JP6461047B2 - Catalog search system, method and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a catalog search system that searches electronic catalogs of a plurality of business operators and extracts product information from the plurality of electronic catalogs.

  There are many opportunities for companies to purchase tools, parts, stationery, research tools, books, etc., which are necessary for business, but even major companies have articles other than so-called direct materials such as raw materials, materials, and product components. Purchases are often left to the field, and each department takes a lot of time to purchase from in-house approval to ordering and delivery. In recent years, with the development of computer systems and computer networks, purchasing systems have been constructed so that in-house procedures necessary for purchasing can be systemized and processed on computer systems. Efforts to improve efficiency, internal control, and cost reduction are being promoted mainly by major manufacturers.

  In addition, systematization is also progressing on the side of sales companies that sell stationery, tools and the like. A catalog system that can complete the purchase procedure is also provided by moving the product catalog that contains a lot of product information to not only paper media but also electronic catalog and accessing the catalog system of the sales company via the network. Yes.

  In an in-house purchasing system, in order to be able to purchase from an electronic catalog of a sales company contracted by a company, it is also performed in cooperation with the catalog system of each sales company. However, for example, when it is desired to purchase a desired product at a desired price at a low price, it is necessary to access and search the catalog system of each sales company. Further, it has been proposed to store the electronic catalog of each sales company in the computer system and perform a horizontal search (Patent Document 1). In this case, since the catalogs digitized by each company have different data items and specifications for each company, each item in the electronic catalog of each company is replaced with a common item to make it common. A horizontal skewer search is possible.

JP 2002-269123 A

  However, there are cases where it is difficult to convert the items into uniform common items because each sales company has different ways of dividing items. In addition, there are tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of products listed in the catalogue, and prices and specifications are frequently changed, and there are cases where the products are retired or replaced. Therefore, if a company maintains an electronic catalog of each sales company within its own purchasing system, each time the data changes, the company must perform data maintenance on its own purchasing system. Each time, the replacement with the common item has a problem that the work is enormous and complicated.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and catalog search that can perform horizontal skew search by cooperating systematically with electronic catalogs of a plurality of sales companies without performing complicated maintenance. The purpose is to provide a system.

  In the present invention, it is a catalog search system for searching electronic catalogs of a plurality of business operators and extracting product information from a plurality of electronic catalogs based on search conditions, from a user terminal connected via the Internet, A search condition reception unit that receives a search condition including one or more keywords, and a keyword received by the search condition reception unit in parallel to a catalog system of a plurality of companies that store electronic catalogs connected via the Internet A search result sending unit that receives the number of product information extractions based on search conditions from a plurality of catalog systems, and the number of extractions to be displayed on the user terminal. A search result output unit for outputting the search results. From the log system accepts a product information corresponding to the search condition as a search result, the search result output unit sequentially outputs in order to display the product information received to the user terminal, provides a catalog search system. First, the number of extractions is received from the catalog system and output so that the number of extractions of search results is displayed on the user terminal, thereby reducing the time that the user waits without displaying anything. In addition, since the electronic catalog is not included in the catalog search system, a catalog search system that does not require maintenance of catalog data can be provided.

  In addition, when the product information based on the search condition is greater than or equal to the predetermined number, the search result receiving unit receives the predetermined number of items at predetermined intervals, and the search result output unit displays the product information received by the search result receiving unit. Are sequentially output at predetermined intervals.

  The search condition accepting unit accepts a search condition after accepting designation of a product field to be searched from the user terminal, and the search unit searches to a catalog system that stores an electronic catalog corresponding to the designated product field. Send the condition.

  And a user authentication unit that authenticates the user. The search unit transmits the organization information to which the user authenticated by the user authentication unit belongs to a plurality of catalog systems together with the search condition. The product price corresponding to the organization information to which the belongs belongs as part of the product information.

Furthermore, an internal catalog storage unit that stores product information unique to the company to which the user belongs,
If there is an internal catalog corresponding to the company to which the user authenticated by the user authentication unit belongs, the search unit searches the product information in the internal catalog storage unit based on the search condition, and the search result reception unit After receiving the number of extractions from the storage unit and receiving the number of extractions, it accepts product information corresponding to the search condition as a search result, and the search result output unit displays the product information received from the internal catalog storage unit at the top Output.

  Furthermore, it has a department catalog information storage unit that stores the product classification information of the catalog to be hidden in association with the department to which the user belongs, the search result output unit, among the search results received by the search result reception unit, The product information having the product classification information stored in the department catalog information storage unit is output so as not to be displayed.

  Furthermore, a purchase processing unit that performs a purchase process of a product from the user terminal, and the search result output unit selects when receiving a selection of a predetermined product from the user terminal while sequentially outputting the product information. When the search result output unit sequentially outputs the product information, the purchase processing unit performs purchase processing when receiving a purchase request for the product from the user terminal.

  Furthermore, a user product information storage unit that stores predetermined product information as a favorite for each user is provided, and the search unit purchases a purchase request based on product information stored in the user product information storage unit from the user terminal. The product information search instruction is transmitted to the catalog system of the electronic catalog to which the requested product belongs, the search result receiving unit receives the product information from the catalog system, and the search result output unit outputs the search result.

  A catalog search method according to the present invention is a catalog search method applied to a catalog search system that searches electronic catalogs of a plurality of business operators and extracts product information from a plurality of electronic catalogs based on search conditions. Receiving a search condition including one or two or more keywords from a user terminal connected via the Internet, and accepting the received keywords to a catalog system of a plurality of companies storing electronic catalogs connected via the Internet, A step of sending in parallel, a step of receiving the number of product information extractions based on search conditions from a plurality of catalog systems, a step of outputting the number of extractions to display the received number of extractions on the user terminal, and the number of extractions After receiving, search conditions from each catalog system as search results A step of receiving the appropriate product information, and sequentially outputs in order to display the product information received to the user terminal, provides a catalog search method.

  A catalog search program according to the present invention is a catalog search program for causing a computer to function as a catalog search system that searches electronic catalogs of a plurality of business operators and extracts product information from a plurality of electronic catalogs based on search conditions. Receiving a search condition including one or two or more keywords from a user terminal connected via the Internet, and the received keywords to a catalog system of a plurality of businesses storing electronic catalogs connected via the Internet , A step of sending in parallel, a step of receiving the number of product information extractions based on search conditions from a plurality of catalog systems, a step of outputting the number of extractions to display the received number of extractions on the user terminal, and the number of extractions After accepting each catalog system From beam, the search results comprising: receiving a product information corresponding to the search condition as to sequentially output in order to display the product information received to the user terminal, provides a catalog search program.

  According to the present invention, since the electronic catalog stored in the catalog system of each sales company is searched by sending a search request to the catalog system of each sales company, there is no need for maintenance and efficient. You can search. In the present invention, a plurality of catalog systems are configured to issue a search request in parallel, that is, to simultaneously return the number of extractions, so that the total number of extractions can be reduced. Even when there are hundreds or thousands, it is possible to display the result without prompting the user to wait meaninglessly by immediately displaying the number of extractions on the user terminal.

  In addition, when the number of extractions exceeds the predetermined number, it is configured to accept and display the return of product information from the catalog system by a predetermined number of times, so before receiving all the product information as search results, It can be displayed sequentially on the user terminal.

  In addition, the electronic catalogs of sales companies can be grouped by product field, and by selecting the product field before searching, the electronic catalog to be searched can be narrowed down, and the user can select the catalog to be searched individually. Even if it is not selected, it is possible to search efficiently only by specifying the product genre to be searched.

  In addition, according to the catalog search system of the present invention, product information as search results is displayed sequentially, and products can be selected before all search results are displayed. Even so, if the user finds the desired product, the user can immediately select the product and enter the purchase procedure.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration including a catalog search system according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration diagram of the catalog search system 100 according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the catalog search system 100 in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an example of a database stored in the product field storage unit 312. FIG. 5 is an example of a database stored in the user information storage unit 352. FIG. 6 is an example of a database stored in the internal catalog storage unit 160. FIG. 7 is an example of a database stored in the department catalog information storage unit 180. FIG. 8 is an example of a database stored in the user product information storage unit 170. FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of catalog search. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of processing when a catalog search is performed and a product is selected while the search result is displayed. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of processing in the catalog search system when a purchase request is made based on the product information stored as a favorite in the user terminal 400. FIG. 12 is an example of a screen displayed on the user terminal 400 when the catalog search system 100 accepts designation of a product field to be searched from the user terminal 400 when performing a keyword search. FIG. 13 is an example of a search result display screen displayed on the user terminal 400.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration including a catalog search system according to the present invention. The catalog search system 100 is connected to a sales company catalog system 200 and an in-house purchase system 300 via a network, and is connected to a user terminal 400 via the in-company purchase system 300. The network may be any network form such as the Internet, whether wired or wireless.

  The catalog search system 100 accepts search conditions for products in the catalogs of a plurality of sales companies from the user terminal 400, and the received search conditions include one or more catalogs with which the user terminal 400 has a contract. When the search conditions are sent in parallel to the catalog system, the number of extracted items is first received as a result of searching in the catalog system 200 of the sales company, and then product information as a search result is sequentially received. In addition, the number of extracted items received is output for display on the user terminal 400, and then product information is sequentially output.

  The catalog search system 100 is connected to a catalog system 200 of a plurality of sales companies via a network, and is also connected to a plurality of in-company purchase systems 300. The user terminal 400 is also connected to the catalog search system 100 via the network while the user terminal 400 is connected to the in-company purchasing system 300.

  The catalog search system 100 allows a user who wants to purchase a product by company purchase between the in-company purchasing system 300 and the sales company catalog system 200 to compare products from a plurality of catalogs via a network, Is a system that realizes purchases using an in-house purchasing system. The catalog search system 100 does not have to be a single server device, and may be configured by being distributed to a plurality of servers.

  The catalog system 200 is a system operated by a sales company that places a large number of products in a catalog and sells products for offices listed in the catalog. The catalog system 200 stores the catalog as a database and stores it as an electronic catalog, accesses the sales company's website from a PC (personal computer), mobile phone, smartphone, etc. via the network, selects the product, and places an order. It is a system that can perform procedures. The electronic catalog stored in the database stores all products handled by the sales company, and it is possible to search for product information from the genre or search by keyword from the sales company's home page. In FIG. 1, three catalog systems, catalog system A, catalog system B, and catalog system C, are illustrated as catalog systems. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and there are three or more catalog systems and catalog search system 100. It may be connected. The catalog system 200 searches the stored electronic catalog based on the search condition including the keyword received from the catalog search system 100, and sequentially returns the number of extractions and product information as search results to the catalog search system 100.

  The electronic catalog stored in the database of the catalog system 200 includes, for example, a manufacturer model number, standard delivery date, product overview, product specification, purchase unit, classification code, shipping cost, list price, sales unit price, product in association with the product name. The detailed explanation, the unit price for company A, the unit price for company B, etc. are stored. In many cases, sales companies using catalogs set different prices depending on the purchase amount of each company, even if they are the same product. For this reason, the catalog system 200 identifies each company to which the user belongs by the user ID at the time of user authentication, and displays the amount corresponding to the company when displaying the product information. The unit price for is stored in association with the product.

  The in-company purchasing system 300 is a system capable of electronically performing necessary procedures in a company in order to purchase goods required in the company. Depending on the circumstances within each company, the internal approval procedures and approvers required for purchasing goods differ, and the delivery documents and purchase orders that should be stored differ. Has been. The user terminal 400 accesses the homepage of the in-company purchasing system 300 by logging in, and selects “catalog purchasing” to connect to the catalog searching system 100, and through the catalog searching system 100, a plurality of contracts with the company are contracted. The catalog system 200 can be connected to purchase products and search for products.

  The user terminal 400 is a terminal used by a user for purchasing a product, and is connected to the in-company purchase system 300. For example, the user terminal 400 is an information communication terminal such as an in-house personal computer (PC), a mobile phone, or a smartphone connected via an in-company network. Here, although two user terminals are illustrated in each in-company purchasing system 300, the number of user terminals 400 is not limited to this example.

  The user terminal 400 performs user authentication to the homepage of the in-house purchasing system 300 via a network, logs in, and selects a catalog purchase by selecting “catalog purchase” when purchasing a product by catalog purchase. Connect with 100. For example, the user terminal 400 searches for a product to be purchased by inputting a search condition including a keyword to be searched. If a product to be purchased has already been determined and it is determined from which sales company to purchase, the desired catalog may be specified and the product may be searched for and purchased. As a result of the search, the number of extracted items is first displayed on the user terminal 400, and then the extracted product information is sequentially displayed.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration diagram of the catalog search system 100 according to the present invention. In FIG. 2, the catalog search system 100 includes a control unit 110, a display unit 120, a communication interface 130, an operation unit 140, a storage unit 150, an internal catalog storage unit 160, and a user product information storage unit that are mutually connected by a bus. 170 and a department catalog information storage unit 180. The control unit 110 reads an application, an operating system (OS), and a catalog search program from the storage unit 150 and executes them.

  The display unit 120 includes a display, and displays a control screen for a catalog search program, a control screen for generating display data including catalog search result data, and the like.

  The communication interface 130 is an interface for connecting a LAN card or an Internet cable, and is connected to the catalog system 200, the in-house purchasing system 300, and the user terminal 400 via a network. According to an instruction from the control unit 110, the catalog system 200, the in-house purchasing system 300, the user terminal 400, search condition data, number of extracted data, product information data as a search result, user authentication data, purchase processing data Etc.

  The operation unit 140 includes a mouse, a keyboard, and the like, and performs setting of each storage unit, execution instruction of processing, and the like. The storage unit 150 includes, for example, a hard disk or a flash memory, and stores an application, an operating system (OS), a catalog search program, and the like. In addition, you may comprise with removable media, such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or a semiconductor memory.

  The internal catalog storage unit 160 stores product information unique to the company to which the user belongs. For example, if a company has a special contract with a sales company and there is a product in a quantity unit that applies only to that company, or the company has become a standard product for purchase, There are cases where there are products that are not already listed in the catalog and are specially handled only by the company. In such a case, since the product is a special product for a certain company, the electronic catalog of the seller has already been deleted and may not be stored. I remember the data. The database configuration of the internal catalog storage unit 160 will be described later.

  The user product information storage unit 170 stores predetermined product information as a favorite for each user. For example, when a user purchases the same product from a certain electronic catalog many times or there is a product that he / she wants to continue purchasing in the future, for example, “Register as a favorite” on the product information details display screen ] To register the product information in the user product information storage unit 170 of the catalog search system 100 in association with the user. In this way, by storing the favorite product in association with the user in the user product information storage unit 170, when purchasing the product again, if the user's favorite list is called up, it can be easily purchased. it can.

  The department catalog information storage unit 180 stores product classification information of a catalog that is hidden in association with the department to which the user belongs. This system is connected to the in-company purchase system 300, and there is a product that does not require purchase by a department in order to purchase goods used in the company. For example, special tools that are required at the manufacturing site are not required at the personnel department. Therefore, the product catalog belonging to the product category is stored in the department catalog information storage unit 180 in order to prevent the purchase unnecessary for the business from being performed by storing the product category to be hidden in association with the department. , Even if it is extracted by search, it will not be displayed. Here, although the product category to be hidden is stored, the product category to be displayed is stored, and the product corresponding to the product category not stored in the department catalog information storage unit 180 may be controlled not to be displayed. Good.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the catalog search system 100 in the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the catalog search system 100 includes a search condition reception unit 310, a search unit 320, a search result reception unit 330, a search result output unit 340, a user authentication unit 350, an internal catalog storage unit 160, and user product information storage. Section 170, department catalog information storage section 180, and purchase processing section 360.

  The search condition receiving unit 310 receives a search condition including one or more keywords from the user terminal 400. The search condition is not limited to the product name, but may be a product number, a manufacturer product number, or a word indicating a feature. The search condition receiving unit 310 receives a search condition that the user wants to search across the catalogs of a plurality of sales companies from the user terminal 400 via the network. Further, the search condition receiving unit 310 may be configured to receive the search condition after receiving the designation of the product field to be searched. By specifying the product field to be searched in advance, it is possible to avoid sending search requests to an unnecessarily large number of catalogs.

  The search condition receiving unit 310 includes a product field storage unit 312. The product field storage unit 312 classifies catalogs according to product fields, and stores catalogs of a plurality of catalog systems in association with the product fields. There are many catalogs specialized for each field of specialty that are provided to companies by sales companies. For this reason, for example, stationery is cataloged by Company A and Company B, and if it is a book / magazine, it is registered in association with the product field, such as the catalog of Company C or Company D, and searched before accepting the search conditions. By accepting the designation of the product field you want to search, you can narrow down the catalog to be searched and prevent unnecessary searches.

  The search unit 320 transmits search conditions such as keywords received by the search condition receiving unit 310 to the plurality of catalog systems 200 as search conditions in parallel. Parallel means that a search request is simultaneously transmitted to a plurality of catalog systems 200 to be transmitted. When the search request is transmitted, the catalog system 200 is requested to return the number of items first extracted according to the search condition. The search unit 320 transmits a search request to the catalog system 200 with which the company is contracted based on the company information to which the user authenticated by the user authentication 350 belongs. When a product field specification is accepted at the time of search, the catalog system 200 stores an electronic catalog corresponding to the product field specified based on the catalog associated with the field stored in the product field storage unit 312. Send search criteria. Further, the search unit 320 transmits the organization information to which the user authenticated by the user authentication unit 350 belongs to the plurality of catalog systems 200 together with the search condition. The organization information is information such as a company and a department to which the user belongs. By transmitting the organization information, the catalog system 200 identifies each search request from a contracted company, extracts the product price corresponding to the company to which the user belongs, and stores the product information in the product information as a search result. Can be returned.

  The search unit 320 may search the internal catalog storage unit 160 based on the search condition when the internal catalog storage unit 160 has data corresponding to the company to which the user authenticated by the user authentication unit 350 belongs. . By searching the internal catalog storage unit 160, it is also possible to search from product information unique to the company to which the authenticated user belongs.

  Further, when receiving a purchase request from the user terminal 400 based on the product information stored in the user product information storage unit 170, the search unit 320 transmits a product information search instruction to the catalog system 200 to which the product information belongs. It may be. Since the product information stored in the user product information storage unit 170 is product information at the time when the user registers as a favorite, the catalog stored in association with the product information in order to obtain the latest information. A search instruction is transmitted to the corresponding catalog system 200 based on the code.

  The search result receiving unit 330 receives the number of items of product information extracted based on the search condition from each of the catalog systems 200 from each catalog system 200. In addition, after receiving the number of extractions, product information corresponding to the search condition is received from each catalog system 200 as a search result. In addition, when the number of extractions is equal to or greater than the predetermined number, product information based on the search condition is received at predetermined intervals for each predetermined number. This is to avoid an excessive load caused by transmitting a large amount of data at a time. For example, when there are 100 or more search results in a certain catalog system 200, 100 search results are accepted every second. Further, the search result receiving unit 330 receives a product price corresponding to the organization information to which the user belongs as a part of the product information.

  In addition, when the search unit 320 searches the internal catalog storage unit 160, the search result reception unit 330 receives the number of extractions from the internal catalog storage unit 160, and after receiving the number of extractions, the product corresponding to the search condition as the search result You may comprise so that information may be received. The search result receiving unit 330 also accepts a search result when the search unit 320 sends a search request to the catalog system 200 when a purchase request is made based on the product information stored in the user product information storage unit. .

  The search result output unit 340 outputs the number of extractions in order to display the number of extractions received by the search result reception unit 330 on the user terminal. Specifically, in order to display the number of extracted items on the user terminal 400, the total number of extracted items is calculated and displayed by summing the number of items received from each catalog system 200, and the number of items from each catalog system 200 is also displayed. Internet pages are generated using HTML, XML, etc. In addition, the search result output unit 340 sequentially displays the product information to display the received product information on the user terminal 400 when the search result receiving unit 330 receives the number of extracted items and then receives the product information corresponding to the search condition. Output. Specifically, an Internet page is generated. In addition, when the product information as a search result is equal to or greater than the predetermined number, the search result receiving unit 330 receives the predetermined number of items at predetermined intervals, so that the search result output unit 340 displays the product information on the user terminal 400. Output sequentially.

  In addition, when the search unit 320 searches the internal catalog storage unit 160 when the search unit 320 searches the internal catalog storage unit 160, the search result output unit 340 sequentially outputs the number of extraction cases to display the number of extraction cases. The product information received from the catalog storage unit 160 is output so as to be displayed at the top.

  Further, when the search result output unit 340 accepts the product information as the search result, the search result output unit 340 refers to the department catalog information storage unit 180 and does not display the product information having the product classification information stored in the department catalog information storage unit 180. You may comprise so that it may output. In addition, when the search result output unit 340 receives selection of a predetermined product from the user terminal 400 while sequentially outputting the product information, the search result output unit 340 outputs detailed information on the selected product.

  When there is a connection request from the user terminal 400, the user authentication unit 350 performs authentication. For example, a password is input together with user identification information such as a user ID and a mail address, and authentication is performed by referring to the user information storage unit 352 and determining whether there is a matching user. The user authentication method is not limited to this, and any other method may be used as long as it can uniquely identify the user, and a one-time password may be used as a password.

  The user information storage unit 352 is a database related to user information stored in the user authentication unit 350. As information that can uniquely identify a user, for example, a user name, a company name, a department name, a password, and the like are stored in association with the user ID. In addition, contract catalog information contracted by a company to which the user belongs may also be stored. When connecting to the catalog search system 100, user authentication can be used to identify access from a user belonging to which department of which company. Therefore, the user contracts based on the user authentication information. Control of display / non-display of contract catalogs, product prices, product information, etc., which differ depending on individual users, such as sending a search request to the catalog system 200, can be performed.

  The purchase processing unit 360 performs product purchase processing from the user terminal 400. Since the user terminal 400 is connected to the catalog search system 100 after logging in to the in-company purchase system 300, the purchase processing unit 360 places an order from the in-company purchase system 300 and sells the corresponding product. To the catalog system 200, and purchase processing is performed in cooperation with the catalog system 200 and the in-house purchasing system 300, such as delivery date, shipping management, acceptance inspection, and payment.

  FIG. 4 is an example of a database stored in the product field storage unit 312. The product field storage unit 312 stores catalog information corresponding to the product field in association with the product field. Although the catalog code is stored in FIG. 4, the database configuration is not limited to this, and the catalog name may be stored, or both the catalog code and the catalog name may be stored. Here, there are three fields: stationery, tools, and research supplies, but not limited to this, it is possible to register various fields such as books / magazines, daily necessities, disaster prevention supplies, and store catalogs that match those fields. it can.

  FIG. 5 is an example of a database stored in the user information storage unit 352. The company, department, password, etc. to which the user belongs are stored in association with the user ID and user name. In this example, the contract catalog information and the catalog code are also stored, but the present invention is not limited to this. The contract catalog information and the catalog code may be stored in another database in association with the company or the company and the department.

  FIG. 6 is an example of a database stored in the internal catalog storage unit 160. Product information unique to the company to which the user belongs is stored in association with the company. Here, catalog codes, product numbers, product names, product detailed information such as model numbers, specifications, and classifications, prices, images, and the like are stored in association with company codes, but are not limited thereto. Any other storage format may be used as long as it is a method for identifying product information unique to a company.

  FIG. 7 is an example of a database stored in the department catalog information storage unit 180. Here, a catalog and its product classification information are stored as information specifying the product field to be hidden in association with the company code and the department code. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other methods may be used as long as the departments and the product fields to be hidden from the users belonging to the departments are stored in association with each other. In addition, although the product field to be hidden is stored here, the product field to be displayed may be stored. Further, although the product classification is stored, individual product information that is desired to be hidden may be stored.

  FIG. 8 is an example of a database stored in the user product information storage unit 170. Here, catalog code, catalog product number, manufacturer product number, product specification, major category, middle category, minor category, unit, product image, etc. are stored as product information registered as favorites by the user in association with the user ID. Yes. The product information is not limited to this, and other information related to the product may be stored.

  FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of catalog search. Here, catalog system A and catalog system B are shown as catalog system 200. First, the user terminal 400 logs in to the catalog search system 100 (step S901). Here, the user terminal 400 transmits a user ID and a password to the catalog search system 100 as information for user authentication, for example. The user authentication unit 350 performs user authentication with reference to the user information stored in the user information storage unit 352 for the received user ID and password (step S902). Here, the user terminal 400 directly connects to the catalog search system 100 and logs in. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the user terminal 400 logs in to the in-house purchasing system 300 and selects “catalog purchasing” in the in-house purchasing system. Then, it is connected to the catalog search system 100, and at that time, the in-house purchase system 300 transmits to the catalog search system 100 the user information when logging in to the in-company purchase system 300. You may comprise so that user authentication may be carried out. When the user is authenticated, the data of the top page of the catalog search system 100 is transmitted to the user terminal 400 and displayed on the screen of the user terminal 400.

  Next, the user terminal 400 designates a product field in order to search for a product (step S903). On the top page of the catalog search system 100, for example, when searching by keyword, a plurality of product fields stored in the product field storage unit 312 are displayed, and one of them is designated. For example, if the fields of stationery, tools, research supplies, and safety and hygiene are displayed and you want to search for a ballpoint pen, select the product field of “stationery”. When the selected field (here, stationery) is transmitted to the catalog search system 100, the search condition reception unit 310 receives it and generates a search screen (step S904). Specifically, a page having a column for receiving a search keyword and a search execution button is generated and transmitted to the user terminal 400. On the user terminal 400, a search screen is displayed.

  When the search screen is displayed, the user terminal 400 inputs a keyword and instructs a search (step S905). One or more keywords may be used. When a search instruction is given, the input keyword is transmitted to the catalog search system 100, and the search condition receiving unit 310 receives the search keyword (step S906).

  The keyword received by the search condition receiving unit 310 is searched by transmitting the search condition by the search unit 320 (step S907). Specifically, the search unit 320 identifies the catalog system 200 with which the user is contracted with reference to the user information storage unit 352 based on the received keyword and the user authentication information of the user terminal 400 that transmitted the keyword. Then, the keyword is transmitted together with the user information to one or more catalog systems 200 that are catalogs corresponding to the designated product field and contracted by the user. The reason why the user information is transmitted to the catalog system 200 is to identify the organization (company or department) of the user who transmitted the keyword in the catalog system 200 and to specify the product price. Here, the search conditions are transmitted to each catalog system 200 in parallel rather than searching each catalog system 200 well. Specifically, each catalog system 200 is called by an API (Application Programming Interface), and the number of extracted items is returned first.

  At this time, the search unit 320 may be configured not only to transmit a keyword to the external catalog system 200 but also to search the internal catalog storage unit 160. When the user belongs to a company that stores product information in the internal catalog storage unit, the internal catalog storage unit 160 is searched.

  The catalog system A or the catalog system B that has received the keyword performs a keyword search in the catalog system 200 (step S908a or step S908b). When the number of extracted items is known as a result of the search, each catalog system transmits the number of extracted items to the catalog search system 100 (step S909a or step S909b).

  The search result receiving unit 330 of the catalog search system 100 receives the number of extractions from the catalog system A and the catalog system B (step S910). The search result output unit 340 outputs the accepted extracted number to the user terminal 400 as the extracted number (step S911). The number-of-results output unit 340, for example, totals the number of extractions received from each catalog system 200, and sends data such as “catalog A 500”, “catalog B 380”, “total extraction number 880” to the user terminal 400. Output. In the user terminal 400, the received number of extracted cases is displayed on the screen (step S912).

  On the other hand, the catalog system A and the catalog system B immediately start sending product information as a search result to the catalog search system 100 after transmitting the number of extractions to the catalog search system 100 (step 913a or 913b). Here, although the transmission of the product information of the catalog system A and the catalog system B is illustrated after the display of the number of items on the user terminal 400 in step S912, the number of items displayed on the user terminal 400 is actually displayed. Regardless of the timing at which is performed, after the number of extractions is transmitted, it is transmitted from each catalog system 200 to the catalog search system 100. The timings of transmission from each catalog system 200 to the catalog search system 100 are also in no order, and are transmitted to the catalog search system 100 as soon as the product information of each catalog system 200g is ready for transmission. Note that the transmission of the product information here is performed using, for example, an API.

  The search result receiving unit 330 of the catalog search system 100 receives product information data transmitted from the catalog system A and the catalog system B, and the search result output unit 340 receives the catalog system A and catalog received by the search result receiving unit 330. The product information from the system B is sequentially output to be displayed on the user terminal 400 (step S914). At this time, the search result receiving unit 330 receives product information that matches the search conditions transmitted by the search unit 320, and receives product price information corresponding to the organization to which the searched user belongs. Further, when the search unit 320 searches the internal catalog information storage unit 160, the search result reception unit 330 receives the search result, and the search result output unit 340 outputs the search result of the internal catalog information storage unit 160. . At this time, the search result output unit 340 outputs so that the search result in the internal catalog information storage unit 160 is displayed higher than the search result of the catalog system 200.

  The search result output unit 340 outputs the search results received by the search result receiving unit 330 so as not to display the product information having the product classification information stored in the department catalog information storage unit 180. With reference to the classification information included in the product information received from the catalog system 200 and the classification information stored in the department catalog information storage unit 180, product information having matching classification information may be received as a search result. It outputs so that it may not display on the user terminal 400. Therefore, in this case, the total number of hits is displayed as the number of extractions, but the number of product information actually displayed is different.

  In the user terminal 400, the product information data output by the search result output unit 340 is sequentially displayed (step S915).

  Further, when the number of extractions is equal to or greater than the predetermined number, the catalog system 200 transmits the product information to the catalog search system 100 at predetermined intervals by the predetermined number (step 916a or step 916b). For this reason, the search result receiving unit 330 receives a predetermined number of items at predetermined intervals, and the search result output unit 340 outputs the received product information to the user terminal 400 (step S917). The predetermined number here is, for example, the number of product information such as 100 and 300, and the predetermined interval is, for example, 1 second, but is not limited thereto. In order to prevent a large amount of product information from being received at a time and output time for displaying search results from taking time, the catalog system 200 and a predetermined number of items are received at short intervals. As a result, the search result can be displayed without waiting for the user while reducing the processing load. In the user terminal 400, the product information data output by the search result output unit 340 is displayed (step S918). Here, in the product information display in step S915 and the product information display in step S918, a completely different search result page is not displayed, but the product information page displayed in step S915 is updated, and step S918 is performed. New product information data is added. Further, the product information may be displayed in step S915 and step S918 by updating the search result page displayed in the number display of step S912 and adding data.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of processing when a catalog search is performed and a product is selected while the search result is displayed. In FIG. 9, an example of processing when searching a plurality of catalogs is shown. However, the product displayed on the user terminal 400 is selected while the product information is sequentially displayed as a search result. The case will be described. The process described with reference to FIG. 10 is a process corresponding to the process of S1000 in FIG.

  Steps S913a to S915 are the same as in FIG. 9, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted. The product information transmitted from each catalog system 200 is received by the search result receiving unit 330 and is output from the search result output unit 340 for display on the user terminal 400. When the number of extractions in one catalog system 400 is greater than or equal to the predetermined number, the predetermined number of items are transmitted in a plurality of times. Here, before the search result output unit 340 outputs all the search results to the user terminal 400, one product can be selected from the product information of a plurality of products already displayed on the user terminal 400. (Step S1001). When the catalog search system 100 receives that the product selection has been made at the user terminal 400, the search result output unit 340 of the catalog search system 100 stops outputting the search result to the user terminal 400, and the search unit 320 A detailed information request is transmitted to the catalog system 200 (here, catalog system A) to which the selected product belongs.

  The catalog system 200 transmits detailed information on the selected product to the catalog search system 100 (step S1002). The search result receiving unit 330 receives the detailed information of the product, and the search result output unit 340 outputs the detailed information for display on the user terminal 400 (step S1003). When a purchase procedure is performed from the detailed information in the user terminal 400, a purchase instruction is transmitted to the in-company purchase system 300 (step S1004). Note that the purchase procedure from the detailed information includes the procedures for putting in a cart, purchase confirmation, purchase decision, etc., but they are omitted here. When a purchase decision is finally made, a purchase instruction is transmitted to the in-company purchase system 300. The corporate purchasing system 300 performs a procedure necessary for ordering (internal approval, etc.), and when the procedure ends, the ordering process is transmitted to the catalog search system 100 (step S1005).

  The catalog search system 100 performs purchase processing by transmitting order information to the catalog system 200 to which the ordered product belongs (step S1006). The catalog system 200 that has received the order information performs order processing (step S1007), and performs procedures such as product arrangement and shipment. As described above, in the catalog search system 100 of the present invention, the reception of the product information of the search result is asynchronous and not all the search results are received at once, so the search result page is dynamically changed. Even in the middle, that is, before all the product information of the search result is displayed, it is possible to select and purchase a product from some product groups displayed from the user terminal 400.

  In FIG. 10, the example in which the purchase procedure is entered after the detailed information of the product is displayed has been described. However, the purchase procedure is entered from the “purchase” button displayed in each of the plurality of product information displayed as the search results. You can also In this case, when a purchase request for a product displayed on the user terminal 400 is made while product information is sequentially displayed as a search result, the purchase processing unit 360 performs a purchase process.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of processing in the catalog search system when a purchase request is made based on the product information stored as a favorite in the user terminal 400.

  First, when the user terminal 400 wants to register the product as a favorite on the page displaying the product information, the user terminal 400 transmits a message indicating that the product is registered as a favorite to the catalog system 100 so that the search unit 320 associates with the user. The product information is stored in the user product information storage unit 170.

  Here, in response to a request from the user terminal 400, a list of products registered as favorites is output to the user terminal 400 based on information stored in the internal catalog information storage unit 160 and information authenticated by the user authentication unit 350. (Step S1101). The search unit 320 determines whether a product is specified from the list of favorite products (step S1102). If not specified (No), the search unit 320 continues to determine whether or not it is specified as it is. When the catalog search system 100 receives that one of the favorite products is specified (Yes), the search unit 320 searches the user product information storage unit 170 and reads the detailed information of the specified favorite product. The search result output unit 340 generates detailed information on the designated product (step S1103). Detailed information of the designated product is displayed on the user terminal 400. It is determined whether a purchase request has been received from the detailed information page of the product designated as a favorite from the user terminal 400 (step S1104). Here, for example, when a “Add to Cart” button in the detailed information is clicked, a purchase request is transmitted to the catalog search system 100. When the purchase request has not been received (No), the determination is continued as it is. When there is a purchase request (Yes), the search unit 320 of the catalog search system 100 transmits a product search instruction to the catalog system 200 of the electronic catalog to which the product belongs (step S1105). The catalog system 200 searches for product information in the stored electronic catalog. The catalog system 200 transmits the search result to the catalog search system 100, and the catalog search system 100 receives the search result.

  As a result of the search, the search unit 320 of the catalog search system 100 determines whether or not the designated product is an abandoned number (step S1106). When the designated product is an abolished number (Yes), the search unit 320 deletes the product information data of the product from the user product information storage unit 170, and the search result output unit 340 is not available for purchase to the user terminal 400. A certain message is output (step S1107). Then, the process ends. When the designated product is not an abandoned number (No), the search unit 320 determines from the received search result whether there is a change in product information, price, etc. of the designated product, or a change to a successor product. (Step S1108). When there is a change in the product information of the designated product or when there is no change to the successor product (No), the purchase processing unit 360 adds the designated product as it is to the cart (step S1109). Specifically, the product information requested for purchase is added to the cart information, and the search result output unit 340 outputs the display to the user terminal 400 to proceed to the purchase procedure. When a purchase instruction is received from the user terminal 400, the purchase processing unit 360 performs purchase processing such as ordering in cooperation with the in-company purchase system 300 and the catalog system 200 (step S1110).

  On the other hand, when there is a change in product information such as a price, or when the product is no longer available and has been changed to a successor product, the search unit 320 stores information in the internal catalog information storage unit 160 based on the received search result. The stored favorite product information is updated to the received change content (step S1111). Then, the search unit 320 generates a message indicating that the product information is changed and a confirmation message as to whether to add to the cart along with the changed product information, and the search result output unit 340 includes the changed product information. These messages are transmitted (step S1112). The purchase processing unit 360 determines whether or not the addition to the cart has been received, and if it is received from the user terminal 400 that the addition to the cart has been received (Yes), the purchase processing unit 360 adds to the cart (step S1109). Thereafter, the process proceeds to purchase processing (step S1110). If it is received that the information is not added to the cart (No), the process ends.

  FIG. 12 is an example of a screen displayed on the user terminal 400 when the catalog search system 100 accepts designation of a product field to be searched from the user terminal 400 when performing a keyword search. As described above, when searching with a keyword, a screen for allowing the user terminal 400 to select a product field to be searched first is displayed. Specify the product field to which the product to be searched belongs from these product fields.

  FIG. 13 is an example of a search result display screen displayed on the user terminal 400. In this example, the number of extracted extractions is displayed, and a screen in the middle of receiving product information as a search result is shown. As a result of the search, the total number of items extracted is displayed first, product information is received from the catalog system 200 at a predetermined interval for each predetermined number of items, the display is also updated, and product information is added. Since the number of read product information is displayed for each search target catalog, the user can know the reception status of the search result.

100 Catalog Search System 200 Catalog System 300 Corporate Purchasing System 400 User Terminal

Claims (9)

A catalog search system that searches electronic catalogs of a plurality of companies and extracts product information from a plurality of electronic catalogs based on search conditions,
A user authentication unit for authenticating the user;
An internal catalog storage unit that stores special product information unique to the company to which the user belongs;
A search condition receiving unit that receives a search condition including one or more keywords from a user terminal connected via the Internet;
Stores the keyword received by the search condition reception unit, together with the organization information to which the user authenticated by the user authentication unit belongs, and the electronic catalog connected via the Internet, to which the company to which the user belongs is contracted If there is an internal catalog corresponding to the company to which the user authenticated by the user authentication unit belongs, the product information in the internal catalog storage unit is A search unit for searching based on search conditions;
Each of the plurality of catalog systems and the number of product information extractions based on the search condition are received from the internal catalog storage unit, and after receiving the number of extractions , the catalog system and the internal catalog storage unit are used to search. as a result, the commodity information corresponding to the search condition, and the user authentication unit results search Ru accepts, including the commodity price that corresponds to the organizational information to which the user belongs to the authenticated receiving unit,
Output the number of extractions to display on the user terminal the number of extractions received by the search result reception unit , sequentially output the product information received after outputting the number of extractions to display on the user terminal, A search result output unit for outputting the product information received from the internal catalog storage unit so that it is displayed at the top ,
When the product information based on the search condition is a predetermined number or more from a plurality of catalog systems, the search result receiving unit is a predetermined number of predetermined time intervals at a predetermined interval regardless of the timing of displaying the number of cases on the user terminal. The search result output unit sequentially outputs the product information received by the search result reception unit at predetermined intervals in order to display the product information . The search condition accepting unit accepts the search condition after accepting designation of a product field to be searched from the user terminal, and the search unit stores the electronic catalog corresponding to the designated product field. , it transmits a search condition, claim 1 Symbol placement catalog search system. Furthermore, it has a department catalog information storage unit for storing product classification information of the catalog to be hidden in association with the department to which the user belongs,
The search result output unit in the search results the search result receiving unit has received, said to not display the item information having the department catalog information items classified information stored in the storage unit, and outputs, according to claim 1 or 2. The catalog search system described in 2 . Furthermore, it has a purchase processing unit that performs purchase processing of products from the user terminal,
The search result output unit sequentially outputs product information as a search result, and when receiving a selection of a predetermined product from the user terminal while being displayed on the user terminal, detailed information on the selected product is displayed. output, the purchase processing unit, while the search result output unit is sequentially output the product information, when receiving a purchase request items from the user terminal, performs a purchasing process of claim 1, wherein Catalog search system. In addition, a user product information storage unit that stores predetermined product information as a favorite for each user,
When there is a purchase request from the user terminal based on the product information stored in the user product information storage unit, the search unit transmits a product information search instruction to the catalog system of the electronic catalog to which the purchased product belongs. And
The search result receiving unit receives the product information from the catalog system, the search result output unit, the search result output, according to claim 1-4, wherein the catalog search system. If the product information has been changed as a result of searching based on the product information stored in the user product information storage unit, the search unit stores the user product information based on the search result received from the catalog system. Update product information
The catalog search system according to claim 5 , wherein the search result reception unit outputs a message with changed product information and product information. As a result of searching based on the product information stored in the user product information storage unit, if the product information is a discontinued number, the search unit deletes the product information data from the user product information storage unit,
The catalog search system according to claim 5 or 6 , wherein the search result reception unit outputs a message indicating that purchase is not possible. A catalog search method applied to a catalog search system that searches electronic catalogs of a plurality of companies and extracts product information from a plurality of electronic catalogs based on search conditions,
Authenticating the user;
Receiving a search condition including one or more keywords from a user terminal connected via the Internet;
To the catalog system of a plurality of companies that store the electronic catalog connected via the Internet, contracted by the company to which the user belongs together with the organization information to which the authenticated user belongs, at the same time, the received keyword When there is an internal catalog in the catalog search system that transmits a search request and stores special product information specific to the company to which the authenticated user belongs, the product information in the internal catalog is searched based on the search condition. Steps,
Receiving each number of product information extractions based on the search conditions from the catalog system and the internal catalog;
A step of outputting the number of extractions to display the received number of extractions on the user terminal; and after receiving the number of extractions, from each of the catalog system and the internal catalog, product information corresponding to the search condition is obtained as a search result. Including the product price corresponding to the organization information to which the authenticated user belongs , and when the product information based on the search condition is more than a predetermined number from a plurality of catalog systems, the number of cases displayed on the user terminal Regardless of the step of accepting a predetermined number of each at predetermined intervals ,
A catalog search method for sequentially outputting the product information received after outputting the number of extractions at a predetermined interval for display on the user terminal so that the product information received from the internal catalog is displayed at the top. A catalog search program that makes a computer function as a catalog search system that searches electronic catalogs of a plurality of companies and extracts product information from a plurality of electronic catalogs based on search conditions,
Authenticating the user;
Receiving a search condition including one or more keywords from a user terminal connected via the Internet;
To the catalog system of a plurality of companies that store the electronic catalog connected via the Internet, contracted by the company to which the user belongs together with the organization information to which the authenticated user belongs, at the same time, the received keyword When there is an internal catalog in the catalog search system that transmits a search request and stores special product information specific to the company to which the authenticated user belongs, the product information in the internal catalog is searched based on the search condition. Steps,
Receiving each number of product information extractions based on the search conditions from the catalog system and the internal catalog;
Outputting the number of extractions to display the received number of extractions on the user terminal;
After accepting the number of extractions, from each of the catalog system and the internal catalog, product information corresponding to the search condition as a search result, including product prices corresponding to the organization information to which the authenticated user belongs, and a plurality of catalogs When the product information based on the search condition from the system is a predetermined number or more, regardless of the timing at which the number of cases is displayed on the user terminal, the step of accepting each predetermined number at predetermined intervals;
The product information received after outputting the number of extractions is sequentially output at predetermined intervals for display on the user terminal, and the product information received from the internal catalog is output so as to be displayed at the top. Catalog search program to let you.

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