JP2011227886A - Commodity information providing system, commodity information providing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide information by utilizing information of a group of commodities related to each other by using users' purchase histories having specific purchase characteristics.SOLUTION: A commodity information providing device 10 acquires commodities purchased by one or more users and belonging to a prescribed commodity category, purchase time of the commodities, and sale dates of the commodities and extracts, from these users, users whose purchase dates of the plurality of commodities belonging to the prescribed commodity category are within prescribed time ranges after sale dates of respective commodities, and the commodity information providing device 10 associates attribute information showing that the extracted users have specific purchase characteristics about the prescribed commodity category, with the extracted users and stores at least partial commodities out of commodities belonging to the prescribed commodity category, which have been purchased by respective users with whom the attribute information is associated, in association with each other and provides information of a commodity selected from among commodities associated with a commodity specified on the basis of information accepted from a user.

Description

  The present invention relates to a product information providing system, a product information providing method, and a program.

  In websites that provide product information, product information selected according to a request received from a user is provided. With regard to a system for providing such product information, for example, Patent Document 1 below discloses a technique for registering new product information in advance and providing a user with a list of new product information. Further, in Patent Document 2 below, a search is performed for a user who has a similar preference to the user who has received the request, and information is provided to the user who has received the request based on past product selections of the searched user. A filtering technique is disclosed.

JP 2005-215827 A Japanese Patent No. 3116851

  As described above, some related products are recommended to users by collaborative filtering, but such collaborative filtering requires a large amount of purchase history. Since the purchase history of new products immediately after being released is not sufficiently accumulated, the probability of recommending new products is extremely low. On the other hand, by associating products with a focus on the purchase history of users who have specific purchasing characteristics such as so-called innovators with high information sensitivity and purchasing new products immediately after launch, It is fully expected that this recommendation will be made appropriately. However, conventionally, a group of products related to each other using a purchase history of a user having specific purchasing characteristics is not generated, and information is not provided to the user using the information of the generated group of products. It was.

  An object of the present invention is to provide merchandise information that can generate a group of products related to each other using a purchase history of a user having specific purchase characteristics, and provide the user with information using the information of the generated group of products. It is to provide a system, a product information providing method, and a program.

  In order to achieve the above object, a product information providing system according to an aspect of the present invention provides a product belonging to a predetermined product category purchased by one or a plurality of users, at the time of purchase of the product, Acquisition means for acquiring a sale date, and among the one or a plurality of users, the purchase time for each of a plurality of products belonging to the predetermined product category is within a predetermined time range from the release date for each of the plurality of products Extraction means for extracting the user, means for associating attribute information indicating that the user has a specific purchase characteristic for the predetermined product category, and each user associated with the attribute information, to the user extracted by the extraction means Means for storing at least a part of products that belong to the predetermined product category purchased in association with the related product storage means and received from the user. Providing means for selecting at least one product from among the products stored in the related product storage unit in association with the product specified based on the attached information, and providing information on the product selected by the selection unit Means.

  Further, in the product information providing system according to one aspect of the present invention, the unit that stores the information in association with the related product storage unit includes, for each user associated with the attribute information, the predetermined product classification purchased by the user. At least a part of the products belonging to is stored in association with the related product storage means.

  Further, in the product information providing system according to one aspect of the present invention, the means for storing in association with the related product storage means stores the same product belonging to the predetermined product category by a plurality of users associated with the attribute information. When purchasing, at least a part of products belonging to the predetermined product classification purchased by the plurality of users is stored in association with the related product storage means.

  Further, in the product information providing system according to one aspect of the present invention, the selection unit has a newer release date than the specified product among the products stored in the related product storage unit in association with the specified product. A product is selected.

  Further, in the product information providing system according to one aspect of the present invention, the selection unit has a sales price lower than the specified product among the products stored in the related product storage unit in association with the specified product. A product is selected.

  In the product information providing system according to an aspect of the present invention, the providing unit provides information on the product selected by the selecting unit together with the information on the specified product.

  Further, in the product information providing system according to one aspect of the present invention, the providing unit provides information on the product selected by the selecting unit to a user who is not associated with the specific purchase characteristic. To do.

  In addition, the product information providing method according to one aspect of the present invention acquires a product belonging to a predetermined product category purchased by one or a plurality of respective users, the purchase time of the product, and the release date of the product. And an extraction step of extracting a user who, among the one or more users, purchases each of a plurality of products belonging to the predetermined product category within a predetermined time range from a release date for each of the plurality of products; Associating the user extracted by the extraction step with attribute information indicating that the user has a specific purchase characteristic for the predetermined product category, and the predetermined purchased by each user associated with the attribute information Storing at least a part of products belonging to the product category in association with the related product storage means, and receiving from the user A selection step of selecting at least one product from among products stored in the related product storage means in association with the product specified based on the received information, and a providing step of providing information on the product selected by the selection step It is characterized by including these.

  Further, the program according to one aspect of the present invention acquires a computer that acquires a product belonging to a predetermined product category purchased by one or a plurality of respective users, a purchase time of the product, and a release date of the product. And means for extracting, from among the one or more users, a user who purchases each of a plurality of products belonging to the predetermined product category within a predetermined time range from a release date for each of the plurality of products; Means for associating attribute information indicating that the user has a specific purchase characteristic with respect to the predetermined product category with the user extracted by the extracting means; and the predetermined information purchased by each user associated with the attribute information. Means for storing at least part of products belonging to the product category in association with related product storage means and information received from the user A selection unit that selects at least one product from among products stored in the related product storage unit in association with the product specified based on the product, and a providing unit that provides information on the product selected by the selection unit It is a program for.

  In addition, the product information providing system according to one aspect of the present invention includes a product belonging to a predetermined product category that is a target of a predetermined action by one or a plurality of users, a time when the predetermined action is performed on the product, and An acquisition means for acquiring a ban date of the predetermined action for a product, and the execution time for each of a plurality of products belonging to the predetermined product classification among the one or a plurality of users is determined from a ban date for each of the plurality of products. Extracting means for extracting a user within a time range; means for associating attribute information indicating that the user has a specific purchase characteristic for the predetermined product category with the user extracted by the extracting means; and the attribute information Product acquisition means for acquiring products belonging to the predetermined product category purchased by each user associated with the product acquisition means; and Means for storing at least a part of the acquired product in association with the related product storage unit, and at least among the products stored in the related product storage unit in association with the product specified based on the information received from the user It comprises selection means for selecting one product and providing means for providing information on the product selected by the selection means.

  In addition, the product information providing method according to one aspect of the present invention includes a product belonging to a predetermined product category that is a target of a predetermined action by one or a plurality of users, the execution of the predetermined action on the product, and the An acquisition step of acquiring a ban date of the predetermined action for a product, and execution time for each of a plurality of products belonging to the predetermined product classification among the one or a plurality of users is determined from a ban date for each of the plurality of products. An extraction step of extracting users within a time range, a step of associating attribute information indicating that the user has a specific purchase characteristic for the predetermined product category with the user extracted by the extraction step, and the attribute information A product acquisition step of acquiring products belonging to the predetermined product category purchased by each user associated with the A step of storing at least a part of the product acquired in the product acquisition step in association with the related product storage means, and a product stored in the related product storage means in association with the product specified based on the information received from the user. The method includes a selection step of selecting at least one product from the above, and a providing step of providing information on the product selected in the selection step.

  In addition, the program according to one aspect of the present invention provides a computer, a product belonging to a predetermined product category that is a target of a predetermined action by one or a plurality of users, the execution of the predetermined action on the product, and the An acquisition means for acquiring a ban date of the predetermined action for a product, and the execution time for each of a plurality of products belonging to the predetermined product classification among the one or a plurality of users is determined from a ban date for each of the plurality of products. Extracting means for extracting a user within a time range; means for associating attribute information indicating that the user has a specific purchase characteristic for the predetermined product category with the user extracted by the extracting means; and the attribute information Product acquisition means for acquiring products belonging to the predetermined product category purchased by each user associated with the product collection; A means for storing at least a part of the product acquired by the means in association with the related product storage means, and a product stored in the related product storage means in association with the product specified based on the information received from the user. A program for functioning as a selection unit that selects at least one product and a providing unit that provides information on the product selected by the selection unit.

  In one aspect of the present invention, a user having specific purchase characteristics is extracted from the purchase history of the user, a product group related to each other is generated based on the product purchased by the extracted user, and information on the generated product group is obtained. It can be used to provide information to users.

  In one aspect of the present invention, a group of products that are related to each other can be generated based on products purchased by the same user having specific purchase characteristics.

  In one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to generate a group of products related to each other based on products purchased by a plurality of users who have purchased the same product among users having specific purchase characteristics.

  In one aspect of the present invention, information on a new product related to a product specified based on information received from the user can be provided to the user.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, information on a lower priced product can be provided to the user in relation to the product specified based on the information received from the user.

  In one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to compare information on both a product specified based on data received from a user and a product related to the product.

  In one aspect of the present invention, information can be provided to a user who does not have a specific purchase characteristic by using information on a product group associated based on the purchase history of the user having the specific purchase characteristic.

  In one aspect of the present invention, a user having a specific purchase characteristic is extracted from a user's behavior history for a product, and a product group related to each other is generated based on the product purchased by the extracted user. Information can be provided to users using information.

1 is a system configuration diagram of a shopping system including a product information providing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a functional block diagram of each of a user terminal and a merchandise information provision apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of a goods data table. It is a figure which shows an example of a purchase history table. It is a figure which shows an example of a user information table. It is a figure which shows an example of an innovator purchase goods table. It is a figure which shows an example of the related goods data table which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart of an innovator extraction process. It is a flowchart of related goods setting processing. It is a flowchart of merchandise information provision processing. It is a figure which shows an example of a search screen. It is a figure which shows an example of a search result display screen. It is a figure which shows an example of a merchandise information provision screen. It is a figure which shows an example of the related goods data table which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart of the related goods setting process which concerns on 2nd Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, a first embodiment for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as a first embodiment) will be described with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment]
In FIG. 1, the system block diagram of the shopping system 1 containing the merchandise information provision apparatus 10 which concerns on embodiment of this invention was shown. As shown in FIG. 1, in the shopping system 1, the product information providing apparatus 10 is a server, the user terminal 20 is a client, and the product information providing apparatus 10 and one or a plurality of user terminals 20 are connected via a network 5 such as the Internet. Connected.

  The product information providing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment has functions of a web server and an application server, processes page requests requested from the user terminal 20, and displays page data (display) described in HTML on the user terminal 20, for example. Data). In the present embodiment, various requests such as a product search request and a product purchase request are transmitted from the user terminal 20 to the product information providing apparatus 10, and the product information providing apparatus 10 responds to various requests received from the user terminal 20. Processing is executed. Hereinafter, details of functions provided in each of the user terminal 20 and the product information providing apparatus 10 will be described.

  In FIG. 2, the functional block diagram of each of the user terminal 20 and the merchandise information provision apparatus 10 was shown. First, functions provided in the user terminal 20 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the user terminal 20 includes a control unit 200, a storage unit 202, an input unit 204, a communication unit 206, and a display unit 208. The functions of each of the above-mentioned parts are control means such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) provided in the computer, storage means such as a semiconductor memory and a magnetic disk device, communication means such as a network interface, display means such as a liquid crystal display, keyboard and mouse, etc. It may be realized by the input means.

  The control unit 200 executes various programs by controlling each unit of the user terminal 20 by executing a program stored in the storage unit 202. The storage unit 202 stores programs and data executed by the control unit 200 and is also used as a work memory for the control unit 200. In the present embodiment, the storage unit 202 may include a web browser application program, and the control unit 200 may access the product information providing apparatus 10 by executing the web browser application program.

  The input unit 204 receives a user input from an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse that is provided in or connected to the user terminal 20.

  The communication unit 206 is realized by a network interface, for example, and performs data communication with an external device. In the present embodiment, the control unit 200 generates a page request in accordance with the user input received by the input unit 204, and the communication unit 206 transmits the generated page request to the product information providing apparatus 10 and the product information providing apparatus. 10 receives the page data generated in response to the transmitted page request.

  The display unit 208 outputs graphic data to a display device such as a liquid crystal display to display a screen. The display unit 208 displays the screens shown in FIGS. 11 to 13, for example, based on the page data received from the product information providing apparatus 10 by the communication unit 206, for example. A detailed description of these screens will be described later.

  Next, functions provided in the product information providing apparatus 10 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the product information providing apparatus 10 includes a communication unit 100, a page request processing unit 102, a product data storage unit 104, a product search unit 106, a display data generation unit 108, a purchase processing unit 110, and purchase history data. A storage unit 112, an innovator extraction unit 114, a user information storage unit 116, an innovator purchased product acquisition unit 118, a related product setting unit 120, a related product data storage unit 122, a product specifying unit 124, and a related product selection unit 126 are provided. The function of each unit is as follows. Control means such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), storage means such as a semiconductor memory or a magnetic disk device, and a computer having communication means such as a network interface, the control means controls the program stored in the storage means. It may be realized by executing sequentially. The program may be supplied to the product information providing apparatus 10 in a state stored in an information storage medium, or may be supplied to the product information providing apparatus 10 via a data communication unit such as the Internet. In this embodiment, for the sake of simplicity, an example in which the product information providing apparatus 10 is realized by a single computer is shown, but one or more functions provided in the product information providing apparatus 10 are different. It may be configured to be distributed on computers.

  The communication unit 100 is realized by a network interface, for example, and performs data communication with an external device. In the present embodiment, the product information providing apparatus 10 performs data communication with the user terminal 20 through the communication unit 100.

  The page request processing unit 102 processes a page request (URL request) received from the user terminal 20 by the communication unit 100. In the present embodiment, the page request processing unit 102 passes an argument included in the page request to a program (each program for processing product search, product display, product purchase, etc.) corresponding to the received page request, and is executed by the program. The result may be obtained.

  The product data storage unit 104 is a database that stores product information in association with product identification information (product ID) that identifies a product.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of a product data table stored in the product data storage unit 104. The product data table illustrated in FIG. 3 includes a record including each item of a product ID, a product name indicating a product name, a product classification, a product release date, a product sales price, and an image ID for identifying a product image. Configured as a unit. Of course, the items constituting the record of the product data table are not limited to those described above, and may include items such as search keywords and product descriptions, for example.

  When the page request received from the user terminal 20 is a product search, the product search unit 106 searches for product data from the product data storage unit 104 based on the page request. For example, the product search unit 106 may search for product IDs that match product names and classifications (and search keywords) in the product data table based on keywords included in the page request.

  The display data generation unit 108 generates display data to be displayed on the user terminal 20 based on the page request processed by the page request processing unit 102. For example, the display data generation unit 108 responds to page requests such as a search screen display request, a product search request, and a product purchase request, for example, a search screen, a search result display screen, and a product purchase screen as shown in FIGS. It is good also as producing | generating display data. Display data generated by the display data generation unit 108 is transmitted to the user terminal 20 by the communication unit 100.

  When the page request received from the user terminal 20 is product purchase, the purchase processing unit 110 executes product purchase processing based on the page request. For example, the purchase processing unit 110 may acquire the product ID included in the page request and the user ID of the user who has made the page request, and perform a product purchase process based on the acquired data.

  The purchase history data storage unit 112 is a database that stores a user's product purchase history based on the processing result of the purchase processing unit 110.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of a purchase history table stored in the purchase history data storage unit 112. The purchase history table shown in FIG. 4 includes a purchase ID given by the purchase processing unit 110 every time a user purchases a product, a user ID of a user who purchased the product, a purchase date of the product, a product ID indicating the purchased product, A record including each item of the release date stored in the product data table for the product ID is configured as a unit. Of course, the items constituting the record of the purchase history table are not limited to those described above, and may include other items.

  The innovator extraction unit 114 refers to the purchase history data storage unit 112 and extracts a user ID satisfying a predetermined condition as an innovator. Here, innovators are used in the field of marketing: 1) Innovators (those who purchase as soon as new products are available), 2) Early adapters (sensitive to fashion and collecting information on their own) 3) Early majority (careful, but the average of the entire group purchases new products as soon as possible) 4) Late majority (layer that finally decides to purchase after using it) 5) 1) Attribute information given to a user corresponding to an innovator when classified as Lagard (a layer that has little interest in the world's movements and is hard to accept until the end).

  In the present embodiment, the innovator extraction unit 114 is a purchase whose purchase history data stored in the purchase history data storage unit 112 has an elapsed time (elapsed days) from the release date to the purchase date within a predetermined time range. When the user ID associated with the extracted purchase ID appears at a predetermined frequency or more, the user ID may be extracted as an innovator. In the present embodiment, based on the purchase history data, a user who has purchased a product having a common product classification multiple times on the same day as the release date is extracted as an innovator for the product classification. In the present embodiment, the innovator extraction unit 114 extracts the innovator with reference to the purchase history data of the user stored in the purchase history data storage unit 112. However, the purchase processing unit 110 allows the user to select a product. Each time it is purchased, it may be determined whether or not the user is an innovator for the product classification of the purchased product.

  The user information storage unit 116 is a database that stores information related to a user in association with user identification information for identifying the user. The content stored in the user information storage unit 116 may be updated according to the user ID extracted by the innovator extraction unit 114.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of a user information table stored in the user information storage unit 116. The user information table shown in FIG. 5 includes a user ID for identifying a user, a password used when the user logs in to the product information providing apparatus 10, a user name indicating the name of the user, and a product classification in which the user is determined to be an innovator. It consists of records that contain each item of the innovator attribute to represent.

  The innovator purchased product acquisition unit 118 refers to the user information storage unit 116 and the purchase history data storage unit 112, and among the products purchased by the user, products belonging to the product classification indicated by the innovator attribute assigned to the user ( The product ID of the innovator purchase product group) is acquired. The innovator purchased product acquisition unit 118 may acquire the product ID of the innovator purchased product group at a predetermined timing, or one of the user information storage unit 116 and the purchase history data storage unit 112 has been updated. It may be done at the timing. In addition, the innovator purchase product group belongs to the predetermined product category among the products purchased by the user with the innovator attribute for the predetermined product category, and from the date of release of the product to the time of purchase. The elapsed time may be limited to those within a predetermined range.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of an innovator purchased product table showing a list of innovator purchased products. The innovator purchased product table is generated based on the data acquired by the innovator purchased product acquisition unit 118. The innovator purchased product table shown in FIG. 6 includes items of a user ID to which an innovator attribute is assigned, a product category indicated by the innovator attribute, and a product ID of a product belonging to the product category purchased by the user of the user ID. Consists of records that contain it.

  The related product setting unit 120 associates a plurality of product IDs with each other as related products based on the stored contents of the innovator purchase product table. Hereinafter, an example of setting related products by the related product setting unit 120 will be described.

  The related product setting unit 120 refers to the innovator purchase product table, extracts records relating to the same user ID, and sets the product IDs included in the extracted records as related products. In this example, products with the same product classification purchased by the same user with innovator attributes are set as related products, so the selection criteria for related products are consistent and products with different product characteristics are mixed. Risk of being reduced.

  The related product data storage unit 122 is a database that stores information on product IDs set as related products by the related product setting unit 120. FIG. 7 shows an example of a related product data table stored in the related product data storage unit 122. The related product data table shown in FIG. 7 is generated by setting, as related products, products having a common classification among products purchased by the same user having an innovator attribute. The related product data table shown in FIG. 7 is configured in units of records in which each item of a group ID for identifying a group of related products, a classification of products belonging to the group, and an element of the group is associated. In the related product data table shown in FIG. 7, the number of product IDs stored as related product elements is not particularly limited. For example, a new product and an old product are stored as elements and correspond to the new product. The data may be held in a format in which the product ID and the product ID corresponding to the old product are clearly specified.

  When the page request processed by the page request processing unit 102 is a display request for product information, the product specifying unit 124 specifies a product ID for identifying a product related to the page request. The product specifying unit 124 may specify the product ID based on a parameter included in the page request received from the user terminal 20.

  The related product selection unit 126 selects at least one of the product IDs stored in the related product data table in association with the product ID specified by the product specification unit 124 (hereinafter, specific product ID). In the present embodiment, the related product selection unit 126 searches the related product data table for a record including the specific product ID, and based on a predetermined selection criterion among the product IDs included in the elements of the searched record. Then, at least one product ID may be selected. Hereinafter, two examples of selection criteria used when the related product selection unit 126 selects related products will be described.

  In the first example, the related product selection unit 126 selects a product ID of a product whose release date is newer than the product with the specific product ID from among the product IDs stored in the related product data table in association with the specific product ID. That's good. In this case, the related product selection unit 126 may select the product ID of the product with the newest release date when there are a plurality of products whose release date is newer than the product with the specific product ID. However, it is also possible to select a plurality of product IDs in order from the newest and give each a display priority according to the release date.

  In the second example, the related product selection unit 126 selects a product ID of a product whose sales price is lower than the product of the specific product ID among the product IDs stored in the related product data table in association with the specific product ID. That's good. In this case, the related product selection unit 126 may select the product ID of the product with the lowest sales price when there are a plurality of products whose sales price is lower than the product with the specific product ID. A plurality of product IDs may be selected in ascending order, and display priority may be given to each according to the sales price. Of course, the selection criteria for related products are not limited to the above-described examples, and the selection results of the first and second examples may be integrated, or other criteria may be further adopted.

  The display data generation unit 108 may generate display data including each information of the product ID specified by the product specifying unit 124 and the product ID selected by the related product selection unit 126 for the product ID. And the communication part 100 may transmit the display data produced | generated by the display data production | generation part 108 to the user terminal 20, and may display the screen (for example, FIG. 13) based on display data in the user terminal 20. FIG.

  Next, the flow of each process performed in the product information providing apparatus 10 will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of an innovator extraction process for extracting an innovator based on the purchase history of the user. As shown in FIG. 8, the product information providing apparatus 10 executes product purchase processing based on the product purchase processing request received from the user terminal 20 (S1001), and purchase history based on the executed product purchase processing. Data is stored in the purchase history data storage unit 112 (S1002). The merchandise information providing apparatus 10 executes the processes of S1001 and S1002 until a predetermined timing for starting innovator extraction arrives (S1003: N), and determines that the predetermined timing has arrived (S1003: Y) ), The following processing is started.

  The product information providing apparatus 10 selects one of the unprocessed user IDs stored in the purchase history data storage unit 112 (S1004), and selects a product that includes the user ID and has a common product classification on the same day as the release date. A record of purchase history data indicating that it has been purchased is extracted (S1005). The product information providing apparatus 10 determines whether or not there are a plurality of the extracted records (S1006). When determining that there are a plurality of records (S1006: Y), the product information providing apparatus 10 adds the user ID related to the current process to the above-described user ID. An innovator attribute related to the product classification is assigned and stored in the user information storage unit 116 (S1007). Next, the product information providing apparatus 10 determines whether there is an unprocessed user ID among the user IDs stored in the purchase history data storage unit 112 (S1008), and determines “Yes” in S1008. (S1008: Y), the process returns to the process S1004 and the subsequent processes are repeated. If it is determined that there is “no” in S1008 (S1008: N), the innovator extraction process is terminated.

  FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of related product setting processing for setting related products based on the purchase history of the innovator. As illustrated in FIG. 9, the product information providing apparatus 10 refers to the user information storage unit 116 to acquire the user ID to which the innovator attribute is assigned (S2001), and unprocessed among the acquired user IDs. One user ID is selected (S2002). The merchandise information providing apparatus 10 refers to the purchase history data storage unit 112 and acquires the purchase history record of the selected user ID (S2003), and among the acquired records, the merchandise with the merchandise classification indicated by the innovator attribute The record concerning is extracted (S2004). Further, the product information providing apparatus 10 associates the product IDs included in the extracted records with each other and stores them in the related product data table (S2005). The product information providing apparatus 10 determines whether there is an unprocessed user ID among the user IDs to which the innovator attribute is assigned (S2006), and when determining “Yes” in S2006 (S2006: Y) Returning to the process S2002, the subsequent processes are repeated, and if it is determined that there is “no” in S2006 (S2006: N), the related product setting process is terminated. The product information providing apparatus 10 may execute the related product setting process when it is detected that the product purchase by any user ID to which the innovator attribute is given is performed.

  FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of a product information providing process for providing product information in response to a page request received from the user terminal 20. As shown in FIG. 10, upon receiving a search screen display request from the user terminal 20 (S3001), the product information providing apparatus 10 transmits display data of the search screen as shown in FIG. 11 to the user terminal 20, for example. (S3002).

  FIG. 11 shows an example of the search screen. The search screen shown in FIG. 11 displays an input field for entering a search keyword, a search button, and links to various product categories. In the search screen displayed on the user terminal 20, when a search keyword is input in the input field and the search button is pressed, a page request including the search keyword is transmitted to the product information providing apparatus 10.

  The product information providing apparatus 10 receives the product search page request transmitted from the user terminal 20 (S3003), and searches for product information based on the received page request (S3004). The merchandise information providing apparatus 10 generates display data of a search result display screen shown in FIG. 12, for example, based on the search result (S3005), and transmits the generated display data to the user terminal 20 (S3006).

  FIG. 12 shows an example of the search result display screen. In the search result display screen shown in FIG. 12, information of the image ID, the product name, and the sales price associated with the searched product ID is listed in the order of the search results. When an image is clicked with the cursor on the search result display screen displayed on the user terminal 20, a page request including a product ID is transmitted to the product information providing apparatus 10.

  The merchandise information providing apparatus 10 receives the merchandise information provision page request transmitted from the user terminal 20 (S3007), and identifies the merchandise ID based on the received page request (S3008). Next, the product information providing apparatus 10 associates the product ID of the product whose release date is newer than the specific product ID among the product IDs stored in the related product data table in association with the specified product ID (specific product ID). The product ID of the product with a low selling price is selected as the related product ID (S3009). Then, the product information providing screen generates display data of the product information providing screen including information on each of the specific product ID and the related product ID as shown in FIG. 13, for example (S3010). It transmits to the terminal 20 (S3011).

  The product information providing apparatus 10 identifies the user ID corresponding to the user terminal 20 that has received the page request, and the innovator attribute of the product classification to which the product ID identified based on the page request belongs to the identified user ID. It may be determined with reference to the user information storage unit 116 whether or not they are associated. And the merchandise information provision apparatus 10 displays the display data of the merchandise information provision screen including the information on the specific merchandise ID and the related merchandise ID on the user terminal 20 when the innovator attribute is not associated with the identified user ID. May be provided.

  FIG. 13 shows an example of the product information provision screen. As shown in FIG. 13, the product information provision screen includes a product detail display field for displaying details of the product requested by the user and a related product display field selected based on the product requested by the user. . In the example illustrated in FIG. 13, the related product display column displays images and information of new products and related product IDs corresponding to each of the purchased products.

  In the product information providing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment described above, a product group having a specific product characteristic is stored in association based on a purchase history of a user with high information sensitivity called a so-called innovator, and the related product group is stored. When providing information on any of the products included in the product group, by providing information on other products included in the product group, it is possible to provide useful information when the user selects the product.

  In the past, related products have been recommended to users by collaborative filtering, but such collaborative filtering requires a large amount of purchase history. Since the purchase history of new products immediately after being released is not sufficiently accumulated, the method based on collaborative filtering has a very low probability of recommending new products. On the other hand, in this embodiment, it is related to the product requested by the user by associating the products with attention to the purchase history of so-called innovators having purchasing characteristics such as purchasing the product immediately from the release date. It is possible to increase the probability that information on a new product to be provided is provided as compared with a case where a known collaborative filtering method is used. In addition, it is possible to provide information on new products without accumulating purchase history to the extent that recommendations for new products can be made by a method based on collaborative filtering. Can be shortened.

  In addition, by providing old products that have similar or common product characteristics to the product requested by the user and have a low selling price, the cost performance that meets the user's request is high. Can introduce products.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment according to the present invention will be described. The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that a group of products purchased by a plurality of users to which an innovator attribute is assigned is associated. In other words, the product information providing apparatus 10 according to the second embodiment shares the same functional blocks as the product information providing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment, but the processing by the related product setting unit 120 and the related products The data stored in the data storage unit 122 is different from the first embodiment. Therefore, in the following description, description of common functional blocks is omitted, and differences are mainly described.

  When the related product setting unit 120 according to the second embodiment includes products common to the innovator purchase product group acquired by the innovator purchase product acquisition unit 118 for each of a plurality of users to which the innovator attribute is assigned, , Correlate innovator purchases corresponding to each user.

  For example, in the example of the innovator purchase product table shown in FIG. 6, the innovator purchase product group of the user with user ID = u0001 and user ID = u0003 includes both product ID = m0005. It is assumed that there is a high possibility that there is some commonality in the product characteristics of the innovator purchase product group of the user with ID = u0001 and user ID = u0003, and both are associated with each other as the same product group. Similarly, the innovator purchase product group of the user with the user ID = u0001 and the user ID = u0007 includes both the product ID = m0001, so the innovator purchase of the user with the user ID = u0001 and the user ID = u0007 The product group is associated with each other as the same product group. It should be noted that there is no common product in the innovator purchase product group corresponding to user ID = u0003 and user ID = u0007, respectively, so there is no common product characteristic between them, and the two are not associated And

  The related product data storage unit 122 according to the second embodiment stores information on the product group associated with each other by the related product setting unit 120.

  FIG. 14 shows an example of a related product data table stored in the related product data storage unit 122. In the example shown in FIG. 14, the related product data table includes a group ID for identifying a group of products, a product classification of the group, a product ID belonging to the group, a user ID of an innovator belonging to the group, and an innovator for each user ID. Contains information on the product ID common to the product group.

  The related product selection unit 126 executes a process of selecting at least one of the product IDs stored in the related product data storage unit 122 in association with the product ID specified by the product specifying unit 124. The selection by the related product selection unit 126 and the processing after the selection are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 15 shows a flowchart of related product setting processing performed by the product information providing apparatus 10 according to the second embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 15, the product information providing apparatus 10 selects a product category (S4001), and extracts a user to whom an innovator attribute of the selected product category is assigned from the user information table (S4002). Here, the number of extracted users is N, and each user is identified by a number from U _{1 to} U _N.

  The product information providing apparatus 10 acquires the extracted innovator purchase product group of each user from the innovator purchase product table (S4003).

The product information providing apparatus 10 sets the first user (U _i , initial value i = 1) and the second user (U _j , initial value j = i + 1) among the extracted users, and the user U _i If there is a common product in the innovator purchase product group of each of the user U _i (S4004: Y), the innovator purchase product group of the user U _i and the user U _i is associated as the same group (S4005). . Further, the product information providing apparatus 10 searches for the innovator purchase product group including the common product in the innovator purchase product group of other users (S4006), and adds the searched innovator purchase product group to the group. (S4007).

The product information providing apparatus 10 proceeds to S4008 after S4006 and when there is no common product in the innovator purchase product group of each of the user U _i and the user U _i (S4004: N). Here, when j has not reached N (S4008: N), the product information providing apparatus 10 increments j (S4009), returns to S4004, and when j has reached N ( S4008: Y), the process proceeds to S4010. Here, if i has not reached N−1 (S4010: Y), the merchandise information providing apparatus 10 increments i, sets the value of j to i + 1 (S4011), and returns to S4004. If i has reached N−1 (S4010: Y), the process proceeds to S4012.

  When there is an unprocessed product category (S4012: Y), the product information providing apparatus 10 returns to S4001, and when there is no unprocessed product category (S4012: N), the process ends.

  According to the product information providing apparatus 10 according to the second embodiment described above, not only the purchased product group of the same user to which the innovator attribute is assigned, but also a plurality of users to which the innovator attribute for the same product classification is assigned. Among them, by associating a group of purchased products among users who have the same purchased product, it is possible to set the association between products that are not related in the first embodiment as having similar or common product characteristics. .

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, the innovator is extracted based on the purchase history of the user, but an innovator attribute may be given to a predetermined user, and the product is not limited to the purchase history of the user. As an innovator, users who have a period between the opening date of the action (information browsing, product reservation, addition of a watch list, etc.) and the execution time based on the date and time when the action was actually executed are within a predetermined time range. Good.

  Further, in this embodiment, in the innovator certification, for a plurality of products of the same product classification, the elapsed time from the release date to the purchase time is within a predetermined range (for example, the same day). In addition to or in place of these conditions, the following conditions may be used. That is, making a reservation before the product is released, purchasing a product of the same product category from a predetermined number, purchasing a product of the same product category is shorter than a predetermined time, The distribution information of the product guide information, the standard price of the product (for example, the regular price or the price at the start of sales), the sales price will be When the price drops to a predetermined rate, conditions such as purchase at a price close to the reference value may be used for innovator certification.

  1 shopping system, 5 network, 10 product information providing device, 20 user terminal, 100 communication unit, 102 page request processing unit, 104 product data storage unit, 106 product search unit, 108 display data generation unit, 110 purchase processing unit, 112 Purchase history data storage unit, 114 innovator extraction unit, 116 user information storage unit, 118 innovator purchased product acquisition unit, 120 related product setting unit, 122 related product data storage unit, 124 product specifying unit, 126 related product selection unit, 200 control Unit, 202 storage unit, 204 input unit, 206 communication unit, 208 display unit.

Claims (12)

An acquisition means for acquiring a product belonging to a predetermined product category purchased by one or more respective users, the purchase time of the product, and a release date of the product;
An extracting means for extracting a user who is within a predetermined time range from a release date for each of the plurality of products among the one or a plurality of users at the time of purchase for each of the plurality of products belonging to the predetermined product classification;
Means for associating the user extracted by the extraction means with attribute information indicating that the user has a specific purchase characteristic for the predetermined product classification;
Means for storing at least part of products belonging to the predetermined product category purchased by each user associated with the attribute information in association with related product storage means;
Selecting means for selecting at least one product from among products stored in the related product storage means in association with the product specified based on information received from a user;
Providing means for providing information on a product selected by the selecting means. A product information providing system comprising: The means for storing in association with the related product storage means associates at least a part of the products belonging to the predetermined product classification purchased by the user with the related product storage means for each user associated with the attribute information. The product information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the product information providing system is stored. The means for storing in association with the related product storage means is purchased by a plurality of users when a plurality of users associated with the attribute information have purchased the same product belonging to the predetermined product category. The product information providing system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein at least a part of products belonging to the predetermined product category is stored in association with the related product storage unit. 4. The product according to claim 1, wherein the selecting unit selects a product having a release date that is newer than the specified product among the products stored in the related product storage unit in association with the specified product. The product information providing system according to any one of the above. The said selection means selects the goods whose sales price is lower than the specified goods among the goods memorize | stored in the said related goods storage means in relation to the specified goods. The product information providing system according to any one of the above. The product information providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the providing unit provides information on the product selected by the selecting unit together with information on the specified product. The product according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the providing unit provides information on the product selected by the selecting unit to a user not associated with the specific purchase characteristic. Information provision system. An acquisition step of acquiring a product belonging to a predetermined product category purchased by each of one or more users, a purchase time of the product, and a release date of the product;
An extraction step of extracting users who are within a predetermined time range from the release date for each of the plurality of products among the one or more users when purchasing each of the plurality of products belonging to the predetermined product classification;
Associating attribute information indicating that the user has a specific purchase characteristic for the predetermined product category with the user extracted in the extraction step;
Storing at least a part of products belonging to the predetermined product category purchased by each user associated with the attribute information in association with related product storage means;
A selection step of selecting at least one product from among products stored in the related product storage means in association with the product specified based on information received from the user;
And a providing step of providing information on the product selected in the selection step. Computer
An acquisition means for acquiring a product belonging to a predetermined product category purchased by one or more respective users, the purchase time of the product, and a release date of the product;
An extracting means for extracting a user who is within a predetermined time range from a release date for each of the plurality of products among the one or a plurality of users at the time of purchase for each of the plurality of products belonging to the predetermined product classification;
Means for associating the user extracted by the extraction means with attribute information indicating that the user has a specific purchase characteristic for the predetermined product classification;
Means for storing at least part of products belonging to the predetermined product category purchased by each user associated with the attribute information in association with related product storage means;
Selecting means for selecting at least one product from among products stored in the related product storage means in association with the product specified based on information received from a user;
A program for functioning as providing means for providing information on a product selected by the selection means. An acquisition means for acquiring a product belonging to a predetermined product category that is a target of a predetermined action by one or a plurality of users, the execution time of the predetermined action on the product, and a ban date of the predetermined action on the product;
An extracting means for extracting a user whose execution time for each of a plurality of products belonging to the predetermined product classification is within a predetermined time range from the ban date for each of the plurality of products among the one or a plurality of users;
Means for associating the user extracted by the extraction means with attribute information indicating that the user has a specific purchase characteristic for the predetermined product classification;
Product acquisition means for acquiring products belonging to the predetermined product category purchased by each user associated with the attribute information;
Means for storing at least part of the product acquired by the product acquisition means in association with the related product storage means;
Selecting means for selecting at least one product from among products stored in the related product storage means in association with the product specified based on information received from a user;
Providing means for providing information on a product selected by the selecting means. A product information providing system comprising: An acquisition step of acquiring a product belonging to a predetermined product category that is a target of a predetermined action by one or a plurality of users, the execution time of the predetermined action on the product, and a date of banning the predetermined action on the product;
An extraction step of extracting a user whose execution time for each of a plurality of products belonging to the predetermined product classification is within a predetermined time range from the ban date for each of the plurality of products among the one or more users;
Associating attribute information indicating that the user has a specific purchase characteristic for the predetermined product category with the user extracted in the extraction step;
A product acquisition step of acquiring products belonging to the predetermined product category purchased by each user associated with the attribute information;
Storing at least a part of the product acquired by the product acquisition step in association with related product storage means;
A selection step of selecting at least one product from among products stored in the related product storage means in association with the product specified based on information received from the user;
And a providing step of providing information on the product selected in the selection step. Computer
An acquisition means for acquiring a product belonging to a predetermined product category that is a target of a predetermined action by one or a plurality of users, the execution time of the predetermined action on the product, and a ban date of the predetermined action on the product;
An extracting means for extracting a user whose execution time for each of a plurality of products belonging to the predetermined product classification is within a predetermined time range from the ban date for each of the plurality of products among the one or a plurality of users;
Means for associating the user extracted by the extraction means with attribute information indicating that the user has a specific purchase characteristic for the predetermined product classification;
Product acquisition means for acquiring products belonging to the predetermined product category purchased by each user associated with the attribute information;
Means for storing at least part of the product acquired by the product acquisition means in association with the related product storage means;
Selecting means for selecting at least one product from among products stored in the related product storage means in association with the product specified based on information received from a user;
A program for functioning as providing means for providing information on a product selected by the selection means.

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