JP2009122781A - Recommending system, and recommending method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that it is hard to predict a period when a commodity becomes unnecessary by conventional technique for recommending the transfer of the commodity since the time when the commodity becomes unnecessary is largely influenced by causes not to be easily assumed, such as the transition of fashion, the change of likings and tastes of an individual user, and the increase of a boring feeling with respect to the commodity with the usage, etc. <P>SOLUTION: A recommending system retrieves whether or not the previous buying the same kind of product by the same user exists or not in recommending buying the commodity or receiving the buying through the use of a commodity buying history to be used in recommending the commodity buying in an EC site, etc. When the previous buying of the same kind of commodity exists, the commodity buying is regarded as replacement, thereby separately recommending the user to transfer the previously bought commodity to a third person. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technology for separately recommending a product that is owned by a user at an appropriate timing to be transferred to a third party in an auction or the like in a system for making a product purchase recommendation using a purchase history of the product.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been provided a technique for accumulating and using a purchase history for each product purchaser for a product purchased at an EC site, an online auction, or a credit card. Specifically, for example, there is a user A who purchased a sound source of 70s British rock at a music distribution site. Then, another user B who purchased a sound source similar to that is assumed to have a similar hobby preference to user A, and recommends user A to purchase another sound source indicated by the purchase history of the other user B. It is.

As another technique for using such a product purchase history, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for making an auction exhibition request. Specifically, the product purchase history is used to determine the elapsed time after product purchase, and for products that have passed the predetermined period, it is determined that the product cycle has ended (the product is no longer needed) and the auction. Requesting an item to be sent to (submitted recommendation).
JP 2002-297946 A

  However, the above conventional technique has a problem that it is difficult to predict well when the product is unnecessary. This is because the time when a product is unnecessary depends largely on factors that are difficult to assume, such as a shift in fashion, changes in individual user's hobbies and preferences, or an increase in tiredness of products due to use. Because.

  Therefore, in the conventional technology, even if the predetermined period has passed, there is a possibility that, for example, the product has already begun to be used or has already been disposed of, and eventually the timing of the transfer recommendation has been removed. There is.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention uses the purchase history of products used for product purchase recommendations on EC sites, etc., so that the same user previously purchased the same type of product at the time of product purchase recommendation or at the time of purchase acceptance. Search whether or not. If a similar type of product is purchased, a recommendation system for separately recommending that the older purchase product before the purchase is transferred to a third party is regarded as purchase by replacement.

  Specifically, a recommendation system including an EC server device and a recommendation device each having the following configuration is provided. The EC server device constituting this recommendation system has an EC site management for managing a product purchase recommendation unit for making a product purchase recommendation based on a product purchase history and an EC site for purchasing a product in accordance with the product purchase recommendation. And a portion.

  In addition, the recommendation device that constitutes the recommendation system includes a product purchase history acquisition unit that acquires a product purchase history on the EC site of the EC server device in association with the product purchaser from the EC site management unit, an arbitrary product purchaser, Search the associated product purchase history and search for purchase history of multiple products of the same type, and if a purchase history of the same type of product is found by a search in the search unit, purchase history A transfer recommendation that transmits a transfer recommendation, which is information recommending that a product purchaser associated with is transferred to the third party the product that was most distant among the plurality of similar products. And a transmission unit.

  According to the present invention configured as described above, the purchase history of a product used for a product purchase recommendation on an EC site or the like is used, and the older product is put on an auction at a timing such as replacement of the product. It can be recommended separately. And since it is unlikely that you will purchase the same type of product when you start using it, and you are unlikely to dispose of the previous product first before purchasing a new product of the same type, Transfer to three parties can be promoted.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  In the first embodiment, claims 1 and 4 will be mainly described. In the second embodiment, claims 2 and 5 will be mainly described. In the third embodiment, claims 3 and 6 will be mainly described.

Example 1
<Overview>
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a recommendation notification such as trade-in of products performed by the recommendation system of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1A, the user α made a successful bid for “CPU”, which is a personal computer part, for 9800 yen in an online auction. Then, the merchandise purchase history by the successful bid is accumulated in the database.

  The user α who has considered upgrading the personal computer after several years has browsed the introduction page of the “high clock version CPU” on the EC site as shown in FIG. At this time, the recommendation device according to the present embodiment searches the product purchase history of another user β who has purchased the same type of CPU. Then, a screen for recommending the user to purchase the product “memory × 2” purchased by the other user β together with the high clock version CPU together is displayed.

  At the same time, the recommendation device according to the present embodiment searches the product purchase history of the user α and finds that the same kind of “CPU” has been purchased before. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1 (c), the recommendation device of the present embodiment trades the previously purchased “old CPU” into a used PC parts shop that is a partner of the transfer recommendation service according to the present invention. A transfer recommendation mail that prompts the user to do so is sent to the user α. And if the user α purchases a new CPU, there is a high possibility that the old CPU that is the target of the transfer recommendation is unnecessary, so it can be expected to respond to this transfer recommendation in many cases. is there.

<Functional configuration>
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks in the recommendation system of the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, the recommendation system according to the present embodiment includes an “EC server device” (0200) and a “recommendation device” (0210).

  The “EC server device” (0200) includes a “product purchase recommendation unit” (0201) and an “EC site management unit” (0202). Further, the “recommendation device” (0210) includes a “product purchase history acquisition unit” (0211), a “search unit” (0212), and a “transfer recommendation transmission unit” (0213).

  The functional blocks of the recommendation device described below can be realized as hardware, software, or both hardware and software. Specifically, if a computer is used, a CPU, a main memory, a bus, or a secondary storage device (a hard disk, a non-volatile memory, a storage medium such as a CD or a DVD, a reading drive for the medium, etc.), a printing device And hardware components such as display devices and other external peripheral devices, driver programs and other application programs for controlling the hardware, and user interfaces used for information input.

  Then, by CPU processing according to the program developed on the main memory, the data input via the interface and stored in the memory and hard disk are processed and stored, and the above hardware and software are controlled. Instructions are generated.

  Further, the present invention can be realized not only as a recommendation device but also as a method. A part of the invention can be configured as software. Furthermore, a software product used for causing a computer to execute such software and a recording medium in which the product is fixed to a recording medium are naturally included in the technical scope of the present invention (the same applies throughout the present specification). Is).

  Hereinafter, the “product purchase recommendation unit” (0201) and the “EC site management unit” (0202) in FIG. 2 which are the configuration requirements of the “EC server device” constituting the recommendation system of the present embodiment will be described first. .

  The “product purchase recommendation unit” (0201) has a function of making a product purchase recommendation based on the product purchase history. "Product purchase history" refers to EC sites (including auction sites) and electronic cards (credit cards, electronic money cards, mobile phones with built-in electronic money functions, rental personal authentication cards, customer management databases) Such as a point card that has been managed by a credit sales company. That is, a product purchase history database constructed by associating a product ID with a product purchaser ID, a product purchase date, etc. in accordance with a product purchase (successful bid) on an EC site or a product purchase using an electronic card It is.

  In addition, a person who provides a transfer recommendation service according to the present invention may be constructed by combining existing databases, or a new database may be constructed. The product purchase history database may be a product purchase history database other than an EC site or a credit card as long as the product purchase history can be stored in association with the product purchaser at the time of product purchase. . Specifically, for example, there is a database that accumulates a product purchase history in a sales form in which user management using a point card is performed.

  FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a product purchase history associated with a product purchaser obtainable from the various databases. As shown in this figure, for example, as the product purchase history of the user α, “product purchase date”, “purchase product ID (product name, model number, JAN code, etc.)”, “purchase product type (category)”, “ For example, history information in which “product purchase price” is tabulated.

  The product purchase recommendation unit is configured to urge the user who visited the EC site using the product purchase history database as described above to purchase the product as follows. That is, a product purchase history of another user is searched by using a product page ID or the like being browsed by a certain user α as a key. Then, according to a predetermined rule (for example, the product and the product type are the same or the purchase time is the same) from other user's product purchase history that has hit the search (has purchased the product in the past) Extract products for use. Then, for example, a screen display as shown in FIG. 4 is performed, and the extracted product is recommended to the user α. Note that the timing of the product purchase recommendation may be performed when the site is visited before the product is purchased, when the product introduction page is viewed, or after the product is purchased.

  The “EC site management unit” (0202) has a function of managing an EC site for purchasing a product in accordance with a product purchase recommendation. Specifically, in addition to displaying a Web page for an EC site, processing related to acceptance of a purchase order, billing and shipping of ordered products is executed and managed. Further, in the present embodiment, in order to make recommendations before and after the product purchase, the product information purchased on its own site is added to the database in association with the product buyer identification information, so that the product purchase history Perform management such as updating.

  In this embodiment, the product purchase history is updated and managed as described above, so that the recommendation for the product purchase is executed at the EC site, and the recommendation for the transfer is separately performed by the following recommendation device. It is configured.

  Next, the “product purchase history acquisition unit” (0211), “search unit” (0212) in FIG. 2, which are the configuration requirements of the recommendation device that performs the recommendation for transferring the same type of product purchased in the past, The “transfer recommendation transmission unit” (0213) will be described.

  The “product purchase history acquisition unit” (0211) has a function of acquiring the product purchase history on the EC site of the EC server device in association with the product purchaser from the EC site management unit. Specifically, when the user browses the product introduction page on the EC site or purchases the product, the product purchase history as shown in FIG. 3 is associated with the product purchaser identification information on the EC server device. Configured to be sent. The transmitted information is received by the recommendation device.

  The recommendation device according to the present embodiment uses the product purchase history managed for the product purchase recommendation by the EC server device to determine whether the same type of product purchase has been performed according to the following configuration, and purchase for the user. Know if there are unnecessary products due to replacement. And it makes the recommendation for transfer of unnecessary goods separately.

  The “search unit” (0212) has a function of searching for a product purchase history associated with an arbitrary product purchaser and searching for purchase histories of a plurality of similar products. In this manner, in this search unit, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, in the product purchase history of the user α, it is determined whether or not the same type of product has been purchased before using “CPU” (0310) purchased earlier as a search key. For example, a search process is performed.

  However, the product purchase history to be searched by the search unit is not limited to the product purchase history related to one product purchaser (only the user α). In other words, the “arbitrary product purchaser” to be searched is searched for the “product purchase history of all family members” if, for example, it is determined from registered attribute information that there is a family living with the user α. You may comprise so that a process may be performed. In that case, the EC server device is configured to transmit the product purchase history of the product purchaser such as the family specified from the user registration information in association with the product purchase history of the product purchaser, and obtain it by the recommendation device. good.

  Further, the “same type of product” to be searched is not limited to the same type of product. For example, for parts such as “PC (Personal Computer)” and “CPU” or “Automobile” and “Tire” that are composed of multiple parts and are likely to be replaced by purchase, search for individual parts. It is better to determine whether the product is the same type. Specifically, a “product-part table” in which products and component parts are separately associated with each other is held, and the “product-part table” is referred to when searching by this search unit. , And so on.

  Alternatively, for example, when a user who has previously purchased a fan in the product purchase history has purchased a cooling air conditioner, the fan may be searched for the same type of product of the air conditioner. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, in the product purchase history, a product type (category) is tabulated in advance in addition to the product ID, and the search is performed on this item when searching. good.

  In addition, as a trigger at the time of performing this merchandise purchase history search process, for example, acquisition of information indicating that the user has purchased a new merchandise on an EC site or a credit card may be used. In this case, the transfer recommendation can be transmitted with the following configuration at an effective timing immediately after the user purchases the product.

  In addition, for example, acquisition of access information indicating that a product catalog page has been browsed on an EC site, acquisition of information indicating that a document request has been made, or the like may be used as a trigger for executing the above processing. Furthermore, when triggering something other than actual product purchase as described above, the number of accesses to the same page / same item, the number of requests for materials, etc. are determined. And the processing related to the following transfer recommendation transmission may be executed. In addition, by executing the search process before actual product purchase in this way, for example, transfer recommendation can be performed with a configuration described later at an early stage. Therefore, there is an effect that it is possible to avoid the situation where the user throws away the old product to be immediately transferred.

  In this way, it is possible to search for products that are assumed to be unnecessary by replacement purchase. Then, based on the search result, the transfer recommendation is executed for the product hit in the search by the following configuration.

  The “transfer recommendation transmission unit” (0213) transmits a transfer recommendation to the product purchaser associated with the purchase history when the purchase history of the same type of product is found by the search in the search unit. It has a function. “Transfer recommendation” is information recommending that a product purchased in the past among the plurality of similar products is transferred to a third party. Specifically, a fixed phrase such as “If you purchased (Yes) ○○ (product name), you can get a trade-in for XX (product name) you purchased before” as a trade-in. ” To the registered e-mail address of the purchaser of the product. As for the transfer recommendation, in addition to the trade-in and purchase at the above-mentioned second-hand shops, it is recommended to participate in a flea market, donate to a predetermined group, or exhibit at an auction site as described later in the third embodiment. In that case, if the transfer recommendation service provider using the recommendation device of the present embodiment provides with a plurality of transfer destinations, etc., the product ID or the like as the transfer destination is keyed from the provided database. It may be configured to search and specify as In addition, if the provider of the transfer recommendation service itself is a transfer destination or a transfer provider, it is preferable to transmit a transfer recommendation that recommends transfer to itself.

  Alternatively, it may be configured such that nearby second-hand shop information, flea market information scheduled to be held in the near future indicated by calendar information, and the like are retrieved and acquired from the address information indicated by the registered user attribute information and included in the transfer recommendation.

  In addition, regarding the selection of a product to be recommended for transfer, “the one that has been purchased the farthest among a plurality of similar products”, that is, the oldest with reference to the purchase date of the product purchase history shown in FIG. You may comprise so that the thing of a purchase date may be selected. Specifically, for example, search processing is performed in order of product purchase date, and after one corresponding product is found, whether there is a similar product with a purchase date older than that is searched. Of course, in addition to the above, all items other than newly purchased products may be processed as target products for transfer recommendation. Alternatively, the transfer recommendation may be transmitted for a product with the lowest price or a product with the shortest remaining life cycle by referring to the price or the life cycle of the product separately determined from the product-life cycle table.

  Further, it may be configured to find a user as a transfer destination before the transfer recommendation transmission. That is, first, as described above, the search process in the search unit is executed before purchasing the product. Then, the product scheduled to be transferred at an early stage (before the transfer recommendation transmission) is specified. Subsequently, a user who has no purchase history of the product is searched in the product purchase history database, and an assignment recommendation is transmitted to the found user. The “transfer recommendation” refers to information for notifying that the product can be transferred (scheduled). For example, as with the transfer recommendation, it may be notified by a standard text e-mail or the like. Then, when the reply information indicating that the transfer is accepted from the user is acquired, the recommendation device of the present embodiment adds the information (user name, contact information, etc.) of the transfer requester to the transfer recommendation, and so on. is there. In addition, when there are a plurality of transfer applicants, it is preferable to present the desired transfer amount and add the information of the user who has the maximum displayed amount to the transfer recommendation.

  Further, the assignment recommendation transmission unit may further include the following configuration that controls transmission of the assignment recommendation using attribute information held in advance by user registration or the like.

  FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of user attribute information held in advance in the recommendation device according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, for example, as user attribute information, age, sex, family structure, collection (hobby preference) information, and other various information indicating user attributes are stored and held in a secondary storage device such as an HDD. . Then, for example, when the calculation device determines that the product type of the product found by the search of the search unit is a collection target with reference to the collection information of the user, it is determined that the possibility of transfer is low and the transfer recommendation is determined. For example, it is controlled not to transmit.

  Or, for example, when acquiring information on the number of family members who have ordinary licenses or family members who are over 20 years old from the user attribute information, for example, “3 people”, it is not recommended for the purchase of a third car. However, the recommendation device may be provided with a configuration for transmitting a transfer recommendation for the first time when the fourth vehicle is purchased.

  In addition to the attribute information, the recommendation device has, for example, a configuration for acquiring and managing information indicating the degree of response to the previous recommendation, and the following configuration that controls transmission of the transfer recommendation according to the degree of response May be further included.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a product purchase history table to which a transfer flag is further added. The “transfer flag” is a flag indicating that the user has actually transferred in accordance with the transfer recommendation transmitted by the recommendation device. For example, the transfer flag is acquired by information input from the user or information input from the transfer destination. It should be added to the product purchase history. Then, as shown in this figure, when the total number of transfer flags “○” is equal to or greater than the threshold, it is determined that the transfer tendency of the user's comics is high, and control is performed so as to always transmit a transfer recommendation regarding the comics, or Conversely, when the CPU determines that the number of transfer flags is equal to or less than the threshold, control is performed so as not to transmit a transfer recommendation.

  Further, the recommendation device of the present embodiment may refer to the transfer flag individually for each product type. In other words, as shown in the figure, the user α transfers the first volume, the second volume, and the third volume of the comic A every time a new volume is purchased. Therefore, when a determination result to that effect is output by the arithmetic processing of the CPU, when the comic A is purchased, the transfer recommendation is always transmitted for the previous volume. On the other hand, since it is determined that the comic B is not in accordance with the previous transfer recommendation based on the transfer flag, the recommendation apparatus controls the comic B not to transmit the above recommendation.

  Also, the transfer tendency determined from the transfer flag may be configured to perform statistical analysis in association with the aforementioned user attribute. Specifically, for example, the CPU executes a statistical analysis process according to a statistical analysis program using the number of transfer flags and user attribute information as parameters. As a result, if the gender attribute is male, the previous merchandise is not transferred even if the same-type clothing of 10 or more attentions is purchased. On the other hand, if the gender attribute is female, a statistical result is calculated such that the transfer rate is increased by purchasing the same type of clothing of 4 attention. Then, according to the statistical result, a transfer recommendation transmission rule, for example, “If the attribute is a man, do not send a transfer recommendation for clothes” “If the attribute is a woman, send a transfer recommendation for purchase of similar clothes after 4 points of interest for clothes. Generate a rule such as Then, control is performed so as to transmit the transfer recommendation according to the rule.

  In addition, by controlling the transmission of transfer recommendations using various data in this way, it is possible to make transfer recommendations that match the user's tendency and the like, which has the effect of further stimulating the user's willingness to transfer. I can expect.

  Further, by using the transfer flag shown in FIG. 6, since the user has not already owned the product previously transferred, it may be excluded from the search target of the search process in the search unit. As a result, the load of search processing can be reduced.

  In the above functional configuration example (and a hardware configuration example and processing flow example described later), an example in which the “EC server device” and the “recommendation device” are configured as separate devices according to the present invention is taken as an example. Although listed, of course, it is not limited to it. For example, the same function may be realized by incorporating the EC server device and the recommendation device into one server device.

<Hardware configuration>
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of the EC server device that configures the recommendation system when the above functional components are realized as hardware. The operation of each hardware component in the process of updating the product purchase history database will be described with reference to this figure.

  As shown in this figure, the EC server device performs various arithmetic processes, and includes a “CPU” (0701) and a “main memory” (0702) which are an EC site management unit and a product purchase recommendation unit. . Also, an “HDD” (0703) that holds various databases and tables, and a “communication IF” (0704) that communicates with a recommendation device and a product purchaser (user) terminal are provided. They are connected to each other via a data communication path such as a “system bus” to transmit / receive information and process information.

  A program is read out to the “main memory”, and the “CPU” executes various arithmetic processes by referring to the read out program. In addition, a plurality of addresses are assigned to each of the “main memory” and “flash memory”, and in the calculation processing of the “CPU”, the addresses are specified and accessed to store the data. It is possible to perform arithmetic processing using.

  Here, the user accesses the EC server device at his / her terminal and makes a request for EC site browsing. Then, the EC server device transmits HTML data such as an EC site top page held in the “HDD” as a response from the “communication IF” to the user terminal. At this time, by performing a login (user authentication) process, the EC server apparatus may acquire the user ID and store it in the address 1 of the “main memory”. Alternatively, the user ID may be acquired at the time of ordering a product described later.

  Then, the user accesses the introduction / order page of each product in the EC site (linked). Then, the EC server device acquires the page ID requested by the access as the product ID of the product being browsed by the user, and stores it in the address 2 of “main memory”. Then, a search process of the product purchase history DB held in “HDD” using the product ID as a key is executed by a logical operation process of “CPU”.

  As a result of the search, other users who include the product ID as a key in the product purchase history are specified. Subsequently, a search process is executed on the product purchase history of the specified other user as a target, for example, using the product type and purchase date / time as a key. Then, a similar product or a product purchased simultaneously by another user who purchased the same product as the product currently being viewed by a certain user is identified as a product subject to the product purchase recommendation, and its ID is set to address 3 of “main memory”. Store.

  Then, using a recommendation screen template or the like, a recommendation screen for making a purchase recommendation for the product stored in the address 3 of the “main memory” is generated, and the recommendation screen is displayed together with the product page for which the access request has been made as “communication IF”. Is returned from the user terminal to the user terminal.

  Then, when the user inputs product purchase information to the terminal in accordance with the product purchase recommendation of the EC server device and transmits the information, the EC server device further executes the following processing. That is, when the product purchase information is received by the “communication IF” and stored in the address 5 of the “main memory”, processing for billing and shipping is executed according to the product purchase information. At the same time, the product purchase information is added to the product purchase history DB held in “HDD” in association with the user ID acquired at the time of login.

  Then, in the EC server device of this embodiment, in order to execute the transfer recommendation of the product that seems to be unnecessary due to the purchase of the new product, the product purchase history of the additional and updated product purchaser is obtained from “communication IF”. For example, it is transmitted to the recommendation device (0710).

  Next, an example of a hardware configuration of a “recommendation device” that performs an unnecessary product transfer recommendation in response to the transmission of the product purchase history and an example of a transfer recommendation process will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in this figure, the recommendation device includes a “CPU” (0811) and a “main memory” (0812) which perform various arithmetic processes and are a search unit and a product purchase history acquisition unit. In addition, “HDD” (0813) that holds various databases and tables and “communication IF” (0814) that is a transfer recommendation transmission unit are also provided. Like the EC server device, they are connected to each other via a data communication path such as a “system bus” to transmit / receive information and process information.

  Here, as described above, the product purchase history associated with the product purchaser ID is transmitted from the EC server device by the product purchase at the EC site of the user, and is received by the “communication IF” of the recommendation device. Then, the recommendation device stores the user ID and the product purchase history acquired by the “communication IF” at addresses 1 and 2 of the “main memory”, respectively.

  Subsequently, the purchase product type ID of the newest purchase date shown in the product purchase history is specified by the calculation processing of “CPU” and stored in address 3 of “main memory”. Then, the other purchased product type IDs included in the product purchase history are sequentially read out to the “main memory”, and a determination process for determining whether or not it is the same as the latest purchased product type stored in the address 2 of the “main memory” is “CPU”. ”Is executed by the logical operation process. Further, in this processing, for example, a database may be configured such that a match is determined even if it is not an exact match by referring to a database categorized by associating the same type of product such as the aforementioned “product-parts table”.

  Then, as a result of the determination process, the past same-type product purchase history found is stored in 4 or less of “main memory”. Here, if there is one product of the same type, the recommendation information generated by embedding the product ID in the recommendation template stored in “HDD” is stored at address 5 of “main memory”. For example, the recommendation information is transmitted from the “communication IF” by e-mail with the user address of the target user held in the user attribute table as a destination.

  In addition, if there are multiple product types of the same type that have been found, the above-mentioned recommendation information may be generated and transmitted for all of them, and the purchase date indicated in the purchase history of the product is also available. May be processed so as to transmit recommendation information for the oldest product (having a small date value). Alternatively, it is also possible to refer to the amount indicated by the product purchase history or the product life cycle table separately stored as a database in the “HDD” to identify the product to which the recommendation information is to be transmitted. .

  In addition, as described above, the user attribute table held in “HDD” is referred to, and processing for determining whether to transmit recommendation information using information indicated by age, hobby preference, and family structure is executed. You may do it. In addition, a determination process for determining whether or not to transmit the recommendation information may be performed using the transfer history database in which the transfer flag is recorded.

<Process flow>
FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing flow in the recommendation system according to the present exemplary embodiment. Note that the steps shown below may be processing steps that constitute a program for controlling a computer recorded on a medium.

  As shown in this figure, first, various management processes such as EC site display and order reception are executed in the EC server device. When a certain user accesses a product introduction page of the EC site (step S0901), a product purchase recommendation based on the product purchase history of another user is executed as described above (step S0902). Then, a product order is accepted in accordance with the product purchase recommendation, and the product purchase is executed (step S0903). Information regarding the product purchase is added, and the product purchase history related to the product purchaser is updated (step S0903). S0904). Then, the product purchaser ID and the product purchase history are associated with each other and output to the recommendation device (step S0905).

  In the recommendation device, the product purchase history is acquired in association with the product purchaser (step S0911), and the acquired product purchase history is searched to search for purchase histories of a plurality of similar products (step S0912). If a purchase history of the same type of product is found by the search (step S0913), for example, it is determined using the transfer flag or the like whether the product has already been transferred (step S0914). If it is determined that the product has not been transferred, the product purchased in the past among the same type of products found for the product buyer associated with the purchase history is transferred to a third party. A transfer recommendation recommending to be sent is transmitted (step S0915).

<Simple explanation of effect>
As described above, the recommendation device according to the present embodiment grasps the timing of new product purchase at the EC site where the product purchase recommendation is performed, and refers to the product purchase history used for the product purchase recommendation, so that the product is unnecessary. Can be determined. Therefore, a high transfer execution effect can be expected by performing a transfer recommendation for a product that is considered unnecessary to the user without missing such replacement timing.

<< Example 2 >>
<Overview>
The present embodiment is a recommendation system having a function of adding and transmitting information such as a used market price of a corresponding product when performing the transfer recommendation based on the above embodiment.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the transfer recommendation mail transmitted to the user terminal by the recommendation system according to the present embodiment. As shown in this figure, in the template text of the transfer recommendation email, the consideration for the transfer of the product subject to the transfer recommendation, such as “The purchase price of the PC purchased previously is 30000 yen.” The market price information (1010) is written.

  In this way, since the user can know in advance the financial merit of the transfer, it can be expected to increase the incentive for the transfer.

<Functional configuration>
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks in the recommendation device that configures the recommendation system according to the present embodiment. Note that an example of the configuration requirements of the “EC server device” (1100) is the same as that described in the first embodiment, and is not shown. As shown in this figure, the “recommendation device” (1110) of the present embodiment is based on the first embodiment and includes “product purchase history acquisition unit” (1111), “search unit” (1112), and “transfer”. And a “recommended transmission unit” (1113). Since these structural requirements have already been described in the above embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted.

  The feature of the present embodiment is that the recommendation device further includes a “market price information acquisition unit” (1114), and the transfer recommendation information transmission unit further includes a “market price information adding unit” (1115).

  The “market price information acquisition unit” (1114) has a function of acquiring market price information in the recycling market of second-hand goods. This market price information acquisition unit collects HTML data such as a website for acquiring previously registered market price information, for example, a web page of a thrift shop or a price comparison web page, and price information of the corresponding product from tag information etc. To extract. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the market price shown on the Web page of each market collected and extracted in this way. For example, the market price information is calculated and acquired from the average of the extracted price information. “Used product recycling market” means a place with a market function to purchase or distribute used products, for example, auction including recycling / used purchase sales shop, free market, and online auction. And barter sites.

  The “market price information adding means” (1115) has a function of adding the market price information of the product for which the transfer is recommended to the transfer recommendation and transmitting it. As described above, in the recommendation device of the present embodiment, the transfer recommendation as shown in FIG. 10 to which the market price information is added by the market price information adding means can be transmitted to the user.

<Hardware configuration>
FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of the recommendation device when the above functional components are realized as hardware. The operation of each hardware component in the process of adding market price information to a transfer recommendation will be described using this figure. The hardware configuration of the EC server device has already been described in the first embodiment, and therefore illustration and description thereof are omitted.

  As shown in this figure, the recommendation device has a “CPU” (1311), a “main memory” (1312), an “HDD” (1313), and a “communication IF” (1314) as in the first embodiment. I have.

  Here, as described in the first embodiment, the product ID that is the target of the transfer recommendation is acquired in response to the acquisition of the product purchase history from the EC server device, and is stored in the address 3 of the “main memory”. Subsequently, the recommendation device according to the present embodiment executes, for example, a market information database search process as shown in FIG. 12 held in “HDD” in advance using the product ID as a key. The market price information database may be constructed by automatically collecting and classifying by using tag information by a crawler.

  Then, the market price information of the product found by the search process is stored in the “main memory” address 5 or the like. Then, according to the recommendation program, the average market price is calculated by the arithmetic processing of the CPU. Then, the calculated market price information is added to generate a transfer recommendation with market price information and stored in address 6 of the “main memory”. For example, the recommendation information is transmitted from the “communication IF” by e-mail with the user address of the target user held in the user attribute table as a destination.

<Process flow>
FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process flow in the recommendation device according to the present embodiment. An example of the flow of processing has also been described in the above embodiment for the EC server device, and thus illustration and description thereof will be omitted. Further, the steps shown below may be processing steps that constitute a program for controlling a computer recorded on a medium.

  As shown in this figure, when the product purchase history is acquired from the EC server device in association with the product purchaser (step S1411), the product purchase history associated with an arbitrary product purchaser is subsequently searched for, The purchase history of the same type of product is searched (step S1412). If the purchase history of the same type of product is found by the search (step S1413), for example, it is determined whether the product has already been transferred using a transfer flag or the like (step S1414). If the determination result indicates that the product has not been transferred, the market price information of the product is acquired from, for example, a database or a predetermined Web page (step S1415). And the transfer recommendation which added market price information is transmitted with respect to the goods purchaser linked | related with the purchase history (step S1416).

<Simple explanation of effect>
As described above, with the recommendation system of the present embodiment, it is possible to transmit market price information in a second-hand market of a product to be transferred to a user who makes a transfer recommendation. Therefore, since the user can know in advance the financial merit of the transfer, it can be expected to increase the incentive for the transfer.

Example 3
<Overview>
This embodiment is a recommendation system characterized in that, based on the above-described embodiment, a recommendation is made to use an “Internet auction” as a place for transferring merchandise.

<Functional configuration>
FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks in the recommendation device that configures the recommendation system according to the present embodiment. An example of the configuration requirements of the “EC server device” (1500) is the same as that described in the first embodiment, and is not shown. As shown in this figure, the “recommendation device” (1510) of the present embodiment is based on the second embodiment and includes a “product purchase history acquisition unit” (1511), a “search unit” (1512), and a “transfer recommendation”. It has a “transmission section” (1513), a “market price information acquisition section” (1514), and a “market price information adding means” (1515). Since these structural requirements have already been described in the above embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted.

  The feature of this embodiment is that the transfer recommendation transmission unit further includes an “auction recommendation transmission unit” (1516), and the market price information addition unit further includes an “auction addition unit” (1517).

  The “auction recommendation transmitting means” (1516) has a function of transmitting an auction recommendation which is information for recommending an auction for an Internet auction. Here, for example, if the transfer recommendation service provider itself is the operator of the auction site, the URL of the exhibition procedure screen of the own auction site may be described in the transfer recommendation. If the operator is not an Internet auction operator, the URL stored in the database may be added to the transfer recommendation with reference to the partner auction database.

  In addition, for example, it is configured to provide an “exhibition approval button” etc. in the transfer recommendation, and when the user presses the button of the transfer recommendation received and designates the attached photo or inputs the price, the transfer target product is automatically selected. The exhibition page may be automatically generated.

  The “auction adder” (1517) has a function of acquiring and adding market price information of an auction that recommends listings as market price information included in the auction recommendation transmitted by the auction recommendation transmission means (1516). Further, in connection with the “exhibition approval button” described above, the starting price at the time of auction listing may be the market price or a predetermined ratio.

  In addition, about acquisition of auction market price information, it is good to acquire from the auction apparatus of the following structures, for example. For example, as shown in FIG. 16, the auction apparatus includes an “auction market price information storage unit” (1621), an “auction market price information transmission unit” (1622), an “exhibition reception unit” (1623), and an “exhibition processing unit”. (1624).

  The “auction market price information storage unit” (1621) has a function of storing market price market information, and can be realized by a storage medium such as an HDD. Then, the auction price of the product, for example, the average successful bid price, average starting price, average number of bids, etc. for each product is accumulated and managed as a database.

  The “auction market price information transmission unit” (1622) has a function of transmitting the auction market price information related to the transfer target product stored in the auction market price information storage unit (1621) to the recommendation device. Then, when the user who has viewed the auction market price information transmitted to the recommendation device in this way and attached to the transfer recommendation decides the auction listing and presses the above-described exhibition approval button, for example, the exhibition approval information is displayed in the auction device. Received.

  The “exhibition acceptance unit” (1623) has a function of accepting user's exhibition information, and accepts, for example, product image information, start price information, and other setting information related to an auction in addition to information for approving an exhibition. Then, the “exhibition processing unit” (1624) executes generation of an exhibition page, acceptance of bid information, successful bid processing, and the like based on the exhibition information received by the exhibition reception unit (1623).

<Process flow>
FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process flow in the recommendation device according to the present embodiment. An example of the flow of processing has also been described in the above embodiment for the EC server device, and thus illustration and description thereof will be omitted. Further, the steps shown below may be processing steps that constitute a program for controlling a computer recorded on a medium.

  As shown in this figure, first, a product purchase history is obtained from the EC server device in association with the product purchaser (step S1711), and then a product purchase history associated with an arbitrary product purchaser is retrieved. The purchase history of a plurality of the same type of products is searched (step S1712). If a purchase history of the same kind of product is found by the search (step S1713), for example, it is determined whether the product has already been transferred using a transfer flag (step S1714). If the determination result indicates that the product has not been transferred, the auction price information of the product is acquired from, for example, an auction device (step S1715). And the transfer recommendation which added the auction market price information is transmitted with respect to the goods purchaser linked | related with the purchase history (step S1716). In addition, it accepts an exhibition request or the like according to the transfer recommendation.

<Simple explanation of effect>
As described above, according to the recommendation system of the present embodiment, it is possible to recommend a product transfer by auction to the user, and it is possible to widen the selection range of the user transfer.

The conceptual diagram showing an example of recommendation notification, such as goods trade-in performed by the recommendation system of Example 1. The figure showing an example of the functional block in EC server apparatus and recommendation apparatus which comprise the recommendation system of Example 1. FIG. The conceptual diagram showing an example of the merchandise purchase history referred for merchandise purchase recommendation in EC server device of Example 1 The figure showing an example of the goods purchase recommendation screen displayed by the goods purchase recommendation part of EC server device of Example 1. The conceptual diagram showing an example of the user attribute information previously hold | maintained in the recommendation apparatus of Example 1 The figure showing an example of the goods purchase history table to which the transfer flag was further added in the recommendation apparatus of Example 1. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration in an EC server device according to the first embodiment. The figure showing an example of the hardware constitutions in the recommendation apparatus of Example 1. The flowchart showing an example of the flow of a process in the recommendation system of Example 1. The figure showing an example of the transfer recommendation mail transmitted to a user's terminal by the recommendation system of Example 2. The figure showing an example of the functional block in the recommendation apparatus of Example 2. The figure showing an example of the market price information acquired in the market price information acquisition part of the recommendation device of Example 2. The figure showing an example of the hardware constitutions in the recommendation apparatus of Example 2. The flowchart showing an example of the flow of a process in the recommendation apparatus of Example 2. The figure showing an example of the functional block in the recommendation apparatus of Example 3. The figure showing an example of the functional block in the auction apparatus which cooperates with the recommendation system of Example 3. The flowchart showing an example of the flow of a process in the recommendation apparatus of Example 3.

Explanation of symbols

0200 EC server device 0201 product purchase recommendation unit 0202 EC site management unit 0210 recommendation device 0212 product purchase history acquisition unit 0212 search unit 0213 transfer recommendation transmission unit

Claims (6)

A product purchase recommendation section that makes a product purchase recommendation based on the product purchase history,
An EC site management unit for managing an EC site for purchasing a product in accordance with a product purchase recommendation;
An EC server device having
A product purchase history acquisition unit for acquiring a product purchase history on the EC site of the EC server device in association with a product purchaser from the EC site management unit;
A search unit for searching for purchase history of a plurality of similar products by searching for a product purchase history associated with an arbitrary product buyer,
When the purchase history of the same type of product is found by the search in the search unit, the purchaser associated with the purchase history is the one who has purchased in the past among the plurality of the same type of product. A transfer recommendation sending unit that sends a transfer recommendation, which is information recommending that the product be transferred to a third party,
A recommendation device comprising:
A recommendation system consisting of The recommendation device is
It has a market price information acquisition unit that acquires market price information in the recycling market for used products.
The recommendation system according to claim 1, further comprising: a market price information adding unit that causes the price recommendation transmission unit to add and transmit market price information of a product to be recommended for transfer to the price recommendation. The transfer recommendation transmission section of the recommendation device has an auction recommendation transmission means for transmitting an auction recommendation which is information recommending an exhibition to the Internet auction,
3. The recommendation according to claim 2, wherein the market information adding means further includes an auction adder that acquires and adds market price information of an auction that recommends listings as market information included in the auction recommendation transmitted by the auction recommendation transmitting means. system. A recommendation method by a recommendation system comprising an EC server device and a recommendation device,
At the EC server device
Product purchase recommendation step for making a product purchase recommendation based on the product purchase history,
EC site management step for managing an EC site for purchasing a product in accordance with a product purchase recommendation;
To the computer,
A product purchase history acquisition step of acquiring a product purchase history on the EC site of the EC server device managed in the EC site management step in the recommendation device in association with the product purchaser;
A search step for searching for purchase history of multiple similar products by searching for product purchase history associated with any product buyer,
If a purchase history of the same type of product is found by the search in the search step, the purchaser associated with the purchase history will be asked to A transfer recommendation sending step for sending a transfer recommendation, which is information recommending that the product be transferred to a third party,
A recommendation method by a recommendation system that causes a computer to execute In the recommendation device, let the computer execute a market price information acquisition step to get market price information in the recycling market for used products, etc.
5. The recommendation method by the recommendation system according to claim 4, wherein the transfer recommendation transmission step further includes a market price information addition step of adding and transmitting the market price information of a product to be recommended for transfer to the transfer recommendation. The transfer recommendation transmission step of the recommendation device causes the computer to execute an auction recommendation transmission step of transmitting an auction recommendation that is information for recommending an Internet auction,
6. The recommendation system according to claim 5, wherein the market information addition step further includes an auction addition step of acquiring and adding market price information of an auction for recommending an exhibition as market price information included in the auction recommendation transmitted by the auction recommendation transmission means. Recommendation method by.

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