JP2003006512A - Information distribution method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique for providing suitable merchandise information to a user while eliminating a step where the user inputs individual information. SOLUTION: A history acquisition part 24 acquires the merchandise purchase history of the user and a position acquisition part 22 acquires the present location of the user. A merchandise information acquisition part 34 acquires the special sale information of merchandise. A mining part 30 integrates the information and distributes the merchandise likely to interest the user, whose provision place is near the present location of the user, to a user terminal 12 in real time. A tracking table describes the timing of purchasing new merchandise and the mining part 30 distributes the information of the merchandise or related merchandise to the user terminal 12.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This sale relates to information distribution technology, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for distributing information regarding products that a user may purchase.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in general, online shopping generally involves accepting purchases by telephone for a certain period of time for advertisements of products displayed on television. However, in recent years, the concept of this word has changed significantly, and the style in which users browse online shopping sites with personal computers, PDAs, etc., and purchase products using payment methods such as credit cards is becoming established. . There is no doubt that electronic commerce via the Internet will be further expanded while keeping pace with the legal development of consumer protection in the network age.

[0003]

Although the advantage of the broadband era is that users can enjoy larger amounts of information at higher speeds, the flood of information rather makes it difficult for users to select. In reality, some say that there is enough volume to fill the band in the broadband era and that it is difficult to find meaningful digital content. Even in the provision of product information, if the information is sent indefinitely because the bandwidth is widened, it will only cause the user's repulsion.

The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and an object thereof is to provide a technique for providing product information suitable for a user while omitting the step of allowing the user to input personal information.

[0005]

One aspect of the present invention is an information distribution method. This method acquires a purchase history of a product by a user and the current position of the user, and selects a product that may motivate the user to purchase, and whose provision location is close to the current position. Notify the user in real time. That is, what kind of product is likely to be interested is estimated from the purchase history, and further screening is performed according to the current position of the user.
By this, the product information to be distributed is considerably narrowed down.

"Merchandise" includes services. "Current position" is PHS (Personal Handy-phone System), G
It can be obtained by any method such as PS (Global Positioning System), and the method itself is not a problem for the present invention. Another aspect of the present invention also relates to an information method. This method acquires a purchase history of a product by a user in a format including the purchase date and time, and selects a product that may motivate the user to purchase based on the elapsed time from the purchase date and time. And notify the user.

It is also possible to set the product life of the product purchased by the user in advance and to notify when the elapsed time reaches the product life. "Product life"
Is determined not only when the product is actually unusable, but also when it is expected that replacement will occur due to a fashion, etc., and other arbitrary circumstances. Also, the product notified to the user is not limited to the same or the same as the product purchased by the user,
It can be a completely different product.

[0008] The members of the user's family may be estimated from the products purchased by the user, and the products may be selected and notified according to the growth stage of the members. For example,
It can be presumed that if a "tricycle" is purchased, there will be a small child, and three years later, we can foresee the situation where a small bicycle will be purchased for this child. Therefore, it is possible to notify such product information at such a timing.

Another aspect of the present invention relates to an information distribution device. This device includes a history acquisition unit that acquires a purchase history of a product by a user, a product information acquisition unit that acquires information about sale of a product, a position acquisition unit that acquires a current position of the user, and an acquired current position and Based on the purchase history, a mining unit that selects a product that may motivate the user to purchase and the place where the product is provided is close to the current position, and sales information of the selected product is provided to the user. And an information notifying section for notifying the user.

Yet another aspect of the present invention also relates to an information distribution device. This device, a history acquisition unit, a product information acquisition unit, and a tracking table that records in advance the products that should be recommended to the user for a product that has passed a predetermined elapsed time from the purchase date and time of the product purchased by the user, An information notification unit for notifying the user of sales information of the recommended product.

It should be noted that any combination of the above constituent elements, and the expression of the present invention converted between a method, a device, a system, a computer program, a recording medium, etc. are also effective as an aspect of the present invention.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a network system including an information distribution server 10 according to an embodiment. Here, the information distribution server 10 and the user terminal 1
2. The shop terminal 14 is connected via the Internet 16. The user terminal 12 is a PC (personal computer), a PDA, a mobile phone connectable to the Internet 16, or any other hardware. Here, the Internet 16 appropriately informs the information distribution server 10 of special sale information or the like of the product (hereinafter simply referred to as “product information”).
The information distribution server 10 manages the purchase history of products purchased by the user, and selects and presents product information that is likely to be of interest to the user. Hereinafter, the user and the user terminal 1
2, and the store and the store terminal 14 are not distinguished unless necessary. The same applies to the information distribution server 10 and its operator.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the information distribution server 10 according to the embodiment. In terms of hardware, this configuration is
CPU, memory, other LSI of any computer
Can be realized by software, and can be realized by software such as a program having a memory-loaded purchase history management function and product information notification function. Here, the functional blocks realized by their cooperation are depicted. Therefore, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms by only hardware, only software, or a combination thereof.

The history acquisition unit 24 acquires a history of product purchases by the user. The history may be acquired from, for example, a store that has a cooperative relationship with the operator of the information distribution server 10, or if the information distribution server 10 itself has a payment function for online shopping, it can be acquired with the consent of the user. However, the method or route does not matter. The acquired history is stored in the history table 26 for each user.

The product information acquisition unit 34 is the Internet 16
Get product information from. Here, in addition to various products that the store has, information about products with special discounts such as bargains is acquired and sequentially stored in the product information table 36.
The position acquisition unit 22 acquires the current position of the user. When the user terminal 12 is a mobile phone, a PDA, a car navigation terminal or the like that can transmit position information, the position acquisition unit 22 acquires the position information from the user terminal 12.

The mining section 30 mainly has two functions. The first function is that, based on the current position of the user acquired by the position acquisition unit 22 and the purchase history of the user recorded in the history table 26, the product information to be notified to the user from the product information table 36. select. That is,
Based on the history table 26, mining is performed on the consumption tendency and the preference, and among the products of the store close to the user's current position, the product that the user is likely to show interest is selected. The purpose is to narrow down the amount of information to be distributed by adding the position of the user.

The second function is to predict and present replacement of a certain product or purchase of a related product regardless of the current position of the user. For example, if a user purchases a home electric appliance and the average life of the product is 7 years, the product information of the new model is delivered when about 7 years have passed since the purchase date and time. For this reason, the tracking table 32 is provided to track the product purchase trend over a relatively long period of time. In the tracking table 32, the product name, the predicted replacement time, and the like are described as described later. First function, second
When performing any of the functions of
Finally notifies the information notifying unit 28 of the selected product information, which notifies the corresponding user via the communication unit 20. Notification will be by email or other means.

FIG. 3 shows the structure of the history table 26. The history table 26 has a user column 50, a purchased product column 52, a purchase date column 54, and a store column 56. Here, for each of the two users “STU” and “VWX”, a history regarding “PC”, “school bag”, etc. is described. Has been done. According to the history table 26, the user “STU” has purchased a PC, an IT magazine, a wireless LAN card, or the like. The mining unit 30 may have a classification table (not shown) in which a large number of keywords included in various genres are described in advance, and the purchased product name may be collated with the table to estimate the taste or interest of the user. For user "STU",
The mining unit 30 estimates that the mining unit 30 is interested in, for example, information terminals and computers in general.

FIG. 4 shows the structure of the product information table 36. The product information table 36 includes a store column 60, a product column 62,
It has a price column 64 and a location column 66. Here, the store "ff
Information below "○○○ wine" of "f" is described together with the location of the store. The store “aaa” sells the “latest PC”. In addition to the price of the product, the product information table 36 may describe discount rates and other bargain information.

FIG. 5 shows the structure of the tracking table 32. The tracking table 32 has a user column 70, a product column 72, a purchase date column 74, a recommended product column 76, and a recommended date column 78. The recommended product column 76 shows products that should be recommended to the user when a certain time comes, and the time is described in the recommended date column 78. For example, the user “STU” purchased a PC on October 4, 1998, and there is a description on October 4, 2001 to notify merchandise information about the PC again. Since the purchase cycle of PCs is relatively short, it is appropriate to introduce the latest model within 3 years after the first purchase. On the other hand, the user “VWX” purchased the school bag on January 8, 1997, and on the following day, January 9, 1997, “desk”,
A "telescope" is recommended three years later on January 8, 2000, and a "watch" is recommended six years later on January 8, 2003. Purchasing school bags is often done for children aged 5 and 6 who are not going to elementary school, and the purpose is to make long-term information distribution effective, taking into consideration the child's growth process based on that year. Here, since the service can be provided only by the information that "a school bag has been purchased at a certain date and time", it is not necessary for the user to register the family structure and other personal information.

The processing by the above configuration will be summarized. The mining unit 30 estimates that the user “STU” is interested in the PC based on the product purchase history. Mining section 30
As the first function of, the current position of the user is used. When the current position of the user “STU” is near the store “aaa” in FIG. 4, the product information regarding the “latest PC” of this store is distributed to the user terminal 12 of that user. For example, when the user is out and the user terminal 12 is a mobile phone,
Even the smallest amount of information can be very useful. Especially,
Such information is sometimes invaluable when something you like is on sale for a short walk. From this point of view, it is desirable that the product information is distributed in real time according to the current position of the user in the first function.

The second function of the mining section 30 is a relatively long-term tracking function. In the case of the user “STU”, according to the tracking table 32, October 4, 2001
Product information regarding PCs is distributed daily. User "VW
In the case of “X”, the product information about the desk is delivered on January 9, 1997 immediately after the purchase of the school bag, and the product information about the telescope and the wristwatch is delivered at predetermined timings. As in the case of desks, it is not always necessary to have a delivery with a due date in advance, and it is reasonable to assume that the user who bought the school bag will also buy the learning desk in the near future. Product information of wristwatch is 6 from school bag
It will be delivered years later, that is, when the user's child goes to middle school. The products to be recommended at which timing and in accordance with the growth process of the child are decided together with the experience rule or the operation record of the information distribution server 10. As a result, the tracking table 32 may be enhanced at any time.

The present invention has been described above based on the embodiments. It is understood by those skilled in the art that these embodiments are mere examples, and that various modifications can be made to the combinations of the respective constituent elements and the respective processing processes, and such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. By the way.

For example, the first and second functions of the mining section 30 may be combined appropriately. That is, even if the product information has reached the timing to be distributed, it is possible to provide a policy that the product information is not distributed unless the user comes near the store that provides the product. In this case, the product information to be distributed is narrowed down to a very high level.

Depending on the type of product, which of the first and second functions is to be activated may be described in a table in advance, and the mining unit 30 may refer to the table and switch the operation by itself. For example, the first function is generally suitable for a product having a lower unit price, a smaller size, and a shorter lifespan than the second function. This is because the type of product you want to buy when you arrive near a store is suitable.

[0026]

According to the present invention, product information can be distributed to users after effective narrowing down.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a network system including an information distribution device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an information distribution device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a history table built in the information distribution device.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a product information table incorporated in the information distribution device.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a tracking table built in the information distribution device.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 information distribution server, 12 user terminal, 14
Store terminal, 22 position acquisition unit, 24 history acquisition unit,
26 history table, 28 information notification unit, 30 mining unit, 34 product information acquisition unit, 36 product information table.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G06F 17/30 340 G06F 17/30 340B 19/00 130 19/00 130

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A product purchase history by a user and a current position of the user are acquired, and a product that may be motivated by the user and whose provision location is close to the current position is selected. Information delivery method characterized by notifying the user in real time. 2. A purchase history of a product by a user is acquired in a format including the purchase date and time, and a product which may be motivated by the user to purchase is selected based on the elapsed time from the purchase date and time. An information distribution method characterized by selecting and notifying the user. 3. The product life of a product purchased by the user is set in advance, and when the elapsed time has reached the product life, the notification is given. Method. 4. The member of a family of the user is estimated from the product purchased by the user, and the product is selected and notified according to the growth stage of the member. The method described. 5. A history acquisition unit that acquires a purchase history of a product by a user, a product information acquisition unit that acquires information about sale of the product, a position acquisition unit that acquires a current position of the user, and the acquired current position. Based on the purchase history and the purchase history, a mining unit that selects a product that may be motivated by the user and whose provision location is close to the current position, and sales information of the selected product An information distribution device, comprising: an information notification unit for notifying a user. 6. A history acquisition unit for acquiring a purchase history of a product by a user, a product information acquisition unit for acquiring information on sale of the product, and a product which has passed a predetermined elapsed time from the purchase date and time of the product purchased by the user. An information distribution device, comprising: a tracking table that records in advance the products that should be recommended for purchase to the user; and an information notification unit that notifies the user of sales information of the recommended products. 7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the product to be recommended is defined by assuming a replacement product of the product purchased by the user. 8. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the recommended product is defined by estimating a growth process of a member of the user's family.