JP2008269089A - Market information collection system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a market information collection system capable of performing market researches about commodities at low cost and including selection causes of customers in the researches. <P>SOLUTION: An information center is provided with a means for generating a two-dimensional bar code image representing a customer ID based on a user registration request and transmitting it to an information terminal of a customer, a means for storing information, which is about the customer ID and a commodity ID of a commodity selected by the customer, received from a shop device, a means for transmitting a questionnaire about the commodity to the customer and collecting it, and a means for summarizing and outputting information about the commodity and the questionnaire. The store device connected to the information center via a communication network is provided with a means for reading the customer ID from the information terminal of the customer, a means for reading the commodity ID of the commodity selected by the customer, and a means for transmitting information including the customer ID and the commodity ID of the commodity selected by the customer to the information center. In this way, market researches about commodities can be carried out inexpensively, and the market researches close to an actual trade circumstances can be carried out. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a market information collection system, and more particularly, a system for market research on consumer products, which provides a sample product to a customer free of charge at a store, and the customer takes the product home for trial or tasting or tasting. Later, a questionnaire is sent from the center to collect customer feedback, requests, points to be improved, and comparison information with other products. And it is related with the market information collection system for processing a questionnaire etc. and providing it to a goods provision company.

  Conventionally, in order to make a sales forecast or reflect it in product planning, a product provider has provided a product to a customer and conducted a market research before the product is released. Market research was conducted through methods such as interviewing customers individually and conducting questionnaire surveys. In these methods, methods such as distributing products on the street are common, but this has the disadvantage of not being able to ask questions that are too complicated and costly because of the labor involved. Moreover, even if a specific customer is gathered and interviewed, there is a concern that the customer base may be biased, and at the same time, there is a disadvantage of high cost.

  In view of this, a method of displaying some products on a specific homepage, receiving an application via the Internet, shipping the products, and then collecting a questionnaire regarding the products is also considered. For example, Patent Document 1 below discloses such a method for collecting customer information.

In this collection method, a general user accesses the information broker via the Internet, notifies the first customer information and registers as a user member, and the company registers as a corporate member, Steps for providing company information and free samples, etc., recruiting monitors from user members, using the free samples as monitors, and responding to questions regarding the free samples to the information broker And transmitting the second customer information obtained from the reply to the information broker.
JP 2001-350898 A

  In the conventional method as described above, since it does not go through the normal purchasing process of actually picking up the product, the quality in terms of selecting the product is unknown, and the product shipping There was also the disadvantage of requiring costs. In addition, the sales promotion effect of widely appealing the goodness of the product through word of mouth could not be expected. The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, conduct all market research on products at low cost, and investigate from the customer who selected a specific product, including the reason for selection. It is to provide a market information gathering system that can.

  The market information collection system of the present invention includes customer identification information issuing means for generating customer identification information based on a user registration request from an information terminal such as a customer's mobile phone and transmitting it to the information terminal such as the customer's mobile phone; Product information storage means for storing product information including a combination of the customer identification information and the product identification information of the product selected by the customer, received from the store device, the mobile phone of the customer corresponding to the product information, etc. An information center device comprising: a questionnaire means for transmitting and collecting a questionnaire regarding the product to the information terminal; and a counting means for counting and outputting the product information and the questionnaire information; and the information center apparatus and a communication network. Connected to the customer identification information reading means for reading the customer identification information from an information terminal such as a mobile phone of the customer; Product identification information reading means for reading the product identification information of the selected product, and transmission means for transmitting product information including a combination of the customer identification information and the product identification information of the product selected by the customer to the information center device. The main feature is that it includes a store apparatus.

  In the market information collection system described above, the customer identification information issuing means generates two-dimensional barcode image data representing customer identification information, transmits the data to an information terminal such as a mobile phone, and the customer identification information The reading means is also characterized in that it reads the two-dimensional barcode image displayed on a display device of an information terminal such as the mobile phone.

  In the market information collection system described above, the store apparatus further includes a registration check unit that determines whether the customer is a registered user when the customer enters the store.

  In the market information collection system described above, the store apparatus further includes limit number checking means for checking whether or not the customer's product take-out number exceeds a predetermined product take-out limit number. There are also features.

The market information collecting system of the present invention has the following effects.
(1) It is possible to conduct various market surveys on products at low cost and reflect them in product development and product planning.
(2) Since the customer selects a specific product from a large number of products at the store, the survey including the reason for the selection is possible, and a market survey in a form close to actual sales can be performed.

(3) Since a new customer can obtain a desired product by registering as a user and going to the store, it is possible to appeal the goodness of the specific product by word of mouth.
(4) A wide range of market research is possible without leaking customer information to the product provider.
(5) It is possible to analyze and provide the market research results to the product provider.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the market information collection system of the present invention. The system is roughly composed of an information terminal 41 such as a mobile phone owned by the information center 10, the store 30, and the customer 40, and a communication network (for example, the Internet 20 and the mobile phone network 21) connecting each device or system. There may be a plurality of stores 30.

  The information center 10 includes, for example, a well-known mail server 14 that is connected to the Internet 20 and transmits / receives mail, a well-known communication server (Web server) 15 that is also connected to the Internet 20 and communicates with the store 30 system, mail The server 14, the communication server 15, or another server (not shown) and an application server (application server) 11 connected to a LAN 16 to which a PC terminal is connected are provided.

  The application server 11 is obtained by creating and installing a program that realizes functions to be described later on a commercially available server device having a known configuration. The application server 11 also includes a function of the center DB (database) 12 and a printer 13 that outputs, for example, a total result. The center DB 12 includes a customer DB that stores user registration information and store visit information related to customers, and a product DB that stores various information related to products provided at the store and questionnaire information related to products. The apparatus configuration of the information center 10 is an example, and the configuration of the server can be arbitrarily changed as long as the same function can be realized.

  The store 30 displays products provided by a company that conducts market research, and includes a store PC (personal computer) 31 and a POS (register) terminal 34 that is connected to the store PC 31 and the LAN 37 through a LAN 37. . The store PC 31 is connected with a two-dimensional bar code reader 33 for reading a known QR code (registered trademark), which is a kind of two-dimensional bar code representing customer identification information, for checking the store entrance. A communication function with the server 15 is provided. Customer information distributed from the information center 10 is stored in the store DB 32.

  The POS terminal 34 is used when leaving the store after the customer 40 who has visited the store selects the product 42. In the system of the present invention, the product 42 is distributed to the customer 40 free of charge, but customer identification information (= customer ID) and product identification information (= product) are used at the POS terminal 34 used in normal sales activities. ID) is only read. Therefore, in the case of free of charge, a known PC (personal computer) may be used instead of the POS 34. Note that at least a part of the product may be sold for a fee, and in this case, the POS terminal 34 performs payment.

  The two-dimensional barcode readers 33 and 35 are, for example, two-dimensional barcodes representing a customer ID such as a QR code (registered trademark) displayed on a display device of an information terminal 41 such as a customer's mobile phone by a built-in CCD camera. It is a device that reads images and the like. The barcode reader 36 is a device that reads a well-known barcode that is product identification information printed on a product or a package.

  The information terminal 41 is a known mobile phone having a communication function such as mail communication software or a Web browser. In the present invention, since the information terminal 41 such as a mobile phone has a mail communication function and an image display function, the voice call function and the browser function are not essential. Therefore, the present invention can also be implemented in a data communication dedicated terminal.

  FIG. 2 is a time chart showing information exchange between devices in the market information collecting system of the present invention. First, in the store 30, the product sample purchased from the product provider is displayed. In the information center 10, various information related to the product, a questionnaire form, and the like are registered in the product DB.

  The customer 40 first performs user registration. The customer 40 inputs an e-mail address of the information center 10 described in a store poster or magazine advertisement of the store 30, a Web page of the information center 10 or the like, or reads a two-dimensional barcode representing the e-mail address, A blank mail is transmitted from the information terminal 41 to the information center 10. The information center 10 returns a user registration form to the information terminal 41 such as a mobile phone.

  The customer 40 fills in this form with necessary information for user registration and returns it to the information center 10 by e-mail. The information center 10 checks the registration information to generate a customer ID (identification information), and further generates a two-dimensional barcode such as a QR code (registered trademark) representing the customer ID, along with the result of the registration OK. To the information terminal 41. The customer 40 stores only customer identification information such as this mail or a two-dimensional barcode image.

  Next, at the store 30, the customer displays the two-dimensional barcode image stored on the display device of the information terminal 41 such as a mobile phone and holds the two-dimensional barcode on the two-dimensional barcode reader 33 for entering the store. Let me read. The system of the store 30 extracts the customer ID from the read two-dimensional barcode, determines whether or not it is legitimate, and if it is OK, displays OK and permits the customer 40 to enter the store.

  The customer 40 who entered the store selects a desired product 42 from among the displayed products. In the POS 34 for exit processing, the customer identification information such as a two-dimensional barcode is read again and the barcode of the product 42 selected by the customer 40 is read. Then, for example, it is checked whether or not the monthly take-out number limit for each customer is exceeded, and if not exceeded, OK is displayed. The product information read in the POS 34 is transmitted to the information center 10 and stored in the product DB. The customer 40 takes home the product 42 that has passed the POS 34 and uses it for trial or tasting.

  In the information center 10, after a predetermined period of time elapses for each product, a questionnaire form related to the product is sent by e-mail to the information terminal 41 such as a mobile phone of the customer 40 who brought the product home. The customer 40 fills in this questionnaire form and returns it. The contents of the collected questionnaire are accumulated in the product DB. In order to increase the collection rate of questionnaires, a reply e-mail is sent to unanswered customers after a certain period of time.

  The information center 10 includes a product DB and a customer DB, and stores product information that the specific customer brought back the specific product and the contents of the collected questionnaire. When the questionnaire is collected, the answered questionnaire to which customer attribute information that does not specify the customer such as age and gender is added is sent to the product providing company individually. In addition, the customer attribute information and the questionnaire that has been answered are subjected to statistical processing and the results of analysis and analysis are output and sent to the product provider.

  With the configuration and processing as described above, a market information collection system that can conduct all market research on products at a low cost and can conduct surveys including the reasons for selection from customers who have selected specific products. realizable. The processing contents of each device in the system will be described below.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the application server 11 in the information center of the present invention. In S10, it is determined whether or not an empty mail is received from the information terminal 41 such as a mobile phone via the mail server 14, and if the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S12. The process proceeds to S11. In S11, the mail server 14 is instructed to send the user registration form by e-mail to the information terminal 41 such as the mobile phone.

  In S12, it is determined whether or not a mail requesting user registration is received from the information terminal 41 such as a mobile phone. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S14, but if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S13. To do. In S13, a user registration process described later is performed. In S14, it is determined whether or not store entry information has been received from the store system 30. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S16, but if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S15. In S15, store entry information is recorded in the customer DB. The store entry information includes store ID, customer ID, and date / time information.

  In S16, it is determined whether or not the merchandise information is received from the store system 30. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S18, but if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S17. In S17, store ID, customer ID, product ID, number check result, date and time, etc. included in the product information are registered in the product DB.

  In S18, for example, it is determined whether or not the questionnaire timing check timing has arrived depending on whether or not a predetermined time every day has arrived. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S20. In this case, the process proceeds to S19. In S19, a questionnaire dispatch process to be described later is performed.

  In S20, it is determined whether a completed questionnaire has been received from the information terminal 41 such as a mobile phone. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S22, but if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S21. In S21, the contents of the questionnaire are registered in the product DB.

  In S22, for example, it is determined whether or not a totaling instruction is given from a terminal PC (not shown) in the information center 10. If the determination result is negative, the process returns to S10, but if the determination is positive, the process proceeds to S23. In S23, a counting process is performed. In the aggregation process, for example, for a specific product, simple aggregation of customer attributes / question answers, cross-tabulation of customer attributes / question answers, customer attribute / question answer contingency table, multivariate analysis of customer attributes / question answers, product impressions Total text information is collected.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the contents of the user registration process in S13. In S30, information such as an e-mail address and customer attribute data is extracted from the received registration data form and checked for deficiencies. In S31, a unique customer ID is generated. The customer ID may be encrypted. In S32, a two-dimensional barcode image including at least customer ID information is generated.

  In S33, customer identification information such as a two-dimensional barcode image is attached to the user registration OK notification mail and transmitted to an information terminal such as a mobile phone of the customer. The customer stores customer identification information such as this mail or two-dimensional barcode image data in a nonvolatile memory in the information terminal 41 such as a mobile phone. In S34, customer attribute information, mail address, generated customer ID, etc. are registered in the customer DB. In S35, customer information that has newly occurred in each store system 30 or whose contents have been updated is transmitted.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the contents of the questionnaire dispatch process in S19. In S40, one item that has passed the questionnaire sending time predetermined for each corresponding item and has not been sent yet is selected from the item information in the item DB. In S41, a questionnaire form corresponding to a pre-registered product is read out.

  In S42, the read questionnaire form is sent by e-mail to the corresponding customer e-mail address. In S43, the questionnaire sent flag of the product information is turned on. In S44, it is determined whether or not all the product information has been checked. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S40, but if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S45.

  In S45, one item that has passed a predetermined questionnaire collection deadline and has not yet been answered is selected from the product information in the product DB. In S46, the questionnaire reminder mail is transmitted to the mail address of the corresponding customer. In S47, the questionnaire demanded flag of the product information is turned on. In S48, it is determined whether or not all product information has been checked. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S45, but if the determination is affirmative, the process ends.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the store PC 31 in the present invention. In S60, for example, it is determined whether or not it is detected that the customer 40 has visited the store based on a device that automatically detects a person entering the store or a keyboard operation by a store clerk. If the determination result is negative, S67 is determined. If yes, the process proceeds to S61. In S 61, the two-dimensional barcode is read using the two-dimensional barcode reader 35.

  In S62, the customer ID is extracted from the two-dimensional bar code and collated with the customer information stored in the store DB 32. In S63, it is determined whether or not the collation result is valid. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S65. If the determination result is affirmative, the process proceeds to S64. In S64, the store permission is displayed on the display device of the store PC 31. In S65, a disapproval is displayed. In S66, store information such as customer ID, date, store ID, etc. is notified to the information center 10.

  In S67, it is determined whether or not take-out product identification information for each customer has been received from the POS 34 via the LAN 37. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S73, but if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S68. In S68, the customer information is referenced based on the customer ID of the take-out product identification information for each customer, and for example, the cumulative number of product take-outs for this month for the customer does not exceed the predetermined monthly product take-out limit. To check.

  In S69, it is determined whether or not the check result exceeds the limit number. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S70, but if the determination result is positive, the process proceeds to S71. In S70, OK (permission) is transmitted to the POS. In S71, NG (impossible) is transmitted to the POS. In S72, the store ID, customer ID, product ID, check result, date and time, etc. are transmitted to the information center 10. In S73, it is determined whether customer information (updated) has been received from the information center 10. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S60, but if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to S74. In S74, the customer information in the store DB 32 is updated.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the POS 34 in the present invention. In S80, it waits until it detects a product identification processing start instruction at the time of leaving the store, such as an operation by a store clerk. In S81, the two-dimensional barcode is read from the information terminal 41 such as a mobile phone using the two-dimensional barcode reader 35. In S82, the barcode of the product 42 is read using the barcode reader 36. When there are a plurality of products 42, they are read continuously.

  In S83, the read customer ID and product ID information is transmitted to the store PC 31 via the LAN. In S84, the check result of the number limit in the store PC is received. In S85, it is determined whether or not the check result is OK. If the determination result is negative, the process proceeds to S87, but if the determination result is positive, the process proceeds to S86. In S86, OK is displayed on the display of POS34. In S87, NG is displayed.

  While the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the following modifications are also conceivable for the present invention. In the embodiment, customer information is distributed to each store from the information center, and an example in which the check at the time of entering the store and the check of the limited number are all processed in the store is disclosed, for example, the customer DB is not placed in the store, When entering a store or leaving a store, the store PC may access the information center and read information on the customer ID and the limited number. This reduces the processing load on the store PC.

  In the embodiment, an example in which the customer ID is displayed with a QR code (registered trademark) has been disclosed. However, the customer ID can be displayed in any form of barcode or two-dimensional barcode. In addition, the product identification information can be a bar code of an arbitrary format including a known bar code, or an ID tag that can read ID information without contact. Furthermore, as a customer authentication method, either a magnetic card, an IC card, a card using an ID tag that can read ID information without contact, or a card printed with a barcode of an arbitrary format is issued to the customer. Thus, the present invention can also be implemented by reading customer ID information with a card reader or bar code reader in a store. Alternatively, the present invention can be implemented even by confirming the customer ID by human visual inspection.

  According to the present invention, since information on registered customer attributes and preferences is known in the information center, sales promotion information is provided only to customers selected by the customer attribute information from the information center based on requests from companies. Can also be sent.

  In the embodiment, there is a merit that the customer can obtain a product sample free of charge. However, for example, a predetermined point may be given to the customer for each action such as visiting a store, taking out a product, or answering a questionnaire. The points can be exchanged for specific products within a range based on the prize display method, for example, at a store. In this way, customer benefits increase and an increase in customers can be expected.

  In the embodiment, an example is disclosed in which the customer obtains a product sample from the store, takes it home, and then responds to a questionnaire. However, after the event experience (touch & try) in the store or trial of the exhibit in the store, the mobile terminal Replying to a questionnaire using the can also be considered as a modification. In this case, a product is displayed in the store and used as a trial, or a tasting, tasting or use event with a product description is performed in the store.

  The method of answering the above-mentioned questionnaire about events in the store is to have the person who tried the product bring a bar code or QR code card to the counter and read it with a POS terminal like a take-away OK sample, Collect questionnaires using customer information terminals. As for questionnaire collection at an event, there may be a form in which questionnaire collection is performed for all visitors during that period, and a questionnaire is collected using a mobile terminal with an entry indicating which event was good.

  The market information collecting system according to the present invention can be used for market research from any viewpoint regarding arbitrary products that can be displayed and distributed in stores.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the whole market information collection system of this invention. It is a time chart which shows the exchange of the information between each apparatus in the market information collection system of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content of the application server in the information center of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the user registration process of S13. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the questionnaire dispatch process of S19. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content of store PC in this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content of POS in this invention.

Explanation of symbols

10 ... Information center 11 ... Application server 12 ... Center DB (database)
13 ... Printer 14 ... Mail server 15 ... Communication server 16 ... LAN
20 ... Internet 21 ... Mobile phone network 30 ... Store (system)
31 ... Store PC (PC)
32 ... Store DB
33, 35 ... Two-dimensional bar code reader 34 ... POS (register) terminal 36 ... Bar code reader 37 ... LAN
40 ... Customer 41 ... Mobile phone information terminal 42 ... Product

Claims (4)

Customer identification information issuing means for generating customer identification information and transmitting it to the customer information terminal based on a user registration request from the customer information terminal;
Product information storage means for storing product information including a combination of the customer identification information received from the store apparatus and the product identification information of the product selected by the customer;
A questionnaire means for transmitting a questionnaire about the product to the customer's information terminal corresponding to the product information, and collecting the questionnaire;
An information center device comprising a totaling means for counting and outputting the product information and the questionnaire information;
The customer identification information reading means connected to the information center device by a communication network and reading the customer identification information from the customer information terminal;
Product identification information reading means for reading product identification information of the product selected by the customer;
Market information collection, comprising: a store device including a transmission unit that transmits product information including a combination of the customer identification information and product identification information of a product selected by the customer to the information center device. system. The customer identification information issuing means generates two-dimensional barcode image data representing the customer identification information, and sends it to the information terminal by mail;
The market information collecting system according to claim 1, wherein the customer identification information reading unit reads the two-dimensional barcode image displayed on the display device of the information terminal.   The market information collection system according to claim 1, wherein the store apparatus further includes a registration check unit that determines whether or not the customer is a registered user when the customer enters the store.   2. The store apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising limit number checking means for checking whether or not the number of merchandise items taken by the customer exceeds a predetermined merchandise take-away limit number. Market information collection system.

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