displayed in the current stock quantity frame 28I in FIG. In the example of FIG. 28, the sales are stopped when the current stock number n becomes 0.
The check of G is removed and displayed when sales are stopped. In this case, when the number of stocks n increases and sales are resumed, a check is displayed at the original position in the out-of-stock processing column 28G.

-Excluding Sold Out Items from the Search Target-Based on the check position in the out-of-stock processing column 28G in FIG. 28, the server performs the following processing when out of stock. a. Even if the stock number n becomes 0 or less, sales are continued. b. When the stock number n becomes 0, the stock out is displayed, and the sales are stopped until the stock is replenished. c. When the stock number n becomes 0, sold out is displayed, and the subsequent sales are stopped. d. When the stock number n becomes 0, the display of the product is deleted, and the subsequent sales are stopped.

[0097] Products that continue to be sold even if the stock number n becomes 0 or less correspond to products for which the production amount is sufficiently secured and products can be supplied stably. When the stock number n becomes 0, the stock out is displayed, and the sales are stopped until the stock is replenished. The products whose production amount is small in response to the order and requires time to be supplied correspond. When the stock number n becomes 0, sold-out is displayed, and sales that stop after that correspond to limited-quantity products. When the stock number n becomes 0, the display of the product is deleted, and the product that stops the sale thereafter corresponds to the product whose production has been terminated (discontinued). The classification of such products a to d is as follows.
This is performed for each product (product ID) in the management screen of FIG. 28 by the administrator.

The server switches the listing on the online shop for the products for which the above processes a to d are performed as follows. FIG. 30 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a posting switching process performed by the server of the service provider. The processing in FIG. 30 is always executed when the online shop service is provided. In step S1601, the server determines whether the number of virtual stocks n ≦ 0. Step S1 when n ≦ 0
601 is affirmatively determined, and the process proceeds to step S1602, where n>
If the value is 0, a negative determination is made in step S1601 and the determination process is repeated. In step S1602, the server accesses the database and determines whether or not the product whose stock number n is 0 or less is a product classified as d.
If it is classified as d, a positive determination is made in step S1602 and the process proceeds to step S1603. If it is not classified as d, a negative determination is made in step S1602 and step S1605 is performed.
Proceed to.

In step S1603, the server excludes the product from display and proceeds to step S1604. Thereby, the display of the product, that is, the posting on the online shop screen is stopped. Step S
In 1604, the server excludes the product from the search target and ends the processing in FIG. As a result, the product is excluded from the target of the online shop search process. In step S1605, the server determines whether the product whose stock quantity n has become 0 is a product classified as c. If it is classified as c, step S1605 is affirmatively determined and the process proceeds to step S1606. If it is not classified as c, step S1605 is negatively determined and the process proceeds to step S1607.

In step S1606, the server instructs the sold-out display for the product and ends the processing in FIG. As a result, a sold-out display is posted at the product on the shop menu or the recommended product page screen. Note that posting a sold-out display does not exclude it from the search processing of the online shop. In step S1607, the server determines whether or not the product whose stock number n is 0 is a product classified as the item b.
If the product is classified as b, a positive determination is made in step S1607, and the flow advances to step S1608. Step S160
In 8, the server instructs the display of the product out of stock and ends the processing in FIG. As a result, an out-of-stock display is posted at the place of the product on the page screen of the shop menu or the recommended product. Note that posting out-of-stock indications does not exclude them from the online shop search process. On the other hand, if the product whose stock number n has become 0 is not classified into b, the process proceeds to step S
A negative determination is made in 1607, and the processing in FIG. 30 ends.
In this case, since the product whose stock number n becomes 0 is classified into the above-mentioned a, even if the product becomes out of stock, the display of the out-of-stock is not posted. In addition, it is not excluded from the search processing of the online shop.

In the above description, only when the product classified as d is out of stock, the product is excluded from the search processing of the online shop (step S160).
4) As described above, even when the product classified into the item c is out of stock, the product may be excluded from the search processing of the online shop. In this case, the process may proceed to step S1604 after the process in step S1606 described above.

-Lottery is performed for the product purchaser, and the purchased product and the winning product are bundled and delivered to the winner.-The service provider performs a lottery for the purchaser who purchases the product through the online shop. Bundled with the purchased product and delivered. FIG. 31 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a product delivery instruction process performed by the server of the service provider. The process shown in FIG. 31 is started when the purchase process of a product by the online shop ends. In step S901, the server determines whether the purchase price P of the product is equal to or more than a predetermined price Q. If P ≧ Q is satisfied, a positive determination is made in step S901 and the process proceeds to step S902. If P <Q is satisfied, a negative determination is made in step S901 and the process in FIG. 31 ends. In this case, a purchaser with a purchase price P of Q or more is given a chance of a lottery.

In step S902, the server
The display data is transmitted to the terminal of the purchaser, and the lottery page screen shown in FIG. 32A is displayed on the display of the terminal.
In FIG. 32 (a), when the lottery page screen is displayed on the display of the terminal, the purchaser performs a lottery according to the displayed content. When the purchaser clicks on the handle of the lottery device displayed on the screen, data for starting the lottery is transmitted to the server of the service provider. In step S903, the server determines whether or not data for starting a lottery has been received. The server makes an affirmative determination in step S903 when receiving the lottery start data, performs predetermined lottery processing, and proceeds to step S904. If the lottery start data is not received, the determination process is repeated.

At step S904, the server
It is determined whether the purchaser's address is the same as the delivery address of the purchased product. The purchaser's address and the delivery address are entered during the online shop purchase process. If the purchaser and the delivery address are the same, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S904 and proceeds to step S905.
Step S if the buyer and delivery address are different
A negative determination is made in step 904, and the process proceeds to step S906.

In step S906, the server
The display data is transmitted to the terminal of the purchaser and step S90
Proceed to 7. As a result, the page screen shown in FIG. 32B is displayed on the display of the terminal. In FIG. 32 (b), a red ball comes out to notify that the camera has won, and a button for selecting a delivery destination of the winning product is displayed. The purchaser clicks one of the selection buttons to select a delivery destination of the winning product from a delivery address (delivery destination of the purchased product), the purchaser's address, or the other. When the buyer clicks the select button, data indicating the information of the selected delivery address is sent from the buyer's terminal to the server.

On the other hand, in step S905, the server transmits display data to the terminal of the purchaser, and proceeds to step S907. In this case, since the delivery destination of the purchased product is the same as the purchaser's address, the delivery destination of the winning product is also regarded as the purchaser's address. Therefore, on the display of the terminal of the purchaser, a page screen (not shown) in which the selection button of the delivery destination is omitted from the screen shown in FIG. 32 (b) is displayed. That is, only the fact that the red ball comes out and the camera is won is notified. When the buyer clicks the confirmation button (not shown)
Data indicating the information of the buyer's address is sent from the buyer's terminal to the server.

In step S907, the server
It is determined whether or not information on the delivery address has been received. When the server receives the data of the delivery address, the server proceeds to step S
907 is affirmatively determined and the process proceeds to step S908. If the data of the delivery destination address is not received, the determination process is repeated.
In step S908, the server determines whether the delivery address of the purchased product is the same as the delivery address of the winning product. If the delivery addresses are the same, a positive determination is made in step S908 and the process proceeds to step S909. If the delivery addresses are different, a negative determination is made in step S908 and step S909 is performed.
Proceed to 910.

In step S909, the server
The display data is transmitted to the terminal of the purchaser, and the terminal confirms the delivery destination confirmation screen of the winning product shown in FIG. When the purchaser clicks the OK button 33B, the server performs a process of bundling the purchased product and the winning product so that the product can be sent to the purchaser, and ends the process in FIG. Step S9
In 10, the server transmits the display data to the terminal of the purchaser, and causes the terminal to display a delivery destination confirmation screen of the winning product shown in FIG. When the purchaser clicks the OK button 33B, the server performs a process of separately packing the purchased product and the winning product so that they can be sent separately to their respective destinations.
The processing by 1 is completed.

-When a part of purchased goods is waiting to be received, all the purchased goods are bundled and delivered after arrival-FIG. 34 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of a goods delivery instruction process performed by the server of the service provider. It is. The process shown in FIG. 34 is started when the purchaser terminal performs a login process on the online shop page.
In step S1001, the server determines whether an instruction to put a product into a shopping cart has been sent from the purchaser's terminal. This instruction is provided by the purchaser on the display screen of the terminal when the purchaser puts the product into a cart (not shown).
Sent by clicking a button. If the server receives the data indicating the instruction to put into the cart, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S1001 and proceeds to step S1002. If the server does not receive the data indicating the instruction to put into the cart, the server makes a negative decision in step S1001 and returns to step S1005.
Proceed to.

In step S1002, the server determines whether or not the product, which has been instructed to be put into the cart, is out of stock. If the product is out of stock, a positive determination is made in step S1002, and the process proceeds to step S1004. If the product is not out of stock, step S1002 is negatively determined and step S1 is performed.
Proceed to 003. In step S1003, the server transmits display data to the terminal of the purchaser who has transmitted the instruction to put the product into the cart, and displays a page screen (not shown) indicating that the product has been put into the cart on the terminal of the purchaser. Display on the display. After transmitting the display data, the server proceeds to step S1005.

In step S1004, the server performs a reservation process for out-of-stock products, and proceeds to step S1005 after the reservation process. The reservation processing will be described later.

In step S1005, the server determines whether or not an instruction to end shopping has been sent from the purchaser's terminal. This instruction is sent when the purchaser clicks a “quit shopping” button (not shown) on the display screen of the terminal. Upon receiving the data indicating the instruction to end shopping, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S1005 and makes a decision in step S100.
The process proceeds to step S6, and if data indicating an instruction to end shopping is not received, a negative determination is made in step S1005 and the process returns to step S1001.

In step S1006, the server determines whether or not a product is in the shopping cart. If there is a product in the cart, step S10
06 is determined to be affirmative and the process proceeds to step S1007. If there is no product in the cart, step S1006 is determined to be negative and the process in FIG. 34 ends. Step S1007
In, the server determines whether there is a reserved product among the products in the shopping cart. If there is a reserved product, step S1007 is determined to be affirmative, and step S1 is performed.
008, if there is no reserved product, step S100
No, and the process advances to step S1009.

In step S1008, the server performs a payment process called option payment, and after the payment process, ends the process in FIG. On the other hand, step S10
In 09, the server performs a payment process called normal payment, and ends the process in FIG. 34 after the payment process. The settlement processing and the option settlement processing will be described later.

The above-mentioned reservation processing will be described. FIG.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a reservation process performed by the server of the service provider. The process in FIG. 35 is activated when an affirmative determination is made in step S1002 in FIG. 34 described above. Step S1101 in FIG.
In, the server accesses the database, reads out the product information of the product that is out of stock, obtains information on the scheduled arrival date of the product, and proceeds to step S1102.
In step S1102, the server creates display data for a reservation page screen, which will be described later, and executes step S1.
Go to 103. In step S1103, the server transmits display page data to the terminal of the purchaser, and proceeds to step S1104. Thereby, the reservation page screen shown in FIG. 36 is displayed on the display of the purchaser's terminal. In FIG. 36, the scheduled arrival date of the product is displayed.

[0116] The purchaser operates the terminal display screen (FIG. 3).
6) When the reservation button 36B is clicked, data indicating an instruction to reserve a product is sent from the terminal of the purchaser to the server. In step S1104, the server performs
It is determined whether or not a product reservation instruction has been sent from the buyer's terminal. Upon receiving the reservation instruction data, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S1104 and proceeds to step S1107, and when not receiving the reservation instruction data, proceeds to step S11.
04, and the process advances to step S1105.

In step S1107, the server adds the product to the shopping cart and proceeds to step S1108. In step S1108, the server transmits display page data to the terminal of the purchaser who has transmitted the instruction to put the product in the cart, and displays a page screen indicating that the product has been put in the cart, that is, that the product has been reserved. Is displayed on the display of the buyer's terminal. When the server sends the display page data, FIG.
5 ends the reservation processing.

In step S1105, the server determines whether or not an instruction not to reserve a product has been sent from the purchaser's terminal. The instruction not to make a reservation is given by the purchaser in FIG.
Is sent to the server by clicking on the "do not reserve" button 36C on the screen of. Upon receiving the data indicating the instruction not to reserve, the server proceeds to step S1105.
Is determined to be affirmative, the process proceeds to step S1106, and if data indicating an instruction not to reserve is not received, step S1105 is performed.
Is negative, and the process returns to step S1104.

In step S1106, the server transmits display page data to the terminal of the purchaser who has transmitted the instruction to put the product into the cart, and displays a page screen indicating that the product is not reserved on the display of the terminal of the purchaser. To be displayed. After transmitting the display page data, the server ends the reservation process in FIG.

The above-described option settlement processing will be described. FIG. 37 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of an option settlement process performed by the server of the service provider. The process in FIG. 37 is activated when an affirmative determination is made in step S1007 in FIG. 34 described above. FIG.
In step S1201, the server determines whether there is any product other than the reserved product in the products in the shopping cart. If there is a product other than the reserved product, a positive determination is made in step S1201 and the process proceeds to step S1202. If there is no product other than the reserved product, step S120 is performed.
No, the process proceeds to step S1204. In step S1202, the server transmits display page data to the purchaser's terminal, and proceeds to step S1203. As a result, a page screen for delivery method selection shown in FIG. 38 is displayed on the display of the purchaser's terminal.
In FIG. 38, the estimated delivery date of the reserved product is displayed.

[0120] The purchaser operates the terminal display screen (FIG. 3).
8) When button 38B is clicked, data indicating an instruction to send the reserved product together with another product is sent from the terminal of the purchaser to the server. On the other hand, when the purchaser clicks button 38C, data indicating an instruction to separately send the reserved product from other products is sent from the purchaser's terminal to the server. In step S1203, the server determines whether the same transmission instruction has been sent from the purchaser's terminal. The server is
If data indicating the same transmission instruction is received, a positive determination is made in step S1203 and the process proceeds to step S1204. If data indicating the same transmission instruction is not received, a negative determination is made in step S1203 and the process proceeds to step S1205.

In step S1204, the server performs a calculation for preparing a statement and proceeds to step S12.
Proceed to 06. In this case, only one delivery of the merchandise is required, so that the postage and the price of the merchandise for one time are included. In step S1205, the server performs a calculation for creating a statement, and proceeds to step S1206. In this case, since the delivery of the product is divided into a plurality of times, the postage and the price of the product for each delivery are included. Step S1206
In, the server transmits the display page data to the terminal of the purchaser, and proceeds to step S1207. As a result, the page screen of the calculation statement shown in FIG. 39 is displayed on the display of the terminal of the purchaser.

[0123] The purchaser operates the terminal display screen (FIG. 3).
9) When the user clicks the “order with this content” button (not shown), data indicating a settlement instruction is sent from the terminal of the purchaser to the server. In step S1207,
The server determines whether or not a payment instruction has been sent from the purchaser's terminal. If the data indicating the payment instruction is received, a positive determination is made in step S1207, and the process advances to step S1208. If the data indicating the payment instruction is not received, the determination process is repeated. In step S1208, the server
After performing the payment processing, the option payment processing according to FIG. 37 ends.

[0124] The normal settlement processing described above will be described.
In the normal settlement processing, the processing of steps S1201 to S1203 and the processing of step S1205 in the option settlement processing in FIG. 37 are omitted. The normal settlement process is performed when a negative determination is made in step S1007 in FIG. 34 described above, that is, when there is no reserved product. In this case, since only one delivery is required since all the products in the cart are in stock, the calculation statement may be created by including the shipping fee and the price of the product for one time. Therefore, the processing is started from the processing in step S1204.

In the above-described optional settlement processing, a case where the pre-ordered product is calculated with one postage when the same product is sent together with another product, and further, a case where the settlement processing of the pre-set product and the other product are shared is described. did. The following describes an example in which the shipping fee is free according to the total price of the purchased product, or the reserved product and another product are separately settled.

FIG. 40 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of processing for determining a shipping fee according to a delivery method and a settlement method, which is performed instead of the option settlement processing in FIG. In step S1301 of FIG. 40, the server creates a page screen for selecting a delivery method and a payment method, and proceeds to step S1302. In the delivery method selection, the user selects whether the reserved product and another product are sent together or delivered separately. The settlement method selection selects whether to settle the booked product and other products collectively or to settle the product separately. In step S1302, the server transmits the created page screen data to the terminal of the purchaser, and proceeds to step S1303. As a result, a page screen having a delivery method selection check column (not shown) and a payment method selection check column (not shown) is displayed on the display of the purchaser's terminal.

When the purchaser checks an arbitrary check box on the display screen of the terminal and clicks an OK button (not shown), data indicating an instruction of a delivery method and a settlement method is transmitted from the terminal of the purchaser to the server. Can be In step S1303, the server determines whether a delivery and settlement instruction has been sent from the purchaser's terminal.
When receiving the data indicating the instruction from the terminal, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S1303 and proceeds to step S1304.

In step S1304, the server detects the number of deliveries D, and proceeds to step S1305.
Here, when the goods are sent together, D = 1. When the reserved product is separately delivered, D ≧ 2. The value of D is
Different values are taken according to the presence or absence of reserved products and the scheduled arrival date of each reserved product. In step S1305, the server determines whether to perform collective payment. If data indicating an instruction for batch payment has been sent from the terminal of the purchaser, a positive determination is made in step S1305, and the flow advances to step S1306. If data indicating an instruction for split payment has been sent, a negative determination is made for step S1305. And step S1307
Proceed to. In step S1306, the server performs the settlement processing of the collective settlement, and ends the processing in FIG. 40 after the settlement processing. On the other hand, in step S1307, the server performs the settlement processing of the split settlement, and after the settlement processing, the server in FIG.
The processing by 0 is terminated.

[0129] The above-described collective settlement process will be described.
In the collective settlement, a product in stock and a reserved product reserved out of stock are settled together. FIG. 41 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of the collective settlement process performed by the server of the service provider. In step S1401, the server calculates the total price E of the purchased merchandise and the reserved merchandise in the shopping cart, and proceeds to step S140.
Proceed to 2. In step S1402, the server
The number of delivery times G for which a fee is charged is calculated, and the flow advances to step S1403. The number of paid deliveries G is calculated by G = D− (E / F). Here, F is a predetermined amount so as to provide a free shipping service. The fractional part of G after the decimal point is rounded up.

In step S1403, the server determines whether G ≦ 0 holds. If G ≦ 0 is satisfied, affirmative determination is made in step S1403, and the process proceeds to step S1405. If G> 0 is satisfied, step S1405 is determined.
A negative determination is made in 1403, and the process proceeds to step S1404. In step S1405, the server sets the delivery fee to 0 and creates a calculation sheet, and proceeds to step S1406. On the other hand, in step S1404, the server creates a calculation including the delivery fee for G times, and
Proceed to.

In step S1406, the server transmits the calculation report display page data to the terminal of the purchaser, and proceeds to step S1407. As a result, a page screen of the calculation sheet similar to that of FIG. 39 described above is displayed on the display of the terminal of the purchaser. When the purchaser clicks the “order with this content” button (not shown) on the display screen (FIG. 39) of the terminal, data indicating a settlement instruction is sent from the terminal of the purchaser to the server. Step S1
At 407, the server determines whether a payment instruction has been sent from the buyer's terminal. If the data indicating the payment instruction is received, a positive determination is made in step S1407, and the process advances to step S1408. If the data indicating the payment instruction is not received, the determination process is repeated.

In step S1408, the server detects whether or not the payment is by credit card.
Here, the payment method is, for example, a method selected by the purchaser from payment methods such as debit by credit card, cash on delivery at the time of delivery, and the like. The server makes an affirmative decision in step S1408 if the payment is made with a credit card, and proceeds to step S1409. If the payment is not made with a credit card, the server makes a negative decision in step S1408 and proceeds to step S1410.

[0133] In step S1409, the server credits the credit card company with which the purchaser has contracted for the payment amount of the credit card. When the server performs the credit processing, the server proceeds to step S1.
Proceed to 410. In step S1410, the server performs the settlement process when the credit is accepted, and ends the collective settlement process in FIG. If the credit is not passed, the server performs a non-settlement process and ends the process in FIG. In this case, the sale is not established.

The above-described divisional settlement processing will be described.
In the divisional settlement, settlement is performed first on stocked products, and settlement is performed on out-of-stock products after the products are received. FIG. 42 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of the split settlement process performed by the server of the service provider. In step S1501, the server calculates the total amount H to be settled this time among the purchased items and the reserved items in the shopping cart, and proceeds to step S1502.
Proceed to. In step S1502, the server calculates the number of deliveries J for which free service can be performed, and then proceeds to step S15.
Go to 03. The number of free delivery times J is calculated by J = H / F. Here, F is a predetermined amount so as to provide a free shipping service. The fractional part of J after the decimal point is truncated.

In step S1503, the server determines whether J = 0 holds. If J = 0 is satisfied, a positive determination is made in step S1503, and the process proceeds to step S1504. If J ≠ 0 is satisfied, step S1503 is determined.
A negative determination is made in 1503, and the process proceeds to step S1505. In step S1505, the server sets J = J-1, stores the value of J in the database in association with the purchaser, and proceeds to step S1506. In step S1506, the server sets the delivery fee to 0, creates a calculation report, and proceeds to step S1507. On the other hand, step S15
In 04, the server creates a calculation including the delivery fee, and proceeds to step S1507.

In step S1507, the server transmits the created page data for displaying the calculation statement to the terminal of the purchaser, and proceeds to step S1508. As a result, the display of the terminal of the purchaser shown in FIG.
A page page of the same calculation is displayed. When the purchaser clicks the “order with this content” button (not shown) on the display screen (FIG. 39) of the terminal, data indicating a settlement instruction is sent from the terminal of the purchaser to the server. In step S1508, the server determines whether a payment instruction has been sent from the purchaser's terminal. Upon receiving the data indicating the payment instruction, the server proceeds to step S150.
The process proceeds to step S1509 with an affirmative determination of No. 8, and if no data indicating a payment instruction is received, the determination process is repeated.

In step S1509, the server detects whether or not the payment is made by credit card.
The server makes an affirmative decision in step S1509 in the case of payment with a credit card and proceeds to step S1510, and proceeds to step S1513 in a negative case with non-credit card payment.

In step S1510, the server credits the credit card company with which the purchaser has contracted an amount to be settled this time for the credit card. When the server performs the credit processing, step S
Proceed to 1511. In step S1511, the server performs a settlement process when the credit is passed, and executes step S1.
Proceed to 512. At this point, the settlement of the reserved product is not performed.
If the credit is not passed, the server performs a non-settlement process and proceeds to step S1512. In the case of non-settlement processing, trading is not established. In step S1512, the server credits the price of the reserved product excluding the current payment amount. When the server performs the credit processing, step S
Proceed to 1513. This makes it possible to confirm that the reserved product can be purchased with the credit card, thereby increasing the credibility of the reservation.

In step S1513, the server ends the divisional settlement process shown in FIG. 42 when the credit is accepted. If the credit is not passed, the server performs a settlement process using a settlement method other than the credit card, and ends the split settlement process in FIG.

According to the online shop using contents according to the above-described embodiment, the following operation and effect can be obtained. (1) The service provider makes a polygon image of the camera body,
A polygon image of each accessory such as an interchangeable lens is prepared, and these polygon images can be joined respectively. Thus, the purchaser can check the image in a state where each accessory is attached to the camera body before purchasing the product. On the other hand, the service provider does not need to take many shots with each accessory actually attached to the camera body, depending on the number of combinations of the main body and each accessory, so that it is possible to reduce the trouble of shooting. Can be. (2) Access the database storing the member registration information of the logged-in purchaser, read out the model information of the camera and the like already owned by the purchaser, and purchase new products such as accessories for the model. As suggested. As a result, the buyer does not have to suggest the same thing as the model that he / she already owns, and since the buyer can automatically suggest accessories for the model that he / she owns without searching for it, We can provide convenient shop services. (3) In addition to the above (2), since the buyer proposes a new product according to the product put in the shopping cart, the buyer proposes the same product as the product already put in the shopping cart. Since there is no need to do so, it is possible to provide shop services that are convenient for the purchaser. (4) Inventory (virtual inventory) management based on the relative increase / decrease number based on the initial absolute inventory number of the product and the inventory number n that changes in real time depending on whether the purchaser puts the product in the shopping cart or not. I decided to
The administrator knows how much the stock has been increased or decreased from the initial stock based on the numerical value entered in the stock increase / decrease box 28H, and the stock number n displayed in the current stock number box 28I.
The sufficiency / insufficiency is shown by (5) When managing product information, a wrapped product, a product with a name given to the product, and the like are assigned the different product IDs even if they are the same product, and are managed as different products. Therefore, work efficiency is improved as compared with the case where wrapping is performed as needed. (6) Only when the stock number n of the product falls below the predetermined value Z for the first time after the predetermined time, an e-mail notifying the decrease in the stock of the product is sent to the manager. For this reason, even when many buyers access the online shop at the same time and the stock number n changes every moment, and the stock number n becomes larger or smaller than Z, the same mail is sent to the manager many times. Never be. (7) Each time the stock number n of a product becomes 0 or less, an e-mail is sent to the manager to notify the user of the stock 0 of the product.
For this reason, the manager determines the number of times that the product has been added to the shopping cart since the stock number n has become 0,
Can be known from the number of emails received. (8) When the stock number n of the product is 0, a message notifying that the product is out of stock is transmitted to the purchaser's terminal when the purchaser puts the product in the cart.
Therefore, the product does not run out of stock while the purchaser operates the terminal for performing the payment process on the product placed in the cart. That is, a product that is not out of stock at the time of being put into the cart can be purchased by the purchaser without waiting for a reservation. (9) When the number of stocks n is 0, according to the check contents of the out-of-stock processing column 28G of the product information management screen managed for each product, whether or not to display the out-of-stock display, and to display the sold-out display To decide whether to continue or cancel the listing of the product. Therefore, products that require time to arrive will be listed as out of stock, products sold out in limited quantities will be listed as sold out, and discontinued products will be discontinued. You can change the content. As a result, stockout information can be provided in an easy-to-understand manner for the purchaser. (10) When the stock number n of the goods put in the cart by the purchaser is 0 (step S1002), the stockout and the expected arrival date are notified to the purchaser's terminal so that the reservation can be made with the reservation button 36B. I made it. Thus, the purchaser can easily make a purchase reservation. (11) A lottery is conducted online to the purchaser who purchased the product at the online shop, and if the delivery destination of the winning prize and the purchased product are the same, an instruction to bundle the product is given (step S909).
I did it. Thereby, the delivery fee can be reduced as compared with the case of separately delivering. (12) When a purchaser purchases an in-stock item and an out-of-stock item, it is checked whether the in-stock item and the reserved item are to be delivered at the same time (step S1203). Therefore, the buyer must choose between a method in which the reserved product is delivered after it is received and a method in which the reserved product is delivered separately afterwards, with the inventory product first. Can be. (13) When the purchaser purchases an in-stock item and an out-of-stock item, it is confirmed whether the in-stock item and the out-of-stock item are reserved together (step S13).
05). Upon receiving an instruction to settle the payment in a divided manner and further receiving an instruction to settle the payment by a card (Yes in step S1509), the credit for the price of the reserved product is made separately from the current payment amount (step S1512). As a result, it can be confirmed that the reserved product can be purchased, so that the credibility of the reservation is improved.

-Album Print Service- The category of the online album 5 will be described. Online albums are also called electronic albums. While the screen of the above-described top page 10 of FIG. 3 is displayed on the display of the terminal, the web-based service user operates a pointing device (not shown) provided on the terminal to change the link destination button 24 of the “online album”. When clicked, a top page screen of the category of the online album 5 (not shown) is displayed on the display of the terminal. When the service user logs in on the top page screen, a page screen shown in FIG. 43 is displayed on the display of the terminal. As mentioned above, online album 5
The service is used by a service user who has registered as a Web member after logging in by entering a login name and password.

In FIG. 43, “create album”
Link destination information is pasted at each position where "Print service", "Photo mail", and "First time here" are described. When the service user clicks the underlined "Create Album" text and button, a page screen for creating an album is further displayed. The album is created by the service provider renting a data storage area in the album server prepared by the service provider, and the service user storing images in the data storage area.
The service user uses the data storage area storing the images as an electronic album. Here, storing image data in the electronic album is referred to as registering an image.

The memory size (storage capacity) of the data storage area for the album is, for example, 50 Mbytes per user, and the valid period (use period) is one year. As described above, the memory size and the validity period are larger than usual for the service user who has registered the customer,
Preferential treatment will be provided to extend the validity period as usual.

The image data stored in the electronic album registered by the service user is read out from the data storage area to the terminal by the service user himself, and the image based on the image data is browsed by the service user. When the service user wants another service user to view the album, or when the other service user is permitted to view the album, the service provider can be notified and notified of the release. The released album is shown in FIG.
Will be posted on the screen as a public album. In the example of FIG. 43, for album 1, album 2, and album 3,
The description is displayed together with the representative image in each album. When the service user clicks one of these images and the letters of the underlined album, the image data stored in each album is transmitted from the storage area of the data to the service user terminal. You. As a result, the service user can browse the image based on the transmitted data on the screen of his terminal.

When the album is not made public, the album is not made public and can be viewed only by the service user who created the album, and cannot be viewed by other service users. The setting of disclosure / non-disclosure is determined by the service user who created the album for each image registered in the album. There are two types of release: unconditional release and release with password. The server allows any service user to read the image data in the case of unconditional publication, and allows only the service user who input the password to read the image data in the case of publication with a password.

A public album is introduced by displaying a representative image on the screen of FIG. 43, and is also introduced by being classified according to the category of the album. For example, when the service user clicks the letter of "Category 1", which is underlined, a page screen that introduces the public albums classified into Category 1 together with the representative images in each album is further displayed. . In this way, the public albums are classified and introduced in each category.

In FIG. 43, when the service user clicks the underlined “print service” character and button, a print service page screen is further displayed. The print service is a service in which images registered in an electronic album are printed out in high detail on a service provider side and can be sent to a service user. The print itself may be performed by the service provider, or the service provider may entrust a third party. The flow of the print service is as follows. The service user logs on to the service provider's online album, selects the desired image from the registered images, and the service user pays the amount, payment method and print The delivery destination is confirmed, the service user places an order, the service provider performs settlement processing, and the service provider prints out and ships.

In FIG. 43, when the service user clicks the underlined “photo mail” text and button, a mail service page screen is further displayed. Photo mail is a mail service to which information on a link destination of an image registered in the electronic album can be attached. The person receiving the photo mail can read and view the image data registered in the electronic album by specifying the link destination information described in the mail, for example, the URL.

In FIG. 43, when the service user clicks the underlined letter and button of “Click here for the first time”, a page screen introducing a method of using the online album service is further displayed. The user of the service obtains information such as how to use the electronic album described above with reference to the introduction screen.

In the online album service according to the present embodiment, the service provider provides the following service to the service user.

-Erasing an album when a service user does not log in for a predetermined period of time-The online album service lends a data storage area for storing images to the service user, and thus has a larger data storage area than a mail service or the like. Need.
For this reason, after a predetermined period of non-use of the service, the data is not stored in the data storage area lent to the user so that the data storage area is not continuously reserved for the person who has stopped using the service. Erase the data that was being used. As a result, the data storage area can be lent to another service user.

FIG. 44 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of the album erasing process performed by the server of the service provider. The processing in FIG. 44 is performed, for example, once a month. In step S2001, the server accesses the database and searches for login data recorded for each service user.
Proceed to 2002. In step S2002, the server determines whether there is any service user who has not logged in for a first predetermined period or more. The first predetermined period is, for example, one year. The server makes an affirmative decision in step S2002 when there is a user without a login record, and proceeds to step S2003. If there is no user without a login record, the server makes a negative decision in step S2002 and proceeds to step S2006.

In step S2003, the server determines whether the service user has an album. If the service user has registered an album, affirmative determination is made in step S2003 and step S2
In step 004, if an album has not been registered, a negative determination is made in step S2003, and the processing in FIG. 44 ends. If a negative determination is made in step S2003, the album is not deleted.

In step S2004, the server deletes all albums registered by the service user, and proceeds to step S2005. Step S200
In 5, the server sends an e-mail notifying that the album has been deleted to the service user since there is no login for the first predetermined period or more, and ends the processing in FIG.

[0155] In step S2006, the server determines whether or not the server is in the second predetermined period or more that is shorter than the first predetermined period.
It is determined whether there is a service user who has no login record. The second predetermined period is, for example, 11 months.
The server makes an affirmative decision in step S2006 if there is a user without a login record, and proceeds to step S2007. If there is no user without a login record, the server makes a negative decision in step S2006 and ends the processing in FIG. If a negative determination is made in step S2006, the album is not deleted.

In step S2007, the server determines whether the service user has an album. If the service user has registered an album, an affirmative determination is made in step S2007, and the process proceeds to step S2.
In step 008, if an album has not been registered, a negative determination is made in step S2007, and the processing in FIG. 44 ends. If a negative determination is made in step S2007, the album is not deleted.

In step S2008, if the server has not been logged in for the first predetermined period or more, the server transmits a warning mail to the effect that the album will be deleted to the service user, and ends the processing in FIG. As a result, a warning mail is sent to the service user who has not used the service for the second predetermined period or longer before deleting the album.

-Do not delete the album viewed by other service users-Even if the service user who has registered the album does not log in, the album is open and the other service user can view the album. If so, the album is not deleted. Thereby, the service provider can secure a person who uses the service for the purpose of the public album. FIG. 45 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of the album erasing process performed by the server of the service provider. The processing in FIG. 45 is performed, for example, once a month.

In step S2101, the server accesses the database and searches for login data recorded for each service user, and then proceeds to step S2101.
Proceed to 102. In step S2102, the server determines whether there is a service user for whom there is no login record for a first predetermined period or more. If there is a user without a log-in record, a positive determination is made in step S2102 and the process proceeds to step S2103. If there is no user with a log-in record, a negative determination is made in step S2102 and the process proceeds to step S2108.

In step S2103, the server determines whether the service user has an album. If the service user has registered the album, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S2103 and proceeds to step S2104. If the service user has not registered the album, the server makes a negative decision in step S2103 and terminates the processing in FIG. . If a negative determination is made in step S2103, the album is not deleted.

In step S2104, the server accesses the database to search for data indicating the access status of each album registered by the service user, and proceeds to step S2105. Step S2105
In, the server determines whether there is an album that has not been accessed for a first predetermined period or more. The server makes an affirmative determination in step S2105 when there is an album that has not been accessed, and proceeds to step S2106.
If there is no album that has not been accessed, step S2105 is negatively determined and the process proceeds to step S2111.

In step S2106, the server deletes an unaccessed album from the albums registered by the service user, and proceeds to step S2107. In step S2107, the server transmits to the service user an email notifying that the album that has not been logged in or accessed for the first predetermined period or longer has been deleted, and ends the process in FIG.

[0163] In step S2108, the server determines whether or not the server is in the second predetermined period which is shorter than the first predetermined period.
It is determined whether there is a service user who has no login record. The server makes an affirmative decision in step S2108 when there is a user without a log-in record, and proceeds to step S21.
The process proceeds to step S09, and if there is no user without a login record, a negative determination is made in step S2108, and the process in FIG. 45 ends. When a negative determination is made in step S2108,
Do not delete the album.

In step S2109, the server determines whether the service user has an album. If the service user has registered the album, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S2109 and proceeds to step S2110. . If a negative determination is made in step S2109, the album is not deleted.

In step S2110, the server accesses the database to search for data indicating the access status of each album registered by the service user, and proceeds to step S2111. Step S2111
In, the server determines whether there is an album that has not been accessed for a second predetermined period or more. Step S2 when there is an album that has not been accessed
111 is affirmatively determined, and the process proceeds to step S2112. If there is no album that has not been accessed, step S21 is performed.
A negative determination is made at 11 and the processing in FIG. 45 ends. If a negative determination is made in step S2111, the album is not deleted.

In step S2112, the server sends a warning mail to the service user indicating that the album will be deleted if the user has not logged in or accessed for the first predetermined period or more, and ends the process in FIG. As a result, a warning mail is sent to the service user who has not used for the second predetermined period or longer before deleting the inaccessible album.

-When the service user leaves the Web member, the album registered by the service user is deleted-FIG. 46 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of the album deletion process performed by the server of the service provider. is there. The processing shown in FIG. 46 is performed when the procedure for withdrawing a Web member is completed. In step S2301, the server determines whether the withdrawn member has an album. If the unsubscribed member has registered the album, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S2301 and proceeds to step S23.
02, if no album has been registered, a negative determination is made in step S2301 and the process proceeds to step S2303. In step S2302, the server deletes the album registered by the unsubscribed member, and deletes the album in step S230.
Proceed to 3. At this time, the server leaves the contents written on the bulletin board by the unsubscribed member before the unsubscribe and the data of the reduced data size image (for example, thumbnail image) attached to the post without erasing. The thumbnail image will be described later.

In step S 2303, the server transfers the data indicating the nickname and the photo mail address used by the unsubscribed member when using the bulletin board to the unsubscribed member information from the data area of the database for storing registered member information on the Web. Move to the data area to be saved and proceed to step S2304. The server stores the information of the withdrawn member so that future registered members will not be given the same nickname and photo mail address as the withdrawn member. In step S2304, the server determines whether the unsubscribed member is registered as a customer (customer). Step S if the unsigned member has registered as a customer
An affirmative determination is made in 2304 and the process proceeds to step S2305. If the customer is not registered, a negative determination is made in step S2304 and the process proceeds to step S2306.

In step S2305, the server deletes data unnecessary for customer registration data from data registered by the withdrawn member at the time of Web member registration, and terminates the processing in FIG. In step S2306, the server deletes all data registered by the unsubscribed member when registering on the Web, and ends the processing in FIG.

-Album Management- The service provider classifies and manages albums registered by the service user for each category, and allows registered image data to be listed for each category. Generally, images that are against public order and morals are considered to be registered in a specific category. Therefore, the service provider manages the album so that it can be easily monitored for each category.

FIG. 47 is a diagram showing an example of a management page screen for managing albums. The management page screen is prepared by the service provider for each category of the registered album. When the administrator predetermined by the service provider performs a predetermined operation on the server, the server sends the management data to the administrator terminal, and the management screen of FIG. 47 is displayed on the administrator terminal. Is done. In FIG. 47, when the registered albums are rearranged by category and displayed, the administrator
Check the "Sort" column of priority, and pull down menu 4
Select "category" from 7A and execute button 47E
Click. Thereby, a list of albums belonging to the “category” is displayed.

When displaying a list of albums belonging to "landscape" in the category, the administrator checks the "extraction" column of the first priority and selects "category" from the pull-down menu 47A. Further, the administrator selects “landscape” from the pull-down menu 47B and clicks the execution button 47E. As a result, a list of albums belonging to “category”-“landscape” shown in FIG. 47 is displayed. In the example of FIG. 47, the user ID of the service user who has registered the album, the category name (in this case, landscape), the album name (when the album name is registered),
The number of registered images and the registered date and time (up date and time) are displayed as a list.

In the pull-down menu 47A, in addition to the "category", "up date and time", "camera used", "shooting method", "member", "last login", "viewing frequency"
And so on, so that albums can be rearranged and extracted. Further, pull-down menus 47C and 4 for rearranging and extracting as the second priority
7D is provided, so that rearrangement and extraction can be performed by further adding a second priority condition to the first priority condition. In addition, the selected pull-down menu 47A-4
Since the selection contents of 7D are displayed continuously while the list is displayed, it is easy to further rearrange the albums displayed in the list and to redo the extraction.

In FIG. 47, for example, if “Camera Used” is selected from the pull-down menu 47A and rearranged, the model name of the camera used is displayed instead of the category, and the camera is taken by the camera of the model name. A list of albums with the registered images is displayed.

FIG. 48 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of the album list creating process performed by the server of the service provider. The process in FIG. 48 is performed when the above-described execution button 47E is clicked by the administrator.
In step S2401, the server executes rearrangement and extraction according to the conditions of the selection pull-down menu, and proceeds to step S2402. Step S2
At 402, the server determines whether the rearrangement and extraction processing has been completed. When the processing is completed, the server makes an affirmative determination in step S2402 and proceeds to step S2403. When the processing is not completed, the server makes a negative determination in step S2402 and performs the determination processing again.

In step S2403, the server creates a page screen for album list display, and proceeds to step S2404. In step S2404, the server transmits the page screen data to the administrator's terminal, and ends the processing in FIG. As a result, the management screen shown in FIG. 47 is displayed on the administrator's terminal.

With the management screen shown in FIG. 47 displayed on the administrator's terminal, for example, when the administrator clicks the underlined letter of the album name “Mt. Fuji”, the album name is changed to “Mt. Fuji”. The stored image data is read, and the thumbnail image is displayed on the display of the administrator's terminal. Thumbnail images, for example,
This is a reduced image in which the number of data is reduced from the number of data of the original image by, for example, thinning out the original image data. FIG. 49A is a diagram showing a thumbnail image based on image data stored in an album “Mt. Fuji”. In FIG. 49A, ten images stored in the album, that is, six images 1 to 6 out of the image data of images 1 to 10 are displayed as thumbnails 1 to 6. ing. Under each thumbnail image, the title of each image is displayed when the image has a title.

In the state where the thumbnail image shown in FIG. 49 (a) is displayed, for example, when the administrator clicks on the thumbnail 1 image, as shown in FIG. It is displayed on the display of the administrator's terminal larger than the image. At this time, based on the data of the shooting information recorded in the image data, the camera to be used, the aperture value, the shutter speed, the presence or absence of a flash device,
Photographing conditions such as an exposure correction value and information on whether or not the image is posted on a bulletin board described later are displayed together with the image. Note that the shooting conditions of images registered in the album and information on whether or not the images are posted on the bulletin board are displayed on the management screen for the administrator, and are not transmitted to the terminal of the service user. That is, the service user can view only the published image and the title attached to the image.

-Preferential memory size and usage period for albums for service users registered as customers-As shown in FIG. 1, a server for albums is performed by a server different from a server that performs other services. Therefore, member information necessary for the album service, for example, information such as a login name, a photo mail address, a service flag, and an additional service flag is also stored in the album service server. The service flag is a flag that is turned on when a member has registered as a customer. FIG.
0 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of preferential processing performed by the server of the service provider. The process shown in FIG. 50 is activated when the service user logs in on the top page screen of the online album 5.

In step S2501 of FIG. 50, the server accesses the database in the album service server, searches for member information, and executes step S250.
Proceed to 2. In step S2502, the server
It is determined whether there is information of the logged-in member. If there is member information, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S2502 and proceeds to step S2504. If there is no member information, the server makes a negative decision in step S2502 and proceeds to step S2504.
Go to 2503. In step S2503, the server registers the member information in the database in the album service server, and proceeds to step S2504.

In step S2504, the server determines whether or not data indicating that the user is a registered service user has been received when logging in to the album / print service. If data indicating that customer registration has been received, a positive determination is made in step S2504 and the process proceeds to step S2505. If data indicating that customer registration has not been received, step S2504 is negatively determined and step S2507 is determined. Proceed to. Step S2
At 505, the server determines whether the service flag in the member information is ON. Service flag is ON
In the case of, an affirmative decision is made in step S2505 and
Proceeding to 2507, if the service flag is not ON, make a negative decision in step S2505 and proceed to step S2506. In step S2506, the server turns on the service flag and proceeds to step S2507.

The server increases the memory size for albums from, for example, normal 50 MB to 100 MB, and extends the expiration date from normal one year to indefinite for service users whose service flag is ON. Change and give preferential treatment.

In step S2507, the server determines whether or not data indicating point information has been received when logging in to the album / print service.
The point information is point information that is added when a point is selected on the premium selection page screen after the customer registration described above. This point is also added when an answer is posted on a bulletin board described later. If the server has received the data indicating the point information, the server makes an affirmative determination in step S2507 and proceeds to step S2508. If the server has not received the data indicating the point information, the server makes a negative determination in step S2507 and ends the processing in FIG. .

[0184] In step S2508, the server determines whether or not the additional service flag in the member information is ON. If the additional service flag is ON, a positive determination is made in step S2508, and the processing in FIG.
Step S25 when the additional service flag is not ON
08 is negative, and the process proceeds to step S2509. In step S2509, the server turns on the additional service flag and ends the processing in FIG.

The server preferentially increases the memory size for the album by, for example, adding an additional 50 MB to the service user whose additional service flag is ON.

In the processing described above with reference to FIG. 50, the additional service flag is turned on unconditionally for the service user having points, that is, the memory size for the album is further increased by 50 MB.
Instead, the points possessed by the service user may be reduced in exchange for turning on the additional service flag. In addition, the points that the service user has,
When exchanging for the preferential treatment by the service provider, the printout service may be made free in addition to increasing the memory size for the album as a preferential treatment.

-Irregular file name of image data registered in album-For example, when a file name of image data is given by a serial number when an image is registered in an album, if one image data file name is known. It becomes easier to guess the file name of other image data. Therefore, when the image data to be registered in the album is uploaded from the service user to the server, the server for the album service re-names the image data and registers the image data in the data storage area.
FIG. 51 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a file name determination process performed by the server of the service provider.
The process according to FIG. 51 starts when the upload of the registered image is started by the service user.

In step S2201, the server determines whether the upload of the data of one image file has been completed. If completed, step S22
01 is affirmatively determined and the process proceeds to step S2202. If the determination is not completed, step S2201 is negatively determined and the determination process is repeated until the upload is completed. In step S2202, the server determines the file name of the uploaded image data file at random, and proceeds to step S2203.

The file name is determined by a well-known one-time
Use password technology. The server generates a file name using, for example, the time at which the image file was uploaded as a parameter. For this reason, even when the image data files are continuously uploaded, since the upload times of the respective image data files are different, completely different file names are generated for these image data files. Thereby, an at random file name that cannot be inferred from the file names of other image data registered in the album is determined.

In step S2203, the server moves the image data file uploaded and given the at random file name to a predetermined folder according to the service user, and ends the processing in FIG.

When the processing shown in FIG. 51 is performed, when a plurality of image data are registered in the album, a file name which cannot be inferred from another file name is given to these image data files. As a result, when one image data in the album is released, another file name is inferred from the file name of the released image data, and the undisclosed image data having the inferred file name is read. I won't.

According to the album / print service provided by the content according to the embodiment described above, the following operational effects can be obtained. (1) When a service user who has registered an album has not used the service for a predetermined period, the data stored in the album data storage area lent to the user is deleted. As a result, the data storage area can be lent to another service user, so that the data storage area can be used effectively. (2) Even if the service user who has registered the album does not use the service, the album is not erased if the album is open and the service is viewed by another service user. Thereby, the service provider can secure a person who uses the service for the purpose of the public album. (3) The service provider categorizes the albums registered by the service user into categories, and lists the registered image data by category. As a result, it is possible to focus on a specific category in which images contrary to public order and morals are likely to concentrate. (4) Based on the data of the shooting information recorded in the image data registered in the album, the camera that shot the image, the aperture value, the shutter speed, the presence or absence of a flash device are displayed on the management screen of the administrator's terminal. In addition, shooting conditions such as an exposure correction value and information on whether or not the image is posted on a bulletin board described later are displayed. By examining many registered albums, for example, information such as what photographing conditions the service user prefers can be obtained, which can be useful for developing a new camera product. (5) With respect to the memory size (storage capacity) of the data storage area for albums, preferential measures are taken for service users registered as above to make the memory size larger than usual and the validity period longer than usual. I made it. As a result, the service user can be encouraged to perform customer registration. (6) Even when image data files to be registered in an album are successively uploaded, completely different at random file names are assigned to the respective image data files. As a result, the file name of other image data is inferred from the published image data file name,
It is prevented from being viewed despite being undisclosed.

In the rearrangement of the album list display described above, rearrangement and extraction are performed in album units. If images are registered in units of image data without using the concept of an album, sorting and extraction may be performed in units of the images.

-Bulletin Board-When the service user clicks the link destination button 71 for the "bulletin board" page while the category page screen of the community 7 in FIG. 5 is displayed, a top page screen of a bulletin board (not shown) is displayed. Is displayed on the terminal display. When the service user logs in on the top page screen, a page screen shown in FIG. 52 is displayed on the display of the terminal. As described above, the service use of the bulletin board is received by the service user who has registered as a member of the service using the Web after logging in by inputting a login name and a password. This bulletin board is also called an electronic bulletin board.

In the service of the bulletin board, in response to a question posted by a service user, another service user who sees the posted question answers the question. The service user publishes the question using the nickname and publishes the answer using the nickname. There are "listening at a question auction" in which a questioner solicits answers from unspecified people, and "listening to an expert" in which a questioner solicits answers from a specific person. The service user clicks one of the button 52C corresponding to "listen to the question auction" and the button 52D corresponding to "listen to the expert" to select both. Here, an expert is a person who gives an answer to a posted question.

When the expert gives an answer to the posted question, the point moves to the expert who answered from the person who posted the question. Specifically, an expert reads a question posted and writes an answer on the bulletin board, and the point moves when the requester reads the answer written on the bulletin board. Points are used as rewards for answers. As the points, the points described as the premium at the time of customer registration can be used. The server publishes the content written on the bulletin board when the content is to be viewed by an unspecified person, and allows the specific person to input a password and read the content when the content is viewed by a specific person.

In the lower left part of the screen shown in FIG. 52, the nickname of the expert is posted together with the acquired points.
An expert with more points earned means more questions have been answered. Underlined "Category 1", "Category 2", "Category 3", ...
Clicking on the letter will display the experts corresponding to the questions belonging to each category in order of earned points. That is, expert nicknames are classified and managed for each question category. Click on the underlined nickname of the expert "○ △ ×" to display the page where the expert is introduced
(For example, FIG. 63) is displayed on the display of the terminal. The person who posts the question can determine the question destination expert with reference to the expert information as shown in FIG.

When the person posting the question asks the expert, the user clicks the button 52D and the letter of the category to which the question applies, and sends a question for the expert selected from the experts posted at that time to the server. On the other hand, when the person posting the question listens to the question auction, the user clicks the button 52C and the letter of the category to which the question applies, and sends the question to the server. When sending a question to the server, write a nickname in the nickname writing box 52A, write a question in the question writing box 52B, and click on the underlined "Ask a question" to display a question poster (service user). The question data is transmitted from the terminal to the server.

In the bulletin board service according to the present embodiment, the service provider provides the following services to the service user.

-Posting an Image Registered in an Album on a Bulletin Board-Posting an image on a bulletin board may make the written contents easier to understand than posting only characters. FIG.
When the question poster (service user) clicks the underlined `` image posting '' text, the image in the album registered by the question poster (service user) is attached to the question Can be posted. However, only images that have been made public will be posted, and images that have not been made public will not be posted. The image to be posted together with the question may be an image registered by a question poster, or may be an image registered by another public service user.

If the image data is posted on the bulletin board as it is, the amount of data stored in the bulletin board server increases and the bulletin board data overflows. Therefore, in the bulletin board service according to the present embodiment, a thumbnail image whose data size is reduced as compared with the original image data in the registered album is created, and this thumbnail image is posted on the bulletin board.

FIGS. 53 and 54 are flowcharts for explaining the flow of the thumbnail image posting process performed by the server of the service provider. The processing according to FIGS. 53 and 54 is performed by the question poster (service user) in FIG.
2 is activated when the character "image posting" is clicked on the screen of 2. In step S1701 in FIG. 53, the server determines whether the logged-in service user has an album. If the service user has registered an album, a positive determination is made in step S1701 and the process proceeds to step S1702. If the service user has not registered an album, a negative determination is made in step S1701 and the process proceeds to step S1707.

In step S1702, the server reads the image data of the album (referred to as “my album”) registered by the service user, creates data on a top page screen (not shown), and executes step S1702.
Proceed to 1703. By transmitting the created data of the top page screen to the terminal of the service user, the top page screen of My Album is displayed on the display of the terminal of the service user. This top page screen
For example, a thumbnail image and a title based on the image data in the My Album as shown in FIG. 49A are displayed. The service user clicks on a thumbnail image to be posted on the bulletin board.

[0204] In step S1703, the server determines whether an image in the My Album has been selected. If the thumbnail image is clicked, the server makes an affirmative determination in step S1703 and proceeds to step S1711. If the thumbnail image is not clicked, the server makes a negative determination in step S1703 and repeats the determination processing. In step S1711, the server determines whether the selected image is set to be private. If the selected image is set to non-disclosure, the server makes an affirmative decision in step S1711 and makes a determination in step S1712 in FIG.
Go to step S171 if it is set to open.
1 is negatively determined, and the process proceeds to step S1704.

[0205] In step S1704, the server creates the thumbnail image data selected by the click operation and the medium image data having a data size larger than the thumbnail image data, and stores them in predetermined image folders in the bulletin board server. I do. Here, the image folder in which the thumbnail image data and the medium image data are stored has a storage area for storing writing data to the bulletin board, and an album data storage area for storing image data (original data) of My Album. It is provided separately. When the server saves the thumbnail image data and the medium image data, respectively, the server proceeds to step S
Proceed to 1705.

In step S1705, the server creates a bulletin board page screen on which the information of the link of the selected image data (information indicating the storage position in the image folder) is pasted, and proceeds to step S1706. According to the link information, the question writing frame 52B in FIG.
, The question and the selected thumbnail image are displayed together. The server further pastes the link information so that when the thumbnail image displayed in the question writing frame 52B is clicked, an image based on the medium image data is displayed. Furthermore, if the middle image is clicked while the image based on the middle image data is displayed, the link information is pasted so that the image based on the image data (original data) in My Album is displayed. .

In step S1706, the server transmits the bulletin board page screen data to which the link information has been pasted as described above to the terminal of the service user.
The processing according to FIG. 53 ends. As a result, the screen shown in FIG. 52 on which the thumbnail image is posted is displayed on the display of the terminal of the service user. In this state, if the question poster (service user) clicks the word "Ask a question" underlined, the question poster
(Question data) is sent from the (service user) terminal to the server.

When another service user sees a question posted on the bulletin board on the terminal, the thumbnail image is displayed together with the question on the terminal screen because the question data includes the above-mentioned link information to the thumbnail image data. Is done. When the thumbnail image is clicked on the screen of the terminal, the image based on the medium image data is displayed on the screen of the terminal, and when the image based on the medium image data is clicked, the image based on the image data (original data) in the My Album is displayed on the screen of the terminal.

[0209] On the other hand, in step S1707, the server notifies the user that the album has not been registered, creates page screen data including a message urging the user to register the album, and transmits the page screen data to the service user terminal. The process proceeds to step S1708. Step S1
At 708, the server determines whether an album creation instruction has been received. Upon receiving the data indicating the instruction to register the image of the album, the server makes an affirmative determination in step S1708 and proceeds to step S1709. The process proceeds to S1710.

[0210] In step S1709, the server uploads the registered image data from the service user to perform an album registration process.
Proceed to 1703. In step S1710, the server creates page screen data notifying that the image cannot be posted on the bulletin board, transmits the page screen data to the service user terminal, and ends the processing in FIG.

In step S1712 of FIG. 54, the server creates page screen data including a message notifying that the selected image cannot be posted because the selected image is set to be private and transmits it to the terminal of the service user. Then, the process proceeds to step S1713. As a result, the page screen shown in FIG. 55 is displayed on the display of the service user terminal. The service user can select the following three processes. 1. "Publish" button 5 on the display screen shown in FIG.
Click 5A to make the image public and publish it. 2. Clicking the “select another” button 55B posts another published image. 3. Clicking the "Cancel" button 55C stops the posting of the image.

In step S1713, the server determines whether or not “open” button 55A has been clicked. If the button 55A has been clicked, an affirmative determination is made in step S1713 and the process proceeds to step S1714. If the button 55A has not been clicked, a negative determination is made in step S1713 and the process proceeds to step S1715.
In step S1714, the server sets the selected image to public, and proceeds to step S1704 in FIG.

[0213] In step S1715, the server determines whether or not "other selection" button 55B has been clicked. If the button 55B has been clicked, an affirmative decision is made in step S1715, and step S170 in FIG.
Returning to 2, if the button 55B is not clicked, a negative determination is made in step S1715, and the process proceeds to step S1716.

In step S1716, the server determines whether or not “stop” button 55C has been clicked. If the button 55C has been clicked, an affirmative determination is made in step S1716 and the processing in FIGS. 53 and 54 ends, and if the button 55C has not been clicked, a negative determination is made in step S1716 and the process returns to step S1713.

By performing the processing shown in FIGS. 53 and 54,
Images registered in the album can be posted on the bulletin board. At this time, thumbnail image data having a smaller data size than the original image is created from the original image registered in the album, and the thumbnail image data is stored in a different folder from the server for the bulletin board and the data storage device for the album. Then, the information of the link to the folder for storing the thumbnail images is pasted to the question written on the bulletin board. As a result, since the image data is not stored in the bulletin board server, the load on the server can be reduced. Further, even when the original image in the album is deleted, the image can be continued to be posted on the bulletin board by the thumbnail image data.

In the above description, the thumbnail image is stored in the image folder different from the storage area of the bulletin board write data and the album data storage area, and then the thumbnail image is stored in the question written on the bulletin board. Added the information of the link to the folder for the existing image. Alternatively, the thumbnail image data may be stored in the storage area of the bulletin board write data together with the question. Also in this case, the load on the bulletin board server can be reduced as compared with the case where the original image data is copied and stored in the storage area of the bulletin board write data.

Further, only the information of the link to the original image in the album is pasted to the question to be written on the bulletin board, and the thumbnail image data is not created initially, but the thumbnail image data is created when the original image is deleted. Then, after saving the thumbnail image data in an image folder different from the storage area for the bulletin board write data and the album data storage area, the link information attached to the above question is rewritten to link to the image folder. You may.

FIGS. 56 and 57 are flowcharts for explaining the flow of the above-mentioned processing performed by the server of the service provider. In the processing according to FIG. 56, step S1704 of the processing according to FIG.
Therefore, only step S1704B will be described. In step S1704B of FIG. 56,
The server adds information indicating that it is posted on the bulletin board to the image data (original data) of the My Album corresponding to the thumbnail image data selected by the click operation, and proceeds to step S1705. The information to be added may be added to a header section in the original image data, or may be held in the My Album in association with the original image data.

The process shown in FIG. 57 is started when the server receives an instruction to delete My Album or original image data stored in My Album. In step S1901 of FIG. 57, the server detects whether the image data to be deleted is posted on the bulletin board, and proceeds to step S1902. In step S1902, the server determines whether the image data is posted on a bulletin board. If the information indicating publication is added to the image data, an affirmative determination is made in step S1902, and the process advances to step S1903. If the information indicating publication is not added to the image data, step S19 is performed.
02 is determined negatively, and the processing in FIG. 57 ends.

[0220] In step S1903, the server creates thumbnail image data in which the data size of the image data has been reduced and medium image data having a data size larger than the thumbnail image data, and stores the thumbnail image data together with the image data in a predetermined image folder. Save each. In step S1904, the server converts the link destination information of the image data pasted on the bulletin board page screen from the information indicating the link to the My Album (original data) to the image folder (thumbnail image data, medium image data). ) Is changed to the information indicating the link, and the processing in FIG. 57 ends. Thus, even if the original data of the My Album is deleted, the image posted on the bulletin board is held by the thumbnail image data in the image folder.

-Match the category of the question on the bulletin board with the category of the album-The category displayed on the page screen of the online album 5 shown in FIG. 43 and the category displayed on the page screen of the bulletin board shown in FIG. To match. For example, the category of the album has categories such as “landscape”, “night view”, “portrait”,.
Among them, the category “landscape” is further classified into subcategories such as “Hokkaido”, “Tohoku”, “Kanto”,. In this case, the categories of the bulletin board are, for example, the category of "photographing information", the category of "Hokkaido",
Classification is based on subcategories such as "Tohoku", "Kanto", ...

FIG. 58 (a) shows a bulletin board with "photographing information"-
It is an example of a page screen displaying a question classified as "Hokkaido". In FIG. 58 (a), a category “photographing information” and subcategories “Hokkaido”, “Tohoku”, “Kanto”,. The questions classified as "Hokkaido" are posted in the center of the screen in order.
When the expert answers the question, the number of answers is displayed on the right side of the screen according to the number of answers.
At the upper right corner of the screen, information on the link to the top page of the online album 5, information on the link to the page of the category "landscape" of the album, and information on the link to the page of the subcategory "Hokkaido" of the album are respectively pasted. It is attached.

When the service user clicks the underlined “Album”, the online album 5 is displayed on the display of the service user terminal.
Is displayed. When the service user clicks on the underlined text of "landscape", a page screen of the category "landscape" of the album is displayed on the display of the terminal of the service user. Furthermore, when the service user clicks the underlined letter "Hokkaido", a page screen of the sub-category "Hokkaido" of the album is displayed on the display of the terminal of the service user.

FIG. 58 (b) is an example of a page screen displaying an image based on image data registered in an album classified as "landscape"-"Hokkaido" in the online album 5. In FIG. 58 (b), the category "landscape" and the sub-categories "Hokkaido", "Tohoku", "Kanto",... Are displayed on the left side of the screen. At the center of the screen, images based on image data classified as "Hokkaido" are displayed in order. In the upper right corner of the screen, the information of the link to the top page of the bulletin board, the information of the link to the page of the category "Shooting information" of the bulletin board, and the information of the link to the page of the subcategory "Hokkaido" of the bulletin board are pasted respectively. Have been.

[0225] When the service user clicks the character of the "bulletin board" underlined, the top page screen of the bulletin board is displayed on the display of the terminal of the service user. In addition, if the service user clicks on the underlined “Shooting information”,
A page screen of the category “shooting information” of the bulletin board is displayed on the display of the service user terminal. Furthermore, when the service user clicks the underlined word "Hokkaido", the bulletin board sub-category "Hokkaido" appears on the display of the service user terminal.
Is displayed.

When the user browses the image displayed on the “Hokkaido” page of the album and finds a favorite image, the image was taken specifically in Hokkaido where, when and under what photography conditions. When you want to know, the category of the question on the bulletin board matches the category of the album, and the link information is pasted. You can easily see without hesitation.

-Displaying the Bulletin Board Category Corresponding to the Place Name Entered-FIG. 59 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of the search processing performed by the server of the service provider. The process shown in FIG. 59 is activated when the search button 52F is clicked on the bulletin board page screen shown in FIG. The service user writes a search character in the search character writing frame 52E and then clicks the search button 52F.

In step S2601 in FIG. 59, the server searches for a character that matches the search character for all the writings in the bulletin board, and then proceeds to step S2.
Proceed to 602. In step S2602, the server determines whether there is any writing that matches the search character. The server makes an affirmative decision in step S2602 when there is a write in which the search character hits, and proceeds to step S26.
07, and when there is no hit write, step S
A negative determination is made in 2602, and the flow advances to step S2603. In step S2603, the server searches for a keyword registered in advance in the server that matches the search character, and proceeds to step S2604. Keywords are registered according to the bulletin board category. For example, the keywords "Tokyo Tower", "National Diet Building", "Shibuya", and "Yokohama Port" are registered in association with the bulletin board category "Kanto". Have been. Also, the keywords “Osaka Castle”, “Kansai Airport”, and “Kobe” are registered in association with the bulletin board category “Kansai”.

In step S2604, the server determines whether there is a keyword that matches the search character. The server makes an affirmative decision in step S2604 if there is a keyword that matches the search character, and proceeds to step S2606.
Proceed to. In step S2606, the server jumps to a page of a category associated with the hit keyword in the bulletin board. For example, if the search character is "Shibuya", the page jumps to the bulletin board page of the category "Kanto" associated with the keyword "Shibuya". When the server displays the bulletin board page of the category "Kanto" on the terminal of the service user, the server ends the process in FIG.

In step S2605, the server displays the bulletin board page screen of FIG. 52 together with a message prompting the user to change the search character because there is neither a hit that hits the search character nor a bulletin board category related to the search character. Display it again on the service user's terminal. The server jumps to the page of FIG.
9 is completed.

[0231] In step S2607, the server creates a page screen (not shown) in which the writing of the bulletin board in which the search character is hit is extracted, and proceeds to step S2608. In step S2608, the server transmits the created page screen data to the terminal of the service user, and ends the processing in FIG.

According to the bulletin board service provided by the content according to the embodiment described above, the following operation and effect can be obtained. (1) Since the public image in the album registered by the question poster (service user) can be attached to the question and posted, it becomes easier to understand than when the posted question is only text. (2) For posting an image on a bulletin board, thumbnail image data having a smaller data size than the original image is created from the original image registered in the album, and the thumbnail image data is transferred to the bulletin board server and the album data storage device. After saving in a different folder,
The information of the link to the folder in which the thumbnail images are stored is pasted on the question written on the bulletin board. As a result, the image data is not stored on the bulletin board server, so the burden on the server can be reduced, and even if the original image in the album is deleted, the image can be continued to be posted on the bulletin board using the thumbnail image data become. (3) If the thumbnail image clicked by the question poster (service user) to post on the bulletin board is a private image (affirmative determination in step S1711), the service that the selected image cannot be published because it is private Added notification to the user. For this reason, it is possible to prevent a private image from being posted on a bulletin board by mistake. (4) The category of the question on the bulletin board is matched with the category of the album, and link information is pasted on each page of the bulletin board and the album. Therefore, for example, if you browse through the images displayed on the "Hokkaido" page of the album and find a favorite image, that image is specifically captured in Hokkaido where, when, and under what shooting conditions. When you want to know, you can easily see the bulletin board page where the corresponding question is posted without getting lost. (5) Search button 52F on bulletin board page screen (FIG. 52)
By clicking, a character that matches the search character written in the search character writing frame 52E is searched from the bulletin board posting, and if there is a hit that is found, the writing is extracted and displayed on the terminal. On the other hand, if there is no writing to be hit, a search is made to determine whether a plurality of pre-registered keywords and search characters are hit, and a page of a category associated with the hit keyword is displayed on the terminal.
As a result, even if there is no writing that matches the search character, a bulletin board of a relatively similar category is automatically displayed on the terminal, so that it is possible to provide a bulletin board service that is easy for the service user to use.

-Search Function- On the screen of the top page 10 of the Web shown in FIG. 3 and the screen of the top page of each category of Web site content shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 21, FIG. A link destination button 31 to a “search” page for performing a site search is provided. When the service user clicks this button 31, the server transmits display page data to the terminal of the service user, and displays a search page screen shown in FIG. 60 on the display of the terminal.
In FIG. 60, a search document frame 60A, a search character writing frame 60B, a search range check box 60C,
A search button 60D is provided.

The server sets the search range check box 6 for the search sentence written in the search document box 60A or the search character written in the search character write box 60B.
A search is made for hits in the range of the content checked to 0C. FIG. 61 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a search process performed by the server of the service provider. The processing in FIG. 61 is activated when the search button 60D is clicked.

In step S2701 in FIG. 61, the server determines whether or not the search is a natural sentence search. The server is
When writing is performed in the search document enclosing frame 60A, it is regarded as a natural sentence search, and a positive determination is made in step S2701 and the process proceeds to step S2702. On the other hand, the search document frame 60
If there is no writing in A and writing has been made in the search character writing frame 60B, it is regarded as a character search, and step S27 is performed.
No, and the process advances to step S2703.

In step S2702, the server analyzes the search sentence and proceeds to step S2703. The analysis is a preprocessing for performing a well-known sentence search using a search sentence. In step S2703, the server searches characters included in the page screen registered in the content specified by the search range check box 60C in step S270.
Proceed to 4. In step S2704, the server
It is determined whether the search in the specified search range has been completed. If the search has been completed, a positive determination is made in step S2704, and the flow advances to step S2705. On the other hand, if the search has not been completed, a negative determination is made in step S2704, and the process returns to step S2703 to continue the search processing.

In step S2705, the server determines whether there are a plurality of categories of the searched content. The server makes an affirmative decision in step S2705 when a plurality of search range check boxes 60C are checked and proceeds to step S2706, and makes a negative decision in step S2705 when a plurality of search range check boxes 60C are not checked. Proceed to. In step S2706, the server retrieves hits as a result of the search for each search range (for each content).
And a search result page screen for displaying search results for each content is created, and the flow advances to step S2708. In step S2708, the server transmits the data of the search result page screen to the terminal of the service user, and ends the processing in FIG. Thereby, the search result screen shown in FIG. 62A is displayed on the display of the terminal.

On the search result page screen shown in FIG. 62A, the number of hits for each content is displayed. In each content column, the top five items having the highest similarity with the search character string and the sentence are displayed.
Here, all the hit counts are displayed in the column of contents in which the number of hits is less than 5, and when the number of hits is 0, message data (not shown) notifying that no hit is made is displayed. Also, a button 62A for "display all" is provided, and when the button 62A is clicked, the server displays not only the top five hits but also the hits in the content column where the number of hits is six or more. Display all.

In step S2707, the server transmits the data on the search result page screen to the terminal of the service user, and ends the processing in FIG. Thereby, the screen of the search result shown in FIG. 62 (b) is displayed on the display of the terminal. In FIG. 62B, the number of hits in the designated content is displayed. Of these, the top 20 items with the highest similarity between the search character string and the sentence are displayed. 20 hits
If the number is less than the number of all hits,
If the number of hits is 0, a message (not shown) notifying that no hit is made is displayed.

In the processing shown in FIG. 61, when the search range extends over a plurality of content categories (positive determination is made in step S2705), the search range is limited to the top 5 items per content. In the case of a content category (step S270
5), up to the top 20 of the content. The upper limit of the number of displayed items may be changed for each content category, or may be changed in accordance with the number of content categories spanning the search range.
For example, when the number of checks in the search range check box 60C is one, the upper limit of the number of displayed items is set to 20, when the number of checked items is two, the upper limit of the number of displayed items is set to ten items per content. The upper limit of the number of displayed items is set to 7 per content.

-Searching from Camera Model Name-Web site contents according to the present embodiment provide a camera and information and services related to the camera. Therefore, for example, when the model name of the camera is displayed on the page screen of the bulletin board, the search process is performed by regarding the model name as a search character. FIG. 63 is an example of a page screen for introducing the above-mentioned expert. In this, the model name is introduced as “owned camera”. In the example of FIG. 63, model names “F $” and “F □” are listed. The display data is configured to be clickable with these model name characters.

FIG. 64 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a search process performed by the server of the service provider. The processing in FIG. 64 is performed by using the characters “F $”, “F
□ ”is clicked, and the server starts when data indicating the click is received by the server. In step S2801, the server accesses the database, searches whether the model name indicated by the clicked character is registered in the database, and proceeds to step S2802. In the present embodiment, since a service related to a camera is provided, data relating to a camera in which the service provider is involved in production and sales are registered in a database by the service provider. In step S2802,
The server determines whether or not the clicked model name is registered. If the model name is registered in the database, a positive determination is made in step S2802 and the process proceeds to step S2803. If the model name is not registered, a negative determination is made in step S2802 and the process proceeds to step S2806.

In step S2803, the server searches for the clicked model name as a search character for all content categories such as new arrival information, product information, service support, online shops, communities, and bulletin boards, and proceeds to step S2804. In step S2804, the server determines whether the search for the search range has been completed. If the search has been completed, an affirmative determination is made in step S2804, and the flow advances to step S2805. On the other hand, if the search is not completed, step S28
04 is negatively determined, the process returns to step S2803, and the search process is continued.

[0244] In step S2805, the server sorts hits as a result of the search for each search range (for each content), and creates a search result page screen for displaying the search results for each content.
Go to 09. In step S2809, the server transmits the data of the search result page screen to the terminal of the service user, and ends the processing in FIG. As a result, a search result screen similar to the screen shown in FIG. 62A is displayed on the terminal display.

As in FIG. 62 (a), the number of hits for each content is displayed on the search result page screen. Are displayed one by one. In addition, in the column of contents in which the number of hits is less than 5, the number of all hits is displayed, and when the number of hits is 0, a message notifying that there is no hit is displayed. Further, there is provided a "display all" button 62A for displaying all hits in the content column having six or more hits.

In step S2806, the server searches the community and bulletin board content categories using the clicked model name as a search character, and proceeds to step S2807. If a negative determination is made in step S2802, it can be considered that the model name is not a camera in which the service provider is engaged in production and sales.
In this case, what's new, product information, service support,
Even if you search the online shop, it will not be hit,
The search in these contents is omitted. Step S2
In 807, the server determines whether the search of the search range has been completed. Step S if the search is completed
An affirmative determination is made in 2807, and the flow advances to step S2808. On the other hand, if the search has not been completed, a negative determination is made in step S2807, the process returns to step S2806, and the search process is continued.

[0247] In step S2808, the server rearranges hits as a result of the search for each search range (for each content), and creates a search result page screen for displaying the search results for each content.
Go to 09. In this case, since the content to be searched is small, the search result is displayed such that the top 10 items per content are displayed in descending order of similarity with the clicked model name.

-Related Search- For a page viewed by a service user, a Web document description language HTML (Hy
per Text Markup Language) and extract the extracted character strings and sentences from each content. For example, a case where the service user is looking at a page screen introducing product information shown in FIG. 65 will be described as an example. In FIG. 65, information of a camera having a model name of “F $” is introduced. A "related search" button 65A is provided at the lower right of the page screen. In the HTML describing this page screen, in addition to the description for arranging the “related search” button 65A, the title tag (<
TITLE></TITLE>) is extracted as a search character string.

A specially provided search tag (for example, <!-SEARCH CONTEXT-><!-SEARCHCONTEXT->)
May be described as a character string or a sentence. Character strings or sentences between search tags are search strings,
Extracted as sentences. In this case, the HTML tag is excluded from the search characters.

Further, in addition to a character string or a sentence actually displayed on the page screen, a character string or a sentence specially created for use as a search character string is set in <META HTTP-EQU
It may be embedded and described in ****** in IV = "Keywords" CONTENT = "******">. A character string or a sentence embedded and described in ****** is extracted as a search character string or a sentence.

FIG. 66 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of the search process performed by the server of the service provider. The process shown in FIG. 66 is activated when a “related search” button 65A is clicked on the page screen of FIG. In step S2901, the server extracts a character string or a sentence represented by the above-described tag or the like on the displayed page screen, and proceeds to step S2902. In step S2902, the server searches each content using the extracted character string or text as a search character string. At this time, the displayed page screen is not set as a search target.

In step S2903, the server determines whether the search has been completed. If the search for all contents has been completed, a positive determination is made in step S2903 and the process proceeds to step S2904. If the search for content has not been completed, a negative determination is made for step S2903 and the process returns to step S2902 to continue the search.

In step S2904, the server sorts hits as a result of the search for each content, creates a search result page screen for displaying search results for each content, and proceeds to step S2905. In step S2905, the server transmits the data of the search result page screen to the terminal of the service user,
The processing according to FIG. 66 ends. As a result, FIG.
Is displayed on the display of the terminal.

As in FIG. 62 (a), the number of hits for each content is displayed on the search result page screen. Are displayed one by one. In addition, in the column of contents in which the number of hits is less than 5, the number of all hits is displayed, and when the number of hits is 0, a message notifying that there is no hit is displayed. Further, there is provided a "display all" button 62A for displaying all hits in the content column having six or more hits.

—Related Expert Search— In the page screen of FIG. 63 for introducing expert information, a “related expert search” button 63A is provided at the bottom of the page screen. H that describes this page screen
In TML, in addition to the description for arranging the "search for related expert" button 63A, a special character string is provided so that the character string described in the field of expertise of the expert and the model name of the camera owned is used as the search character string. It may be described by being sandwiched between search tags specified.

FIG. 67 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a search process performed by the server of the service provider. The process according to FIG. 67 is activated when the “Related Expert Search” button 63A is clicked on the page screen in FIG. In step S3001, the server:
A character string and a sentence represented by the above-described tag or the like are extracted from the displayed page screen, and step S3 is performed.
Go to 002. In step S3002, the server uses the extracted character string or text as a search character string to search a database in which expert information is stored. At this time, the displayed page screen is not set as a search target.

In step S3003, the server determines whether the search has been completed. If the search for all expert information has been completed, a positive determination is made in step S3003 and the process proceeds to step S3004. If the search has not been completed, a negative determination is made in step S3003 and the process returns to step S3002 to continue the search.

In step S3004, the server sorts the experts hit as a result of the search in the order of rating, creates a search result page screen displaying the search results in the order of rating, and proceeds to step S3005. Step S
In 3005, the server transmits the data of the search result page screen to the terminal of the service user, and
Is completed. Thereby, the screen of the search result is displayed on the display of the terminal. The rating is, for example, that a person who has many earned points and has a good reputation from the question poster is ranked high, and a person who has low earned points and has a bad reputation from the question poster is ranked low. The more likely a question poster chooses a highly rated expert, the more likely they are to get a satisfactory answer.

According to the search performed on the content according to the above-described embodiment, the following operation and effect can be obtained. (1) With respect to the search text written in the search text box 60A or the search text written in the search text writing frame 60B, a search is made for a hit in the content range checked in the search range check box 60C. When searching the plurality of contents and displaying the number of hits for each content, the search character string and the top five items having the highest similarity with the sentence are displayed in each content column, and furthermore, Button 62 for "display all"
When "A" is clicked, all hits are displayed in the content column having 6 or more hits. As a result, the service user can confirm the hit in each content without scrolling the display screen. (2) When the model name of the camera is displayed on the page screen (FIG. 63) of the bulletin board, this model name is regarded as a search character and search processing is performed. Since the website content according to the present embodiment provides a camera and information and services related to the camera, a better search service can be provided to the service user. (3) On a page screen (FIG. 65) for introducing product information, a service provider previously describes a search character string related to the description content of the page screen in HTML, and provides a “related search” provided on the page screen. The search is started even if the service user only clicks the button 65A without inputting the search character string. As a result, the service user can quickly perform a search related to the currently viewed (displayed) page screen. (4) Page screen for introducing expert information (Fig. 63)
In, the service provider previously describes a search character string related to the description content of the page screen in HTML,
The search is started even if the service user simply clicks the "Related Expert Search" button 63A provided on the page screen without inputting the search character string. As a result, the service user can quickly search for another expert whose photographing field is the same as that of the currently viewed (displayed) expert or whose camera is the same.

[0260] The search character string is described by HTML in addition to the method described above, by using a method of sandwiching sentences by body tags (<BODY></BODY>) or a method of searching all characters in an HTML page. Is also good. When all characters in a page are to be searched, it is expected that noise will increase in search results (it will hit more than necessary).

Also, the description of the search character string may be changed for each page. For example, on a page of content that describes "product information", the character string between title tags is searched, and on a page that describes "articles", a text between the title tag and a body tag And are searched.

[0262]

According to the present invention as described in detail above, the following effects can be obtained. (1) After the customer registration for receiving and storing the customer information transmitted from the customer who purchased the product is completed, information for guiding the member registration different from the customer registration is transmitted to the customer. The number of registered members can be increased as compared with the case where no guidance is provided. (2) Register with customer information. The same registrant must provide authentication information for authenticating that the customer is a registered customer and authentication information for authenticating that the customer is a member of a member registration different from the customer registration. In some cases, some or all of the authentication information is made the same. Thereby, the input error of the authentication information can be reduced as compared with a case where a plurality of authentication information is properly used, so that the burden on the customer and the member can be reduced. (3) There is a common item in the information to be registered by the customer registration and the member registration. If the common item has already been registered in one of the customer registration and the member registration, the other item is registered. The information of common items has been updated. As a result, it becomes possible to always update the common items to the latest information.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the overall configuration of a Web site in which Web site contents are registered.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a site map.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a screen of a web top page.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a screen of a top page of a category of new arrival information.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a screen of a top page of a category of a community.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a screen for inputting product information.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a screen for inputting customer information (customer information).

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a screen for answering a questionnaire.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a question process.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a prize selection screen.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a prize selection screen creation process.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a screen for introducing a booklet.

13A is a diagram illustrating a screen for notifying a destination, and FIG. 13B is a diagram illustrating a screen for notifying a point addition.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a member registration guidance screen creation process.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a screen displaying a notification of acceptance of a prize order and a guide message to member registration.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a screen for member authentication.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a registration content update process.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a screen for updating customer information (customer information).

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a screen for customer authentication.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a warranty period extension process.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a screen of a top page of an online shop category.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an item selection screen.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of polygon image processing.

FIG. 24 is a view showing a joined image of the camera body and the interchangeable lens.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an introduction screen for recommended products.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a recommended product proposal process.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a recommended product proposal process.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a product information management screen.

FIG. 29 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a stock notification process.

FIG. 30 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a publication switching process.

FIG. 31 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a product delivery instruction process.

32A is a diagram illustrating a lottery screen, and FIG. 32B is a diagram illustrating a display screen of a camera winning notification and a delivery destination selection button.

FIG. 33 is a view showing a delivery destination confirmation screen for a winning product.

FIG. 34 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a product delivery instruction process.

FIG. 35 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a reservation process.

FIG. 36 is a diagram showing a reservation screen.

FIG. 37 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of an option settlement process.

FIG. 38 is a diagram showing a delivery method selection screen.

FIG. 39 is a diagram showing a calculation report page screen.

FIG. 40 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of processing for determining a delivery fee.

FIG. 41 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a collective settlement process.

FIG. 42 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a split settlement process.

FIG. 43 is a diagram showing a screen on which a user has logged in to an online album category.

FIG. 44 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of an album erasing process.

FIG. 45 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of an album erasing process.

FIG. 46 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of an album erasing process.

FIG. 47 is a diagram showing an album management screen.

FIG. 48 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of an album list creation process.

49A is a diagram showing a thumbnail image display, and FIG. 49B is a diagram showing an image display larger than a thumbnail image.

FIG. 50 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of preferential treatment.

FIG. 51 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a file name determination process.

FIG. 52 is a diagram showing a screen on which a user has logged in to a community category.

FIG. 53 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a thumbnail image posting process.

FIG. 54 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a thumbnail image posting process.

FIG. 55 is a diagram showing a screen for notifying that a selected image cannot be posted.

FIG. 56 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a thumbnail image posting process.

FIG. 57 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a thumbnail image posting process.

FIG. 58 (a) shows a display screen of questions classified as “photographing information” − “Hokkaido” on a bulletin board. (B) illustrates a display screen of images classified as “landscape” − “Hokkaido” in an album. FIG.

FIG. 59 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a search process.

FIG. 60 is a diagram showing a search screen.

FIG. 61 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a search process.

62A is a diagram illustrating a display screen of a search result of a plurality of contents, and FIG. 62B is a diagram illustrating a display screen of a search result of one content.

FIG. 63 is a view showing an expert introduction screen.

FIG. 64 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a search process.

FIG. 65 is a diagram showing an introduction screen for product information.

FIG. 66 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a search process.

FIG. 67 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a search process.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... member registration content page, 2 ... new information content page, 3 ... product information content page, 4 ... service support content page,
5: Online album content page, 6: Online shop content page, 7: Community content page, 10: Top page

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Jun Nagai 3-2-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nikon Corporation

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. Receiving customer information transmitted from the customer, including information on the customer who purchased the product and information on the product purchased by the customer, storing the received customer information in a storage means, A method for registering a customer, comprising sending information to the customer after completion of the registration to a member registration different from the customer registration. 2. The customer registration method according to claim 1, wherein the member registration is a member registration for receiving a Web service. 3. The customer registration method according to claim 1, wherein the customer information includes information as to whether the customer is a corporation or an individual, and when the customer is a corporation, guides to the member registration. A customer registration method characterized by not sending information to the customer. 4. The customer registration method according to claim 1, wherein when the customer who has registered the customer has already been registered as a member, information for guiding the member registration is not transmitted. . 5. Authentication information for authenticating that the customer is a registered customer together with customer information transmitted from the customer including information on the customer who purchased the product and information on the product purchased by the customer. And authentication information for authenticating that the member is a member of a member registration different from the customer registration,
A customer registration method characterized in that if the registrants are the same, part or all of the authentication information is made the same. 6. The customer registration method according to claim 5, wherein when registering one of the authentication information of the customer registration or the member registration, it is detected whether or not the same registrant has already registered the other. A method of registering a customer, wherein when the other is registered, part or all of the authentication information already registered in the other is registered as the authentication information. 7. A plurality of items of customer information transmitted from the customer including information of a customer who purchased the product and information of a product purchased by the customer are stored as a customer registration, and a plurality of members different from the customer registration are stored. The member information of the item is stored as a member registration, and the information registered by the customer registration and the member registration has a common item. When registering the common item information in one of the customer registration and the member registration, A customer registration method characterized by updating information of the other common item when the other common item is registered. 8. The customer registration method according to claim 7, wherein, when the information of the one common item is blank data, the information of the other common item is not updated. 9. The customer registration method according to claim 7, wherein said customer registration and said member registration are managed centrally. 10. The customer registration method according to claim 1, wherein the customer registration is a web-based customer registration method. 11. Receiving customer information transmitted from the customer including information on the customer who purchased the product and information on the product purchased by the customer, and after completing the customer registration for recording the received customer information,
A customer registration method, further comprising transmitting information for guiding a member registration different from the customer registration for receiving a Web service to the customer. 12. Recording at least first registration information transmitted from the customer, including at least information of the customer who purchased the product, information of the product purchased by the customer, and authentication information of the customer. Information on customers who receive services via the Web,
The second registration information transmitted from the customer including the authentication information of the customer is recorded. When the customer of the first registration information and the second registration information is the same, the authentication information is the same. A method of registering a customer, wherein registration of the customer is permitted. 13. The customer registration method according to claim 12, wherein when the same registration of the authentication information is permitted, an item common to the first registration information and the second registration information is set. A customer registration method characterized by updating old information with the latest information if there is a difference. 14. The customer registration method according to claim 13, wherein the update is not performed if the latest information is blank data.