JP2016110563A - Ordering system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ordering system which allows a goods/services provider to participate in trading via internet in an independent position by utilizing an existing environment.SOLUTION: An ordering system for goods and services provided by a store includes: an application program to be installed in portable communication terminals (109A-D) of system users; a transmission program for transmitting a content regarding the goods and services provided by the store to the communication terminals according to a request from the communication terminals; reception means for receiving input related to an order placement from a form of the contents in the communication terminals; and facsimile transmitting means for preparing data that can be transmitted as a facsimile and transmitting the data to the store. The application program to be installed in the communication terminals of system users is a store exclusive program and is configured such that ordering cannot be performed with respect to goods and services provided by other traders in the same industry.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an ordering system. More specifically, the present invention relates to an ordering system using a user's portable communication terminal and a facsimile.

  Due to the development of the Internet environment as an infrastructure and the advancement of electronic encryption technology, commercial transactions via the Internet have become commonplace. Typical methods of commerce via the Internet are (1) a method in which a user searches for a desired product / service using a search site and places an order from there, and (2) a portal site called an Internet mall. A user accesses, a user searches for a favorite product / service from a favorite virtual store, and orders from there.

  However, in the method (1), the provider of goods / services requires efforts such as optimizing the search engine so that his / her site is displayed on the user terminal from a large number of Internet sites. In the method (2), the product / service provider must pay a usage fee to the Internet mall operator. Further, in the method (2), there is a problem that it becomes difficult to perform independent management because data of commercial transactions flows to the Internet mall operator.

  In addition, there are still many cases where the use environment of the Internet is not prepared on the side of providing products and services, and there are many situations where it is difficult to prepare the use environment of the Internet from the viewpoint of introduction and operation costs.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the side providing the product / service can participate in the commercial transaction through the Internet using the existing environment, and the side providing the product / service is independent. The purpose is to provide an ordering system that can participate in commercial transactions via the Internet.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, an ordering system in which a user places an order for at least one of goods and services that can be provided by a store is installed in a communication terminal portable by the system user and is computer-readable An application program, a transmission program for transmitting content about at least one of products and services that can be provided by the store to the communication terminal in accordance with a request from the application program of the communication terminal, and the communication terminal The system comprising: a receiving unit that receives an input regarding an order from a form; and a facsimile transmission unit that creates data that can be transmitted by facsimile based on the input related to the order received by the receiving unit, and transmits the data to the store. Use Of the application program installed in the portable communication terminal is the store-specific programs, configured so as not to orders for goods and services other peers is provided.

  Preferably, when the application program is installed, an icon for starting the application program is displayed on the standby screen of the communication terminal, and the application program starts when the icon is tapped.

  Preferably, the communication terminal is a smartphone in which a telephone number unique to the communication terminal is recorded, and the transmission unit acquires the telephone number from the smartphone and includes the information in the data that can be transmitted by facsimile.

  Preferably, there are a plurality of portable communication terminals of the system user, and the ordering system is configured to identify each of the portable communication terminals of the plurality of system users, and to identify with the identifying means. And a management unit that manages a history of past orders of the system user, and a providing unit that provides management contents of the management unit to the store.

  Preferably, the ordering system includes a specifying unit that specifies a location of the communication terminal that can be carried by the system user, and a determination unit that determines whether or not the order can be placed based on the location of the store and the specifying result of the specifying unit. Is further provided.

  Preferably, the providing means includes contents of management by the management means in the data that can be transmitted by facsimile.

  Preferably, the ordering system includes a specifying unit that specifies a location of the communication terminal that can be carried by the system user, and a determination unit that determines whether or not the order can be placed based on the location of the store and the specifying result of the specifying unit. And further comprising.

  According to the present invention, a side providing goods / services can participate in commerce via the Internet using an existing environment, and a side providing goods / services can participate in commerce via the Internet from an independent standpoint. An ordering system can be provided.

It is a figure showing composition of an ordering system in one of the embodiments of the invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of each component of an ordering system. It is a figure which shows the standby screen of the communication terminal which a system user can carry, in which the application program of the ordering system was installed. It is a figure which shows the top screen after the application program of an ordering system starts. It is a figure which shows a screen when the menu category A is selected in FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a screen when a “quantity selection” button is tapped after products A and B are selected in FIG. 5. It is a figure which shows a screen when the "to order confirmation" button is tapped in FIG. It is a figure which shows a screen when the "next" button is tapped in FIG. It is a figure which shows the specific example of the purchase order delivered to a store by a facsimile.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an ordering system according to one embodiment of the present invention. This ordering system is basically assumed to be used for providing take-out products to users and delivering products from stores to nearby places (that is, the range of products and services provided from stores) Limited to a few kilometers).

  Referring to the figure, an ordering system in which a user places an order for products and services that can be provided by a store includes an operation / management server 101 that operates and manages the system, and a system administrator PC (personal computer) 107. ..., the existing facsimile receiving devices 115A to 115C provided in each of a plurality of stores, PDF data is converted into facsimile data, and the facsimile receiving device of a designated store is connected to the facsimile receiving device via the facsimile network 113. , A portable communication terminal (such as a smartphone) 109A to 109D of a system user (ordering person) 109A to 109D, and a computer readable application program are downloaded to the communication terminals 109A to 109D. Let the app install it It consists of Activation server 117 Metropolitan. The operation / management server 101 includes a WEB server 103 and a database 105.

  Here, it is assumed that each of communication terminals (such as smartphones) 109A to 109D is a communication terminal of a different user. It is assumed that each of the facsimile receiving apparatuses 115A to 115C is a facsimile receiving apparatus installed in a different store.

  Each server, database, PC, and communication terminal includes one or more CPUs, a memory constituting a working area of the CPU, a mass storage device such as a hard disk drive or SSD (Solid State Drive), the Internet, etc. A communication unit connected to an external communication environment, a display device such as a liquid crystal display device, a keyboard for receiving input from a user, and a pointing device such as a mouse are provided. Usually, a program is recorded in a mass storage device. The program is read into memory when it is activated. Functions of each server, database, PC, and communication terminal are realized by the CPU performing operations according to the program. The recording location of the program is not limited to a mass storage device, but may be a storage on a network. In this case, the program is downloaded from the storage on the network every time it is used.

  Each of the facsimile receiving apparatuses 115A to 115C includes a receiving unit that receives facsimile data via the facsimile network 113 and a printer that prints out the received data. Note that the facsimile receiving apparatuses 115A to 115C may have a transmission function. As the facsimile receiving apparatuses 115A to 115C, general-purpose computer apparatuses and communication terminals can be used. In this case, the received data may be displayed on the display screen instead of printing out.

  Each store and the system user (the person who places an order and the orderer) can make a call using a telephone line. The telephone line is not shown in FIG. When making a call, a system user (a person who places an order) can use communication terminals (such as a smartphone) 109A to 109D. That is, it is desirable that the communication terminals (such as smartphones) 109A to 109D have a function that can be connected to a telephone line in addition to the Internet line. Some types of SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards set in communication terminals (such as smartphones) 109A to 109D permit connection to the Internet line only and cannot be connected to the telephone line. When such a SIM card is used, the system user (the person who places an order) will contact a person on the store side through a terminal capable of telephone communication other than the communication terminal.

  Each server may be a physical server configured by separate hardware, or may be a virtual server configured by software. The communication terminals 109A to 109D may be mobile phones, PDAs, wearable computers, notebook computers, desktop computers, and the like.

  The WEB server 103 records a transmission program for transmitting contents about products / services that can be provided by the store to the communication terminals 109A to 109D in accordance with requests from application programs installed in the communication terminals 109A to 109D. . The WEB server 103 also has a reception function of receiving input related to ordering from a content form in the communication terminals 109A to 109D. Based on the input regarding the received order, the WEB server 103 creates purchase order data (such as PDF data) and transmits it to the facsimile server 111. The facsimile server 111 converts the received purchase order data into facsimile data, and transmits it to the designated store facsimile receiving apparatus via the facsimile network 113.

  The application program installed in the communication terminals 109A to 109D that can be carried by the system user is a program dedicated to one store, and is configured so that it is not possible to place an order for products and services provided by other peers. The Such a configuration is performed by restricting the access destination of the application program rather than giving the application program a general-purpose WEB browser function. More specifically, the application program is configured to be accessible only to the WEB server 103 in FIG. 1 (or only to the WEB server 103 and the application server 117), and configured to acquire only information from the server.

  That is, the application program of the ordering system is customized for one store and does not have versatility. For example, a facsimile receiver 115A is provided in a restaurant store A, a facsimile receiver 115B is provided in a general store B, and a facsimile receiver 115C is provided in a souvenir store C. Assume a case. In this case, an ordering application program for the restaurant store A, an ordering application program for the general store B, and an ordering application program for the souvenir store C are separately produced. They are registered in the application server 117. A user who wants to place an order at a restaurant store A downloads and registers the order application program for the restaurant store A in his or her communication terminal. From the order application program of the restaurant store A, it is not possible to place an order for the store B of the general store or the store C of the souvenir. The restaurant ordering application program for the restaurant store A is an ordering program dedicated to the restaurant store A and customized for the restaurant store A. The same applies to stores B and C.

  Also for the WEB server 103, a dedicated WEB server that is different for each store may be used.

  When the application program is updated or updated, it is registered in the application server 117. At the time of update or update, the communication terminal with which the application program is registered may be notified by push notification, or the application program in the communication terminal with which the application program is registered is automatically updated and updated. You may make it do. The application program may not be downloaded from the application server 117 to the communication terminal, but may be downloaded from a computer device placed in each store, or may be downloaded from a WEB server for the store.

  Instead of the configuration of FIG. 1, the communication terminals 109A to 109D may have the function of the facsimile server 111. That is, the system may be configured such that the communication terminals 109A to 109D convert the facsimile data into facsimile data based on the ordering information input at the communication terminals 109A to 109D and transmit the facsimile data to the facsimile apparatus in the store. Further, the communication terminals 109A to 109D may have the function of the management server 101. Further, a server (such as the operation / management server 101) on the Internet may share at least a part of the functions to be executed by the communication terminals 109A to 109D by the cloud service.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of each component of the ordering system.

  Referring to the figure, in step S101, when the system user (the person who places an order) finds his / her favorite store or a store where he / she wants to place an order for goods / services, an application program for ordering the store is used. Download from the server 117 or the like to the communication terminals 109A to 109D. When the order application program is downloaded to the communication terminals 109A to 109D, the order application program is stored in the storage devices in the communication terminals 109A to 109D until it is uninstalled.

  Hereinafter, a description will be given by taking as an example a situation where a user A who is a user of the communication terminal 109A places an order to a restaurant store A. That is, in step S101, the user A who is the user of the communication terminal 109A accesses the application server 117 using the communication terminal 109A, downloads the order application program dedicated to the store A, and installs it.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a standby screen of the portable communication terminal 109A of the system user A in which an order application program dedicated to the store A is installed.

  As shown in FIG. 3, an icon I for an ordering application program dedicated to the store A is displayed on the standby screen together with other icons. When the user A taps the icon I, the order application program dedicated to the store A is activated (step S103 in FIG. 2).

  When the order application program dedicated to the store A is started, the program makes a request for top content to the WEB server 103 using the http (or https) protocol (step S105 in FIG. 2). This request includes information for specifying the store A, and the WEB server 103 returns the top content of the store A to the communication terminal 109A based on the information. The content of the store A is content including information on products and services that can be provided by the store A, and is customized for the store A. When receiving the content, the communication terminal 109A displays it on the screen by the application program (step S107 in FIG. 2).

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the top screen after the order application program dedicated to the store A is activated.

  Referring to the figure, buttons for displaying terms of service, application manuals, and past order history are displayed on the screen, and categorized lower menus A to D are displayed below the buttons. An area is displayed. Along with the display, the communication terminal 109A waits for input from the user A (step S109 in FIG. 2). At the bottom of the screen, a telephone number that is a contact information for the store A is displayed. By tapping the area for displaying the lower menus A to D, the menu belonging to the category is displayed.

  When a screen tap is performed, the application program requests the WEB server 103 for content corresponding to the tap position. The content sent as a response to the request is displayed on communication terminal 109A. Such content request, communication, and display are repeated until the order is confirmed (loop processing in the case of NO in step S111 in FIG. 2). The content needs to be updated each time the product handled at the store changes. The update is performed by uploading content data from the administrator PC 107 to the operation / management server 101. When the content is updated, the communication terminal in which the application program of the store is installed may be notified by push notification.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a screen when menu category A is selected in FIG.

  As shown in the figure, here, the products A to D belonging to the menu category A and the respective prices are displayed. By swiping the products A to D, the products E and later can be displayed. For example, it is assumed that the user A selects by tapping the products A and B and taps the “quantity selection” button in FIG.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a screen when the “quantity selection” button is tapped after the products A and B are selected in FIG. 5.

  On this screen, the user can input the order quantity and remarks for each of the products A and B. About remarks, it is a column which freely describes the request from the orderer for the product. The remark input field here is displayed so that input for each product is possible.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a screen when the “to order confirmation” button in FIG. 6 is tapped.

  The screen in FIG. 7 is a final confirmation screen, and the user can confirm the input of the product and quantity to be ordered and the remarks column for each product.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a screen when the “Next” button is tapped in FIG. 7.

  In FIG. 8, an area for inputting the orderer's name and telephone number, the desired date and time for receiving the product, and remarks related to the reception is displayed. In FIG. 8, the orderer may input the telephone number, or if the communication terminal 109A is a smartphone in which the telephone number unique to the communication terminal is recorded, the telephone number is acquired from the smartphone. The telephone number form may be automatically filled (step S113 in FIG. 2). In addition, when the form is automatically filled in this way, it is desirable that the telephone number cannot be corrected. This is to prevent an order with an incorrect telephone number. Moreover, when acquiring a telephone number from a smart phone, it is good also as not displaying the input column of the telephone number of FIG. 8, and transmitting the telephone number directly to a server.

  In the screen of FIG. 8, a name may be input as a name, and when the store A provides a delivery service or the like, an address may be input. The address and name may be managed by an application program and automatically input.

  Furthermore, on the screen of FIG. 8, a payment method (payment at the store A, card payment, cash transfer), a product receiving method (delivery at the store A, delivery to home), or the like may be input. The information input in FIG. 8 is transmitted to the operation / management server 101.

  If a telephone number can be used to specify a user, the name input may be omitted on the screen of FIG.

  When “confirm order” is pressed in FIG. 8, in step S115 of FIG. 2, the ordering information (name, telephone number, desired receiving time, remarks related to receiving, goods to be ordered, number of goods, goods entered in communication terminal 109A) Remarks regarding this, and the facsimile number of the store A if necessary) are transmitted to the operation / management server 101 (step S115 in FIG. 2).

  The operation / management server 101 creates a tabular order form based on the ordering information and converts it into a PDF (step S117 in FIG. 2). The PDF data is sent to the facsimile server 111 together with the facsimile number of the store A. As a result, the facsimile server 111 transmits facsimile data to the facsimile number of the store A (step S119 in FIG. 2). After completion of the facsimile transmission or before completion, the communication terminal 109A displays an order completion screen (step S121 in FIG. 2), and then transitions to the top screen (step S123 in FIG. 2).

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a specific example of an order form delivered to the store A by facsimile.

  As shown in the figure, the employee of the store A receives the information input by the orderer by facsimile in the form of a purchase order (order form). The employee of the store A calls the orderer's telephone number described in the purchase order in FIG. 9 within a predetermined time and confirms the order. By confirming the order, a sales contract is established.

  The operation / management server 101 can identify the orderer and the communication terminal in association with the telephone number. Thereby, the order information with the telephone number as a key can be managed in the database 105. That is, in the operation / management server 101, the past order history of each system user (corresponding to the telephone number etc., the past order date / time, order product name, quantity, unit price, whether or not the order has been canceled, History, etc.) can be managed. Managed information can be provided to the store. For example, the contents of a facsimile sent to a store automatically display how many times the user is a customer, or based on past history, the customer has a problem with the transaction It can automatically display that it is a customer. Information indicating that the customer has a problem with the transaction or that the customer is a good customer can be obtained from a total of past order history of all stores.

  In addition, the operation / management server 101 can total information on sales of each product for each store. Such information can be regularly distributed to each store by facsimile transmission.

  An ID for individually specifying the purchase order may be included in the purchase order shown in FIG. For example, when an order on the purchase order is canceled, the system can easily manage which user's order is canceled by transmitting the ID to the system administrator.

  Further, the communication terminals 109A to 109D usually have measuring means for measuring the radio field intensity of a GPS receiver or a wireless LAN base station. With these functions, the location (current position) of the communication terminal can be specified. The system may be configured to determine in advance whether or not to place an order based on the location of the store where the order is placed and the specific result.

  In other words, this system is basically assumed to be used for the provision of take-out products for users and the delivery of products from stores to nearby places. Limited to a certain extent). Therefore, orders from distant customers that exceed that assumption should not be accepted.

  Therefore, for example, the distance between the communication terminal and the store is calculated from the position (latitude and longitude) of the communication terminal and the position (latitude and longitude) of the store where the order is placed from the communication terminal, and within a predetermined distance Otherwise, a message such as “Out of service coverage” will be displayed on the screen of the communication terminal, making it impossible to place an order, and placing an order only if the distance between the communication terminal and the store is within the prescribed distance. It is good also as accepting.

  Such calculation of the distance between the communication terminal and the store and determination of whether or not to place an order can be performed by an application program or may be performed on the server side. Further, if the distance is not within the predetermined range, the system may be configured to alert the store side by describing that fact in the contents of the facsimile to be transmitted. Instead of determining whether or not it is within a predetermined distance, it may be determined whether or not the terminal location and the store are in the same country or the same administrative district. Alternatively, it may be determined whether the terminal position is within a predetermined country or a predetermined administrative district. The system may be configured so that it is impossible to place an order when the terminal position is at sea or at a position where delivery is not possible.

  In the storage means in the communication terminals 109A to 109D, a predetermined number of past order histories (only the past five cases, etc.) are recorded, and the order history is recalled by user selection so that the same order can be made again. Also good. Further, it is possible to change only the number of products that have been ordered in the past, or to delete / add products from the history. Such an order history may be recorded in a storage (such as a server) outside the communication terminals 109A to 109D. In this case, there is an effect that the personal information of the orderer can be managed on the system side, but conversely, the orderer may not like the personal information to be recorded outside. Therefore, the system may be configured such that the order history is recorded only in the storage means in the communication terminals 109A to 109D and not recorded outside. Depending on the setting of the orderer, it may be possible to select where to store the history.

  Further, in the present embodiment, as personal information, at least a telephone number may be notified to the store, and it is not necessary to notify the store of an address name, ID, password, and the like. As a result, there is an advantage that the orderer can use the system without worrying about leakage of personal information.

  In addition to providing products and services, this system can also be used in a store seat reservation system. In this case, for example, if the category “seat reservation” is included in the menu of FIG. 4 and tapped, a screen for selecting a desired seat is displayed on the screen of FIG. The seat reservation status may be managed by the database 105. Prior to displaying the screen of FIG. 5, the user may input the use date and time and display only the seats that can be reserved on the screen of FIG. 5. In addition, when making a hospital reservation by a doctor, the present system can cope with the same.

  According to the ordering system configured as described above, a product / service provider can participate in a commercial transaction via the Internet using an existing environment (such as a facsimile receiving apparatus). In addition, the product / service provider does not need to use an internet mall or the like of another merchant, and can participate in commercial transactions via the Internet from an independent standpoint. Further, it is presumed that an orderer who installs an application program of a store in a portable terminal is interested in the store or likes the store. Since it is possible to provide a special service only to such an orderer, it is possible to provide marketing and promotion tailored to the customer segment.

  The server 101 may be a physical server, but a virtualized network environment including a virtualized server may be employed instead. In a virtualized network environment, the number of servers, the configuration of each server, and the environment such as routers and load balancers can be flexibly changed, so the number of communication terminals participating in the system and the number of stores participating in the system It can be set as the system which can respond flexibly to the change of.

  The functions of the ordering system basically include a function for displaying information on the orderer terminal (communication terminal), a function for acquiring information input to the orderer terminal, a function for converting the information into facsimile data, and facsimile data. Transmission function, orderer terminal position acquisition function, order management function according to position, past order history management function, information transmission function based on order history, and the like. The system may be configured by executing all or a part of these functions at the orderer terminal. Further, the system may be configured by executing all or a part thereof on a device (such as a server) other than the orderer terminal connected to the network.

  The above-described embodiments and modifications should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

101 Operation / Management Server 103 WEB Server 105 Database 107 Administrator PC
109A to 109D Communication terminal 111 Facsimile server 113 Facsimile network 115A to 115C Facsimile receiver 117 Application server I Order application program icon dedicated to store A

Claims (6)

An ordering system in which a user places an order for at least one of products and services that a store can provide,
A computer readable application program installed on a portable communication terminal of a system user;
In accordance with a request from the application program of the communication terminal, a transmission program for transmitting content about at least one of products and services that can be provided by the store to the communication terminal;
Accepting means for accepting an input regarding ordering from the content form in the communication terminal;
Based on the input related to the order received by the accepting means, it creates data capable of being sent by facsimile, and includes a facsimile sending means for sending it to the store,
The application program installed in the portable communication terminal of the system user is a program dedicated to the store, and is configured not to be able to place orders for products and services provided by other peers. Ordering system.   The application program is installed to display an icon for starting the application program on a standby screen of the communication terminal, and the application program is started when the icon is tapped. Ordering system as described in. The communication terminal is a smartphone in which a telephone number unique to the communication terminal is recorded,
The ordering system according to claim 1, wherein the transmission unit acquires the telephone number from the smartphone and includes the information in the data that can be transmitted by facsimile. There are a plurality of communication terminals portable by the system user,
Specifying means for specifying each of the portable communication terminals of the plurality of system users;
Management means for managing a history of past orders of the system user based on the specification by the specifying means;
4. The ordering system according to claim 1, further comprising providing means for providing the store with the contents of management by the management means.   5. The ordering system according to claim 4, wherein the providing means includes the contents of management by the management means in the data that can be transmitted by facsimile. A specifying means for specifying the location of the portable communication terminal of the system user;
The ordering system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a determining unit that determines whether or not an order can be placed based on a location of the store and a specifying result by the specifying unit.