JP2021051553A - Digital signage - Google Patents

Abstract

To automatically create and display "sales promotion content" in which commodity information and information on related articles that contribute to sales promotion of the commodity are optimally combined after incorporating the inventory status of the commodity, in the sales promotion of the commodity according to "weather-linked demand forecast information."SOLUTION: A digital signage 1 includes an information acquisition unit 10, an inventory search unit 20, a related article proposal unit 30, an image data search unit 40, a matching processing unit 50, an image data acquisition unit 60, a content creation unit 70 configured to automatically create sales promotion content, and a content display unit 80. The related article proposal unit 30 is configured by an information processing device that outputs information on related articles for sales promotion when information on a candidate commodity for sales promotion is input.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to digital signage for sales promotion. Further, in more detail, the present invention acquires information for predicting demand fluctuations of products that correlate with weather fluctuations (referred to as "weather-linked demand forecast information" in the present specification), and responds to the information. For promotional digital signage that displays automatically created promotional content.

In recent years, an information display device called "Digital Signage" has become widespread. "Digital signage" is a device that utilizes digital technology for display and communication to display information such as images and characters on a flat display, a projector, or the like. Compared to conventional display means for displaying still images printed on paper media, digital signage "can handle not only still images but also moving images" and "display contents in real time depending on the situation". It is an information display device that can exert a remarkable advantage over other conventional means as a display means for sales promotion in "the point that can be optimized".

As a "digital signage" that utilizes the above-mentioned advantage of "optimizing the display content in real time according to the situation", for example, more appropriate content can be obtained in real time from weather data obtained from an external server or the like. A "digital signage" to be displayed has already been developed (see Patent Documents 1 and 2).

According to the "digital signage" disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, based on the demand fluctuation forecast linked in advance with "weather", "temperature", etc., according to the weather information that fluctuates day by day. The determined specific information can be displayed in real time according to the "weather", "temperature", etc. at the information display location / time point. For example, when the purpose is to promote sales of top-selling foodstuffs according to the weather, the foodstuffs (for example, "potato") that are pre-linked to specific weather information (for example, low temperature, snow) are timed. It is possible to expect a sales promotion effect by displaying it on the screen.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2012-134836 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-115977

Here, in order to ensure the effectiveness of sales promotion of products, it is essential to perform a process of matching with inventory data relating to whether or not there are inventories that can be sold. However, none of the above documents mentions matching weather information and inventory data in advance.

Further, in the sales promotion of a product, it is widely used as an effective sales promotion method to present related goods, etc. that evoke the benefits that the purchaser of the product can directly or indirectly obtain from the product. There is. Specifically, for example, in order to promote the sale of "potatoes" on a cold snowy day, not only the above products (potatoes) are presented alone, but also from a large number of "potato dishes". This is a method of selecting "meat potatoes" instead of "potato salad" and showing a video of the cooking process as "promotional content".

According to the "digital signage" disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, it is possible to display images of foodstuffs associated with a specific weather in advance as a single item in real time based on fluctuations in weather information. Is. However, as described above, in order to display "promotional content" composed by combining sales promotion information related to dishes and cooking processes that can be cooked using ingredients for which sales are desired to be promoted, the content is updated. Each time, the above-mentioned selection and acquisition of sales promotion information and the creation of "sales promotion content" for editing the acquired information are manually performed as a separate work from the information acquisition and display (manual editing). Was essential.

The present invention relates to product information and related articles that contribute to sales promotion of the product in sales promotion of products according to "weather-linked demand forecast information" that predicts demand fluctuations of foodstuffs and the like that correlate with weather fluctuations. The purpose is to automatically create and display "sales promotion content" that optimally combines information with the inventory status of the product.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems by the following solutions.

(1) The information acquisition unit that acquires weather-linked demand forecast information and the inventory data of one or more sales promotion target candidate products for which demand is expected to increase based on the weather-linked demand forecast information are stored in the inventory database. A server that accesses and searches an inventory search unit, a related article proposal unit that proposes related articles corresponding to the sales promotion target candidate product, and image data of the related article proposed by the related article proposal unit. An image data search unit that accesses and searches for, one or more of the sales promotion target candidate products whose existence in stock has been confirmed, and the related articles whose image data has been confirmed to be available. The matching processing unit that determines the combination of the above, the image data acquisition unit that acquires the image data of the sales promotion target candidate product and the related article constituting the combination determined by the matching processing unit, and the image data acquisition. The content creation unit that automatically creates sales promotion content including information on the sales promotion target candidate product and the related goods from the image data acquired by the department and the sales promotion content are displayed. , A content display unit, and the related article proposal unit is composed of a digital information processing device that outputs information on related articles for sales promotion when information on the sales promotion target candidate product is input. ·signage.

According to the digital signage of (1), in the sales promotion of products according to the "weather-linked demand forecast information", "sales promotion content" that appropriately combines information on the products and related goods for sales promotion. Can be automatically created and displayed after incorporating the inventory status of the product.

(2) The description according to (1), wherein the attribute data of the viewer viewing the content display unit is input to the information processing device constituting the related article proposal unit as data for selecting the related article. Digital signage.

With the digital signage of (2), in the digital signage of (1), it is possible to create "sales promotion content" whose contents are optimized by further considering the attributes of the viewers who watch the digital signage. The configuration is such that it can be done. As a result, it is possible to further improve the certainty of the effect of improving the purchasing motivation of the viewer in the digital signage of (1).

(3) A viewer attribute data acquisition unit having a photographing unit capable of photographing a viewer of the sales promotion content and an image analysis unit is further provided, and the captured image photographed by the photographing unit is analyzed by the image analysis unit. The digital signage according to (2), which acquires the attribute data of the viewer.

For the digital signage of (3), in addition to the digital signage of (2), a photographing unit having a function of photographing the viewer and an image analysis unit for analyzing the captured image are added to the place where the digital signage is installed. The attribute information of the viewer who stays is configured to be able to be acquired in real time by analyzing the captured image taken by this photographing unit. As a result, it is possible to automatically create "sales promotion content" that is more excellent in terms of compatibility with the attributes of the viewer who is actually viewing the information.

(4) The digital signage according to (3), wherein the image analysis unit is a machine learning type information processing device having a neural network.

The digital signage of (4) has a configuration in which image analysis for further acquiring attribute data of a viewer can be performed by a machine learning type information processing device having a neural network in the digital signage of (3). And said. As a result, the accuracy of the viewer's attribute data can be further improved, and "sales promotion content" that is extremely excellent in terms of compatibility with the attributes of the viewer who is actually viewing the information can be automatically created. it can.

(5) The date and time information at the installation location of the digital signage is input to the information processing device constituting the related article proposal unit as data for selecting the related article, according to (1) to (4). The digital signage described in either.

According to the digital signage of (5), the digital signage of any of (1) to (4) is automatically optimized for the content by adding the date and time information at the installation location. The configuration can be created in. As a result, it is possible to further improve the certainty of the manifestation of the effect of improving the purchasing motivation of the viewer.

(6) Described in any one of (1) to (5), wherein the candidate product for sales promotion is an ingredient, and the image data of the related article is a moving image relating to an explanation of a cooking method of a dish using the ingredient. Digital signage.

According to the digital signage of (6), in any of the digital signages (1) to (5), in particular, when the sales promotion target candidate product to be promoted is a food material, the conventional work It is possible to automatically create and display "sales promotion content" that incorporates an advertising method that is effective in increasing the motivation to purchase ingredients, which was created by manual editing by a person.

(7) The related article proposal unit is composed of an information processing device that outputs information on dishes selected so as to maximize the required total amount of the ingredients when inventory data of all products is further input. , (6).

According to the digital signage of (7), for example, among various dishes that can be cooked using a plurality of ingredients whose inventory has been confirmed, the required total amount of the ingredients that are the ingredients of the dish, that is, the total sales amount. Automatically select the dish that maximizes the expected value. As a result, the effectiveness of the sales promotion effect of the digital signage of (6) can be further enhanced.

(8) The digital signage according to any one of (1) to (7), wherein the information processing device that outputs information on the related articles is a machine learning type information processing device having a neural network.

According to the digital signage of (8), in any of the digital signage of (1) to (7), the selection of related articles constituting the "promotional content" is a machine learning type having a neural network. It was decided to use an information processing device, a so-called deep learning type information processing device. As a result, more complicated condition judgment can be made in the selection of related articles, and more appealing "sales promotion content" can be created.

(9) The information acquisition unit that acquires weather-linked demand forecast information and the inventory data of one or more sales promotion target candidate products for which demand is expected to increase based on the weather-linked demand forecast information are stored in the inventory database. It is composed of an information processing device that outputs information on related goods for sales promotion when the information of the sales promotion target candidate product is input and the inventory search unit that is accessed and searched, and the sales promotion target candidate. A related article proposal unit that proposes the related article corresponding to a product, an image data search unit that accesses a server to search for image data of the related article proposed by the related article proposal unit, and an inventory. A matching processing unit and a matching processing unit that determine a combination of one or more of the sales promotion target candidate products whose existence has been confirmed and the related articles whose image data has been confirmed to be receivable. The sales promotion target candidate product is obtained from an image data acquisition unit that acquires image data of the sales promotion target candidate product and the related article constituting the determined combination, and the image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit. And the content for which the arithmetic processing unit including the content creation unit for automatically creating the sales promotion content including the information related to the related goods displays one or more of the sales promotion contents. A digital signage system that is communicatively connected to the display unit.

According to the digital signage system of (9), in the sales promotion of products according to the "weather-linked demand forecast information", "for sales promotion" that appropriately combines information on the products and related goods for sales promotion. "Content" can be automatically created and displayed after incorporating the inventory status of the product. In addition, digital signage scattered in remote areas can be controlled at one headquarters.

(10) An information acquisition step in which the information acquisition unit acquires weather-linked demand forecast information, and one or more sales promotion targets in which demand is expected to increase based on the weather-linked demand forecast information. An inventory search step for searching inventory data of candidate products by accessing an inventory database, a related article proposal step for the related article proposal department to propose related articles corresponding to the sales promotion target candidate product, and image data. An image data search step in which the search unit accesses the server to search for image data of the related article proposed by the related article proposal unit, and one or more matching processing units confirmed the existence of inventory. The matching processing step for determining the combination of the sales promotion target candidate product and the related article whose image data has been confirmed to be available, and the image data acquisition unit are determined by the matching processing unit. The sales promotion is performed from the image data acquisition step of acquiring the image data of the sales promotion target candidate product and the related article constituting the combination, and the image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit by the content creation unit. Includes a content creation step that automatically creates sales promotion content including information on the target candidate product and the related goods, and a content display step in which the content display unit displays the sales promotion content. How to display promotional content.

According to the method of displaying the content for sales promotion in (10), in the sales promotion of the product according to the "weather-linked demand forecast information", the "sales" in which the information about the product and the related goods for the sales promotion are appropriately combined. "Promotional content" can be automatically created and displayed after incorporating the inventory status of the product.

(11) In the related article proposal step, the attribute data of the viewer viewing the content display unit is input to the information processing device constituting the related article proposal section as data for selecting the related article. The method of displaying the sales promotion content according to (10).

The method of displaying the sales promotion content in (11) is the "sales promotion" in which the content is optimized in consideration of the attributes of the viewer who watches the digital signage in the method of displaying the sales promotion content in (10). The configuration is such that "content for use" can be created. As a result, it is possible to further improve the certainty of the manifestation of the effect of improving the purchasing motivation of the viewer.

(12) In the related article proposal step, the date and time information at the installation location of the digital signage is input to the information processing device constituting the related article proposal unit as data for selecting the related article. The method for displaying sales promotion content according to (10) or (11).

According to the sales promotion content display method of (12), the content of the sales promotion content display method described in (10) or (11) is optimized by taking into account the date and time information at the installation location. The structure is such that "promotional content" can be created. As a result, it is possible to further improve the certainty of the manifestation of the effect of improving the purchasing motivation of the viewer.

(13) The sale of any of (10) to (12), wherein the sales promotion target candidate product is an ingredient, and the image data of the related article is a video relating to an explanation of a cooking method of a dish using the ingredient. How to display promotional content.

According to the sales promotion content display method of (13), in any of the sales promotion content display methods of (10) to (12), particularly when the product targeted for sales promotion is a food material. , "Sales promotion content" that incorporates a method with excellent sales promotion effect can be automatically created and displayed.

(14) The information processing apparatus constituting the related article proposal unit further uses the inventory data as an input value and outputs information on the dish selected so as to maximize the required total amount of the ingredients, according to (13). How to display the described promotional content.

According to the method of displaying the sales promotion content of (14), for example, among various dishes that can be cooked using a plurality of ingredients whose stocks have been confirmed, the required total amount of the ingredients that are the ingredients of the dish, that is, Automatically select dishes that maximize the expected total sales volume. As a result, the effectiveness of the sales promotion effect by the method of displaying the sales promotion content of (13) can be further enhanced.

(15) The method for displaying sales promotion content according to any one of (10) to (14), wherein the information processing device that outputs information on the related articles is a machine learning type information processing device having a neural network.

According to the sales promotion content display method of (15), in any of the sales promotion content display methods (10) to (14), the selection of related articles constituting the sales promotion content is performed by the neural network. It was decided to use a machine learning type information processing device having the above, a so-called deep learning type information processing device. As a result, more complicated condition judgment can be made in the selection of related articles, and more appealing "sales promotion content" can be displayed.

According to the present invention, in the sales promotion of a product according to the "weather-linked demand forecast information" that predicts the demand fluctuation of foodstuffs and the like that correlate with the fluctuation of the weather, the product information and related articles that contribute to the sales promotion of the product. It is possible to automatically create and display "sales promotion content" that optimally combines the information related to the above with the inventory status of the product.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the digital signage of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation flow of the display method of the "sales promotion content" which can be carried out using the digital signage of this invention. It is a figure which shows typically an example of the content display part which comprises the digital signage of this invention. It is a chart figure which shows an example of the whole structure of the sales promotion activity which can be carried out using the digital signage of this invention.

Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings as appropriate.

<Digital signage>
The digital signage of the present invention provides information on the target product to be promoted and related articles that can contribute to the sales promotion of the product in the product sales promotion activity performed by utilizing the "weather-linked demand forecast information". It is a display device that can automatically create and display "sales promotion content" that optimally combines such information with the inventory status of the product.

Here, the above-mentioned "weather-linked demand forecast information" refers to all information related to the forecast of demand fluctuations of products that correlate with weather fluctuations. Such "weather-linked demand forecast information" has already been provided to various distribution and sales organizations such as convenience stores and shopping centers as paid or free information from various weather-related organizations.

The digital signage of the present invention can be adopted as a sales promotion means for all goods in which there is a correlation between weather and demand. However, among the above-mentioned articles, the digital signage of the present invention can be mentioned as an example of a particularly preferable embodiment as a means for promoting sales of foodstuffs in which a clear correlation between weather and demand can be easily found. Hereinafter, the details of the embodiment in which the digital signage of the present invention is used for the sales promotion activity in which the foodstuff is the main sales promotion target will be described.

Here, the "related goods" in the present specification are goods (including intangible goods such as services) related to the target goods for which sales are promoted by the digital signage of the present invention, unless otherwise specified. , By presenting together with the product, it shall refer to all products that can contribute to the promotion of sales of the product.

In addition, when the target product for which sales promotion is promoted by the digital signage of the present invention is an ingredient, cooking of a dish using the ingredient is used as information on "related articles" that can contribute to the sales promotion of the product (ingredient). Presenting a video explaining the method is effective as an advertising method. Digital signage 1 automatically creates "sales promotion content" that incorporates the above-mentioned advertising method, which has been created by manual editing by workers and is effective for increasing the purchasing motivation of foodstuffs, without human intervention. It has a remarkable advantage as an advertising means that can be created and displayed on the digital signage.

[overall structure]
The basic configuration of digital signage 1, which is an example of a preferred embodiment of digital signage of the present invention, is as shown in FIG. That is, the digital signage 1 includes an information acquisition unit 10, an inventory search unit 20, a related article proposal unit 30, an image data search unit 40, a matching processing unit 50, an image data acquisition unit 60, a content creation unit 70, and a content display unit. Consists of including 80. Further, it is more preferable that the digital signage 1 has a configuration including a viewer attribute data acquisition unit 90 in addition to the above configurations.

In this specification, among the above-mentioned parts constituting the digital signage 1, the information acquisition unit 10, the inventory search unit 20, the related article proposal unit 30, the image data search unit 40, the matching processing unit 50, and the image data acquisition The unit 60 and the content creation unit 70 are also collectively referred to as a "calculation processing unit". The "arithmetic processing unit" can be configured by various known information processing devices such as a computer equipped with hardware such as a CPU, a memory, and a communication unit. Then, the "arithmetic processing unit" having the above configuration can specifically execute various operations of the digital signage described below by the "program" for the computer.

In addition, in the digital signage 1, the content display unit 80 such as a flat display for displaying the "sales promotion content" created in the above-mentioned "arithmetic processing unit" is referred to as an "arithmetic processing unit" as an independent display device. May be located at different locations apart from each other. In this case, both of these components should be communicable by various communication means such as wired connection using a dedicated communication cable, wired LAN, wireless LAN, short-range wireless communication, or mobile phone line. This may be implemented as, for example, a decentralized "digital signage system" composed of a single "arithmetic processing unit" and a plurality of content display units 80 distributed in remote locations. it can.

[Information acquisition department]
The information acquisition unit 10 acquires "weather-linked demand forecast information" that predicts demand fluctuations of products that correlate with weather fluctuations. The "weather-linked demand forecast information" in the place where the digital signage 1 (or the content display unit 80 in the above-mentioned distributed "digital signage system") is installed is for the public such as the Internet. It can be acquired by communication performed through the provided communication line or the communication line owned by the user. The frequency of information acquisition is not particularly limited, but it is preferable that the information is automatically acquired at preset predetermined time intervals such as every day or every 8 hours. It is preferable that the acquired "weather-linked demand forecast information" is stored in the information acquisition unit 10 or other storage means in the arithmetic processing unit for a certain period of time, if necessary.

Here, Table 1 below shows an example of "weather-linked demand forecast information" consisting of a combination of weather and products for which demand is expected to increase.

[Inventory search department]
The inventory search unit 20 accesses the inventory database to search for the presence or absence of inventory of one or more "promotional target candidate products" included in the "weather-linked demand forecast information" acquired by the information acquisition unit 10. For example, if the "weather-linked demand forecast information" shown in Table 1 is acquired, each sales promotion target candidate of "water (normal temperature)", "Chinese steamed bun", "amazake", "potato" ..., A Check if the product is in stock at the store.

In addition, when the inventory search unit 20 performs the above search, it also provides information (inventory data of all products) relating to the number of inventories of all products including all products other than the above "candidate products for sales promotion". It is preferable that the product has a function of acquiring and transmitting this information to the related article proposal unit 30 together with the information relating to the presence or absence of inventory of the above-mentioned "candidate product for sales promotion". As a result, as will be described in detail later, the related article proposal unit 30 can select products (foodstuffs) for maximizing the total sales volume of inventories.

[Related Goods Proposal Department]
The related article proposal unit 30 proposes "related articles" corresponding to one or more "sales promotion target candidate products" included in the "weather-linked demand forecast information" acquired by the information acquisition unit 10.

In order to make the above proposal, the related article proposal unit 30 specifically outputs the information of the "related article" for sales promotion when the information of the "candidate product for sales promotion" is input. It consists of devices.

The selection of "related goods" for sales promotion in the related goods proposal unit 30 is, for example, when the "promotional candidate product" is "potato" in Table 1, at least at the time and place of sale. Various "potato dishes" such as "curry rice", "nikujaga", "potage soup (cold)", "potage soup (heat)", "potato salad", etc. The information is executed by being output as an output value with respect to the above-mentioned input value, that is, information of "related goods" for sales promotion.

The above-mentioned input value may be an input value that is a combination of "weather data", "date and time information" at the place where the digital signage is installed, and "viewer attribute data" of the digital signage 1. , More preferred. For example, by adding "viewer attribute data" to the input value, a more optimal selection that takes into account the difference in taste according to age and gender (for example, "curry rice" for children, even for middle-aged and older people) For example, "meat potatoes" etc.) can be performed. If the viewer layer of the digital signage at the installation location is fixed, the "viewer attribute data" may be stored in advance in a storage means in the arithmetic processing unit as default data. it can. However, as will be described later, in order to acquire more precise "viewer attribute data" in real time, the digital signage 1 is provided with the viewer attribute data including the shooting unit 91 and the image analysis unit 92. It is more preferable that the acquisition unit 90 is further provided.

Further, as illustrated above, in particular, when the "candidate product for sales promotion" is an ingredient, the related article proposal department 30 maximizes the total sales volume after taking into account the "inventory data of all products". It is more preferable that the product has a function of selecting a dish as a "related article" so as to be used. For this reason, the information processing device that constitutes the related article proposal unit 30 is selected so that when "inventory data of all products" is input, the required total amount of foodstuffs, that is, the expected value of the total sales amount is maximized. The information of the "related goods" that has been processed may be output.

The selection of "related articles" that maximizes the required total amount of foodstuffs can be exemplified by, for example, the selection method as shown in Table 2 below. According to this selection method, when the "promotional candidate product" determined based on the weather of the day is "potato" and there is sufficient stock of "carrot" and "beef" At (Store A), taking this inventory data into consideration, "curry rice" that can be cooked using these ingredients is preferentially selected as "related products", while "potatoes" and "beef" If there is no stock of "potatoes" and only a large amount of "potatoes" are in stock (store B), "french fries" that can be cooked using only "potatoes" are mainly used as "related products". It is selected preferentially.

The process of selecting the above-mentioned "related article" is preferably performed by a machine learning type information processing apparatus having a neural network, which is excellent in information processing ability for comprehensively judging a wide variety of conditions. By configuring the machine learning type information processing device having a neural network to execute the process of selecting the "related article" for sales promotion, the more complicated conditions in the selection of the "related article" are obtained. Judgment becomes possible, it becomes possible to create more appealing "sales promotion content", and digital signage 1 can be made to have a higher sales promotion effect.

[Image data search section]
The image data search unit 40 determines whether or not the image data of the "related article" for sales promotion including the image of the "related article" selected by the related article proposal unit 30 can be acquired on the internal server or the web. Access and search for external servers that exist in.

Here, the "internal server" in the present specification is a database owned or constantly used by the owner or user of the digital signage 1 and manages the accumulated data. The image data search unit 40 refers to a device connected so as to be able to communicate with a dedicated line or the like.

On the other hand, an "external server" is any database that can be accessed through some communication line including a communication line used for the public such as the Internet, and necessary information can be obtained by communication. Refers to something other than an "internal server". An example of an "external server" is a video site or the like that is allowed to be accessed by an unspecified number of people. The image data search unit 40 can legally acquire various material data from such an external server for a fee or free of charge.

The "image data of related goods" that the image data search unit 40 searches and determines the acquireability constitutes "sales promotion content" that can contribute to the sales promotion of the above "sales promotion candidate products". As long as the image data can be generated, it may be a still image or a moving image. However, it is preferable that the "related goods" are products to be created that can be created by the purchaser using the above-mentioned "sales promotion candidate products". Further, it is particularly preferable that the "image data of the related article" is a moving image relating to the explanation of the cooking method of the dish using the food material when the "sales promotion candidate product" is the food material.

[Matching processing unit]
The matching processing unit 50 includes "sales promotion target candidate products" whose existence is confirmed based on the inventory data acquired by the inventory search unit 20, and "image data of related articles" searched by the image data search unit 40. The combination of materials used to create the "sales promotion content" is finally determined by the matching process for confirming the consistency as the combination constituting the "sales promotion content". If the above consistency cannot be confirmed, such as when a part of the necessary materials cannot be obtained, the process is returned to the upstream step and the material combination is reconstructed.

[Image data acquisition unit]
The image data acquisition unit 60 acquires "image data of the sales promotion target candidate product" and "image data of the related article" constituting the combination determined by the matching processing unit 50. The image data acquisition unit 60 is preferably composed of a product image data acquisition unit (not shown) that acquires the former and a related article image data acquisition unit (not shown) that acquires the latter.

The "image data of candidate products for sales promotion" acquired by the product image data acquisition department is also the image data of the products handled at stores using digital signage, etc., so it is pre-defaulted as the basic data of the products handled. It can be stored in the internal server as the basic data of the above, and if necessary, the product image data acquisition unit can use this. In this case, the above basic data needs to be updated as needed.

In addition, as "image data of candidate products for sales promotion" acquired by the product image data acquisition unit, image data that can be obtained from the above-mentioned "external server" can be legally acquired and used for a fee or free of charge. You can also.

As the "image data of the related article" acquired by the related article image data acquisition unit, the one stored in the internal server in advance like the "image data of the candidate product for sales promotion" can be used, but the web It is preferable to use the material that is judged to be "obtainable" as a result of widely accessing and searching the "external server" existing above.

[Content Creation Department]
The content creation unit 70 is "sales promotion target" from "image data of sales promotion target candidate products" and "image data of related articles" acquired by the image data acquisition unit 60 after the combination is determined by the matching processing unit 50. Automatically create "sales promotion content" that includes information related to "candidate products" and "related goods" for sales promotion.

Further, in more detail, the content creation unit 70 creates a display schedule of the "sales promotion content" in addition to the editorial unit 71 that automatically creates the "sales promotion content" of the above content. It is preferable that the configuration includes a display schedule creation unit 72.

(Editorial department)
The editorial department 71 creates "sales promotion content" including the above product image and "image data of related articles" for sales promotion. The creation of this "sales promotion content" is basically executed as an editing work in which each image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit 60 is used as a material and these are automatically applied to a predetermined format. It is also possible to fully automate all this editing work by the prior art.

In addition, the "sales promotion content" created by the editorial department 71 includes various goods, events, amusements, etc. related to the above-mentioned "sales promotion candidate products" or "related goods" for sales promotion. It is also effective to add more linked advertising information regarding.

(Display schedule creation department)
The display schedule creation unit 72 creates a display schedule that controls the display timing of the “sales promotion content”. For example, when there are multiple types of "sales promotion content" that can be displayed, it is time to determine which content should be displayed and in what order to maximize the expected value of the sales promotion effect at what time of the day. It is possible to automatically perform a process of calculating based on the data related to the change of each customer base and creating an optimum display schedule based on the result by various known information processing devices.

[Viewer attribute data acquisition unit]
As described above, it is more preferable that the digital signage 1 further includes a viewer attribute data acquisition unit 90 that acquires the attribute data of the viewer who views the content display unit 80. As a result, the attribute data of the viewer can also be input as data for determining the optimum combination of the "sales promotion candidate product" and the "related article", and the accuracy of the manifestation of the sales promotion effect can be further increased.

(Shooting section / image analysis section)
It is preferable that the viewer attribute data acquisition unit 90 includes a photographing unit 91 and an image analysis unit 92 capable of photographing the viewer of the “sales promotion content”. As a result, the attribute data of the viewer can be automatically acquired in real time by analyzing the captured image of the viewer captured by the photographing unit 91 by the image analysis unit 92.

As shown in FIG. 3, the photographing unit 91 is incorporated in the apparatus as a configuration in which a small camera is installed in the content display unit 80 as the photographing unit 91, that is, as a part of the digital signage 1. Can be configured as Further, by connecting the external camera to the digital signage 1 in a manner capable of exerting the function as the photographing unit 91, the external camera can also function as the photographing unit 91. For example, by connecting the surveillance camera installed at the installation location of the digital signage 1 to the digital signage 1 in a communicable manner, the existing surveillance camera or the like can function as the photographing unit 91. From the image taken by the surveillance camera, it is usually possible to grasp the flow of people in the area, the movement of products, the movement of clerk, and the like. Therefore, in the case of the above configuration, the digital signage 1 is not equipped with a dedicated camera for information acquisition, and the viewer's attribute data is acquired by utilizing the existing equipment to enjoy the above effect. Can be done.

The image analysis unit 92 is preferably configured by a machine learning type image recognition means having a neural network, so-called deep learning type image recognition means, which can recognize an image at a high recognition rate and at a high speed. An image recognition technique using a machine learning type image recognition means (image recognition means using deep learning) having a neural network is disclosed below, for example.
"Deep Learning and Image Recognition, Operations Research"
(Http: //www.orsj.o.jp/archive2/or60-4/or60_4_198.pdf)

[Content display]
The content display unit 80 is a device that displays the "sales promotion content" created by the content creation unit 70 to the viewer. For example, the content display unit 80 can be configured by a device capable of displaying characters, moving images, and still images, such as a plasma display, an LED display, a VFD display, and various other projectors. As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a general digital signage for sales promotion, which is arranged in a store and has a size of about 1 to 2 m in length and width, is assumed. However, the area of the display surface of the content display unit 80 is not particularly limited. For example, the present invention can be applied from a small size display of several cm square such as a small window built in a vending machine to a huge display of several tens of m square installed on the wall surface of a building.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing an example of the content display unit 80. Regarding the screen configuration of the display surface of the content display unit 80, it suffices if the desired "sales promotion content" including the information related to the "sales promotion target product" and the "related goods" can be displayed, and is specified. However, as an example, as shown in the figure, a video display unit 81 that displays a video showing the process of cooking method of "curry rice" selected as "related goods" and "weather interlocking" It consists of a still image display unit 82 that displays still images of other sales promotion target products selected including "Jagaimo" which is a "sales promotion target candidate product" determined based on "demand forecast information". An example of a configuration consisting of a plurality of screens can be illustrated.

<How to display sales promotion content>
The "display method of sales promotion content" of the present invention executed by the operation of the digital signage 1 is at least each of the following steps, that is, the "information acquisition step S10" executed by the information acquisition unit 10, inventory search. "Inventory search step S20" executed in unit 20, "related article proposal step S30" executed in related article proposal unit 30, "image data search step S40" executed by image data search unit 40, matching processing unit. The "matching process step S50" executed in the 50, the "image data acquisition step S60" executed in the image data acquisition unit 60, the "content creation step S70" executed in the content creation unit 70, and the content display unit 80. By sequentially executing the "content display step S80" to be executed, it functions as an entire process and exerts the above-mentioned advantageous effect.

[Information acquisition step]
In the information acquisition step S10, the information acquisition unit 10 acquires "weather-linked demand forecast information" that predicts demand fluctuations of products that correlate with weather fluctuations. "Weather-linked demand forecast information" can be obtained continuously and regularly from an external information provider that provides such information for a fee or free of charge. Further, only the weather-related information may be obtained as the primary information, and the demand forecast as the secondary information based on the information may be generated inside the own system.

[Inventory search step]
In the inventory search step S20, the inventory search unit 20 accesses the inventory database for inventory data of one or more "promotional candidate products" whose demand is expected to increase based on the "weather-linked demand forecast information". And search. This search at least confirms the presence or absence of inventory of "candidate products for sales promotion", and as described above, inventories of all products including all products other than the above "candidate products for sales promotion". It is preferable to acquire information on the number (inventory data of all products). As a result, as will be described in detail later, in the related article proposal step S30, it is possible to select a product (foodstuff) that maximizes the expected value of the total sales amount of the inventory product (foodstuff).

[Related article proposal step]
In the related article proposal step S30, the related article proposal unit 30 proposes the “related article” corresponding to the candidate product for sales promotion. Here, in the digital signage of the present invention, the "related article" may be an article that can improve the purchasing motivation of the product by presenting the product to be promoted at the same time or sequentially, for example. , It is preferable that the product is a product to be created that can be created by the purchaser using the "candidate product for sales promotion". As a specific example, when a "large shovel" is a product to be promoted on a rainy day, following the snow shoveling work video, which is a direct usage method, a family member uses a large shovel. For example, a video of making a "snowman (product to be created)" is also presented.

Further, when the candidate product for sales promotion is an ingredient, as described above, it is preferable that the "related article" is a dish using the ingredient, and further, a video regarding the explanation of the cooking method of the dish is shown. , It is extremely preferable to use it as a material constituting content for sales promotion.

Further, in the related article proposal step S30, the attribute data of the viewer viewing the content display unit 80 is input to the information processing device constituting the related article proposal unit 30 as data for selecting the “related article”. Is more preferable. In this case, it is preferable to acquire the viewer attribute data by further providing the viewer attribute data acquisition unit 90 described above in the arithmetic processing unit of the digital signage 1.

Further, in the related article proposal step S30, it is preferable that the date and time information at the installation location of the digital signage 1 is input to the information processing device constituting the related article proposal unit 30 as data for selecting the related article. .. The date and time information is primarily the date and time at the place where the digital signage is installed, but it can be inferred based on the date and time information, such as seasonal climatic trends and the time of the person at the place. By using the flow and the change in demand according to them as secondary information, the accuracy of the optimization of the above selection can be further improved.

Further, in the related article proposal step S30, as described above, inventory data is further input as an input value to the information processing apparatus constituting the related article proposal unit, and the expected value of the total sales amount of the inventory item (foodstuff) is obtained. It is more preferable that the process of outputting the product (foodstuff) selection to be maximized as an output value is performed.

[Image data search step]
In the image data search step S40, the image data search unit 40 accesses and searches for the image data of the "related article" proposed by the related article proposal unit 30 by accessing any accessible server.

[Matching process step]
In the matching processing step S50, the matching processing unit 50 includes one or a plurality of "sales promotion target candidate products" whose inventory has been confirmed, and "related articles" whose image data has been confirmed to be able to be acquired. Determine the combination of and. If there is a shortage as a result of confirming the correspondence between the "promotional candidate product" and the "related article", the process is returned to the related article proposal step S30, and the process of reselecting another "related article" is repeated. ..

[Image data acquisition step]
In the image data acquisition step S60, the image data acquisition unit 60 acquires the image data of the “sales promotion target candidate product” and the “related article” constituting the combination determined by the matching processing unit 50. The acquisition source database may be an internal database or an accessible external database. The image data of "candidate products for sales promotion" is acquired from the internal database in which the image data of the products handled is stored in advance, and the image data of "related goods" is widely acquired from various external databases on the web. It is preferable to do so.

[Content creation step]
In the content creation step S70, the content creation unit 70 selects and determines the in-stock products selected from the “sales promotion target candidate products” as the sales promotion targets, and the related products effective for motivating the purchase of the products. As a general rule, "sales promotion content" composed of the above images is automatically created in a manner that eliminates manual manual operation.

Further, in the content creation step S70, in addition to the above-mentioned creation of the "sales promotion content", as described above, a "display schedule" for controlling the display timing of the "sales promotion content" is automatically created. Is preferable.

[Content display step]
In the content display step S80, the content display unit 80 displays the “sales promotion content”.

[Business model using digital signage for food sales promotion]
FIG. 4 is a chart diagram showing an example of a business model that can be configured by using the digital signage of the present invention. By installing the digital signage of the present invention in the sales floor of each store, it is possible to directly present information that stimulates the demand for recommended foodstuffs to the customers in the store. Further, by installing the digital signage of the present invention in the backyard of each store, it is possible to notify the worker of the recommended foodstuff for the next day and improve the work efficiency. These information contents are automatically performed by utilizing the function of a machine learning type information processing device having a neural network, that is, artificial intelligence (AI). In addition, since digital signage equipped with an AI camera capable of image analysis can continuously acquire and accumulate data related to viewer movements and attributes in real time, highly accurate target segments can be created based on this data. Yes, it is possible to develop an advertising business that obtains advertising revenue from advertisers who take advantage of this.

1 Digital signage 10 Information acquisition department 20 Inventory search department 30 Related goods proposal department 40 Image data search department 50 Matching processing department 60 Image data acquisition department 70 Content creation department 71 Editing department 72 Display schedule creation department 80 Content display department 81 Video display Unit 82 Still image display unit 90 Viewer attribute data acquisition unit 91 Imaging unit 92 Image analysis unit S10 Information acquisition step S20 Stock search step S30 Related article proposal step S40 Image data search step S50 Matching processing step S60 Image data acquisition step S70 Content creation Step S80 Content display step

Claims (15)

Information acquisition department that acquires weather-linked demand forecast information,
An inventory search unit that accesses and searches an inventory database for inventory data of one or more sales promotion target candidate products whose demand is expected to increase based on the weather-linked demand forecast information.
The related goods proposal department, which proposes related goods corresponding to the sales promotion target candidate products,
An image data search unit that accesses and searches a server for image data of the related article proposed by the related article proposal unit, and an image data search unit.
A matching processing unit that determines a combination of one or more of the sales promotion target candidate products whose inventory has been confirmed and the related articles whose image data has been confirmed to be available.
An image data acquisition unit that acquires image data of the sales promotion target candidate product and the related article constituting the combination determined by the matching processing unit.
A content creation unit that automatically creates sales promotion content including information on the sales promotion target candidate product and the related article from the image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit.
A content display unit that displays the sales promotion content is provided.
The related article proposal unit is composed of an information processing device that outputs information on related articles for sales promotion when information on the candidate product for sales promotion is input.
Digital signage. The digital signage according to claim 1, wherein the attribute data of the viewer who views the content display unit is input to the information processing device constituting the related article proposal unit as data for selecting the related article. .. A viewer attribute data acquisition unit having a photographing unit capable of photographing a viewer of the sales promotion content and an image analysis unit is further provided, and the photographed image photographed by the photographing unit is analyzed by the image analysis unit. The digital signage according to claim 2, which acquires the attribute data of the viewer. The digital signage according to claim 3, wherein the image analysis unit is a machine learning type information processing device having a neural network. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the date and time information at the installation location of the digital signage is input to the information processing device constituting the related article proposal unit as data for selecting the related article. Digital signage. The digital signage according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the sales promotion target product is an ingredient, and the image data of the related article is a moving image relating to an explanation of a cooking method of a dish using the ingredient. The related article proposal unit is composed of an information processing device, which outputs information on dishes selected so as to maximize the required total amount of the ingredients when further inputting inventory data of all products. The digital signage according to 6. The digital signage according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the information device that outputs information on the related article is a machine learning type information processing device having a neural network. Information acquisition department that acquires weather-linked demand forecast information,
An inventory search unit that accesses and searches an inventory database for inventory data of one or more sales promotion target candidate products whose demand is expected to increase based on the weather-linked demand forecast information.
When the information of the sales promotion target candidate product is input, the information of the sales promotion related goods is output. The related goods are proposed, which are composed of an information processing device and correspond to the sales promotion target candidate products. Related goods proposal department and
An image data search unit that accesses and searches a server for image data of the related article proposed by the related article proposal unit, and an image data search unit.
A matching processing unit that determines a combination of one or more of the sales promotion target candidate products whose inventory has been confirmed and the related articles whose image data has been confirmed to be available.
An image data acquisition unit that acquires image data of the sales promotion target candidate product and the related article constituting the combination determined by the matching processing unit.
A content creation unit that automatically creates sales promotion content including information on the sales promotion target candidate product and the related article from the image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit.
The arithmetic processing unit that is equipped with
A digital signage system communicatively connected to a content display unit that displays one or more of the promotional content. The information acquisition department acquires weather-linked demand forecast information, the information acquisition step, and
An inventory search step in which the inventory search unit searches an inventory database for inventory data of one or more sales promotion candidate products whose demand is expected to increase based on the weather-linked demand forecast information.
The related goods proposal step, in which the related goods proposal department proposes related goods corresponding to the sales promotion target candidate products, and
An image data search step in which the image data search unit accesses and searches the server for the image data of the related article proposed by the related article proposal unit.
The matching process determines the combination of one or more of the sales promotion target candidate products whose inventory has been confirmed and the related articles whose image data has been confirmed to be available. Steps and
An image data acquisition step in which the image data acquisition unit acquires image data of the sales promotion target candidate product and the related article constituting the combination determined by the matching processing unit.
A content creation step in which the content creation unit automatically creates sales promotion content including information related to the sales promotion target candidate product and the related article from the image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit. ,
The content display unit includes a content display step for displaying the sales promotion content.
How to display promotional content. In the related article proposal step, the attribute data of the viewer viewing the content display unit is input to the information processing device constituting the related article proposal unit as data for selecting the related article. Item 10. The method for displaying sales promotion content according to item 10. In the related article proposal step, the date and time information at the installation location of the digital signage is input to the information processing device constituting the related article proposal unit as data for selecting the related article, claim 10. Alternatively, the method for displaying sales promotion content according to 11. The sales promotion content according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein the sales promotion target product is an ingredient, and the image data of the related article is a moving image relating to an explanation of a cooking method of a dish using the ingredient. How to display. The sale according to claim 13, wherein the information processing apparatus constituting the related article proposal unit further uses the inventory data as an input value and outputs information on a dish selected so as to maximize the required total amount of the ingredients. How to display promotional content. The method for displaying sales promotion content according to any one of claims 10 to 14, wherein the information processing device that outputs information on the related articles is a machine learning type information processing device having a neural network.

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