JP2003067609A - Application management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an application form matching with consumer for every consumer and to suppress the erroneous recognition of a condition specified by a consumer. SOLUTION: In a data base preparation part 30, application form data including commodity information retrieved from a commodity information data base 70 are prepared on the basis of information registered in a customer data base 60 and are registered to an application form data base 80. In an application form preparation part 10, the application form is prepared on the basis of the application form data prepared in the data base preparation part 30. Thereafter, in an application form read part 20, of the information entered in the application form, in an area where the commodity information retrieved in a commodity information retrieval part 40 is entered, only a row number indicating the area where the commodity information is entered and the information for specifying the commodity information are read. In an application content inquiry part 50, the commodity information registered in the application form data base 80 is inquired by using the read row number.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an application management system in which a consumer specifies conditions, such as a consumer ordering products in a mail order, and accepts and manages applications based on the conditions.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, when a consumer specifies conditions and accepts an application based on these conditions, such as a consumer ordering a product in a mail order, it is created by a provider of services or products. The consumer fills in the necessary items on the application form, and based on the items entered in the application form, the service application and the product order are accepted.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an application form used when ordering a product by mail order.

As shown in FIG. 4, in this conventional example,
A consumer information entry area 101 for entering information about the consumer such as the name, address, and telephone number of the consumer who orders the product and a payment method for the product, and information about the product ordered by the consumer. Order information entry area 10 for
2 and are provided.

Below, using the above-mentioned application form,
A procedure when a consumer orders and purchases a product sold by a product distributor will be described.

[0006] FIG. 5 is a flow chart for explaining a procedure when a consumer orders and purchases products using the application form shown in FIG. 4.

When a consumer uses the application form shown in FIG. 4 to order a product, first, in the consumer information entry area 101, the consumer consumes the consumer's name, address, telephone number, etc. In addition to filling in necessary information such as information regarding the person who purchases the product and how to pay the price of the product, in the order information writing area 102, fill in the necessary information such as the product name and quantity of the product ordered by the consumer (step S101). Here, the application form as shown in FIG. 4 is sent in advance from the product seller to the consumer by means such as mailing, and together with the application form, information about the products sold by the product seller. Catalogs and the like that have been posted are also sent to consumers in advance by means such as mail. The consumer selects a desired product by using a catalog or the like sent from the product seller together with the application form. At that time, in the catalog etc. sent from the product distributor, the product number assigned to each product, the size code for specifying the size when multiple sizes are set for each product, and the product When multiple colors are set for each, the color code etc. for specifying the color are posted, and the consumer orders the product number and size code of the desired product or the color code together with the product name. Fill in the information entry area 102.

After the consumer fills in the consumer information entry area 101 and the order information entry area 102, the consumer sends this application form to the merchandise distributor by means of facsimile or mail (step S102). .

[0009] When the application form sent from the consumer is received by the product distributor (step S103), information about the consumer entered in the application form and the payment method of the price of the product are received by the product distributor. , Information about the product is read (step S104), and an order for the product is accepted based on the read information (step S104).
105). Here, the reading of information from the application form in step S104 is performed by OCR when the application form is sent to the product seller by mail, and the application form is sent to the product seller by facsimile. In this case, FAX-OCR is used, which saves the trouble of reading the information entered in the application form and managing it as order information.

Thereafter, the merchandise distributor ships the merchandise specified by the consumer based on the information read from the application form in step S104 and bills for the merchandise (step S106).

[0011] The consumer receives the product shipped from the product distributor and pays for the product by the payment method entered in the application form (step S107).

[0012] In such an application management method in which the consumer enters an arbitrary condition in the application form and the application is accepted based on the condition entered in the application form, the method is not limited to the mail order as described above. , For example, at seminars and seminars, those who wish to participate enter the seminar name, the seminar name and the number of participants who wish to participate in the application form, and based on the information entered in this application form, the seminar and the seminar It is also applied to accepting applications for participation in meetings.

[0013]

However, the conventional application management method as described above has the following problems.

Since the application form sent to the consumer is uniform, for example, in mail order, the consumer is
Without looking through the catalog sent with the application form or using the catalog contents, you cannot find the desired product or the product that suits you, which is useless to search for the desired product. It may take time. In particular, even when ordering a specific product on a regular basis, it is necessary to search for the product from the catalog each time the product is ordered, and this wastes time. In addition, consumers' age and gender, preference information, etc. are registered in advance, and product distributors conduct questionnaires, etc., but the information gathered by these is used to sell future products. Often used only for planning or simply collecting data, it is not reflected in the process by which a consumer orders an item. In addition, at seminars and seminars, those who wish to participate cannot search for the desired seminar or seminar without looking through the pamphlet sent with the application form. There is a risk that it will take a lot of time to search for a seminar, and that some who wish to participate may miss a valid seminar or seminar.

Further, since it is necessary for the consumer to fill in all the information for designating the contents of the application in the application form, it takes time for the consumer to do so.

Further, since all the information for designating the application contents is written in the application form by the consumer, and the application is accepted by reading the information entered in the application form by the consumer by OCR or FAX-OCR.
When reading the information entered in the application form, there is a possibility that a reading error or erroneous recognition may occur. In particular, in the case of information entered in characters other than numbers, such as the product name of the product ordered in mail order, or the seminar name you wish to participate in when applying for seminars, the habit of writing characters is remarkable for each consumer. Therefore, there is a high possibility that a reading error or erroneous recognition will occur. Further, even when there are many products ordered by consumers and seminars that consumers desire to participate in, there is a high possibility that reading errors and erroneous recognition will occur.

The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the above-described conventional techniques, and it is possible to provide an application form suitable for each consumer, and It is an object of the present invention to provide an application management system capable of suppressing the occurrence of erroneous recognition of conditions specified by.

[0018]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an application form creating means for creating an application form for designating a predetermined condition, and an application form for designating the predetermined condition. An application form reading means for reading the selection information described in, and an application management system for receiving an application for designating the predetermined condition based on the selection information read by the application form reading means, The application form creating means creates an application form in which first identification information capable of identifying the application form and predetermined selection information are described in advance, and for each application form identified by the first identification information. , A database creating means for creating application form data including information on which area of the application form the predetermined selection information is described, and registering the application form data in an application form database, The invoice reading means reads the first identification information from the application form, and at the same time, in the area in which the predetermined selection information is described, a second area that can identify the area in which the predetermined selection information is described. Only the identification information and the information for designating the predetermined selection information are read, and when the predetermined selection information is designated in the application form, the first identification information is referred to by referring to the application form data. The application form identified by the above-mentioned application content inquiring means for inquiring the designated selection information by using the second identification information read by the application form reading means. It is characterized in that an application for designating the predetermined condition is accepted based on the selected information inquired.

Further, the application form creating means is characterized in that the application form describes selection information searched by a search condition determined for each application form.

Further, the application form creating means is characterized in that the application form is created in HTML format, and the created application form is delivered by electronic mail.

[0021] Further, it has an application form creating means for creating an application form for ordering the product, and an application form reading means for reading the product information described in the application form for ordering the product, In the application management system that receives an order for the product based on the product information read by the document reading unit, the application creating unit includes first identification information that can identify the application and predetermined product information. Is created in advance, and for each application identified by the first identification information, application data including information on in which area of the application the predetermined product information is described. And a database creating means for registering the application form data in the application form database, wherein the application form reading means reads the first identification information from the application form and In the area where the product information is described, only the second identification information capable of identifying the area where the predetermined product information is described and the information for designating the predetermined product information are read, and the application form is read. When the predetermined merchandise information is designated, the application form data is referred to, and the second identification read by the application form reading means is identified by the application form identified by the first identification information. It has an application content inquiry means for inquiring the specified product information using information, and receives an order for the product based on the product information inquired by the application content inquiry means.

Further, the application form reading means reads the first identification information from the application form and, in an area in which the predetermined product information is described, an area in which the predetermined product information is described. Only the identifiable second identification information and the information for designating the order quantity of the product identified by the predetermined product information are read, and the product information inquired by the application content inquiry means and the application form reading means It is characterized in that the order for the merchandise is accepted based on the order quantity specified by the information read in.

Further, the database creating means creates a product information database in which the product information is registered and a customer database in which information regarding a consumer who provides the application form is registered, and is registered in the customer database. A predetermined search condition is set based on the information about the consumer, and the product information database is searched according to the search condition. It is characterized in that the product information retrieved by the information retrieval means is described in the application form.

(Operation) In the present invention configured as described above, selection information for designating a predetermined condition is described in advance in an application form for designating a condition such as ordering a product. . When the consumer uses this application form to specify conditions such as ordering products, the selection information for that will be entered in the application form, but the conditions are specified by the selection information described in advance in the application form. To do so, simply specify this selection information on the application form. For example, when ordering a desired product using an application form and the product information for identifying the product is previously described in the application form, it is sufficient to enter the order quantity of the product. . After that, the application reading means reads the selection information described in the application, but in the area where the selection information is described in advance, the selection information described in the application is not read and the selection information is not read. Only the second identification information capable of identifying the area in which is written and the information for designating this selection information such as the ordered quantity of the product are read. Further, the application form reading means also reads the first identification information capable of identifying the application form from the application form. On the other hand, in the database creating means, for each application identified by the first identification information, create application data including information on which area of the application the selection information previously described in the application is described. Then, the application form data is registered in the application form database. If the selection information pre-listed in the application form is specified as a result of reading the information written in the application form by the application form reading means, the application form data registered in the application form database by the application content inquiry means In reference to the application form identified by the first identification information, the designated selection information is inquired using the second identification information read by the application form reading means. Then, the application for specifying the condition is accepted based on the selection information inquired by the application content inquiry means.

In this way, such as ordering a product,
Since the selection information for designating the predetermined condition is described in advance in the application form provided to the consumer to specify the condition, if this selection information is properly set for each application form,
The consumer can be encouraged to apply for the appropriate information, and the labor for the consumer to fill out this selection information in the application form can be saved. In the area where the selection information is described in advance, the second identification information that can identify the area where the selection information is described without reading the selection information described in the application form and the order quantity of the product Read only the information to specify this selection information, such as
The application content inquiry means refers to the application form data registered in the application form database, and inquires about the selection information described in the area identified by the second identification information read by the application form reading means, Since the application is accepted, occurrence of a reading error or erroneous recognition when the information described in the application is read by the application reading unit is suppressed.

[0026]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an application management system of the present invention, showing an example of an application management system applied to mail order.

As shown in FIG. 1, this embodiment is based on a database creating section 30 for creating a customer database 60, a product information database 70, an application form database 80 and an order information database 90, and information registered in the customer database 60. From the product information search unit 40 that searches for predetermined product information from the product information database 70, the application form creation unit 10 that creates an application form to be provided to the consumer, and the application form in which the consumer has filled in necessary items. The application form reading unit 20 reads predetermined information, and the application content inquiry unit 50 inquires information registered in the application form database 80 based on the information read by the application form reading unit 20. .

The customer database 60 contains consumer attribute information such as the consumer's name, age, sex, address, and telephone number, a customer ID for identifying the consumer, and information on the consumer's hobbies and preferences. , The consumer's past purchase history,
Information such as consumers' requests is registered, and the product information database 70 is registered with product information such as product names and sales prices of products to be sold to consumers.
Therefore, in the product information search unit 40, predetermined product information is searched from the product information database 70 for each consumer based on the information registered in the customer database 60. For example, the product information database 70 is searched for products that match the hobbies and tastes of the consumers registered in the customer database 60, or the consumers are registered based on the past purchase history of the consumers registered in the customer database 60. Items that you regularly purchase are searched.

The database creating unit 30 creates application form data to be provided to consumers using the product information retrieved by the product information retrieval unit 40, and the created application form data is the application form database 80. At the same time, the application form is printed in the application form creation unit 10 based on the application form data created in the database creation unit 30.

The application reading unit 20 is an OCR or FA.
It consists of X-OCR and is printed by the application form creation unit 10.
Of the application form in which the consumer has filled in the necessary items, only the information described in the prescribed items is read, and the application content inquiry section 50 is read.
In the application form reading section 20, the application form data registered in the application form database 80 is queried based on the information read from the application form.

The database creation unit 30 creates order information indicating the contents ordered by the consumer for each consumer based on the application form data inquired by the application content inquiry unit 50, and the order information is stored. It will be registered in the order information database 90.

Below, a description will be given of the processing when a consumer orders a product to be sold by a product distributor employing the application management system configured as described above.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining a process when a consumer orders an item for sale sold by an item seller adopting the application management system shown in FIG.

The consumer is the consumer's name, age, sex, address, telephone number and other attribute information of the consumer, and the consumer's hobbies.
Information about tastes and information such as consumer demands are submitted to the product seller (step S1). Note that the above-mentioned registration of information about consumers may be performed by means such as mailing or facsimile, or by transmitting to the product seller via the Internet using a terminal connectable to the Internet. You can go.

The information about the consumer as described above is registered in the customer database 60 in the database creating section 30 in association with the customer ID capable of identifying the consumer (step S2).

At the timing of selling the product, the product seller sends the catalog and the application form for ordering the product listed in the catalog to the consumer by means such as mailing. At that time, first, the product is sold. The information retrieval unit 40 retrieves predetermined product information from the product information database 70 based on the information registered in the customer database 60 for each consumer whose attribute information and the like are registered in the customer database 60 (step S3). In the product information database 70, information about products such as product names and sales prices of products sold by product sellers to consumers is registered, and any search condition is set according to the information about consumers registered in the customer database 60. Is set, and predetermined product information is searched by this search condition. For example, when the information about the hobbies and tastes of consumers registered in the customer database 60 is gardening, a search condition of gardening goods is set, and by this search condition,
Predetermined product information is retrieved from the product information database 70. In addition, when the consumer has purchased the product sold by the product seller in the past, the purchase history is registered in the customer database 60, and the predetermined product information is also stored in the product information database according to the purchase history. 70
It is searched from. For example, when it is registered in the customer database 60 as a purchase history that a consumer regularly purchases a specific T-shirt, the product information database 60 is searched for product information regarding the T-shirt. Further, when the product that the consumer wants to purchase is registered in the customer database 60 as the consumer's request, the product information database 70 is searched for product information related to the product requested by the consumer. For example, if a consumer wants to purchase a sofa, the customer database 60 is requested in advance.
If registered in, the search condition of sofa is set, and the product information database 7 is set according to this search condition.
The product information regarding the sofa is searched from 0. The product information retrieved from the product information database 70 as described above is associated with the customer ID of the information about the consumer who is the source of the search condition setting in the product information search unit 40.

Next, in the database creating section 30,
Application form data including the product information retrieved by the product information retrieval unit 40 is created (step S4). The application form data created by the database creation unit 30 is the customer I
It consists of a customer ID for each consumer identified by D, an application form number that is the first identification information given to each application form, and the product information retrieved by the product information retrieval unit 40.
Further, in the product information retrieved by the product information retrieval unit 40, a line that is second identification information indicating which line in the order column of the application form is printed when the application form is printed. Number information is attached.

The application form data created by the database creating unit 30 is registered in the application form database 80 (step S5) and sent to the application form creating unit 10.

In the application form creating unit 10, based on the application form data created by the database creating unit 30,
An application form is printed for each consumer (step S6).

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an application form used in the application management system shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, the application form printed by the application form creating section 10 includes the application form number 1 assigned to each application form, and the product ordered by the consumer. An order information entry area 2 is provided as an order field for entering information about the information, and the order information entry area 2 includes information about the product searched by the product information search unit 40 and the product in a catalog. The number of published pages is listed. The product information described in the order information entry area 2 is printed on each line designated by the line number information added to the application form data registered in the application form database 80. In addition, the order information entry area 2 is provided with an area in which information about products other than the products retrieved by the product information retrieval unit 40 can be entered.

Here, when the number of products retrieved by the product information retrieval unit 40 is large and a large amount of product information is described in the order information entry area 2, the consumer describes in the order information entry area 2. Since it becomes necessary to consider an order for a large number of products that have been referred to by referring to a catalog, it may be possible to limit the number of product information items searched by the product information search unit 40.

The application form printed by the application form creating unit 10 is sent from the product seller to the consumer by means of mail or the like together with the product catalog or the like (step S7).

The consumer who receives the application form and the catalog sent from the merchandise distributor (step S8) refers to the catalog and enters the information and the quantity of the product to be ordered in the order information entry area 2 of the application form. (Step S9),
The application form is sent to the product seller by mail or facsimile (step S10). Here, when the consumer orders the product searched by the product information search unit 40 and described in the order information entry area 2 in advance, all he / she has to do is enter the order quantity in the quantity entry area. When ordering an item not listed in the order information entry area 2, the catalog is referred to and the number of the item to be ordered is entered together with information about the item to be ordered such as the item number and item name of the item.

When the product vendor receives the application form sent from the consumer (step S11), the application form reading section 20 uses the OCR if the application form is sent by mail, or the application form. If is sent by facsimile, the information described in the application form is read by FAX-OCR (step S12). Here, the application form reading section 20 reads the application form number 1 and the information about the product described in the order information entry area 2 among the information described in the application form, but in the order information entry area 2 Among the information about the listed products, regarding the information about the products that are searched by the product information search unit 40 and are listed in the order information entry area 2, only the line number and the quantity indicating the line are read.

Next, the application content inquiry section 50 retrieves the application form data registered in the application form database 80 by the application form number read by the application form reading section 20. Further, regarding the retrieved application form data, the product information specified by the line number of the product information in which the quantity is described among the line numbers read by the application form reading unit 20 is inquired (step S13). Further, by the application form number, which consumer the application form belongs to is discriminated by the customer ID from the application form data registered in the application form database 80.

As described above, in the present embodiment, for the information about the product retrieved by the product information retrieval unit 40 and described in the order information entry area 2 in advance, the application form is indicated by the application form number and the line number. Since the information regarding the product is specified in the application form data registered in the database 80, the application form reading unit 20 reads only the line number and the quantity, and the application content inquiry unit 50 reads the read application form number. Information about the product will be inquired by the line number.

After the application content inquiry unit 50 inquires about the product, the information read by the application form reading unit 20 and the information inquired by the application content inquiry unit 50 are used for each consumer. Order information indicating the details of the order placed by the consumer is created, and the order information is registered in the order information database 90 (step S14).

Thereafter, based on the order information registered in the order information database 90 and the name and address of the consumer registered in the customer database 60, the product ordered by the consumer is shipped to the consumer, and The price of the product is billed to the consumer (step S15). Regarding the name and address of the consumer, the name and address of the consumer identified by the customer ID included in the application form data inquired by the application content inquiry unit 50 are retrieved from the customer database 60. .

The consumer receives the product shipped from the product distributor and pays the price of the product (step S16).

In this embodiment, the information about the consumer is registered in the customer database 60 before the consumer orders the product. However, when the consumer orders the product, the information about the consumer is stored by the customer. It is conceivable that the application is made by registering in the database 60, and from the time of the next order, the merchandise seller uses the information about the consumers registered in the customer database 60.

Further, the information about the product described in advance in the order information entry area 2 of the application form is not limited to the information about the product retrieved from the product information database 70 based on the information registered in the customer database 60, but the product sales The information may be information about products recommended by a trader through a campaign or the like. Even in that case, needless to say, the line number in the order information entry area 2 is given to the information regarding the product in the application form data registered in the application form database 80.

Further, in this embodiment, the application form is printed by the product distributor, the necessary items for the consumer to order the product are entered on the printed application form, and the necessary items are entered by the product distributor. Although the information on the application form is read, it is also possible to send and receive such an application form using electronic mail. In this case, it is necessary that the consumer cannot change the form of the application form created by the product seller by using the HTML format e-mail.

Further, in the present embodiment, the mail order has been described as an example to which the application management system is applied, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the application as described above can be made in a seminar or a seminar. Apply the management system,
For those who wish to participate in seminars and seminars, it is possible to manage the application by creating an application form according to their hobbies and preferences, past attendance history, etc.

[0056]

As described above, in the present invention,
Since the application form provided to the consumer to specify conditions such as ordering a product contains the selection information for specifying the predetermined conditions in advance, this selection information is applied to each application form. If set appropriately, the consumer can be encouraged to apply for appropriate information, and the consumer can save time and effort to fill in the application with this selection information.

In addition, in the area where the selection information is described in advance, the selection information described in the application form is not read and the area where the selection information is described can be identified.
Identification information and the information for specifying this selection information, such as the order quantity of the product, and then read the application form by referring to the application form data registered in the application form database in the application content inquiry means. When the information written in the application form is read by the application form reading device, the selection information written in the area identified by the second identification information read by the device is inquired and the application is accepted. It is possible to suppress the occurrence of reading errors and erroneous recognition in.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an application management system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining a process when a consumer orders an item for sale sold by an item seller adopting the application management system shown in FIG.

3 is a diagram showing an example of an application form used in the application management system shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an application form used when ordering a product by mail order.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining a procedure when a consumer orders and purchases a product using the application form shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 application number 2 Order information entry area 10 application form 20 Application Form Reading Section 30 Database creation department 40 Product information search section 50 Application details inquiry section 60 customer database 70 Product Information Database 80 Application Form Database 90 Order information database

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An application form creating means for creating an application form for designating a predetermined condition, and an application form reading means for reading selection information described in the application form for designating the predetermined condition. In the application management system that receives an application for designating the predetermined condition based on the selection information read by the application reading unit, the application creating unit can identify the application first Identification information and predetermined selection information are created in advance, and the predetermined selection information is described in which area of the application form for each application identified by the first identification information. The application form data including information on whether or not the application form has been registered, and the database form means for registering the application form data in the application form database. The application form reading means includes the first identification information from the application form. The second identification information capable of reading the information and identifying the area in which the predetermined selection information is described and the information for designating the predetermined selection information only in the area in which the predetermined selection information is described. When the predetermined selection information is designated in the application form, the application form data is referred to, and the application form identified by the first identification information is read by the application form reading means. The application content inquiry means for inquiring the specified selection information by using the read second identification information, and the predetermined condition is specified based on the selection information inquired by the application content inquiry means. An application management system, which is characterized by accepting an application to do. 2. The application management system according to claim 1, wherein the application form creating unit describes selection information searched for by a search condition determined for each application form in the application form. Application management system to do. 3. The application management system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the application form creating means creates the application form in HTML format and delivers the created application form by electronic mail. An application management system characterized by: 4. An application form creating means for creating an application form for ordering a product, and an application form reading means for reading product information described in the application form for ordering the product. In the application management system that receives an order for the product based on the product information read by the document reading unit, the application creating unit includes first identification information capable of identifying the application and predetermined product information. Is created in advance, and for each application identified by the first identification information, application data including information on in which area of the application the predetermined product information is described. And a database creating means for registering the application form data in an application form database, wherein the application form reading means reads the first identification information from the application form, and In the area where the product information is described, only the second identification information that can identify the area where the predetermined product information is described and the information for designating the predetermined product information are read, and in the application form When the predetermined merchandise information is designated, the application form data is referred to, and the second identification read by the application form reading means is identified by the application form identified by the first identification information. An application management system having an application content inquiry means for inquiring the specified product information using information, and receiving an order for the product based on the product information inquired by the application content inquiry means. . 5. The application management system according to claim 4, wherein the application form reading unit reads the first identification information from the application form and, in the area where the predetermined product information is described, Only the second identification information capable of identifying the area in which the predetermined product information is described and the information for designating the order quantity of the product identified by the predetermined product information are read, and the application content inquiry means An application management system, which receives an order for the product based on an ordered quantity specified by the inquired product information and the information read by the application reading unit. 6. The application management system according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the database creating unit registers a product information database in which the product information is registered and information about a consumer who provides the application form. A customer database that is created, sets a predetermined search condition based on the information about the consumer registered in the customer database, and has a product information search unit that searches the product information database according to the search condition, The application management system characterized in that the application form creating means describes, for each application form, the product information retrieved by the product information retrieval means in the application form.