JP2003216861A - System and method for commodity information distribution - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a commodity information distribution system which can transmit update information of commodity information specially useful for business activities to respective stores and persons in charge of sales of selling companies. <P>SOLUTION: The commodity information distribution system determines a unique system-side commodity management number for a commodity according to an inputted commodity management code and stores commodity main information on a commodity name, etc., commodity image information on the commodity, a display place, etc., and commodity additional information in a commodity data storage device 3 while relating them with the system-side commodity management number. When each piece of data is updated, its update information is sent to respective stores and receiving devices 6 of users such as persons in charge of sales in real time. Business activities are assisted with the commodity image information to prevent a business chance from being lost. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a product information distribution system and method, and more particularly to a product information distribution system and method for distributing product information composed of character data and image data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A product information distribution system that distributes product information using the Internet is known. In conventional product information distribution systems, information about products is generally
A main information and ancillary information are classified into a database. By using such a database, even if the product is frequently replaced, the data is corrected efficiently by correcting each database.

However, the conventional product information distribution system is
Since there is no means to notify the user of each store or sales person that the product information has been updated, if the product is replaced, etc., unless the user accesses it,
There was a problem that the update of product information could not be grasped.

Further, since the management of the products is managed only by the product management codes such as JAN, EAN and UPC, when there are a plurality of products having the same management code, for example, there are a plurality of products of different colors, Alternatively, there is a problem in that it is not possible to perform accurate product management when the quantity of each product is different in the packaging of the product.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-125976 discloses that
An integrated system for ordering and ordering merchandise for solving the above problems is described. The system described in the publication includes a product master data storage unit that stores basic information including a product name and price information, as well as information that associates a sales product code system and a purchased product code system with each other. When the content is updated, the updated information is transmitted to the supplier, and the supplier places an order based on the updated information.

Since the information stored in the product master data storage means also includes information such as the ordering unit at the time of transaction, accurate product management at the time of transaction becomes possible. Further, the latest product information is transmitted to the ordering side by transmitting the update information of the product information as described above.

[0007]

In the product order acceptance integrated system described in the above publication, the supplier is notified each time the basic information of the product and the auxiliary information necessary for ordering and ordering the product are updated. Therefore, transactions based on the latest information are carried out between businesses.

[0008] In addition, each store and sales representative of the sales company
By receiving the above-mentioned updated information from the manufacturing company in real time, it becomes possible to carry out a quick business operation. However, when a general consumer purchases a product such as an automobile, the appearance of the product occupies a large factor in deciding the purchase. There is a problem of sufficient.

In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a product information distribution system capable of providing suitable update information of product information at the time of a transaction between each store or sales person of a sales company and a general consumer. And

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the product information distribution system of the present invention includes product main information including a system-side management code assigned corresponding to a product management code, and the system side. A product information storage unit that stores product information including image information of products that are stored in association with a management code, and each time the product information is updated, the updated product information is transmitted to a predetermined terminal. And a distribution data transmitting unit for performing the distribution data transmission.

Further, the product information distribution method of the present invention includes product main information including a system-side management code assigned corresponding to a product management code, and image information of a product stored in association with the system-side management code. It is characterized in that the product information including and is stored, and the updated product information is transmitted to a predetermined terminal every time the product information is updated.

According to the merchandise information distribution system and method of the present invention, each time the merchandise information is updated, the update information including the image information of the merchandise is transmitted to a predetermined terminal, so that each store or sales person can consume The image information of the product that can be presented to the person as it is can be obtained in real time, and there is no loss of business opportunity due to the time lag of information transmission when selling the product.

Here, the product management code is JAN, EAN,
It refers to a general product management code such as UPC, and the system-side management code refers to the management code unique to this product information distribution system. One or more system-side management codes are set corresponding to one product management code.

In the product information distribution system of the present invention, it is preferable that the distribution data transmitting means and the predetermined terminal are connected via the internet. In particular, using a portable terminal is suitable for sales activities such as door-to-door sales.

In the product information distribution system of the present invention, it is preferable that one management code corresponds to a plurality of system side management codes. In this case, the same product can be managed for multiple generations, and the difference between the old model and the new model can be explained while appealing to the eyes of the consumer.

It is also a preferred embodiment of the present invention that the product information includes quantity information of the product. By including the product quantity information up to the product quantity information and transmitting the updated information to the terminal in real time, accurate information can be shared between the manufacturing department and the store or sales person.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described in more detail based on the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings. Figure 1
FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a product information distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This system includes an input device 1 including information input means such as a keyboard and a bar code reader, a data processing device (CP) that performs desired processing by program control.
U) 2, a product information storage device that is configured as a database, has a built-in product data storage device 3 including a hard disk, an optical disc, and the like, and a storage device 41 that stores product delivery information, and that delivers product information to users by program control. 4, an output device 5 including a display device and a printer, and a receiving device 6 such as a mobile terminal owned by a user such as a store or a sales person. The product information distribution device 4 and the reception device 6 are connected via the Internet.

The data processing device 2 includes a corresponding data extracting / combining means 21 and a distribution data creating means 22. The corresponding data extraction / combination means 21 searches the product main information storage unit 31 using the product management number such as JAN, EAN, UPC code, etc. as a key code among the product information input from the input device 1, and searches for the product character. Applicable product data including information is extracted. Further, the system management number assigned by the system is acquired from the extracted data. The system management number is added by the system as a unique management number corresponding to the product one-to-one. The data processing device 2 extracts the product image information and the product accompanying information by using the acquired system management number as a key, and displays the product data in which these are combined with the product character information on the output device 5.

If the corresponding product character information does not exist in the product main information storage unit 31, a system management number is generated as new registration information, and this is combined with the input data to be stored in the product main information storage unit 31. Register. After registering the data, the input data is displayed on the output device 5.

The distribution data creating means 22 extracts the product data based on the new or updated product data transmitted from the corresponding data extracting / combining means 21 and the distribution items acquired from the distribution information storage section 41. The summarized delivery data is created and transmitted to the delivery data transmitting means 42.

The data storage device 3 is a commodity main information storage unit 3
1, a product image information storage unit 32, and a product incidental information storage unit 33. The product main information storage unit 31 stores the product name, manufacturer, classification, price, and the like. The product image information storage unit 32 stores, for each product, several patterns of image information such as the appearance and display of the product and the advertisement of the product such as POP and leaflets. The product incidental information 33 includes inventory status of products, physical distribution information, set products composed of corresponding products,
Stores additional information such as product attributes.

Data relating to a specific product in each of the product information storage units 31, 32 and 33 are associated with each other by the system management number assigned by the data processing device 21.

The data distribution device 4 includes a distribution information storage unit 41.
And distribution data transmitting means 42. The distribution information storage unit 41 stores the e-mail address of the user who distributes,
The mobile terminal number and the information of items to be distributed are stored. The distribution data transmitting unit 42 distributes the distribution data created by the distribution data creating unit 22 to the receiving device 6 owned by the user via the Internet.

The operation of product information registration and update in the product information distribution system of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The system administrator (input person) uses the input device 1 such as a bar code reader or a keyboard when registering a new product or changing information about an already-registered product. Enter the product control number (product control code) on the user side that consists of character strings such as EAN and UPC.

When the character string is input from the input device 1, the relevant data extracting / combining means 21 acquires the product management code from the character string (step A1). Then, based on the acquired product management code, the product owner information storage unit 3
Search for 1. That is, the relevant data extraction / combination process 21
Indicates that the input product management code is the product main information storage unit 31.
It is checked whether or not it exists inside (step A2). When the product management code exists in the product main information storage unit 31,
The product main information corresponding to the product management code is extracted.
The list of the extracted product main information is displayed on the screen of the output device 5 such as a display (step A3). If the system management number is present in the product main information, the system management number is also displayed.

Next, the data combiner 21 allows the input person to select whether to update the product data of the product displayed on the screen or register it as a new product (step A4). . When the system management number is present in the product main information and the update of the product data is selected, the product image information storage unit 32 stores the product image information and the product accessory information about the product corresponding to the system management number.
And the product accessory information storage unit 33 (steps A5 and A6).

All the extracted merchandise information is displayed on the display device, and the input person inputs a corrected portion for desired data in the merchandise owner information, merchandise image information, and merchandise accompanying information (step A7). Corresponding data extraction / combining means 21
Compares the entered corrections with the original information,
The data portion to be updated is extracted, written in the corresponding storage units 31, 32, 33 and transmitted to the distribution data creating means 22 (step A8). The update data is stored in the distribution information storage unit 41 and displayed on the output device 5 (step A12).

If the input person selects registration of a new product in step A4, or if the product management code entered in the product character information storage unit 31 in step A2 does not exist, the process proceeds to step A9 to perform data processing. The device 21 assigns a system management number to the input product. Next, this system management number is registered in the product main information storage unit 31, and necessary information is registered in the product image information storage unit 32 and the product accompanying information storage unit 33 using the system management number as a key. (Step A10).

FIG. 3 shows a process of delivering registered or updated product information by the system of the present embodiment. The product data is distributed when a new product is registered and when the product information is updated. Each time each product is registered or updated, or a certain number of products are registered or updated. When they do, they are done together. The distribution process starts when the corresponding data extracting / combining means 21 transmits the update data to the distribution data creating means 22 in step A3.

The distribution data creating means 22 extracts distribution items based on the item data stored in the distribution data storage unit 41 (step B1), and the distribution product information is new product registration information or updating of existing products. Check if it is information (step B2). When the distribution information is registration information of a new product, the input information is acquired, and when the existing product information is updated, the input information and the existing product information are acquired (step B3 and
B4). After this data is acquired, distribution data is created based on the distribution item list information (step B5).

Depending on the combination of the distribution item list and the data, it may not be possible to create the distribution information, so it is confirmed whether or not the distribution information can be created (step B6). If the distribution information can be created, the distribution data creating means 4
2 acquires the distribution destination user list information from the distribution information storage unit 41 (step B7), and creates a summary of the distribution contents from the product data and data to which a link to the product data is added. The created distribution content is transmitted to the distribution data transmitting means 42, and the distribution process is performed (step B8). Next, the distribution data transmitting means 42 confirms whether or not the distribution process has been performed (step B9), and outputs the distribution result if the distribution process has been successfully performed (step (B10),
If the delivery process cannot be performed, "undeliverable" is output (step B11). This ends the distribution process.

In the merchandise information distribution system of the present embodiment, by creating a summary of distribution contents, a heavy load is not placed on the data processing device and the storage unit on the receiving side. The user on the receiving side can access the database and refer to the detailed information of the corresponding product by following the link only for the product data of interest.

According to the above embodiment, since the registration information and the update information are transmitted immediately after the new registration or update of the product information, the system user can refer to the registration / update information in real time. Previously, when the purchasing department or the materials department revised product information, a time lag of several hours or days was required to check the revised information at each store.
In the above embodiment, such a time lag can be eliminated. In other words, each store and sales person in charge can confirm the revision contents in real time after revision of the product information, which leads to expansion of business opportunities.

Further, by assigning a system-side product management number on the system side and performing management based on the assigned number, a plurality of products, even one product having the same JAN, EAN, and UPC code, can be managed. Product information can be managed individually. Therefore, it is possible to manage the generations of the same product, for example.

By assigning the product management code on the system side, the user can flexibly deal with the change of the product management code input as a search key. Therefore, it becomes possible to reduce the number of man-hours for modification on the system side in response to a request for changing the search conditions and the like, which leads to an improvement in productivity.

[0036]

As described above, according to the merchandise information distribution system and method of the present invention, the latest update information of merchandise information is sent to a predetermined terminal owned by a user such as each store or a sales person. Since it can be transmitted without delay, it is possible to carry out business activities without loss of business opportunity.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a product information distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing registration and update processing of product information in the product information distribution system of FIG.

3 is a flowchart showing a distribution process of update information in the product information distribution system of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Input device 2: Data processing device 21: Corresponding data extraction / combining means 22: means for creating distribution data 3: Product data storage device 31: Product owner information storage unit 32: Product image information storage unit 33: Product accessory information storage unit 4: Data distribution device 41: Distribution information storage unit 42: Distribution data transmission means 5: Output device 6: Receiver

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A product which stores product information including product main information including a system-side management code assigned corresponding to a product management code and image information of a product which is stored in association with the system-side management code. A product information distribution system comprising: an information storage unit; and distribution data transmission means for transmitting the updated product information to a predetermined terminal each time the product information is updated. 2. The product information distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the distribution data transmission means and the predetermined terminal are connected via the Internet. 3. The product information distribution system according to claim 1, wherein one product management code corresponds to a plurality of system-side management codes. 4. The product information includes product quantity information.
The consumption information distribution system according to claim 1. 5. Product information including product main information including a system-side management code assigned corresponding to the product management code and image information of a product stored in association with the system-side management code is stored. A product information distribution method, wherein each time the product information is updated, the updated product information is transmitted to a predetermined terminal. 6. The product information distribution method according to claim 5, wherein one product management code corresponds to a plurality of system-side management codes. 7. The product information includes product quantity information.
The consumption information distribution method according to claim 5 or 6.