JP2003288524A - Price information providing program and price information registration and display program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide effective price information for judging purchase of an article even for a user who uses a mobile terminal. <P>SOLUTION: A price information providing program uses a computer to compare: base price information on an article that an information gatherer who has a contract with a store or service provider registers; and price information on the article with which user price information on the article that the user registers is merged. Then the program provides price difference information between the price information on the article of at least an arbitrary store that the user registers and that of other stores, and further provides detailed price information at a user's request, thereby providing the effective price information for judging whether the user buys the article even for the user of the mobile terminal whose screen size is limited. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention provides a user with information via a network so as to satisfy a user's purchase condition and purchase a desired purchase product at the lowest price or a price corresponding thereto. More specifically, the present invention relates to a price information service technology that presents effective information even when a user uses a mobile terminal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, when purchasing an expensive product (including service), a consumer generally considers the price, after-sales service, sales conditions, etc. in advance so that he / she can make the optimum purchase. Research and examine product catalogs, information on newspaper leaflets, sales prices at stores, information on electronic stores using the Internet, etc.

Regarding electronic equipment products such as personal computers (hereinafter referred to as PCs) and digital cameras,
A price information service site that displays the selling price of each store corresponding to each manufacturer and model on the Internet, links the homepage of each store, and allows you to purchase the desired product from the linked homepage It is becoming open, and it has become possible to purchase products after obtaining relatively latest price information in advance. In addition, such price information service sites also allow information from general consumers to be posted on the electronic bulletin board as word-of-mouth information, and it is also possible to refer to information on retailers and prices actually purchased by general consumers. Has become.

[0004] As described above, the price information service site is provided by a tie-up shop or an information collector who has entrusted the information collecting work with the price information providing server of the service provider through the network such as the Internet. The price information providing server stores / stores the price information of the received product in the database, and the service provider displays the price information service site operated by itself on the price information service site, for example, the combination of the price and the store in ascending order. It also offers services such as displaying the cheapest retailer when you specify a product.

In recent years, the store name of a gas station, the unit price of fuel such as gasoline and light oil, and the location information obtained by the user or found in the city are posted on the homepage, and the user Such as when traveling
Price information service sites that can be used as reference information in unfamiliar areas have also appeared.

[0006]

However, the above-mentioned price information service is displayed because the information provider is a store affiliated with the price information service site or an information collector who outsources the information collecting work. The price information is public information and may not necessarily match the price when actually purchased at a store. For example, depending on the retailer, the price may be further discounted than the price on the advertisement, a specific product may be sold at a featured price for a limited time, or the price may not be known until the store is visited.

Although the price information is also posted on the posted version of the price information service, the contents are mainly about usability of the product, questions and answers about the product, impressions on the store and the manufacturer, etc. For this reason, it may be helpful when it is referred to all the time, but it is not suitable as a price information source at the time of planning to purchase a product.

[0008] As for the homepages etc. on which the price information of fuel for each gas station is posted based on the information provided by users, the information provided is limited to a specific area, the information provided is small, It is useful as reference information for purchasing relatively inexpensive things such as gasoline because the administrator manages it as volunteers and the latest information is not maintained, but when purchasing expensive things, It is not suitable as an information source due to lack of information and reliability.

[0009] Further, with the progress of wireless technology and the improvement of the processing capability of mobile terminals such as mobile phones, a part of what was conventionally processed by a service provider by connecting a PC to a network such as the Internet is portable. It has become possible to process even at the terminal. Therefore, even in the field of price information services as described above, it is convenient to provide a service that considers the size of the display screen, which is a feature of mobile terminals such as mobile phones, and a service based on the user's location information. .

The present invention has been proposed in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to determine whether or not a user purchases a product even for a user who uses a portable terminal having a limited screen size. The purpose is to be able to provide valid pricing information for making decisions.

[0011]

FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention. The price information providing program 10 of the present invention distinguishes the base price information and the user price information from each other and stores them in the storage device 11, and the price information of the product registered by the user via the communication network 3. The price information storage means 10
1 based on the price information merging means 102 for merging based on the base price information stored by 1 and the user price information, and the price information for at least the product registered by the user based on the price information for the product merged by the price information merging device 102. The price difference information providing means 103 for providing the price difference between the price included in the price and the lowest price to the user terminal via the communication network 3. When a user registers price information via a communication network and adds position information of the user to the price information and transmits the price information, the price information storage unit 101 stores the position information of the user in a storage device. The price difference information providing unit 103 can provide the price difference information according to the position information of the user stored in the price information storage unit 101.

Further, the price information providing server 1 is provided with a product information DB 113 in which product information such as a product code for identifying a product, a manufacturer, a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) for linking advertisement information, and an average price of the product is registered in advance. Base price information DB 111 and user price information DB 11 stored in the storage device 11 in the price information providing program 10.
2. By providing the additional information providing means 104 for providing more detailed product information by referring to the product information DB 113, the station information DB 114, etc., it is possible to provide the price information of the product equivalent to the conventional price information providing server. It will be possible.

Price information registration display program 20 of the present invention
Is a price information registration unit 201 for allowing the user to register price information of a product in an arbitrary store in the price information providing server 1 by the user terminal 2 via the communication network 3,
The user terminal 2 functions as the price difference information display unit 202 that displays at least price difference information from the price information received from the price information providing server 1 via the communication network 3 with the registered product.

In terms of implementation, the price difference information providing means 1 of the price information providing program 10 has a function of calculating price difference information.
03 or the price difference information display means 202 of the price information registration display program 20 can realize the corresponding functions. In the case of the latter implementation, it is possible to realize a considerable function even when the user terminal 2 is connected to the conventional price information providing server.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention. The price information providing server 1 receives a price information search / registration request for a product from the user terminal 2 via the communication network 3 and executes a price information providing program 10 for providing price information.

The price information providing program 10 uses a computer to provide base price information of a product registered by an information collector entrusted by a store or a service provider,
Price information that compares the user price information of the product registered by the user with the price information of the merged product and provides at least the price difference information with respect to the price information of the product in any store registered by the user with other stores A program for operating the providing server 1, a price information storage means 101 for separately storing the base price information and the user price information in the storage device 11, and the price of the product registered by the user via the communication network 3. The information is stored in the price information storage means 10.
1 based on the price information merging means 102 for merging based on the base price information stored by 1 and the user price information, and the price information for at least the product registered by the user based on the price information for the product merged by the price information merging device 102. The price difference information providing means 103 for realizing the price difference information providing function for providing the price difference between the price included in the price and the lowest price to the user terminal 2 via the communication network 3 and the price information merging means 102 are merged. Information, product information DB 113,
It also functions as the additional information providing means 104 for providing store information, product information, etc. by referring to the station information DB 114, and is recorded in a computer-readable recording medium.

The price difference information providing function may be provided in the price difference information providing means 103 of the price information providing program 10 as in the first embodiment, or may be provided as in the conventional price information providing program. Even if the price information registration display program 20 does not have a difference information provision function, the price information registered by the user on the price difference information display means 202 side of the price information registration display program 20 is compared with the price information provided from the price information provision program side to obtain a price. It is possible to realize a considerable function by calculating the difference information.

In the user terminal 2, a price information registration / search request for a product designated by the user is made, and a price information registration / display program 20 for displaying the price information provided from the price information providing program 10 is executed. The price information registration / display program 20 of the present invention includes price information registration means 201 for allowing the user terminal 2 to register the price information of the product in any store in the price information providing server 1 via the communication network 3. , Which serves as a price difference information display unit 202 for displaying at least price difference information from the price information received from the price information providing server 1 via the communication network 3 and the registered product,
It is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium.

In the price information providing server 1, a base price information DB 111 storing price information of products registered by an information collector entrusted by a store or a service provider,
A user price information DB 112 that stores price information of products registered by the user, and a station information DB 1 that stores the route name and position information for the station name in order to find the nearest station to the store.
14. URL (Uniform Relink) linking the product code, the manufacturer, and the advertisement information for identifying the product in order to obtain the product information.
source locator), a product information DB 113 in which product information such as an average price of products is registered is connected.

FIG. 2 shows the data formats of the base price information DB 111 and the user price information DB 112 which store the price information for the registered merchandise. In the first embodiment, the base price information DB 111 storing the price information of the product registered by the information collector entrusted by the dealer or the service provider, and the user price information DB 112 storing the price information of the product registered by the user. Although the same data format is used for all, different data formats may be used.

[0021] In the price information DB, a product code for identifying a product, a selling price, a low price rank indicating how low the selling price is among the currently registered selling prices, and a registration date when this information is registered. , Store name, and position information indicating the longitude / latitude of the store are stored. For example, 2002 2
The selling price for the product code Abc001 of the store StoreA located at latitude 35.0219 and longitude 136.0231 registered on the 20th of March.
489000 yen is the lowest price.

In FIG. 3, in order to calculate the nearest station to the store, the route name and position information for the station name are stored. For example, the location information of AA01 station with the route name AAAA is latitude 35.022.
9 and the longitude is 136.0241. FIG. 4 shows a maker for a product code, a URL of a homepage advertising the product, in order to provide additional information of the product,
Standard price, average price of current selling prices, average price of last 1 week, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months,
The average price for each area and their average prices are stored.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a product price search / registration screen used by the user to make a registration / search request for product price information from the user terminal 2. In this example, the user tries to retrieve the price difference information that the price of the product with the product code Abc001 is 487,000 yen and the lowest price. By pressing the search button, this information is transmitted to the price information providing server 1. When the name of the store is entered here, this information is registered in the user price information DB 112 and becomes the target of subsequent search requests. If the user terminal 2 is equipped with the GPS function, the user terminal can also transmit the position information of the user.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a price difference information display screen displaying price difference information from the price information providing server 1 in response to a search request from the product price search / registration screen of FIG. The price of the product with the product code Abc001 requested by the user is 487,000 yen, which is 7200 yen higher than the lowest price of 479800 yen.
It shows that it was the second cheapest. In addition, the user terminal
Since it was equipped with a GPS function, the distance to the store selling at the lowest price is 5.4 Km, and the train fare is 310 yen.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a store information display screen for displaying the lowest price store information when the user presses the store information button on the price difference information display screen of FIG. In this example, the store name, route name, and nearest station name are displayed, but the store information that the user needs in advance,
Alternatively, by storing the URL of the home page where the store information is stored in the price information providing server 1 or the user terminal 2, it is possible to provide more detailed store information.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing for providing merchandise price information according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the present invention, first, the price with the lowest price indicating how cheap the selling price obtained from the information of the leaflet of the newspaper, the selling price at the store, the information of the electronic store using the Internet, etc. After providing the difference information, additional information, which is more detailed product price information, is provided in response to the user's request. By displaying the price information in two stages in this way, the minimum necessary information for the user to decide whether to purchase the product is provided even for a device with a small screen size such as a mobile terminal. It becomes possible to do. The first embodiment
Then, the user terminal 2 is equipped with a GPS function, and it is possible to provide price information based on the position information of the user.

The user terminal 2 displays a product price search / registration screen as shown in FIG. 5 (S801). When the user specifies the product code and the selling price on this screen and presses the search button, the price information registration means 201 of the user terminal 2
Transmits the product code, the selling price, and the position information of the user to the price information providing server 1 via the communication network 3 to make a search request for the product (S802).

When the price information providing server 1 receives the search request from the user terminal 2, the price information merging means 102 stores the price information corresponding to the product code of the product requested by the user in the base price information DB 111 and The price difference information providing means 103 retrieves the lowest price information from the user price information DB 112 and merges the information, and compares the lowest price information with the price information requested by the user. Then, the price difference between the selling prices is calculated as the distance between the user and the store based on the position information of the store with the lowest price and the position information of the user. Furthermore, station information DB114
Referring to, find the distance between the user and each station, the distance between the cheapest store and each station, find the nearest station, calculate the fare (S804), and use this information as price difference information. It transmits to the person's terminal 2 (S805).

When the user terminal 2 receives the price difference information (S806), the price difference information display means 202 outputs the price difference information display screen as shown in FIG. 6 (S807).
The user can obtain more detailed price information from the price difference information display screen by pressing the product information button and the store information button. Note that the provision of more detailed information is not an essential part of the present invention, and thus only the flow of processing will be described and detailed description will be omitted.

When the user presses the store information button, the user terminal 2 sends a request for providing more detailed store information to the price information providing server 1 (S808). When the price information providing server 1 receives the request for providing the store information, the price information providing server 1 refers to the lowest price information and the station information DB 114 to provide more detailed store information (S809). Upon receiving the store information from the price information providing server 1 (S810), the user terminal 2 displays the store information on the store information display screen as shown in FIG. 7 (S811). In the present embodiment, the store name, route name, and nearest station name are displayed.

When the user presses the product information button, the user terminal 2 sends a request for providing more detailed product information to the price information providing server 1 (S812). When the price information providing server 1 receives the product information providing request, it refers to the product information DB and provides the corresponding product information (S81).
3). When a series of price information is provided, the price information storage means 101 adds the price information from the user to the user price information DB when the user specifies a store and makes a search request (S814). . Upon receiving the product information from the price information providing server 1 (S815), the user terminal 2 displays the product information on the product information display screen (S816).

Since the user price information DB 112 may include items with extremely short deadlines and items with unreliability, data initialization is performed regularly, for example, once a day. Is preferably performed. (Supplementary Note 1) The base price information of the product registered by the information collector entrusted by the dealer or the service provider is compared with the price information of the product merged with the user price information of the product registered by the user, and at least the use is performed. It is a program for operating a price information providing server that provides price difference information with respect to price information of products in an arbitrary store registered by a person, and distinguishes the base price information and the user price information from each other. The base price information and the user price information stored in the price information storage unit, the price information storage unit storing the price information of the same product as the product registered by the user via the communication network. Based on the price information merging means for merging based on the price information of the product merged by the price information merging means A price information providing program that causes a price information providing server to function as a price difference information providing unit that provides a price difference between a price included in price information of a product registered by a person and a lowest price to a user terminal via a communication network.

(Supplementary Note 2) The base price information of the product registered by the information collector entrusted by the store or the service provider is compared with the price information of the product merged with the user price information of the product registered by the user. A recording medium for recording a program for operating a price information providing server that provides price difference information with respect to price information of a product in at least an arbitrary store registered by a user, the base price information and the Price information storage means for separately storing user price information in the storage device, and the base price stored by the price information storage means for price information of the same product as the product registered by the user via the communication network. Information and price information merging means for merging based on the user price information, and the price of the product merged by the price information merging means. Based on the case information, at least the price information providing server functions as the price difference information providing means for providing the user terminal with the price difference between the price included in the price information of the product registered by the user and the lowest price through the communication network. A computer-readable recording medium recording a price information providing program.

(Supplementary Note 3) The base price information of the product registered by the information collector entrusted by the store or the service provider is compared with the price information of the product merged with the user price information of the product registered by the user. A price information providing server computer that provides price difference information with respect to price information of products at any store registered by the user with respect to other stores, wherein the base price information and the user price information are distinguished from each other. The base price information and the user price information stored in the price information storage unit, the price information storage unit storing the price information of the same product as the product registered by the user via the communication network. Based on the price information merging means for merging based on the price information of the product merged by the price information merging means. A server computer, comprising: a price difference information providing means for providing a price difference between a price included in price information of a product registered by a user and a lowest price to a user terminal via a communication network.

(Supplementary Note 4) When the user registers the price information via the communication network, the price information is added with the position information of the user and transmitted, and the price information storage means stores the position information of the user. The price information providing program for storing the price information in the user price information together with the price information, and causing the price difference information providing means to function the price information providing server according to appendix 1, which provides the price difference information according to the position information of the user.

(Supplementary Note 5) Price information input means for allowing a user to register price information of a product in an arbitrary store in the price information providing server via the communication network, and reception from the price information providing server via the communication network. A price information registration display program that causes a user terminal to function as price difference information display means for displaying at least price difference information from the registered price information from the registered product. (3) (Appendix 6) Price information input means for allowing a user to register price information of a product in an arbitrary store in a price information providing server via a communication network, and received from the price information providing server via the communication network A user terminal device, comprising: price difference information display means for displaying at least price difference information from the registered price information with respect to the registered merchandise.

[0037]

[Effects of the Invention] Effective price information can be provided to a user who uses a portable terminal having a limited screen size to determine whether or not the user purchases a product.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention.

[Figure 2] Price information DB

[Figure 3] Station information DB

[Figure 4] Product information DB

[Figure 5] Product price search / registration screen example

[Figure 6] Price difference information display screen example

[Fig. 7] Example of store information screen

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a flow of a product price information providing process according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Price information provision server 2 user terminals 3 communication network 10 Price information provision program 11 Storage device 20 Price information registration display program 101 price information storage means 102 Price information merger 103 Price difference information provision means 104 Additional information providing means 111 Base price information DB 112 User Price Information DB 113 Product information DB 114 station information DB 201 Price information registration means 202 Price difference information display means

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. Base price information of a product registered by an information collector entrusted by a store or a service provider,
Price information that compares the user price information of the product registered by the user with the price information of the merged product and provides at least the price difference information with respect to the price information of the product in any store registered by the user with other stores A program for operating a providing server, comprising price information storage means for separately storing the base price information and the user price information in a storage device, and the same product as the product registered by the user via the communication network. Price information, based on the price information merging means for merging the price information merging means based on the base price information stored by the price information storage means and the user price information, and the price information of the product merged by the price information merging means, At least the price difference between the price included in the price information of the product registered by the user and the lowest price is sent to the user terminal via the communication network. Price information providing a program that causes a price information provision server as the price difference information providing means for providing. 2. When a user registers price information via a communication network, the price information is added with the user's position information and transmitted, and the price information storage means stores the user's position information. The price information providing program for causing the price information providing server to function according to claim 1, wherein the price information is stored together with the price information, and the price difference information providing means provides the price difference information according to the position information of the user. 3. A price information input means for allowing a user to register price information of a product in an arbitrary store in a price information providing server via a communication network, and a price received from the price information providing server via the communication network. A price information registration display program that causes a user terminal to function as price difference information display means for displaying at least price difference information from a registered product from information.