JP2003228659A - Commercial transaction support method, system and device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To support smooth electronic commercial transaction while distributing and managing commercial transaction information. <P>SOLUTION: This system comprises servers 110-130 for merchandise supplying agents A, B and C, personal computers 210-230 for merchandise circulating agents X, Y and Z and a computer 300 for a mediating agent. A typical form for inputting information is downloaded from a typical form providing part 310 to the servers 110-130, and commercial transaction information is inputted to the typical form, and distributed and managed as information files F110-F130. A retrieval processing part 320 retrieves the files F110-F130 in response to retrieval instructions from the personal computers 210-230, and reports the result. A typical form for ordering is downloaded from the typical form providing part 310 to the personal computers 210-230, and ordering is instructed to an ordering processing part 330 by using the typical form. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is for supporting a commercial transaction between a commodity supplier that supplies a commodity and a commodity distributor that distributes the supplied commodity to a market by using a computer network. More specifically, the present invention relates to a technology that enables a commodity supplier to present various commodity transaction information to a commodity distributor via the Internet to search for a desired commodity and place an order.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the spread of the Internet, electronic commerce has become active. In particular, with a product supplier (for example, a manufacturer company) that supplies products,
The so-called BtoB (Business to Business) electronic commerce that is performed between a product distributor (for example, a supermarket management company) that distributes the supplied products to the market, through various intermediary sites called marketplaces. It is carried out by exchanging product transaction information, and office work from product selection to ordering is processed via the network. In order to participate in electronic commerce using such a marketplace, each product supplier manages the product information regarding individual products handled by the company and the transaction information for each supplier by the marketplace management body. It may be registered in the database in the server device via the network. Product information and transaction information related to various products supplied from multiple product suppliers are centrally managed by the database on this marketplace, so individual product distributors can access this database via the network. It becomes possible to obtain necessary product information and transaction information, and it becomes possible to perform order processing using this database.

[0003]

A characteristic of the above-mentioned electronic commerce using the marketplace is that the commodity transaction information held by a large number of commodity suppliers is centrally managed on a central database. The market will be developed on the database. In this way, the centralized method of collecting all commodity transaction information in a central database and centrally managing it has the advantage that all necessary information can be obtained simply by accessing the central database. To be However, on the other hand, the scale of the database that constitutes the marketplace becomes enormous as the number of participating companies increases, which requires large-scale hardware and large-scale management software. In addition, if such a centralized method is adopted, if the central database system goes down, all the functions of electronic commerce will be stopped and it will take time to restore.

On the other hand, the product suppliers who participate in this marketplace need to register their own product transaction information in the database that constitutes the marketplace. Therefore, if there are a wide variety of products handled and the specifications and prices change frequently,
Merchandise suppliers must frequently update the registered contents in the database. Normally, each product supplier builds its own in-house computer system to manage product information and transaction information, and the data in the in-house system is updated whenever the product specifications or prices change. Is being corrected. However, the data format of the database that constitutes the marketplace is different from the data format of the in-house system of each product supplier. Therefore, it is necessary for each product supplier to perform the data update work in the database that constitutes the market place separately from the data update work in the in-house system. As described above, the conventional marketplace type electronic commerce form has a problem that an extra work load is imposed on participating commodity suppliers.

As a method for solving such a problem, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-148848, instead of centrally managing data in a central database that constitutes a marketplace, individual commodity suppliers do not A technique is disclosed in which a plurality of databases constructed independently of each other are used, and an intermediary server is used to cross-search these plurality of databases to acquire information. However, it is necessary to standardize the data format in each database, and it is difficult to operate smoothly in practice.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a commercial transaction support technology capable of supporting smooth electronic commercial transactions while managing commodity transaction information in a distributed manner.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] (1) A first aspect of the present invention is to perform a commercial transaction between a product supplier that supplies a product and a product distributor that distributes the supplied product to the market.
In a commercial transaction support method for supporting using a computer network, a step of preparing a plurality of commodity supplier computers, a plurality of commodity distributor computers, and a general management computer; , Preparing an information input standard form for inputting product transaction information, and downloading the information input standard form from the computer for general management to each product supplier computer via the network And, the information file is created by inputting the product transaction information about each product to be supplied by the individual product supplier to the downloaded information input standard form, and the created information file is used by each product supplier computer. In-store stage and individual product supplier comp An information file stored in the chromatography data, via a network, in which to perform the steps of the public to the individual commodity distributor computer, a.

(2) A second aspect of the present invention is the above-mentioned first aspect.
In the commerce support method according to the aspect, the step of giving a product search instruction from the product distributor computer to the integrated management computer via the network, and using the search engine provided in the integrated management computer , The step of collecting the search results according to the product search instruction by searching the information files stored in the individual computer for the product supplier via the network, and giving the product search instruction from the computer for overall management To the computer for the product distributor, through the network,
The step of reporting the collected search results is further performed.

(3) A third aspect of the present invention relates to the above-mentioned first aspect.
Alternatively, in the commerce support method according to the second aspect, a step of preparing a standard ordering form for inputting a product ordering instruction in the computer for overall management, and the product distribution from the computer for overall management via the network. At the stage of downloading the standard form for ordering to the computer for traders, and on the downloaded standard form for ordering,
Creating a product ordering file by inputting a product ordering instruction to a predetermined ordering party, and transmitting the created product ordering file to the central management computer via the network, and transmission in the central management computer. A predetermined electronic signature is added to the received product ordering file, and the product ordering file with the electronic signature is transmitted to the computer for the product supplier who is the ordering destination via the network. It is a thing.

(4) A fourth aspect of the present invention is the above-mentioned second aspect.
Alternatively, in the business transaction support method according to the third aspect, a Web for individually accepting access from each commodity distributor computer in the general management computer
A portal site is built by the server, and each portal site is accessed using the Web browser function of each product distributor computer, and product search instructions or product orders are placed on the Web page provided by each portal site. The instruction is input.

(5) A fifth aspect of the present invention relates to the above-mentioned first aspect.
~ In the commercial transaction support method according to the fourth aspect, a standard form in a format that can be browsed by a Web browser is prepared as a standard form for information input prepared in the computer for overall management, and an individual product supplier computer The information file stored inside is disclosed as a Web page.

(6) A sixth aspect of the present invention is based on the above first aspect.
~ In the commercial transaction support method according to the fifth aspect, the image data of the commodity transaction information is stored in the computer for overall management, and the information file stored in each computer for commodity supplier is The information indicating the location of the image data is input.

(7) A seventh aspect of the present invention relates to the above-mentioned first aspect.
In the commercial transaction support method according to the sixth aspect, the commodity transaction information is configured by commodity information unique to each commodity and transaction information unique to each customer, and the commodity form is used as a standard form for information input. A commodity information fixed form for inputting information and a transaction information fixed form for inputting transaction information are prepared.

(8) An eighth aspect of the present invention is based on the above-mentioned seventh aspect.
In the commercial transaction support method according to the aspect (1), one product information file created by inputting product information unique to the product into a product information standard form for one product, and individual product distributors as business partners. Transaction information file for each individual product distributor created by inputting each transaction information to the transaction information fixed form,
Is created, and the created product information file and transaction information file are stored in the product supplier computer as an information file for the product.

(9) A ninth aspect of the present invention is based on the above-mentioned eighth aspect.
In the commerce support method according to the aspect 1, when a computer for a specific merchandise distributor issues a commodity search instruction regarding a specific merchandise to the computer for general management, a search provided in the computer for general management Using the engine, search the information file stored in the computer for each individual product supplier via the network, and among the information files related to the specific product, the product information file and the transaction information file related to the specific product distributor. Is extracted as a search result and is reported to a computer for a specific product distributor.

(10) A tenth aspect of the present invention is the commerce support method according to the eighth or ninth aspect, wherein:
The information file about the product is configured as one file on the computer system, and the product information file and the transaction information file are set as one file on the computer system.
It is designed to be handled as a partial file that constitutes a file.

(11) An eleventh aspect of the present invention uses a computer network for a commercial transaction between a product supplier that supplies a product and a product distributor that distributes the supplied product in the market. In a commercial transaction support system for supporting, a computer for a commodity supplier, a computer for a commodity distributor, and a computer for overall management, which are placed in an environment in which they can be connected to each other through a network, are provided, and The computer stores a fixed form for inputting information for inputting product transaction information, and a fixed form providing section for providing the fixed form for inputting information to a computer for a product supplier through a network is incorporated to supply a product. The trader's computer has a standard form for inputting information provided by the standard form providing section, and the individual business Create a data file by entering the product transaction information for each product to be supplied by the supplier, and incorporate the function to publish the created information file to the product distributor computer via the network. The computer has a built-in function of browsing the information file published by the computer for product supplier.

(12) According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the commercial transaction support system according to the eleventh aspect, the computer for the commodity distributor is instructed to the computer for general management via the network. The computer for general management by using a predetermined search engine to search the information file stored in the computer for the product supplier through the network,
A search processing unit that collects search results according to a product search instruction and reports the collected search results to a computer for a product distributor via a network is incorporated.

(13) A thirteenth aspect of the present invention is, in the commercial transaction support system according to the eleventh or twelfth aspect, for inputting a product ordering instruction to a standard form providing section in a computer for overall management. Make sure to store the ordering standard form of
By making it possible to provide to a computer for a merchandise distributor via a network, and by inputting a merchandise ordering instruction to a predetermined ordering party to the merchandise distributor's computer, in the ordering standard form provided by the standard form providing section Create a product ordering file, add the function to send the created product ordering file to the general management computer via the network, and add a predetermined electronic signature to the sent product order file in the general management computer. Then, an order processing unit is provided for performing a process of transmitting this electronic signature-added product order file to the product supplier computer, which is an order destination, via the network.

(14) According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the commercial transaction support system according to the above twelfth or thirteenth aspect, the central management computer is provided with a portal site for the computer for the merchandise distributor. Incorporating a portal site providing unit, a computer for a product distributor has a function of browsing the portal site, and a product search instruction or a product ordering instruction is input on a Web page browsed on the portal site. It is a thing.

(15) A fifteenth aspect of the present invention is, in the commercial transaction support system according to the above eleventh to fourteenth aspects, browsed by a Web browser as a fixed form for information input provided by the fixed form providing unit. Make sure to prepare a standard form that is possible, and the information file stored in the computer for the product supplier is
It is designed to be published as page b.

(16) According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the commercial transaction support system according to any of the above eleventh to fifteenth aspects, for storing image data of the commodity transaction information in the general management computer. The image data storage unit is incorporated, and the information file disclosed by the computer for the product supplier is made to include location information indicating the location of the image data, and the computer for the product distributor makes an image based on the location information. The data can be browsed.

(17) According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the commercial transaction support system according to the above eleventh to sixteenth aspects, a standard form for information input provided by a standard form providing section is provided for each product. A product information fixed form for entering unique product information, and a transaction information fixed form for entering unique transaction information for each customer,
Is used.

(18) According to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention, in the commercial transaction support system according to the seventeenth aspect, the computer for the commodity supplier provides the commodity information specific to the commodity for one commodity. One product information file is created by filling in the standard form, and transaction information file for each product distributor by inputting individual transaction information with individual product distributors as trading partners. Is created, and the created product information file and transaction information file can be published as an information file for the product.

(19) According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, in the commercial transaction support system according to the above-mentioned eighteenth aspect, the computer for centralized management issues a product search instruction regarding a specific product from a computer for a specific product distributor. When given, the information files stored in the computer for the product supplier are searched through the network, and among the information files related to the specific product, the product information file and the transaction information file related to the specific product distributor. Is extracted as a search result, and a function of reporting to a computer for a specific product distributor can be executed.

(20) A twentieth aspect of the present invention is to use a computer network for a commercial transaction between a product supplier that supplies a product and a product distributor that distributes the supplied product in the market. In a commercial transaction support device for supporting, a fixed form providing section for storing a fixed form for inputting information for inputting merchandise transaction information and providing the fixed form for information input to a computer for a product supplier via a network. And a search engine having a search function for an information file created by inputting product transaction information on products to be supplied to a standard form for information input, from a computer for a product distributor through a network. Based on the given product search instruction, the information file stored in the computer for the product supplier is Search through the Ttowaku, in which as for goods distributor computer gave product search instruction, provide a search processor via the network to report the search result.

(21) According to a twenty-first aspect of the present invention, in the commercial transaction support device according to the twentieth aspect, an ordering standard form for inputting a product ordering instruction is stored in the standard form providing section, A function of providing this ordering standard form to a computer for a merchandise distributor via a network is provided, and a merchandise ordering file created by inputting a merchandise ordering instruction for a predetermined order destination to the ordering standard form Ordering process for receiving via the network, adding a predetermined electronic signature to the received product ordering file, and transmitting this electronically signed product ordering file to the product supplier computer that is the ordering destination via the network The part is further provided.

(22) A twenty-second aspect of the present invention is the commerce support apparatus according to the twentieth or twenty-first aspect, further including a portal site providing unit for providing a portal site to a computer for a product distributor. It is provided so that a product search instruction or a product order instruction can be input on the Web page provided by this portal site.

(23) The twenty-third aspect of the present invention is, in the commercial transaction support apparatus according to the twentieth to twenty-second aspects described above, which can be browsed by a Web browser as an information input standard form prepared in the standard form providing section. A standard form having various formats is prepared so that an information file stored in a computer for a product supplier can be published as a Web page.

(24) A twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention is the commerce supporting apparatus according to the twentieth to twenty-third aspects, further comprising an image data storage section for storing image data of the commodity transaction information. The information input standard form is provided with a field for inputting information indicating the location of the image data.

(25) A twenty-fifth aspect of the present invention provides a program for operating a computer as the commercial transaction support apparatus according to the twentieth to twenty-fourth aspects described above, and the program is a computer-readable recording medium. It is housed in and can be distributed.

[0032]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on illustrated embodiments. <<<< §1. Basic Concept of the Present Invention >> FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of a commercial transaction support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This system is intended to support commercial transactions between a product supplier that supplies products and a product distributor that distributes the supplied products to the market, using a computer network such as the Internet. System. In the embodiment shown here, for convenience of description, three business entities A, B, and C are assumed as product suppliers, and X, as product distributors.
An example assuming three business entities Y and Z will be shown. Here, the product suppliers A, B, and C are specifically,
Product distributors such as product manufacturers, importers, wholesalers, etc. that operate as a supplier of products, and product distributors X, Y, Z
Is a business entity that operates a product distribution business such as a supermarket, a convenience store, and a department store. The product distributors X, Y, Z are the product suppliers A, B,
The products to be supplied by C will be examined, and the products matching the conditions will be ordered.

In the support system according to the present embodiment, as shown in the figure, the product suppliers A, B and C perform electronic commerce using the product supplier computers 110, 120 and 130, respectively, and the product distributor X, Y and Z will carry out electronic commerce using the computer 210, 220, 230 for product distributors, respectively. Each computer 1
The computers 10, 120, 130, 210, 220, 230 may be composed of any computer as long as the computer has an environment capable of connecting to the Internet. However, in practical use, as will be described later, the product supplier computers 110, 120, and 130 are required to have a function of storing and managing the information files F110, F120, and F130, respectively. Therefore, in practice, a server computer having a certain scale and processing capacity can be used for each commodity supplier computer 11
It is preferable to configure 0, 120, and 130. On the other hand, commodity distributor computers 210, 220, 2
It suffices that 30 is composed of, for example, a computer such as a personal computer having a Web browser function.

In addition to the above, the general transaction management computer 300 is required in the commercial transaction support system according to the present invention.
The computer 300 for overall management may be composed of any computer as long as it is a computer having an environment capable of connecting to the Internet. However, in practice, it is a server computer having a certain scale and processing capability. It is preferable that Here, focusing on the function of the computer 300 for overall management, as shown in the figure, the computer 300 for overall management is shown.
Will be regarded as a set of functional elements including the fixed form providing unit 310, the search processing unit 320, the order processing unit 330, the portal site providing unit 340, and the image data storage unit 350. In the case of this embodiment, the overall management computer 300 is managed by an intermediary that acts as an intermediary for commercial transactions between the commodity suppliers A, B, and C and the commodity distributors X, Y, and Z. Function as.

In the conventional marketplace type commercial transaction support system, the central management computer 30 is used.
The computer corresponding to 0 will function as a marketplace. That is, in the case of the conventional marketplace type commercial transaction support system, the product information and transaction information provided by the product suppliers A, B, C are centrally managed on the central database in this marketplace. The product distributors X, Y, and Z access the central database to acquire necessary information and perform order processing. In this way, the method of centrally managing product information and transaction information on a central database is the fundamental idea of the conventional marketplace type system.

On the other hand, the basic idea of the present invention is to put individual product information and transaction information under the control of each product supplier A, B, C. In other words, individual product information and transaction information are basically not stored in the computer 300 for overall management (as will be described later, for image data, the image data storage unit 350). It is possible to store the data in). Specifically, the product information and transaction information related to the products provided by the product supplier A are basically stored in the computer 110 for the product supplier as an information file F110 and provided by the product supplier B. Product information and transaction information related to products are basically stored as an information file F120 in the product supplier computer 120,
Product information and transaction information related to products provided by the product supplier C are basically stored in the computer 130 for the product supplier as an information file F130.

However, the product suppliers A, B, and C are different business entities, and each of them creates their own information files F110, F120, and F130 and stores them in the product supplier computers 110, 120, and 130. If it is stored, the data formats will not be uniform, and uniform information will not be provided from all product suppliers. As described above, a system that can only provide information that is not uniform has a significantly lower utilization efficiency than a conventional marketplace system that centrally manages information on a central database.

Therefore, in the present invention, the information files F110, F120, F130 created for each product supplier.
In order to ensure the uniformity of the
An information input standard form is prepared in the standard form providing unit 310 in 00, and is downloaded to the respective commodity supplier computers 110, 120, 130 via the Internet. The person in charge of each product supplier A, B, C created and created an information file by entering the product information and transaction information regarding the product to be supplied by the company in the downloaded information input standard form. The information files are stored in the product supplier computers 110, 120, and 130, respectively, and the information files F110, F120, and F13 are used.
Perform the work of storing as 0. Since the information files F110, F120, and F130 stored in this way are files created based on the same fixed form, they are uniform data files. Each of the product supplier computers 110, 120, and 130 has a function of disclosing the information files F110, F120, and F130 via the Internet. Therefore, each of the product distributor computers 210, 220, and 230 is operated. Persons in charge of the product distributors X, Y, and Z are the information files F110 and F12 that have been made public via the Internet.
0, F130 can be directly accessed.

Thus, in the commercial transaction support system according to the present invention, the information files F110, F120, and F130 prepared by the commodity suppliers A, B, and C are stored in the commodity supplier computers 110, 120, and 130, respectively.
These information files will be managed in a distributed manner, but since these information files are uniform files created based on standard forms, they are the same as the files that were centrally managed in the conventional marketplace system. In addition, smooth use becomes possible.

If the commercial transaction support system according to the present invention is used, each product supplier A, B, C need only prepare its own information file in its own computer system, which is required in the conventional marketplace. It is possible to save the time and effort of registering data in the central database. Therefore, even in the case where a wide variety of products are handled, the product supplier is not burdened with a heavy work load. In addition, even if the specifications and prices of the products are changed, it is only necessary to update the information file in the company's computer.

On the other hand, each commodity distributor X, Y, Z obtains the data in each information file F110, F120, F130 by way of the individual commodity supplier computers 110, 120, 130 via the Internet. Although it is necessary to access each information file F110,
Since the F120 and F130 have a uniform data format, convenience is not impaired. Further, as will be described later, a search processing unit 320 is prepared in the central management computer 300, and it is possible to use a search processing service provided by the search processing unit 320.

Further, as an intermediary who manages the computer 300 for overall management, it is sufficient to prepare a predetermined fixed form in the fixed form providing unit 310, and the individual information files F110, F120, and F130 are used for general management. Since there is no need to store it in the computer 300 or manage it, it is possible to significantly reduce the work load of the marketplace compared to the conventional operating body. In addition, even if the central management computer 300 goes down, each information file F110, F120, F13
0 is an individual commodity supplier computer 110, 12
Since the distributed management is performed within 0, 130, at least the situation where the entire system stops functioning does not occur.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a standard form for information input and a standard form for ordering are prepared in the standard form providing section 310. This ordering standard form is provided by the computer 21 for the product distributor.
This is a form used for downloading to 0, 220, 230 and performing order processing. Such ordering processing is performed by the overall management computer 300, as will be described later.
It is executed by the order processing unit 330 inside. The portal site providing unit 340 is a Web server having a function of providing a portal site to the computer 210, 220, 230 for each product distributor, and the image data storage unit 350 originally has the information file F110, F12
0, F130 is a data server that functions as an alternative storage location for image data to be stored. The function of each of these components will be described in detail later.

<<<< §2. Specific Configuration of Information File >>>> Next, a specific configuration example of each of the information files F110, F120, and F130 in the commercial transaction support system shown in FIG. 1 will be described. As described above, the fixed form providing unit 310 is provided with a predetermined fixed form for information input, and the persons in charge of the product suppliers A, B, and C first have to use this fixed form for information input. Is downloaded to each of the commodity supplier computers 110, 120, and 130. This information input standard form is a unified standard form for the product suppliers A, B, and C to input their respective product transaction information. In the embodiment shown here, the commodity transaction information to be input to the information input standard form is handled separately as commodity information and transaction information. Therefore, the fixed form providing section 3
The information input standard form prepared in 10 is composed of a product information standard form for inputting product information and a transaction information standard form for inputting transaction information. The upper part of FIG. 2 shows an example of the commodity information fixed form and the transaction information fixed form. Here, the product information means information unique to each individual product, and the transaction information is an individual customer (in this example, a product distributor X, Y, Z which is a seller of the product). It means unique information for each.

The lower part of FIG. 2 shows an example of a state in which product information and transaction information are entered in the product information standard form and transaction information standard form shown in the upper part. That is, in this example, the product information includes a product name, a JAN code, a size, a content amount, which is unique to each product,
It is information such as product description, ingredients, best-before date, standard retail price, and transaction information is information such as supplier name, supplier code, transaction condition, lot unit, delivery date, wholesale price, and inventory quantity. The product information fixed form and the transaction information fixed form shown in the upper part of FIG. 2 are unified fixed forms provided by the fixed form providing unit 310, and the person in charge of each product supplier A, B, C is the fixed form. After downloading the form, the work of inputting predetermined product information and supplier information into this form is performed to create a product information file and a transaction information file as shown in the lower part of FIG.

However, the products handled by the product suppliers A, B, and C are wide variety such as food, stationery, clothing, electrical appliances, toys, etc., and the items to be posted as the product information are also diverse. Therefore, depending on the product, there are many cases in which there is no product information corresponding to the items included in the product information standard form. For example, in the case of clothing, it is common to post size information such as S, M, and L (or dimension value) as one item of product information, but in the case of food products, it is usually There is no information on such size. Therefore, in the product information file for the product “XX cookie” as shown in FIG. 2, the item “size” is blank.
On the contrary, when the product information regarding clothing is input into the product information standard form shown in the figure, items such as the content amount, the component, and the expiration date are blank.

As described above, the information input standard forms (commodity information standard form and transaction information standard form) prepared in the standard form providing unit 310 have a maximum number of items of product information concerning a wide variety of products. It is preferable to list items in common factors. For convenience of explanation, FIG. 2 shows a product information standard form in which only a few items are listed, but in practice, a product information standard form in which more items are listed will be prepared. The same applies to the transaction information fixed form. In short, these standard forms contain items that are completely unrelated to specific products or specific business partners, but for such items, no data is input and blank fields are left blank. You can leave it alone. The information files F110, F120, F130 shown in FIG.
Is composed of a set of product information files and transaction information files as shown in FIG. Most of the individual product information and individual transaction information input to each file may differ between the information files F110, F120, and F130, but at least the data format, that is, the data format, is at least one of them. The standard form shown in the upper part of FIG. 2 is standardized.

In the embodiment shown here, for one product, one product information file created by inputting product information unique to the product into the product information standard form, and individual product distributors, Create a transaction information file for each individual product distributor that is created by inputting individual transaction information to be a business partner in the transaction information fixed form, and create the created product information file and transaction information file with the product. It is stored in the computer for the product supplier as an information file regarding the above and is made public. For example, assume that the product supplier A is a confectionery maker. The person in charge of the confectionery maker downloads the product information standard form and the transaction information standard form as shown in the upper part of FIG. Enter the product information and transaction information about the products supplied by. By doing so, a product information file and a transaction information file are created, these files are stored as the information file F110, and this file is published on the Internet (usually open to the general public. Instead, it will only be disclosed to specific businesses such as product distributors X, Y, and Z).

Now, let us assume that this confectionery maker deals with a product called "XX cookie" and a product called "XX chocolate". In this case, the person in charge of this confectionery maker creates, as shown in FIG. 3, an information file F111 regarding the product "XX cookie" and an information file F112 regarding the product "XX chocolate". Will be stored in the computer 110 as an information file F110 and will be made public.
Information file F11 about product called "XX cookie"
As shown in the upper part of FIG. 3, 1 indicates one product information file F111-123456 and three transaction information files F111-123456-X, F111-123.
456-Y, F111-123456-Z (respectively,
Transaction information file for product distributors X, Y, Z)
And, Similarly, the information file F112 regarding the product “XX chocolate” is one product information file F1 as shown in the lower part of FIG.
12-123457 and three transaction information files F11
2-123457-X, F111-123457-Y,
F111-123457-Z (transaction information files for commodity distributors X, Y, and Z, respectively).

As described above, the reason for creating one product information file and three transaction information files for one product is that the product information itself is only one for one product, but the transaction information is This is because it is better to make it different for each business partner in order to match the form of business transactions in the real world. For example, in the case of the information file F111 regarding the product “XX cookie” shown in the upper part of FIG. 3, the product information file is only F111-123456, but regarding the transaction information file, the product distributors X, Y, Z (this In the example, X market, Y store, Z
One specific file is created for each specific department). This allows
For example, for the X market, the transaction information under the condition of "cash sale at a wholesale price of 108 yen" is set, but for the Y store, the transaction information under another condition of "cash off at a wholesale price of 109 yen" is set. It becomes possible to deal with detailed condition setting such as setting.

By the way, in the embodiment shown here, the word "file" is used as a vague concept of "collective data" for convenience of explanation. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 3, the information file F110 is used. Is
It is composed of information files F111 and F112, and the information file F111 is the product information file F11.
1-123456, transaction information file F111-123
456-X, F111-123456-Y, F111-
123456-Z. However, in actual computer systems, such a nested structure of files is not usually used. Therefore, in practice, the information file for one product is configured as one file on the computer system, and the product information file and the transaction information file are handled as partial files that configure one file on this computer system. Is preferred. For example, in the case of the example shown in FIG. 3, the information file F111 or F112
However, each file is one file on the computer system, and the product information file F111-1234
56, transaction information file F111-123456-X,
F111-123456-Y, F111-123456
-Z is one file F on this computer system
This is a partial file that constitutes 111. Further, the information file F110 is a file group relating to a plurality of products.

In the embodiment shown here, the file name of each file is J of the product related to the file.
The AN code is included. For example, in FIG.
The file name “F111-123456” is given to the product information file for “XX cookies” shown on the left side of the upper row.
The part of "3456" is the same as the JAN code of "XX cookie", and the file names of the three transaction information files shown on the right side are the branch number "-".
"X", "-Y", and "-Z" are added. The JAN code of a product is a unique code determined for each product based on international agreements, and as a general rule, products with a specific JAN code are unique in the world. . Therefore, if the JAN code is used as part of the file name, a unique file name can be defined for each product, which is very convenient in practice. Also, when performing the search processing described later, J
The file search based on the AN code can be easily performed.

The example shown in FIG. 3 is "XX cookie".
This is a simple example in which the information file F110 is composed of files relating to two types of products such as "○○○ chocolate". Actually, for each of the many products handled by the product supplier A, Similar files are created, a group of these files is stored in the computer 110 as an information file F110, and the computers 210 and 22 for individual product distributors are accessed via the Internet.
It will be open to the public for 0,230.

The most common method of disclosing information via the Internet is to write the contents of the information file F110 to We.
This is a method of publishing as page b. In order to publish the information file F110 having the contents as shown in FIG. 3 as a Web page, as the original information input standard form (the product information standard form and the transaction information standard form shown in the upper part of FIG. 2), It suffices to prepare a standard form that can be browsed by a Web browser. Then, the information file created based on the standard form is also in a format that can be browsed by the Web browser, and the computer 210, 22 for the product distributor is displayed.
A personal computer having a Web browser function can be used as 0,230.

However, the fixed form and the information file shown in FIG. 2 or 3 conceptually show an example of the data format, and do not show the actual data format itself. In practice, if a data format that can be browsed by a Web browser is used, a standard form such as an HTML format or an XML format is prepared and an information file of the same format is created. FIG. 4 shows a more specific data format (XML format) for the product information file F111-123456 shown on the upper left side of FIG. Actually, the data format shown in FIG. 4 is not perfect, and in addition to this, a header portion and a title portion are included, but detailed description thereof will be omitted here. Therefore, the "product name:" portion shown in the first line of the product information standard form shown on the upper left side of FIG. 2 is actually described as a tag <product name:></ product name:>. And product supplier A
The person in charge of will input the product name of "XX cookie" between these tags.

As described above, by the person in charge of the commodity supplier A,
Although the procedure for creating the information file F110 has been described, the information files F120 and F130 are created and disclosed by the product suppliers B and C, respectively, by the same procedure. FIG. 5 shows information files F111 and F12 for one product for each product supplier.
It is a figure which shows the example in which 1, F131 was created. Of course, in reality, information files for many products will be created for each product supplier.

In the case of the example shown in FIG. 5, the file F1
11, F121, F131 are all the same product (J
"○○ cookie" whose AN code is "123456"
The product information file F111-123456 created by the product supplier A and the product information file F121-1 created by the product supplier B.
23456, the product information file F131-123456 created by the product supplier C is the same product "○".
○ It is a file that can be obtained by entering product information related to "cookies" in the same product information template form. Therefore, basically (unless the person in charge of each company makes an erroneous input), the contents of these three product information files are the same. On the other hand, all nine transaction information files shown in FIG. 5 are transaction files relating to the same product called “XX cookie”, but they are set individually and independently. Therefore, these contents are usually different from each other. For example, the transaction information file F111-123456-X
Is a file that describes the transaction conditions when the product supplier A sells the product "XX cookie" to the product distributor X, and is a transaction information file F121-1234.
56-X is a file that describes transaction conditions when the product supplier B sells the product “XX cookie” to the product distributor X.

As described above, the information files F110, F120, and F130 published by the product suppliers A, B, and C include product information files and transaction information files for many products, and the data format thereof. Is standardized by the standard form for information input shown in the upper part of FIG. 2, the product distributors X, Y,
For Z, information can be used smoothly.

<<<< §3. More practical additional functions>
>> So far, the basic functions of the commercial transaction support system according to the embodiment of the present invention have been described. Here, some of the additional functions that are more practical in implementing the present invention will be described.

(1) Search processing by the search processing unit 320 As described above, the information files F110, F120, F130 created by the respective product suppliers A, B, C.
Via the Internet, each product distributor X, Y,
Published to Z. Therefore, based on this published information, each product distributor X, Y, Z can examine which product supplier should order which product. However, in the system of the embodiment shown here, the search processing unit 320 is provided in the central management computer 300 so that the search service can be provided to each product distributor X, Y, Z. It has become.

For example, suppose that the product distributor X gives a product search instruction for searching for a specific product from the distributor computer 210 via the network to the general management computer 300. Three
20 can provide a search service based on this product search instruction. In the search processing unit 320, an information file F created by each product supplier A, B, C
A search engine having a function of searching 110, F120, and F130 via the Internet is prepared. The data formats of the information files F110, F120, and F130 are based on the information input standard form prepared in the standard form providing unit 310, and this search engine searches for data having such a specific data format. Is designed to suit. The search processing unit 320 reports the search result obtained by the search processing using this search engine to the computer 210 for the product distributor, which has given the product search instruction, via the network.

More specifically, the procedure of this search processing is executed as follows. First, the product distributor computer 210 gives a search processing unit 320 a product search instruction regarding a specific product. here,
For example, let's assume that a product search instruction specifying a product called "XX cookie" is given. Search processing unit 320
Uses the above-mentioned search engine to search the information files F110, F120, and F130 stored in the individual product supplier computers 110, 120, and 130, and search for information about the product "XX cookie". To do. However, in order to perform a search using such a product name as a key, it is necessary to perform a full-text search process on the contents of each file, which is not efficient. So, in practice,
It is preferable to give a product search instruction in which the product is specified by the JAN code instead of the product name. That is, when the person in charge of the product distributor X searches for "XX cookie", the JA of "123456" is displayed.
The N code may be given as a product search instruction. Alternatively, the product name and JAN are displayed in the search processing unit 320.
If a conversion table with the code is prepared, it becomes possible to perform a search using the JAN code as a key even if the product search instruction by the product name is given.

As described above, in the embodiment described here, the file name including the JAN code of each product is given to each file constituting the information file, so that the JAN code of "123456" is given. If given as a product search instruction, information files F110, F12
From 0 and F130, each file as shown in FIG. 5 (all files include the JAN code "123456") is hit. Here, the search processing unit 320 selects the product information file among these files and the specific product distributor X that has given the product search instruction.
And a transaction information file related to the transaction information file are extracted as a search result, and this is reported to the computer 210 for the product distributor. For example, in the case of the example shown in FIG. 5, the product information files F111-123456, F121-123456, F
131-123456 and transaction information files F111-123456-X, F121-for the product distributor X.
123456-X and F131-123456-X are collected as search results and reported to the product distributor computer 210. However, the product information file F1
11-123456, F121-123456, F13
Each of 1-123456 is a file of product information related to "XX cookie", and as described above, it should originally be the same information file. Therefore, in practice, it is sufficient to collect any one of the product information files as a representative and report this.

Note that it is preferable to report such a search result in a table format as shown in FIG. 6, for example. In the example of FIG. 6, the search result is the product information file F111.
-123456 (representative file), transaction information file F
111-123456-X, F121-123456-
This is an example in which the contents of four information files X, F131-123456-X are reported in tabular form. That is, in the product information column on the left side of the table, the product information file F
The contents of 111-123456 are presented as they are, and three transaction information files F111-123456-X and F121-1234 are provided in the transaction information column on the right side of the table.
The contents of 56-X and F131-123456-X are A
It is presented separately for each row of company B, company B, and company C. The person in charge of the product distributor X is the computer 21 for the product distributor.
While examining the table shown in FIG. 6 displayed on the display screen of No. 0, which company and how many orders to place will be examined.

(2) Order processing by the order processing unit 330 As described above, the standard form providing unit 310 is provided with a standard form for ordering for inputting a product order instruction. The ordering standard form can be downloaded to a computer for a merchandise distributor via the Internet. The person in charge of the merchandise distributor creates a merchandise ordering file by inputting merchandise ordering instructions to a predetermined ordering party in the downloaded ordering standard form, and manages the created merchandise ordering file via the network. Management computer 30
By sending to 0, order processing can be performed. The order processing unit 330 has a function of adding a predetermined electronic signature to the transmitted product order file and transmitting this electronic-signed product order file to the computer for the product supplier, which is the order destination, via the network. Fulfill

On the left side of FIG. 7, the fixed form providing section 31 is provided.
0 shows an example of the ordering standard form provided on the right side, and on the right side, the commodity distributor X (X market) is placed in the ordering standard form and the product supplier C (C
An example of a product ordering file created by inputting a product ordering instruction with the company as the ordering destination is shown. That is, in this example, the person in charge of the product distributor X who received the report of the search results as shown in FIG. 6 decided to order 5 lots of "XX cookies" from Company C and downloaded them. This is an example of creating a product ordering file by inputting necessary items into the ordering standard form.

The product ordering file created in this way is
It is transmitted to the computer 300 for overall management, and the order processing by the order processing unit 330 is advanced. In the signature mark field shown in FIG. 7, in the process of order processing by the order processing unit 330,
A digital signature is added. Of course, the order processing unit 330
In order to add the electronic signature, it is necessary to authenticate the sender of this product ordering file and confirm that it is a legitimate order, but a detailed description of such an authentication procedure will be omitted. In this way, the product ordering file to which the electronic signature is added is transmitted from the ordering processing unit 330 to the product supplier (in this example, the product supplier computer 130) that is the ordering destination. Note that the example shown in FIG. 7 shows the concept of the format of the ordering fixed form and the product ordering file, and does not show the actual format itself.

In this way, if the order processing is performed through the order processing section 330, the order of any product distributor is always uniform with each product supplier. A product order file with a format will be delivered, and uniform handling can be performed. Moreover, since the electronic signature by the intermediary managing the computer 300 for overall management is added to each product ordering file, the product supplier authenticates this electronic signature so that the product ordering file is officially created. You can confirm that it is an order. In other words, the work of confirming that the product ordering file is a proper order is carried out under the responsibility of the intermediary company, which reduces the work load on the product supplier. Of course, instead of adding an electronic signature by an intermediary, it is also possible to adopt a method in which the product distributor itself makes an electronic signature and the product supplier authenticates this.

(3) Function of Portal Site Providing Unit 340 In the system according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, each product distributor X, Y, Z gives a product search instruction to the central management computer 300. It is possible to search for information on a specific product or to place an order for a specific product by giving a product ordering instruction. In this embodiment, the computer 3 for general management by such a product distributor is used.
A portal site providing unit 340 is provided in order to facilitate access to 00. The portal site providing unit 340 is used by the computer 210, 22 for a product distributor.
It has a function of providing independent portal sites Px, Py, Pz to 0 and 230, respectively. Specifically, the portal site providing unit 340 includes a Web server for individually receiving access from each of the product distributor computer 210, 220, 230, and each product distributor computer 210, 220, 230.
Each portal site is accessed using the web browser functions 220 and 230.

For example, when the product distributor X accesses the general management computer 300 from the computer 210, the Web page of the dedicated portal site Px is provided. The merchandise distributor X can input a merchandise search instruction or a merchandise ordering instruction on the Web page provided from the portal site Px. That is, the portal site Px is provided with a web page for inputting a product search instruction from the product distributor X and a web page for inputting a product ordering instruction. An operation of inputting a desired instruction may be performed on a desired Web page.

(4) Functions of the image data storage unit 350 In contrast to the conventional marketplace which adopts the one-centralized type in which all information files are collected in the central database,
The present invention is characterized in that the information files provided by each product supplier are distributed and managed in the computer of the product supplier. However, depending on the product supplier, it may not always be appropriate to store all the information files in its own computer. In particular, since the image data of a product has a larger data capacity than the text data, it may be a burden for a product supplier who handles many kinds of products to store it in its own computer.

In the system of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, in order to provide such convenience, the computer 30 for overall management is provided.
An image data storage unit 350 is prepared in 0. For example, when the product supplier A does not want to store the image data of the product transaction information in the information file F110 in the computer 110 of the company, the image data managed by the intermediary company. It can be stored in the storage unit 350. In this case, in the information file F110 stored in the product supplier computer 110, the information indicating the location of the image data stored in the image data storage unit 350 (for example, the URL address of the image data in the image data storage unit 350 ) Should be entered. In this case, when the product distributor accesses the information file F110, although the image data itself is not included, the image data can be obtained from the image data storage unit 350 based on the information indicating the location.

The present invention has been described above based on the illustrated embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to this embodiment and can be implemented in various modes other than this. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the Internet is used as the network that connects the computers, but L
Each computer may be connected using a network such as AN or WAN.

[0074]

As described above, according to the present invention, smooth electronic commerce can be supported while managing commodity transaction information in a distributed manner.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a commercial transaction support system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows an example of an information input standard form prepared in a standard form providing unit 310 in the system shown in FIG. 1 and an example of an information file obtained by inputting product information and transaction information into the standard form. It is a conceptual diagram shown.

FIG. 3 is a computer 11 in the system shown in FIG.
6 is a conceptual diagram showing a specific example of the contents of an information file F110 stored in 0. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a product information file F111 shown on the upper left side of FIG.
It is a figure which shows the more concrete data format (HTML format) about -123456.

FIG. 5: Information files F110, F120, F130
It is a conceptual diagram which shows the example which the information file regarding the same product was extracted by from.

FIG. 6 shows search results based on the information file shown in FIG.
It is a figure which shows an example reported in a tabular form.

FIG. 7 shows an example of an ordering standard form prepared in a standard form providing section 310 in the system shown in FIG.
It is a conceptual diagram which shows an example of the goods ordering file obtained by inputting ordering information into this fixed form.

[Explanation of Codes] 110, 120, 130 ... Computer 210 for product supplier 210, 220, 230 ... Computer 300 for product distributor ... Computer 310 for overall management ... Fixed form providing unit 320 ... Search processing unit 330 ... Order processing unit 340 ... Portal site providing unit 350 ... Image data storage units A, B, C ... Product suppliers Px, Py, Pz ... Portal site X, Y, Z ... Product distributors F110, F120, F130 ... Information files F111, F112, F121 , F131 ... Information file for one product

Claims (25)

[Claims] 1. A business transaction support method for supporting a commercial transaction between a product supplier that supplies a product and a product distributor that distributes the supplied product to a market, using a computer network. A step of preparing a plurality of computer for commodity supplier, a plurality of computer for commodity distributor, and a computer for centralized management, for inputting information for inputting commodity transaction information in the computer for centralized management Preparing a standard form; downloading the information input standard form from the central management computer to each product supplier computer via the network; and downloading the information input standard form to the computer. , By entering the commodity transaction information for each commodity that the individual commodity supplier supplies Creating the information file and storing the created information file in the computer for each product supplier, and distributing the information file stored in the computer for each product supplier to each product via the network. A commercial transaction support method comprising the steps of: publishing on a computer for business. 2. The commercial transaction support method according to claim 1, wherein the computer for a commodity distributor gives a commodity search instruction to the computer for a general management via a network, and Using the search engine provided, searching the information file stored in the computer for individual product supplier via the network, and collecting the search result according to the product search instruction; A business transaction support method for reporting the collected search results to a computer for a product distributor who has given the product search instruction, via a network. 3. The commercial transaction support method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a step of preparing an ordering standard form for inputting a product ordering instruction in the general management computer, and the general management computer, By downloading the ordering standard form to the product distributor computer via the network and inputting a product ordering instruction to a predetermined ordering party in the downloaded ordering standard form, a product ordering file is created. Creating and transmitting the created product ordering file to the central management computer via the network; and adding a predetermined electronic signature to the transmitted product ordering file in the general management computer. , Order this electronic signature product order file via the network Moreover commerce supporting method characterized by having the steps of transmitting to the product supplier computer to be. 4. The commercial transaction support method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein a W for individually accepting access from each computer for a product distributor in the computer for overall management.
The portal site is constructed by the eb server, and each portal site is accessed by using the web browser function of each product distributor computer, and the product search instruction or the product is provided on the web page provided by each portal site. A method for supporting commercial transactions, characterized in that an ordering instruction is input. 5. The commercial transaction support method according to claim 1, wherein a standard form in a format that can be browsed by a Web browser is prepared as a standard form for information input prepared in the computer for overall management. A method for supporting commercial transactions, characterized in that the information file stored in the computer for each product supplier is disclosed as a Web page. 6. The commercial transaction support method according to claim 1, wherein the image data of the commercial transaction information is stored in a computer for general management, and the computer for each commercial commodity supplier is used. The information file stored in
A method for supporting commercial transactions, characterized by inputting information indicating a location of the image data. 7. The commercial transaction support method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the commodity transaction information comprises commodity information unique to each commodity and transaction information unique to each customer. As a standard form for inputting information, a commodity information standard form for inputting the commodity information and a transaction information standard form for inputting the transaction information are prepared. . 8. The commercial transaction support method according to claim 7, wherein for one product, one product information file created by inputting product information specific to the product into a product information standard form, and A transaction information file for each individual product distributor created by inputting individual transaction information with a product distributor as a trading partner into the transaction information standard form, and the created product information file and the transaction A commercial transaction support method comprising storing an information file in a computer for a product supplier as an information file about the product. 9. The business management support method according to claim 8, wherein when a computer for a specific product distributor issues a product search instruction regarding a specific product to the computer for general management, the general management Using the search engine provided in the product computer, the information files stored in the individual product supplier computers are searched through the network, and among the information files related to the specific product, the product information file and A commercial transaction support method comprising: extracting a transaction information file relating to the specific product distributor as a search result and reporting it to the computer for the specific product distributor. 10. The commercial transaction support method according to claim 8, wherein the information file for one product is configured as one file on the computer system, and the product information file and the transaction information file are stored on the computer system. A method for supporting commercial transactions, characterized in that it is handled as a partial file that constitutes one file in 1. 11. A commercial transaction support system for supporting a commercial transaction between a commercial product supplier that supplies a commercial product and a commercial product distributor that distributes the supplied commercial product to a market by using a computer network. A commodity supplier computer, a commodity distributor computer, and a general management computer, which are placed in an environment in which they can be connected to each other via a network, and the general management computer inputs commodity transaction information. A standard form for information input for storing the standard form for information input, and providing the standard form for information input to a computer for a product supplier via a network, wherein the computer for the product supplier has the standard form. On the standard form for information input provided by the providing unit,
It has a function of creating an information file by inputting product transaction information on each product to be supplied by each product supplier, and publishing the created information file to the product distributor computer via a network. The commercial transaction support system, wherein the commodity distributor computer has a function of browsing the information file disclosed by the commodity supplier computer. 12. The commercial transaction support system according to claim 11, wherein the product distributor computer has a function of giving a product search instruction to the general management computer via a network, Is searching for an information file stored in a computer for a product supplier via a network using a predetermined search engine, collecting search results according to the product search instruction, and a computer for the product distributor. In contrast, a commercial transaction support system having a search processing unit that reports the collected search results via a network. 13. The commercial transaction support system according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the standard form providing unit in the computer for overall management stores a standard form for ordering for inputting a product ordering instruction, and the standard model for ordering is stored. It has a function of providing a form to a computer for a merchandise distributor via a network, and the computer for a merchandise distributor makes an order for the merchandise to a predetermined ordering party on the standard form for ordering provided from the standard form providing section. By inputting the instructions, a product order file is created, and the created product order file is
It has a function of transmitting to the general management computer via a network, and in the general management computer, a predetermined electronic signature is added to the transmitted product order file, and the product order file with the electronic signature is added. The commercial transaction support system is characterized in that an order processing section is provided for performing a process of transmitting the data to a computer for a commodity supplier as an order destination via a network. 14. The commercial transaction support system according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the computer for overall management has a portal site providing unit for providing a portal site to the computer for the product distributor, and the computer for the product distributor. However, the commercial transaction support system has a function of browsing the portal site, and a product search instruction or a product ordering instruction is input on a Web page browsed on the portal site. 15. The commercial transaction support method according to claim 11, wherein a fixed form that can be browsed by a Web browser is prepared as a fixed form for information input provided by the fixed form providing unit. A business transaction support system, characterized in that the information file stored in the product supplier computer is made public as a Web page. 16. The commercial transaction support system according to claim 11, wherein the computer for overall management has an image data storage unit for storing image data of the commodity transaction information, and supplies the commodity. The information file published by the computer for trader includes location information indicating the location of the image data, and the computer for product distributor trades the image data based on the location information. Characteristic commerce support system. 17. The commercial transaction support system according to any one of claims 11 to 16, which is a product for inputting product information unique to each product as a standard form for information input provided from a standard form providing unit. A commercial transaction support system characterized by using an information standard form and a transaction information standard form for inputting transaction information unique to each customer. 18. The commercial transaction support system according to claim 17, wherein the computer for the commodity supplier,
By creating one product information file by entering product information unique to the product in the product information template, and by entering individual transaction information with each product distributor as a trading partner in the transaction information template A commercial transaction support system having a function of creating a transaction information file for each individual product distributor, and publishing the created product information file and the transaction information file as an information file for the product. 19. The commercial transaction support system according to claim 18, wherein the computer for general management is within the computer for the product supplier when the computer for the specific product distributor gives a product search instruction regarding the specific product. Is searched through the network for information files stored in the product information file related to the specific product, and a product information file and a transaction information file related to the specific product distributor are extracted as search results. A commercial transaction support system having a function of reporting to a computer for a product distributor. 20. A commercial transaction support apparatus for supporting a commercial transaction between a commercial product supplier that supplies a commercial product and a commercial product distributor that distributes the supplied commercial product to a market by using a computer network. , A standard form providing section for storing a standard form for inputting information for inputting commodity transaction information and providing the standard form for information input to a computer for a commodity supplier via a network, and a commodity to be supplied. It has a search engine with a search function for information files created by inputting commodity transaction information into the information input standard form, and receives a commodity search instruction given from a computer for commodity distributor through a network. Based on the information file stored in the computer for the product supplier via the network. Search Te, the product search instruction to product distributor computer gave, commerce support apparatus characterized by comprising: a search processing unit via the network to report the search result. 21. The commercial transaction support device according to claim 20, wherein the fixed form providing unit stores a fixed order form for inputting a product ordering instruction, and the fixed fixed form for ordering is sold via a network. It has a function of providing it to a computer for distributors, receives a product ordering file created by inputting a product ordering instruction to a predetermined ordering party in the ordering standard form through a network, and receives the product. It is characterized by further comprising an order processing unit for adding a predetermined electronic signature to the order file and transmitting the product order file with the electronic signature to a computer for a product supplier as an order destination via a network. Commercial transaction support device. 22. The commercial transaction support device according to claim 20 or 21, further comprising a portal site providing unit that provides a portal site to a computer for a product distributor, and on a Web page provided by this portal site. A commercial transaction support device characterized in that a product search instruction or a product order instruction is input. 23. The commercial transaction support device according to claim 20, wherein a fixed form that can be browsed by a Web browser is prepared as a fixed form for information input prepared in the fixed form providing unit. A business transaction support device, characterized in that an information file stored in a product supplier computer can be made public as a Web page. 24. The commercial transaction support device according to claim 20, further comprising an image data storage section for storing image data of the commodity transaction information, wherein the information input standard form comprises: A commercial transaction support device, wherein a column for inputting information indicating the location of the image data is provided. 25. A program for operating a computer as the commercial transaction support device according to claim 20, or a computer-readable recording medium recording the program.