JP2014075090A - Display position analysis system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a display position analysis system capable of analyzing an effective display position of merchandise at low cost.SOLUTION: In a display position analysis system 300 having an information processor 100 for performing accounting processing during merchandise purchase, and a server 200 communicable with the information processor through a network, the information processor has identification information reading means 108 for reading merchandise identification information, shelf position identification information acquisition means 13 for acquiring shelf position identification information pasted to the merchandise, and transmission means 14 for transmitting the identification information and the shelf position identification information to the server, and the server has reception means 21 for receiving the identification information and the shelf position identification information, and number-of-pieces-of-sold-merchandise-by-position calculation means 23 for calculating the number of pieces of sold merchandise of the same identification information for each shelf position identification information.

Description

  The present invention relates to a display position analysis system that performs product purchase processing.

  At supermarkets and department stores, sales representatives decide where to place products, considering what should be placed and what is easy to sell. For example, products that are desired to be sold are displayed near the entrance where there is a large amount of traffic, around the cash register, or at multiple locations. In addition, the standard products are displayed so as not to change their position so that highly relevant products are displayed close to each other.

  However, when the customer brings the product to the cash register, the information on the display position of the product is lost, so the sales person quantitatively determines how effective it is to display a product in a certain place. It was difficult to analyze. For example, a bar code is often written on a product in order to identify the product, but since the bar code is a JAN code encoded, the same bar code is assigned to the same product. Also, barcodes are often printed directly on merchandise and often cannot be given at the store. Therefore, it is difficult for the store side to include information on the display position of the product in the barcode.

  By the way, the technique which specifies the goods position in a shelf is proposed (for example, refer patent document 1). Patent Document 1 discloses a technology in which an IC tag is placed on a product, an IC tag reader is placed on a product shelf, and the server connected to the IC tag reader manages the position of the product by communicating with the IC tag of the product. Is disclosed. By combining the information of the IC tag that the server no longer communicates with the sales information, it is possible to estimate which shelf has been purchased.

JP 2009-199517

  However, as described in Patent Document 1, adding an IC tag to a product or placing an IC tag reader on a shelf increases the cost, and it is difficult to introduce it in a retail store with insufficient capital. is there.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a display position analysis system capable of analyzing an effective display position of a product at low cost.

  The present invention is a display position analysis system including an information processing apparatus that performs accounting processing at the time of product purchase, and a server that can communicate with the information processing apparatus via a network. Identification information reading means for reading the identification information displayed on the shelf, shelf position identification information acquisition means for acquiring shelf position identification information affixed to the product and indicating the shelf position on which the product is displayed, and the identification information A transmission means for transmitting the shelf position identification information to the server, a product information acquisition means for acquiring product information including a price from the server, a payment amount based on the price, and a change from a difference from the deposit amount Accounting means for calculating, product information storage means for storing the product information in association with the identification information, the identification information of the product and the shelf position Receiving means for receiving different information; sales information storage means for storing the shelf position identification information for each sold product specified by the identification information; and the sales points of the products of the same identification information. And a means for totaling the number of sales by position for each position identification information.

  It is possible to provide a display position analysis system that can analyze an effective display position of a product at low cost.

It is an example of the figure explaining the outline of a display analysis system. It is an example of the hardware block diagram of a server and a POS cash register. It is an example of a functional block diagram of a display analysis system. It is a figure which shows an example of merchandise data and sales data. It is an example of the figure explaining sticking of a seal | sticker and a shelf number. It is an example of the sequence diagram explaining operation | movement of the display analysis system at the time of accounting. It is a figure explaining an example of a seal. It is a figure which shows an example of the report which a data analysis part produces.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

FIG. 1 is an example of a diagram illustrating an outline of a display analysis system according to the present embodiment.
(1) In the merchandise section, the store side is numbered for the passages and shelves to guide visitors. Hereinafter, this number is referred to as a shelf number, and is indicated by a circle number in the figure. Note that the shelf number is shown for explanation, and it is not necessary for the visitor to be able to visually discriminate, and the store side only needs to know the correspondence between the shelf number and the shelf position.
(2) The store side prepares a sticker for the shelf number, and affixes the sticker on which the shelf number of the shelf 300 on which the product is displayed is written to the product displayed on the shelf 300. That is, the number of the sticker 31 attached to the product matches the shelf number. In the figure, the round numbers attached to the products A to F are the stickers 31.
(3) When the visitor carries the product to the cash register, the store clerk reads the barcode of the product with the scanner 108 and photographs the sticker 31 with the camera 109. Thereby, the product code and the shelf number are recorded in the server 200 in association with each other.
(4) Since the store can record in which position on the shelf 300 the purchased product is displayed, the relationship between the display position of the product and the sales can be analyzed. For example, when the same products (for example, products with the same JAN code) are displayed on different shelves by changing the day, it is possible to examine the influence of the display position by comparing the sales of the products. Also, if the same product is displayed on different shelf positions on the same day, it is possible to analyze the difference in sales between two or more different display positions by aligning factors such as day of the week, time zone, and weather.

  Since printing of the sticker 31 is possible with a commercially available printer and a PC (Personal Computer), the store can be prepared at low cost. It may also be purchased at a low cost from a seal printer.

  In the following description, a store or a store side includes not only a store manager such as a store manager, owner, and salesperson, but also a franchisor, and also includes a store and a contractor entrusted by the franchisor.

〔System configuration〕
As shown in FIG. 1, the display analysis system has a server 200 and a POS cash register 100. The server 200 and the POS register 100 are communicably connected via a network such as an in-house LAN, a VPN (Virtual Private Network), or the Internet. A part or all of the network may be constructed wirelessly. Moreover, it may be connected one-to-one with a dedicated line instead of a network.

  The POS register 100 has a scanner 108 for reading a bar code, and preferably a camera 109. The camera 109 is used for photographing the shelf number of the sticker 31. The captured image is OCR processed and converted into a shelf number, and then transmitted to the server 200. Alternatively, after being transmitted to the server 200, it may be converted into a shelf number by OCR processing. The scanner 108 of the POS register 100 may have a function equivalent to that of the camera 109. In this case, the camera 109 can be omitted and the cost can be reduced.

  Note that the POS register 100 may not have the camera 109. In this case, the clerk at the cash register visually inputs the shelf number into the POS cash register 100 while viewing the sticker 31.

  2A shows an example of a hardware configuration diagram of the server 200, and FIG. 2B shows an example of a hardware configuration diagram of the POS cash register 100. FIG. The server 200 and the POS cash register 100 only need to have a general information processing apparatus configuration, and the figure is an example.

  The server 200 includes a CPU 201, a ROM 202, a RAM 203, an HDD 204, a graphic board 205, a keyboard / mouse 206, a media drive 207, and a network communication unit 208 connected to a bus. The CPU 201 develops and executes a program stored in the HDD 204 in the RAM 203, and controls each component to perform input / output and process data. The ROM 202 stores a BIOS and a small program for reading the bootstrap loader from the HDD 204 to the RAM 203. The bootstrap loader reads an OS (Operating System) from the HDD 204 to the RAM 203.

  The HDD 204 may be a non-volatile memory and may be an SSD (Solid State Drive) or the like. The HDD 204 stores an OS, a device driver, and a program that provides functions to be described later. The OS is, for example, a Windows (registered trademark) server or Linux (registered trademark), but is not limited to a specific OS. The display 210 displays a GUI screen generated by the graphic board 205 as instructed by the program.

  A keyboard / mouse 206 is an input device that receives an operation of a system administrator. When the server 200 is not operated, the keyboard / mouse 206 and the display 210 do not need to be connected to the server 200.

  The media drive 207 reads / writes data from / to optical media such as compact discs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs. Further, data may be read from and written to a memory card such as a flash memory. The network communication unit 208 is, for example, an Ethernet (registered trademark) card for connecting to a LAN. TCP / IP protocol stacks and application layer protocol processing are performed by the OS and programs.

  The program is a file in an installable or executable format, and is distributed on a computer-readable recording medium. The program is distributed as a file that can be installed or executed from a server (not shown).

  The POS register 100 includes a CPU 101, ROM 102, RAM 103, HDD 104, network communication unit 105, keyboard 106, display unit 107, scanner 108, camera 109, and printer 110. The CPU 101, ROM 102, RAM 103, HDD 104, and network communication unit 105 are the same as those of the server 200. As the OS, for example, Windows (registered trademark) for installation is used.

  The POS cash register 100 is a device in which a function optimized for payment is installed in an information processing device. The keyboard 106 is a hard key that accepts an operation of a store clerk or a soft key formed on a touch panel. The key ID of the pressed key is notified to the CPU. In addition to the numeric keys, the keyboard 106 includes various keys such as a key for calculating the total amount and change, and a key for inputting the age group and sex of the visitor. The shelf number can be entered with a numeric keypad or may have a dedicated key. The display unit 107 is a display such as a liquid crystal display. The scanner 108 optically reads the bar code, converts it into a JAN code, and notifies the CPU 101 of it. The camera 109 photographs the sticker 31 and creates image data of the sticker 31. The printer 110 is, for example, a thermal transfer printer for printing receipts.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of a functional block diagram of the display analysis system 300. The POS register 100 includes an attribute data acquisition unit 11, a shelf number acquisition unit 13, a JAN code acquisition unit 12, a data transmission unit 14, a product data acquisition unit 15, an accounting processing unit 16, and a receipt printing unit 17. The attribute data acquisition unit 11 acquires attribute data such as the sex of a visitor input by the store clerk. The shelf number acquisition unit 13 performs OCR processing on the image data of the sticker 31 photographed by the camera 109 and acquires the shelf number. The JAN code acquisition unit 12 acquires the JAN code converted by the scanner 108 from the barcode. Bar codes are printed on product packaging, containers, and wraps with a design. The bar code may be a two-dimensional code (for example, a QR code (registered trademark)). The data transmission unit 14 transmits various data such as a JAN code and sales data (including shelf numbers, attribute data, and accounting information) to the server 200. The product data acquisition unit 15 acquires product data from the server 200. The accounting processor 16 performs general cashier accounting processing and creates accounting information necessary for sales data. The receipt printing unit 17 acquires the receipt name and price extracted from the product data, the total amount and change calculated by the accounting processing unit 16, and controls the printer 110 to print the receipt.

  The server 200 includes a data receiving unit 21, a product data management unit 22, a data analysis unit 23, a product DB 24, and a sales data DB 25. The data receiving unit 21 receives various data such as a JAN code and sales data from the POS register 100. The merchandise data management unit 22 reads the merchandise data associated with the JAN code from the merchandise DB 24 and transmits it to the POS register 100. The data analysis unit 23 performs ABC analysis, time zone analysis, gender analysis, age group analysis, and the like using the sales data stored in the sales data DB 25. Moreover, in this embodiment, the display position suitable for sale of goods is analyzed using a shelf number.

  The POS register 100 can download the product DB 24 from the server 200. This eliminates the need to access the server each time the JAN code is read, thereby shortening the time required for the accounting process. In this case, the accounting processing unit 16 specifies the product data based on the JAN code and specifies the price and the like. The download timing is, for example, periodically (for example, once a day), before starting business, or when there is an explicit instruction from the server due to a price change or the like.

[Data example]
FIG. 4A shows an example of product data in the product DB 24. One record has "JAN code", "Product name", "Receipt name", "Price", "Manufacturer", "Product code", "Launch date", "Latest purchase date", "Purchase number", "Inventory number", etc. doing. Since the information registered in the product DB 24 is arbitrary, various information such as “contents” and “country of origin” can be registered, and any data can be extracted if there is a JAN code.

  FIG. 4B shows an example of sales data stored in the sales data DB 25. The sales data is one record (transaction) in one accounting process, and is associated with a receipt number, for example. The receipt number is guaranteed to be unique at the store. The sales data includes, for example, “purchase date / time”, “receipt number”, “attribute data”, “product code”, “shelf number”, “product name”, and “price” for each product. “Purchase date / time” and “receipt number” are automatically given by the POS cash register 100, and “attribute data” is inputted by the store clerk. The “product code”, “product name”, and “price” are the accounting information created by the accounting processing unit 16 based on the product data acquired from the product DB 24. The “shelf number” may be read by the camera 109 or entered by a store clerk. The accounting information may be created from the product DB 24 based on the “JAN code” received from the POS cash register 100 by the server 200 instead of being given by the POS cash register 100. If the JAN code is included in the sales data, arbitrary information from the product DB 24 can be added to the sales data.

  FIG. 4C is an example of a diagram showing a statistical example of sales results stored in the sales data DB 25, which will be described later in detail.

[About sticking stickers]
FIG. 5 is an example of a diagram for explaining sticker sticking and shelf numbers. FIG. 5A is a front view of the shelf 300 and a diagram schematically showing an example of the shelf number assigned to the display space. Three shelves (A, B, C) are arranged adjacent to each other, and one shelf 300 is divided into six spaces. A shelf number that is not duplicated is assigned to each space of the shelf 300.

  The store side can arbitrarily change how the shelves 300 are classified, and may be classified according to the purpose of analysis. For example, if the sales by the difference in the passage are analyzed rather than the display position in the shelf 300, the three shelves 300 are regarded as one space and a common shelf number is assigned to the three shelves 300. Good. On the other hand, when analyzing the difference in sales between the upper and lower tiers, at least the upper and lower tiers are divided and given different shelf numbers. The more detailed analysis is possible, the more shelves are divided.

  FIG.5 (b) is an example of the figure explaining the sticker affixed on goods. The store side prints the store shelf number on the sticker 31. For example, when a product is displayed in the space “B-3”, a sticker 31 printed with “B-3” is attached to almost all products displayed in the space “B-3”. The term “almost all products” means a number that can be statistically analyzed, and the stickers 31 may not be completely attached to all products. Similarly, the sticker 31 printed as “A-1” is displayed on the product displayed in the space “A-1”, and “A-2” is displayed on the product displayed in the space “A-2”. The printed stickers 31 are pasted respectively.

  FIG.5 (c) is an example of the figure which shows typically the display of the goods to which the sticker was stuck. In the space “B-3”, merchandise with a seal 31 “B-3” is displayed. In this way, the shelf number of the space where the product is displayed matches the shelf number of the seal 31 attached to the product. In addition, it is not necessary to affix the sticker 31 to all products displayed on the shelf, and it is only necessary to affix the sticker 31 only to the product for which sales are to be analyzed. Therefore, the store side displays the product without the sticker 31 in an arbitrary space. Similarly, there is a need to analyze the difference in display position in a nearby space (for example, “B-3” and “B-4”) that can be identified even if the product is a product whose sales are to be analyzed and the sticker 31 is attached. Low. For this reason, for example, it is not prohibited to display the same product with the “B-3” seal 31 attached to the “B-4” shelf.

[Behavior during accounting]
FIG. 6 is an example of a sequence diagram for explaining the operation of the display analysis system 300 at the time of accounting.
S1: When the store clerk causes the scanner 108 to read the barcode of the product, the JAN code acquisition unit 12 acquires the JAN code.
S2: Further, the store clerk photographs the sticker 31 attached to the product with the camera 109. The shelf number acquisition unit 13 performs OCR processing on the seal 31 to acquire a shelf number.
S3: The POS register downloads the product DB 24 from the server.
S4: The accounting processor 16 reads the product data of all products purchased from the product DB 24 using the JAN code as a key.
S5: The store clerk operates the POS cash register 100 to perform the accounting process. When the “subtotal” key of the POS cash register 100 is pressed, the accounting processing unit 16 calculates the total price of the product and displays it on the display unit 107. When the visitor pays for cash, when the store clerk inputs the amount deposited by the store clerk and presses the “deposit / total” key, the accounting processing unit 16 calculates the amount of change and displays the amount on the display unit 107. The receipt printing unit 17 obtains necessary information from the product data and the transaction information of the transaction processing unit 16 and prints the receipt. The clerk gives the change and receipt to the visitor. When the visitor pays with a credit card, the CAT terminal (not shown) reads the card information and transmits it to the credit card company.
S6: When the store clerk inputs the visitor's gender, approximate age group, and extension as attribute data, the attribute data acquisition unit 11 receives the attribute data.
S7: For example, the data transmission unit 14 creates sales data by associating the receipt number with purchase date / time, attribute data, shelf number, accounting information, and the like, and transmits the sales data to the server 200.
S8: The data receiving unit 21 of the server 200 receives the sales data and stores it in the sales data DB 25. As a result, sales data as shown in FIG. 4B is obtained for each accounting process (one visitor).

  Since the sales data includes the shelf number on which each product is displayed, statistical processing as shown in FIG. 4C is possible. For example, the data analysis unit 23 counts the number of sales of the same product for each shelf number. In FIG.4 (c), the shelf number and the number of sales are shown about the same goods. When products of the same confectionery (ABC chocolate) were displayed on “B-3” and “C-6”, 35 items were sold on “B-3” and 58 items on “C-6”. I understand. In addition, when products of the same drinking water (Cola Cola) were displayed in “A-1” and “C-2”, 3 items were sold for “A-1” and 32 items were sold for “C-2”. I understand that.

[Seal types]
Although the aspect in which the shelf number itself is included in the sticker 31 has been described in FIG. 5, the sticker 31 in which the shelf number is not included as a number or symbol may be attached to the product. Since the seal 31 only needs to include information on which shelf the product is displayed, the information can be included in a picture, for example.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a seal. The seal 31 in FIG. 7 (a) is a character that is an anthropomorphic star, and actually a store mascot character or the like may be used. The store creates stickers 31 with different character colors. For example, the left body is colored yellow and the right body is colored white. The store side sticks the sticker 31 whose body color is yellow and the white sticker 31 to the same product displayed in different places. The store clerk can discriminate between the two display positions based on the color scheme of the sticker 31 and input them to the POS register 100. The body color may be any color that can be identified by humans and can be changed to at least 5 to 7 colors. Therefore, it becomes possible to identify 5 to 7 display positions.

  Of course, it is possible to change not only the color of the body but also the color of a part of the picture such as the color of the palm and the color of the eyes. As a result, display positions can be systematically indicated by combinations of character colors. For example, the body color represents the passage, the palm color represents the vertical height, the eye color represents the horizontal position, and so on.

  By expressing the display position with such a color scheme of the picture, it is possible to reduce the uncomfortable feeling of the seal 31 given to the visitor rather than the sticker 31 on which the shelf number is written.

  It is also possible for the salesclerk to identify the color of the part of the sticker 31 by image processing instead of identifying the color difference of the sticker 31. Since the shape of the seal is known, the seal can be detected by applying pattern matching to the image data using a standard template for the seal. After the detection, the RGB values of the image data are color clustered to identify the color of the part, and the display position of the product is specified from the pre-registered part color and display position correspondence table.

  Moreover, as shown in FIG.7 (b), you may make the picture of the sticker 31 into a shop map. For example, if only one type of in-store map is created, and the store clerk writes a circle mark with a magic or the like and affixes it to a product, the display position can be expressed directly. Not only circle marks but also squares and triangles can be written and the color of the mark can be changed, so the store side can correspond to the shape of the mark and the vertical position of the shelf, the color and the horizontal position If it is regularized, the display position can be expressed by pinpoints. In this case, since the store side has only to prepare one kind of sticker 31 for the in-store map, the sticker 31 can be easily prepared.

  Further, the shelf number may be directly described with (transparent) ink that is difficult to distinguish with the naked eye without sticking the seal 31. For example, since fluorescent ink reflects ultraviolet light, the store clerk can determine the shelf number by irradiating the camera 109 with ultraviolet light. In this case, the store clerk can write the shelf number in an arbitrary place of the product by handwriting. Alternatively, the shelf number may be converted into a barcode and printed with transparent ink. Bar codes can be easily read by a scanner. By using the transparent ink, it is possible to reduce a sense of discomfort given to the visitor rather than the sticker 31 being affixed.

[Analysis of display position]
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a report created by the data analysis unit 23. This report aggregates sales for each product over a certain period and shows the sales in descending order. The product category is “food”. For each product, “product code (product CD)”, “product name”, “upper price (retail price)”, “store launch date”, “sale point”, “sales amount”, “purchase / sales / digestion” Rate "is displayed. The “sales score” is a value obtained by counting the number of products whose purchase date and time are included in the above-mentioned fixed period. “Sales amount” is “upper cost” x “number of sales points”, “Purchase” is the number of purchases in a given period, “Sales” is the same as the number of sales points, and “Digestion rate” is the sales amount for purchases It is a ratio.

  Moreover, the data analysis part 23 totals the sales score of the same goods for every shelf number. For example, it is displayed that among the 93 items sold, 35 items were sold at the display position of shelf number B-3 and 58 items were sold at the display position of shelf number C-6.

  Further, the data analysis unit 23 calculates the occupation rate. Of the 93 sales points, No. 1 was sold at the display position of shelf number B-3, so 35/93 = about 38% is the occupation ratio of shelf number B-3. The occupation ratio of the display position of shelf number C-6 is 58/93 = about 62%. Therefore, the sales manager of the store can determine that this product is difficult to sell even if it is displayed on shelf number B-3, and can consider canceling the display and displaying another product.

  Various analyzes other than those illustrated are possible. For example, attempts have been made to increase the unit price of customers by displaying two related products adjacent to each other. For example, products A and B (products different from A and B) are displayed adjacent to shelf numbers C-3 and C-4, and products A and B are adjacent to shelf numbers A-5 and A-6. Keep it on display. Even if the same product A (or product B) is purchased, it is possible to detect which display position the product has been purchased, so that it is possible to estimate a display position effective for combined sales.

It is also effective to analyze the display position in association with attribute data. For example, for unisex products,
Suppose that an analysis result is obtained that males often purchase products from the display position of shelf number A-6. Females often purchase products from the display position of shelf number C-4. In this case, sales of men's products can be expected to increase by placing them at the display position of shelf number A-6 or equivalent display position (for example, wide passage, cool, low traffic). Can be analyzed. The same applies to products for women.

  As described above, the display analysis system 300 according to the present embodiment identifies the display position of a product sold by a low-cost method using the seal 31 and quantitatively determines the display position that affects the sales of the product. Can be analyzed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 21 Data reception part 22 Product data management part 23 Data analysis part 100 POS cash register 108 Scanner 109 Camera 200 Server 300 Display analysis system

Claims (3)

An information processing apparatus that performs accounting processing at the time of product purchase, and a display position analysis system having a server that can communicate with the information processing apparatus via a network,
The information processing apparatus includes:
Identification information reading means for reading the identification information displayed on the appearance of the product,
Shelf position identification information acquisition means for acquiring shelf position identification information affixed to the product and indicating a shelf position on which the product is displayed;
Transmitting means for transmitting the identification information and the shelf position identification information to the server;
Product information acquisition means for acquiring product information including a price from the server;
An accounting means for calculating a payment amount based on the price and performing accounting processing;
The server
Product information storage means for storing the product information in association with the identification information;
Receiving means for receiving the identification information of the product and the shelf position identification information;
Sales information storage means for storing the shelf position identification information for each sold product specified by the identification information;
A display position analysis system, comprising: a sales amount totaling unit for each position that totals the number of sales of the same product of the identification information for each shelf position identification information. The shelf position identification information corresponding to the display position is affixed to the product of the same identification information displayed at different display positions on the same day,
The number-of-position sales totaling means totals the number of sales points of the products of the same identification information displayed at different display positions on the same day for each shelf position identification information.
The display position analysis system according to claim 1. The shelf position identification information indicates the display position of the product by the color scheme for each part of the picture where the character is designed.
3. The display position analysis system according to claim 1, wherein the display position analysis system is a display position analysis system.

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