JP2002373263A - Method for presenting and providing merchandise - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for presenting optimal merchandise according to a request of a customer. SOLUTION: In this method for presenting merchandise for presenting a merchandise image regarding merchandise information requested by the customer to the customer based on customer information of the customer and the merchandise information, the merchandise image can be processed according to the request of the customer.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of presenting and providing a product requested by a customer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in selecting a product, for example, a proposal has been made for selecting a predetermined product from an input image and various product groups, and performing a simulation at the time of actual use (particularly). Kaihei 10-207941
JP-A-10-283455). Such a proposal is a system in which the purchaser can understand and purchase a desired product from one product group (or the same type of product group).

[0003] However, when products are diversified and their types are increased, it is not possible to simulate every one of the products, and it is extremely difficult to select products according to a wide variety of demands. Technique. In addition, even when it is preferable to obtain the advice of a specialist when selecting a product, it is difficult to arrange a specialist having abundant knowledge and experience in all stores and the like. Therefore, it is not possible to receive exactly the same service in all areas and stores.

Further, even in a situation where products are diversified,
It is preferable that the products corresponding to individual customers are different from each other, but it is not possible to provide products satisfying all customers. In other words, in order to make the product satisfying all customers, it is necessary to make the product tailored to the customer here, it is difficult for the provider to provide such a product, and individual Products cannot be stocked for each customer.

[0005]

As described above, in the past, there has been no product that satisfies all customers even if the products are diversified.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method capable of presenting an optimum product according to a customer's request.

[0007]

According to the present invention, the following means have been taken in order to solve the above-mentioned problems.

[0010] A product presentation method according to the present invention is a product presentation method for presenting a product image relating to the product information to the customer based on customer information of the customer and product information requested by the customer. The product image can be processed according to the customer's request.

A preferred embodiment of the above-mentioned method for presenting goods is as follows. In addition, each of the following embodiments may be applied independently, or may be applied in an appropriate combination. (1) In addition to the product image, advice of an advisor having specialized knowledge is presented to the customer.

(2) In (1), the customer and the advisor are connected by a network capable of two-way communication, and the advice and the product image are transmitted to the customer via the network. Product presentation method to be.

(3) In (2), the network is protected from unauthorized access from outside.

(4) The delivery date of the product and the status of the product (manufacturing, processing, shipping, etc.) can be searched in real time.

(5) The customer information includes at least an image of the customer. Further, the customer information includes gender,
Include age, occupation, community, family structure and other information.

(6) In the item (5), the customer image and the product image each include a plurality of images.

(7) Store the customer information in a database.

(8) In (7), the requested product information and the selected product information are also recorded in the database.

(9) When a product is manufactured based on the product image, an image of the product being processed is distributed to a customer at predetermined steps.

(10) The customer information and the product information may be collected from the customer, or may be collected from a product provider who has obtained information from the customer.

(11) When providing the product to the customer, the product is provided to the customer at a predetermined price from the product provider.

(12) Sharing customer information related to the product information of the product provider with the product provider.

(13) Only the merchandise provider to the customer related to the merchandise should not share customer information.

(14) The product is presented to the customer before a lapse of a predetermined time (for example, 30 minutes: waiting time for a beauty shop) from the request of the customer.

The present invention can be applied not only to the presentation of goods, but also to the production and provision of the goods presented by the above-described methods.

[0024]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The gist of the present invention is that, when an image of a product group requested by a customer is displayed, for example, one product selected from the product group is processed as requested by the customer, and the processing result is obtained. It is to provide customers with products that comply. The processing of the product may be performed by a customer or an advisor described in detail later.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration for realizing the product presentation method of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a terminal 10, a service center 20, and a product provider 30
Are connected by a communication network. This communication network is a known communication network, which may be a dedicated communication line, a network such as an intranet or the Internet, a LAN (local area network), or a WAN. Any network can be used as long as various networks such as (wide area network) can be used and two-way communication is possible.

The terminal 10 is for inputting customer information of a customer who wants a predetermined product or presenting information from the service center 20. This terminal 10
May be located, for example, in a store that has contracted with the service center 20, or may be a personal computer at home if it is an individual. Further, the portable terminal is a portable terminal that can be carried by a salesman or a sales lady such as a door-to-door sales person. Any environment can be used as long as the environment can be set.

The service center 20 includes an input / output unit 21
, An information processing unit 22, an advisor input unit 23, and a storage unit 24. The input / output unit 21 exchanges data with the terminal 10 and the product provider 30. Information processing unit 22
Creates a composite image of, for example, customer image data and a product selected by an advisor, which will be described in detail later.
The advisor input unit 23 displays the customer information and the customer request transmitted from the terminal 10 and receives an input from the advisor based on the information. The storage unit 24 stores a database such as customer information and product information. When the service center 20 receives a request from an individual other than a store or the like, on the homepage,
A registered (affiliated) store or the like in the living area of the person may be introduced, or various services (such as product presentation and reservation described later in detail) may be performed on a homepage. As described above, by providing various services via the homepage, customers can easily access the service center 20 via the network and receive services.

In terms of protection from unauthorized access, a hacker or the like may use a data processing unit 2 in the data center.
2 and the storage unit 24, of course,
From the perspective of security protection for communications. Although it is preferable that all the lines are dedicated lines, it is preferable to adopt a method of connecting at least the terminal 10 and the service center 20 by a dedicated line. Also, instead of a dedicated line,
It is preferable to ensure security by encryption, or both dedicated lines and encryption may be employed.

[0030] The product provider 30
Offer products to customers based on information from Specifically, the product provider 30 is registered as a product provider that provides products in the storage unit 24 of the service center 20, and, for example, sells clothes and accessories.
Basically, products that have products with the quality and design approved by the service center and that have at least a predetermined level of technology are registered.

The flow of the present invention configured as described above will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of the product presentation method according to the first embodiment of the present invention. First, in the terminal 10, for example, in consideration of product presentation in a beauty shop, a normal waiting time occurs in a beauty shop or the like. Therefore, it is assumed that customer information is collected during the waiting time of the customer (step A1). The customer information includes a customer image (preferably a plurality of images from various angles), age, height, weight, preference, and the like. The more customer information, the more accurately the product requested by the customer can be presented. However, if the customer does not want to output his / her own information, the customer information need not be collected. Then, together with the customer information, product information requested by the customer (hereinafter, referred to as “required product information”) is also collected. Then, the collected customer information and required product information (hereinafter, the customer information and the required product information are referred to as “customer information”) are transmitted to the service center 20.
(Step A2).

The input / output unit 21 of the service center 20
The customer information is received and the information is passed to the information processing section 22. The information processing unit 22 processes the received customer information into a format suitable for the advisor input unit 23, and the advisor input unit 23 displays the information according to the format (step A3). The adviser having specialized knowledge is a designer, a coordinator, etc., who has abundant experience and knowledge, extracts product information from the storage unit 24 based on each information displayed on the advisor input unit 23, and Select at least one product that is most appropriate for your customer (preferably multiple products to give your customers a choice), and if necessary,
The selected product is processed, and the product information of the selected product is sent to the information processing section 22 together with its own advice (step A4). After obtaining the customer information and the request information, the information processing section 22 refers to the customer information in the storage section 24 and
Add / update the information stored in. Further, the information processing unit 22 inputs information on the product from the storage unit 24 based on the information on the selected product, and superimposes or synthesizes the image of the product on the customer image as necessary. (Step A5), and sends it to the input / output unit 21. The input / output unit 21 sends the information processed by the information processing unit 22 to the terminal 10. The terminal 10 confirms the purchase of the product to the customer by showing the coordinated image to the customer or showing the listed products (step A6).
The time from the step A1 to the step A6 for presenting the product is preferably as short as possible. For example, it is preferable that the time is about 30 minutes, which is the approximate waiting time in the beauty shop. Then, the customer selects whether the presented product should be used as it is or whether it should be processed (step A7). If it is acceptable, the customer sends the product name, code, and other necessary items to the service center 20 (step A7). Step A8). The service center 20 is a terminal 1
Based on the information from 0, a request is made to the merchandise provider 30 who has requested the purchase to ship the merchandise (step A9). The product provider 30 produces a product based on the product image (or the product processed image) transmitted from the service center 20 (Step A10). Here, for example, if it takes time to make a product like a custom-made dress,
It is preferable that the production process be photographed as appropriate so that the customer can browse through the communication line. Then, when the product is completed, it is sent to the customer (or beauty shop or the like) (step A11). In the case of delivery, it is preferable that the product information such as the delivery date and delivery status of the product can be searched in real time, for example, via the Internet, a facsimile, a telephone, or the like. In step A7, if the customer wants to process the product, after confirming the customer's intention, the process returns to step A4 to process the product again.

As described above, when presenting a product requested by a customer, not only can the product be processed according to the customer's preference, but also the provision of the product including the coordination and advice of an advisor having specialized knowledge. Therefore, products can be provided according to customer requirements in any region, and customers can obtain satisfactory products. In addition to the image of the actual product, by combining or superimposing the image of one's own with the product image, it is possible to confirm the actual wearing of the product by the image.

In the above-described embodiment, the processing of goods includes, for example, not only ready-made dresses for clothes but also options such as dimensional change, pattern change, and the presence or absence of a ribbon. It is preferable that the design of jewelry can be changed by the advisor's authority as well as the change of the jewelry. Similarly, in addition to options and size changes, easy orders such as dresses including advice from an advisor are also included in the processing of the product in the present invention. In this case, for example, when there is a request from a customer for a floral party dress, the advisor can select a fabric, a pattern (pattern), a size, and a shape from ready-made party dresses according to the customer's request. It is also possible to provide a party dress suitable for the customer as if it were made to order.

The product selection information by the advisor,
Processing information and the like are also stored in the storage unit 24 as part of the customer information. At this time, if the customer information already exists, the customer database is updated, and if there is no customer information, it is added as new data. In addition, it is needless to say that the customer information can be obtained from the product provider that provided the product. The customer database stores customer information corresponding to a product or service by a product provider 30 that handles the product.
It is preferable to share customer information that is not related to the product. For example, this can be realized by setting a flag for each product provider in a part of customer information.

In the above embodiment, the method of presenting a product to a customer in real time has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when selling cosmetics, an image of the customer may be collected along with advice on makeup, At the next visit, the total fashion coordinated by the advisor of the service center 20 may be printed together with the image of the customer and presented together with the catalog.
Then, if you like the hairstyle proposed by the adviser, a beauty shop registered in the service center 20 may be introduced and a reservation may be made. Even if there is no request from the customer, as described above, a total fashion coordinated by an advisor of the service center 20 may be proposed.

In the above embodiment, in step A4, the adviser selects a product and processes the product as necessary. However, the customer may select and process the product. In this case, the number of presented products increases,
There is an advantage that the range of choice of products is expanded. Further, in the processing of the product, when the customer selects the product, it is sufficient to clearly indicate which part of the product can be changed.

Further, in the above embodiment, step A10
In the above, the merchandise provider 30 sends the merchandise directly to the customer or the beauty shop, but the merchandise may be once delivered to the service center 20, and the service center 20 may ship the merchandise to the customer or the beauty shop. .

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, although the customer's request was not specifically mentioned, it was not a specific request such as a necklace or a ring, but an accessory to be worn at the upcoming party. It may be a request that you want something that fits your needs. In this case, it is preferable that information such as an image of the dress is also provided.

Further, if customer information is stored, recommended products can be presented based on the stored information even when the product is not directly designated.

The terminal 10 is connected to the service center 20.
It is possible to give the customer a sense of security by taking the form of owning the contracted product and selling the product or service to the customer face-to-face.

A known method may be used for the transfer of the price for the above-mentioned goods and services, and the service center 20 may obtain the commission for the service from the customer or the goods (service) provider 30. . For example, when providing a product, the service center 20 receives the price of the product from the customer and pays the product provider 30 excluding a commission. Or, the product provider 30
Will charge the provider a fee if the money is received. In this way, a commission according to the sales of the product enters the service center 20.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment of the present invention. In the above embodiment, the advisor is arranged in the service center. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when the advisor performs advisory work at home, or when the advisor operates a store or office in a place other than the service center. It is also applicable to a case where a business is performed in a store or an office. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, a store or office (here,
(Referred to as "advisor section 40").
The service center 20 and the advisor unit 40 are connected via a communication line. In addition, advisor section 40
Is a data input / output unit 41 for performing communication with the service center 20, and an information processing unit 42 for performing predetermined information processing.
And a storage unit 43 for storing predetermined data, and an advisor input unit 44 serving as an input / output interface with the advisor. The information processing unit 42 and the storage unit 43 provided in the advisor unit 40 may or may not be the same as the information processing unit 22 and the storage unit 24 provided in the service center 20. Basically, the advisor only needs to have the ability to smoothly process product selection and image processing. Therefore, if the service center 20 and the advisor unit 40 are connected by a high-speed communication line, the advisor unit 40 only needs to be provided with the advisor input unit 44 which is a part for inputting and outputting data. In this case, only the input / output terminals (that is, the advisor input unit 44) are installed in the advisor unit 40, and all information processing is executed by the information processing unit 22 installed in the service center 20. All of the necessary data is stored in the storage unit 24 in the service center 20. With such a configuration, the advisor does not need to be resident at the service center, so that the advisor can execute advice at a desired place, thereby removing a regional restriction. The advisor unit 40 may be, for example, a mobile terminal as long as the advisor gives advice and can select a product requested by the customer. In addition, it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0044]

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

[0045] Rather than purchasing only existing commodities, it is possible to provide processed commodities while checking images according to customer requirements, so that customers can purchase desired commodities anywhere. That is, it becomes possible to provide unique products for each customer. In addition, the customer can confirm with an image before purchasing a product or receiving a service. As a result, a sense of security is increased and the return rate is reduced. Further, since the merchandise provider only needs to stock standard products and process them according to customer requirements, it is not necessary to stock many merchandise.

Since the advice for the product is presented together with the product, it is possible to present the product with high quality and according to the customer's request.

Since an advisor having specialized knowledge can immediately present a product according to a customer's request, a high-quality product can be presented in real time. Further, since the access can be easily made on the network, the provider can provide the same and high quality service regardless of the regional difference, and the customer can enjoy the high quality service in real time.

[0048] Since unauthorized access is protected,
Leakage of customer information can be prevented.

Since the delivery date and the status of the product (production, processing, shipping, etc.) can be searched in real time, a sense of security can be given to the customer.

By including the customer image in the customer information, the advisor can advise on the product and process the product while viewing the customer image, so that more accurate product selection and more accurate advice by the advisor can be provided. Becomes possible. Further, by obtaining more detailed customer information, more appropriate product presentation can be performed.

Using the presented product image as a plurality of images, it is possible to check the matching between the customer and the product requested by the customer from various angles, and to change the options while changing the option. You can select the appropriate product.

Since the customer information is accumulated and stored in the database, when presenting a product, it is possible to present the product including past information and to select an optimum product by an advisor, so that the product closest to the customer's request can be selected. Can be presented. Also, it is possible to present recommended products based on past data in response to vague requests from customers.

When a new product is developed, by conducting a questionnaire or the like using the database, it is possible to develop a product that meets customer needs.

[0054] The processed goods are almost made to order, and it takes time to provide the goods. Therefore, by allowing the customer to confirm the product to be provided to the customer at each predetermined process, for example, at each process or at each point of each process, it is possible to cause the customer to have a sense of security and attachment to the product. And the sense of trust can be improved. For example, when a long time is required for production, such as in the case of a custom-made dress or the like, the production process can be confirmed by the customer, so that a sense of security can be given to the customer.

Since more customer information can be obtained by expanding the information source of the customer information, more detailed services can be provided.

By clarifying the price standard for services, continuous services can be provided.

By sharing the customer information with the actual product provider, the product provider can also develop products and services based on the customer information.

By restricting the provision of customer information to only related companies, unnecessary leakage of customer information can be prevented.

By limiting the time from collection of customer information to provision of product information, it is possible to deal with the customer without getting bored.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration for realizing a product presentation method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of a product presentation method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a modification of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Terminal 20 ... Service center 21 ... Input / output part 22 ... Information processing part 23 ... Advisor input part 24 ... Storage part 30 ... Product provider 40 ... Advisory part 41 ... Data input / output part 42 ... Information processing part 43 ... Storage part 44… Advisor input section

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A product presentation method for presenting a product image related to the product information to the customer based on customer information of the customer and product information requested by the customer, wherein the product image is provided in response to the customer request. A product presentation method characterized in that it can be processed according to. 2. The product presentation method according to claim 1, wherein advice of an advisor having specialized knowledge is presented to the customer in addition to the product image. 3. The product presentation method according to claim 2, wherein the customer and the advisor are connected by a two-way communicable network, and the advice and the product image are provided to the customer via the network. A product presentation method characterized by transmitting. 4. The product presentation method according to claim 2, wherein the customer information includes at least an image of the customer. 5. The product presentation method according to claim 4, wherein the customer image and the product image each include a plurality of images. 6. The product presentation method according to claim 1, wherein the customer information is stored in a database. 7. The commodity presenting method according to claim 1, wherein an image of the presented commodity being processed is distributed to a customer at predetermined steps. Presentation method. 8. A method for providing a product, comprising: providing a product manufactured based on the product image according to any one of claims 1 to 5.