JP2012234323A - Electric commerce server - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To let a user know price variation into the future, when a price varies with time course in electric commerce.SOLUTION: In an electric commerce server, variable price information input acceptance means accepts an input of information that defines variable price information for respective commodities or services from a provider computer operated by a provider of the commodity or service so as to store the variable price information on the respective commodities or services. In a transaction screen for providing the commodity or service that is displayed by being transmitted from variable price display means to a user computer operated by a purchaser of the commodity or a user of the service, a graph image showing a price varying with time course shown by the stored variable price information is displayed in association with the commodity or service for the respective commodities or services.

Description

  The present invention relates to a server for conducting electronic commerce on a communication network such as the Internet, and more particularly to a server whose price of a transaction varies with time.

Services with limited capacity such as hotels, movies, etc., and products with expiration dates such as fresh food, etc., vary in value of goods and services depending on the capacity status and the date and time since sales. . In such a case, in general, the provided price is changed according to the situation by the judgment of the provider of the service or product.
Changing the price of a service or product in this way is also performed in electronic commerce, but it is necessary to artificially rewrite the price on the sales screen every time the price is changed. However, there is a problem that the person in charge is not at the site as in the case of sales in an actual store, so that the price change is neglected or it is difficult to handle when the number of products is large.
On the other hand, in the following patent document, it is shown that the price of a product etc. that changes over time is set in advance, and the price of the product etc. on the sales screen is automatically changed according to this setting. . In this way, it is possible to solve the problem that the person in charge forgets to change the price even in the electronic commerce or cannot cope with the price change of many products.

JP 2001-357247 A

By the way, when the price of a product or service fluctuates with time, it becomes an important issue when purchasing the product or the like from the standpoint of the purchaser of the product or the user of the service. For example, there are users who want to make a purchase etc. as soon as possible, giving priority to time profits, and there are users who want to suppress monetary expenses as much as possible after a delay in purchases. However, even if it is known that the price will change over time, if the user cannot specifically understand how the price will change in the future, the user cannot make a clear value judgment and hesitate to purchase. Or purchase at an unintentional timing.
In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to enable a user to know price fluctuations in the future when prices fluctuate with time in electronic commerce.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following configuration.
The invention according to claim 1 is an electronic commerce server for performing electronic commerce on a communication network, and stores, for each product or service to be provided, variable price information indicating a price that fluctuates over time for the product or service. Providing target information storage means. And the variable price information input accepting means accepts input of information defining the variable price information for each product or service from a provider computer operated by the product or service provider connected to the communication network, Based on this, variable price information relating to each product or service is stored in the provision object information storage means. Further, in the transaction screen for providing the product or service to be transmitted and displayed on the user computer operated by the purchaser of the product or the user of the service, the variable price display means is connected to the communication network, A graph image representing a price that changes with the passage of time indicated by the variable price information stored in the provision target information storage means is displayed in association with the product or service for each product or service.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the electronic commerce server, the provision target information storage unit also stores, for each product or service, a remaining number indicating the number of products that can be sold or the number of services that can be provided. Then, the remaining number initial value input accepting unit accepts input of information for determining the initial value of the remaining number for each of the products or services from the provider computer, and based on this, each product or service is stored in the provision target information storage unit. The remaining number is stored, and each time the remaining number subtracting unit sells the product or provides the service, the remaining number of the product or service stored in the provision target information storing unit is reduced and stored. The variable price display means also displays the remaining number stored in the provision target information storage means for each product or service.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the electronic commerce server, the variable price information input receiving unit includes an input screen display unit and a variable price information recording unit. The input screen display means is a variable price input screen for inputting information defining the variable price information, displaying a graph image for input consisting of a time axis and a price axis, and the provider computer uses the input graph When input of drawing data for drawing a line graph on a graph image is received, a variable price input screen for drawing a line graph on the input graph image based on the received drawing data is transmitted to the provider computer And display. The variable price information recording means receives the specific drawing data for each product or service as information for determining the variable price information transmitted from the provider computer, and the variable price information obtained based on the drawing data Is stored in the provision object information storage unit for each of the goods or services.

With the above configuration, the present invention has the following effects.
In the invention according to claim 1, since the price that fluctuates with the passage of time of the goods or services is displayed as a graph image on the transaction screen, and the user can know the future price fluctuation, the user is satisfied. It becomes possible to purchase goods at a price, and the convenience for the user can be increased.
In the invention according to claim 2, since the remaining number of goods or services is displayed together with a graph showing the price that fluctuates over time, the most convincing price for the consumer in view of the provision status of the goods or services This makes it possible for the user to purchase products, which further increases convenience for the user.
In the invention according to claim 3, the provider of the product or service can set the price while visually viewing a graph showing the price that fluctuates with the passage of time shown to the user on the provision screen. Convenience can be improved.

It is a figure which shows typically the network to which the server for electronic commerce which concerns on embodiment belongs. It is a block diagram which shows the outline | summary of the hardware constitutions of the server for electronic commerce. It is a functional block diagram which shows typically the function of the server for electronic commerce. (A) is a figure which shows typically the record content of a merchandise information storage part, (b) is a figure which shows typically the record content of a purchase information storage part. It is a figure which shows the example which shows the example of the initial screen of a variable price input screen. It is a figure which shows the 1st operation process example of a variable price input screen. It is a figure which shows the 2nd operation process example of a variable price input screen. It is a figure which shows the 3rd example of an operation process of a variable price input screen. It is a figure which shows the example at the time of completion of the input of a variable price input screen. It is a figure which shows the example of a transaction screen. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement which receives the input of variable price information from the provider computer B of the server for electronic commerce. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement at the time of goods sale with respect to the user computer C of the server A for electronic commerce.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 schematically shows a communication network to which an electronic commerce server A according to the present embodiment belongs. In FIG. 1, an electronic commerce server A is connected to a provider computer B operated by a merchandise seller and a user computer C operated by a merchandise seller via the Internet as a communication network.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of the hardware configuration of the electronic commerce server A. The electronic commerce server A is configured by a general computer, specifically, a CPU 11 that performs arithmetic processing, a RAM 12 that is a work area of the CPU, a basic program is a ROM 13 that records data, and an operation timing of the CPU. Clock 14, hard disk 15 for storing data and programs, keyboard 18 for inputting data, input device such as mouse 19, monitor 16 for displaying information, router for connecting to the Internet, etc. The network interface 17 is configured. The electronic commerce server A is realized by incorporating a program for causing such a general computer to perform the following operations. The provider computer B and the user computer C have the same hardware configuration.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram schematically showing functions of the electronic commerce server A. The electronic commerce server A functionally includes a product information storage unit 101, an HP transmission unit 102, a variable price input reception unit 103, a remaining number initial value input reception unit 104, an elapsed time update unit 105, a purchase information storage unit 106, a purchase A receiving unit 107 and a remaining number subtracting unit 108 are provided.
The product information storage unit 101 constitutes a provision target information storage unit, and here stores information related to products to be sold. FIG. 4A schematically shows the record contents of the product information storage unit 101. The product information storage unit 101 stores product price information and basic product information using a product code as product identification information as a main key. As price information, the start date and time of the variable price, the end date and time of the variable price, the start price, the end price, the initial number of products, the remaining number of products, and coordinate data for drawing a price fluctuation graph, which will be described later, are stored. The coordinate data will be described later. In addition, as basic product information, a product name, a product description, product image data, and the like are stored.

  The HP transmission unit 102 stores homepage data to be transmitted upon receiving access from the provider computer B and the user computer C, and a script that operates on the homepage. Here, the variable price input screen data 102a serving as a home page to be transmitted to the provider computer B, the drawing input script 102b for causing the provider computer to input rendering data, and the transaction screen data serving as the home page to be transmitted to the user computer C are shown. A drawing script 102d for displaying a graph displayed on the transaction screen 102c is included. The operations of these screens and scripts will be described later.

  The variable price information input receiving unit 103 includes the variable price input screen data 102a stored in the HP transmission unit 102, the drawing input script 102b, and the variable price information recording unit 103a. First, the variable price input screen data 102a and the drawing input script 102b will be described. FIG. 5 shows an example of an initial screen of the variable price input screen 1000 displayed on the provider computer B by the variable price input screen data 102a and the drawing input script 102b. The variable price input screen 1000 includes a graph input display 1001 drawn by the drawing input script 102b, a start date input area 1002, an end date input area 1003, a start price input area 1004, an end price input area 1005, a sales quantity input area 1006, A product code selection area 1007 and an enter button 1008 are displayed. This screen is transmitted to the provider computer B when the merchandise seller calls the variable price input screen from the provider computer B.

  When the provider inputs the start date, end date, start price, and end price in the start date input area 1002, the end date input area 1003, the start price input area 1004, and the end price input area 1005 from this screen, FIG. In the graph input display 1001, the date and time is set on the horizontal axis based on the input start date and end date, the price is set on the vertical axis based on the input start price and end price, A line graph 1001a from the start date to the end date is displayed here. Images of the operation rotator s for operating the line graph are displayed at both ends of the line graph 1001a. The operation rotator s has its rotation center positioned at the end point of the line graph, and is rotated by a pointing device such as a mouse. Can do. The function of the operation rotor s will be described later. In addition, the start date and start price, and the end date and end price are displayed during graph display. By selecting the line graph with a pointing device, the operation rotator s can be newly set with the set point as an anchor point as shown in FIG. Here, the operation rotor s will be described. The operation rotator s is for setting both end points and control points for drawing a line graph as a Bezier curve. The operation rotor s is composed of a rotation center and a flat rhombus surrounding the rotation center, and a control point is set at each position at a fixed distance in two directions indicated by the acute angles of the rhombus opposite to the rotation center. The curve between the two operating rotators s is such that the rotation center of each operating rotator s is the start point and the end point, and a cubic Bezier curve is drawn using the two control points existing on the curve side. It has become. In addition to rotation, the operation rotator s set as an anchor point can be moved on the graph input display 1001 by dragging with a pointing device, and thereby the operation rotator set as an anchor point. When s is moved and rotated, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, a curve passing through the center of the operation rotor s and having a tangent line in the direction indicated by the operation rotor s is drawn. The provider can draw an arbitrary curve, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, by appropriately setting, moving, and rotating the operation rotor s. On the graph screen, the maximum price is set as the upper limit and the minimum price is set as the lower limit in addition to the start price or the end price, and the text is displayed together with the date and time when the price is reached. Further, the operation rotor s can be rotated only from 90 degrees to -90 degrees from the horizontal state. The operation rotor s on the start date and the end date can be rotated but cannot be moved. It has become. Through such an operation, the provider can freely set a line graph indicating the variable price of the product.

The provider further selects the product code of the product that is the target of the variable price indicated by the graph from the product code selection area 1007. In the product code selection area 1007, all product codes stored in the product information storage unit 101 are displayed by a pull-down menu so that they can be selected. In addition, the provider inputs the number of products to be sold in a specified period in the sales number input area 1006. The drawing of the graph, the input to the product code selection area 1007, and the input to the sales quantity input area 1006 are independent of each other and may be input in any order.
When the provider confirms the above input contents, these data are transmitted to the electronic commerce server A by selecting the decision button 1008. That is, the product code, start date, end date, start price, end price, sales quantity, anchor point coordinate data, and control point coordinate data are transmitted to the server A for electronic commerce.

Of the transmitted data, the variable price information recording unit 103a accepts the sales price other than the sales quantity, and uses the coordinate data of the anchor point and the coordinate data of the control point as the coordinate data of the product information storage unit 101, the start date, the end date, and the start date. The price and end price are stored in the product information storage unit 101 in association with the product code. These data become drawing data for drawing a graph.
The sales quantity data is received by the remaining quantity initial value input receiving unit 104 and stored in the product information storage unit 101 as the initial product number in association with the product code. The initial product number is also stored as initial data of the remaining number in the product information storage unit 101.

  FIG. 10 shows an example of a transaction screen 2000 displayed on the user computer B by the transaction screen data 102c and the drawing script 102c. The transaction screen 2000 displays a graph display 2003 displayed by the drawing script 102c together with a product image 2001, a product description 2002, and the like called from the product information storage unit 101 for a specific product. The graph display 2003 is based on drawing data including start date, end date, start price, end price, anchor point coordinate data, and control point coordinate data stored in the product information storage unit 101. It is drawn and displayed. In the graph display, the start date, the start price, the end date, the end date, the end price, and if present, the upper limit price, the lower limit price, and the date and time when it is reached are displayed as text information. In the graph display, a vertical date display line 2003a representing the current date and time is displayed according to the actual date and time, and the current date and time display 2004 and the current price display 2005 indicated by the graph are displayed as text information on the transaction screen 2000. Is done. The elapsed time update unit 105 transmits the current date and time and the current price to the user computer C on which the transaction screen 2000 is displayed as update data at regular intervals, and based on this, the transaction screen The 2000 date / time display line 2003a, the date / time display 2004, and the current price 2005 are appropriately updated and displayed. In addition, the transaction screen 2000 displays a remaining product number display 2006 as text information. The remaining number 2006 is displayed based on the remaining number in the product information storage unit 101.

Further, a purchase button 2007 for purchasing a product is displayed on the transaction screen 2000, and the user can purchase the product at a price at the selected time by selecting this button. The merchandise purchase acceptance may be performed by one click with this button, or may be performed via a checkout screen. This purchase information is transmitted to the electronic commerce server A.
The purchase acceptance unit 107 accepts the transmitted purchase information and stores it in the purchase information storage unit 106. The stored contents of the purchase information storage unit 106 are schematically shown in FIG. The purchase information storage unit 106 stores product code, customer information, order date / time, purchase price, settlement information, order information, and the like as purchase information in association with the order identification information.
In addition, when the purchase acceptance unit 107 accepts purchase information, the remaining number subtraction unit 108 updates the product information storage unit 101 by subtracting the remaining number associated with the product code indicated in the accepted purchase information. Remember. That is, the remaining number 2005 on the transaction screen 2000 is displayed after being subtracted every time a product is purchased.

  Next, the operation of the electronic commerce server A having the above configuration will be described. First, an operation for accepting input of variable price information from the provider computer B will be described. 12 is a flowchart showing the operation according to FIG. It is assumed that basic product information is already stored in the product information storage unit 101 by the provider. First, since a URL indicating a specific file in the electronic commerce server A is sent from the provider computer B, the HP transmitter 102 first sends an authentication screen (not shown) and sent from the provider computer B. An authentication process is performed based on the incoming authentication information (s101). When the authentication is completed, the HP transmission unit 102 transmits an initial screen (not shown) (s102). On the initial screen, the management menu of the provider computer B is displayed, and links to the provider information input correction screen, product information input screen, and variable price input screen are set. Here, when a screen other than the variable price input screen is selected, another input screen is transmitted, and processing based on this is performed. However, since the description is complicated, description of these processing is omitted. On the other hand, when the link to the variable price input screen is selected, the HP transmission unit 102 transmits the variable price input screen 1000 together with the drawing input script to the provider computer B (s104). After that, the product code, start date, end date, start price, end price, sales quantity, and drawing data are sent from the provider computer B, so that the variable price recording unit 103a and the remaining number initial value input receiving unit 104 Is stored in the product information storage unit 101 in association with the received product code (s105). Thereafter, the operations of s104 and s105 are repeated until the end of the input process is selected (s106).

  Next, the operation at the time of product sales to the user computer C of the electronic commerce server A will be described. 13 is a flowchart showing the operation according to FIG. First, since a URL indicating a specific file corresponding to the transaction screen in the electronic commerce server A is sent from the user computer C, the HP transmission unit 102 first transmits a transaction initial screen (not shown) (s201). Thereafter, when the user selects a specific product from the initial transaction screen, the product code of the product is transmitted, so that it is received (s202), and the HP transmission unit 102 displays the transaction screen 2000 together with the drawing script. It transmits to the user computer C (s203). Further, the elapsed time update unit 105 transmits the time information at the time of access and the product price information to the user computer C (s204), and based on this, the drawing script accesses the time on the graph on the transaction screen 2000. The date and time display line 2003a is displayed, and the current date and time display 2004 and the current price display 2005 are displayed as text data. Thereafter, after waiting for the product to be purchased (s205), and when it is time to update the graph before the product is purchased, the elapsed time update unit 105 uses the time information and the product price at the time of the update. Information is transmitted to the user computer C (s204). Based on this, the drawing script updates the notation of the transaction screen 2000. When the product is purchased, purchase information is transmitted from the user computer C, so the purchase acceptance unit 107 accepts it and stores it in the purchase information storage unit 106 (s207). At the same time, the remaining number subtraction unit 108 obtains the product information. The remaining number associated with the product code included in the purchase information stored in the storage unit 101 is subtracted and stored (s208). Thereafter, the process returns to s201 and the initial transaction screen is transmitted. The above operation is repeated until the transaction screen is closed.

Through the operations described above, the electronic commerce server A according to the present embodiment displays a price that varies depending on the time of the product as a line graph for the user, and also displays the remaining number of the product. A person can purchase a product in consideration of future price fluctuations of the product and the sales trend of the product. Moreover, since the provider of goods can set while visually confirming the line graph which shows price fluctuation of goods, it can set the line graph which shows price fluctuation easily.
In the above embodiment, the e-commerce server is exemplified as one that sells products, but it may be one that provides services, such as reservations for vacancies in hotels, seats for theater, etc., beauty salons, etc. It can also be used for reservations.
In the above embodiment, the initial graph is drawn by inputting only the start price and the end price on the variable price input screen. However, the price at the intermediate date and time is also input first. Thus, an initial graph may be drawn based on this. In addition, a graph model based on past sales data can be selected in advance, and by entering only the start price or end price and period, a graph that matches the shape of the model is automatically generated, etc. Various changes can be made to the drawing method.

A electronic commerce server B provider computer C user computer 101 product information storage unit 102 HP transmission unit 102a variable price input screen data 102b drawing input script 102c transaction screen data 102d drawing script 103 variable price input receiving unit 103a variable price information recording Unit 104 Remaining number initial value input receiving unit 105 Elapsed time updating unit 106 Purchase information storage unit 107 Purchase receiving unit 108 Remaining number subtracting unit 1000 Variable price input screen 1001 Graph input display 1002 Start date input area 1003 End date input area 1004 Start price Input area 1005 End price input area 1006 Sales quantity input area 1007 Product code selection area 2000 Transaction screen 2003 Graph display 2004 Current date display 2005 Current price display 2006 Remaining number display

Claims (3)

An electronic commerce server for performing electronic commerce on a communication network,
For each product or service to be provided, provision target information storage means for storing variable price information indicating a price that fluctuates with the passage of time for the product or service;
Input of information defining the variable price information for each product or service is received from a provider computer operated by a provider of the product or service connected to the communication network, and based on this, the provision target information storage means Variable price information input accepting means for storing variable price information related to each product or service,
In the transaction screen for providing the product or service to be transmitted and displayed on a user computer operated by a purchaser of the product or a user of the service connected to the communication network, the provision target information storage means A server for electronic commerce, comprising: a variable price display means for displaying a graph image representing a price that fluctuates over time indicated by stored variable price information in association with the product or service for each product or service. In the electronic commerce server, the provision target information storage means stores, for each product or service, a remaining number indicating the number of products that can be sold or the number of services that can be provided.
Accepting the input of information for determining the initial value of the remaining number for each product or service from the provider computer, and based on this, the remaining number initial value for storing the remaining number related to each product or service in the provision target information storage means Input receiving means;
A remaining number subtracting means for subtracting and storing the remaining number of the goods or services stored in the provision target information storage means each time the product is sold or provided.
2. The electronic commerce server according to claim 1, wherein the variable price display means displays the remaining number stored in the provision target information storage means for each product or service. The variable price information input receiving means
A variable price input screen for inputting information defining the variable price information, displaying an input graph image composed of a time axis and a price axis, wherein the provider computer displays a line graph on the input graph image When an input of drawing data for drawing is received, an input screen display for transmitting and displaying a variable price input screen for drawing a line graph on the input graph image to the provider computer based on the received drawing data Means,
As the information for determining the variable price information transmitted from the provider computer, the specific drawing data is received for each product or service, and the variable price information obtained based on the drawing data is set for each product or service. The electronic commerce server according to claim 1, further comprising a variable price information recording unit that is stored in the provision target information storage unit.

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