JP7145822B2 - Information providing device, information providing method, and information providing program - Google Patents

Description

The disclosed embodiments relate to an information providing device, an information providing method, and an information providing program.

Conventionally, for example, there are stores that sell products and services through electronic commerce using communication networks such as the Internet. A business that operates a store, for example, posts content including information on products and services to be sold to a shopping application program installed in a shopping site on the Internet or in a terminal device of a user who is a customer, and the content is viewed by the user. Let

On the other hand, the user can purchase the desired product or service by selecting the desired product or service from among the products and services included in the plurality of contents to be browsed and performing a predetermined payment process.

It is difficult for stores that sell products and services through such electronic commerce to increase sales of products and services if users do not actively browse the content.

For this reason, for example, there is an information providing device that acquires the location information of the user who uses the store from the user's terminal device and distributes coupons of stores that exist near the user's current location to the user's terminal device (for example, See Patent Document 1).

JP-A-2002-351905

However, even if a conventional information providing device distributes a coupon to a user's terminal device, the fact that the store is close to the current location of the user does not necessarily mean that the user will use the store. There is room for improvement in terms of improving

One aspect of the embodiments has been made in view of the above, and aims to provide an information providing device, an information providing method, and an information providing program capable of improving the ability of a store to attract customers.

An information provision device according to an aspect of an embodiment includes an acquisition unit, a generation unit, and a distribution unit. The acquisition unit acquires usage information of a store related to a user who uses the store that sells products or services through electronic commerce. The generation unit, based on the usage information acquired by the acquisition unit, when the purchase target browsed by the user is sold by the store used by the user in the past, the generation unit issues a certificate issued by the store used by the user in the past. Generate content that includes coupons that The distribution unit distributes the content generated by the generation unit to the user.

An information providing device, an information providing method, and an information providing program according to one aspect of an embodiment can improve the ability of a shop that sells products or services to attract customers through electronic commerce.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of an information providing method performed by an information providing apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the information providing device according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of usage information according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a procedure for selecting a distribution user according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a coupon display order determination procedure according to the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of main processing executed by the control unit of the information providing device according to the embodiment; FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of distribution user selection processing executed by the control unit of the information providing apparatus according to the embodiment; FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of display order determination processing executed by the control unit of the information providing apparatus according to the embodiment; FIG. 9 is a hardware configuration diagram showing an example of a computer that implements the functions of the information providing device according to the embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Embodiments for implementing an information providing apparatus, an information providing method, and an information providing program (hereinafter referred to as "embodiments") according to the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

Note that the information providing apparatus, information providing method, and information providing program according to the present application are not limited to this embodiment. Also, in the following embodiments, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and overlapping descriptions are omitted.

[1. Overview of information provision method]
First, with reference to FIG. 1, an outline of an information providing method performed by the information providing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of an information providing method performed by an information providing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment.

Here, for example, an information providing apparatus that allows a user 13 who uses a store that sells products through electronic commerce using a shopping site 11 established on a communication network N such as the Internet to view coupons Cp issued by the store. 1 will be described as an example. The coupon Cp here is, for example, service information that allows the user 13 to purchase a product at a discounted rate by using it at a store.

Note that the store according to the embodiment is a store that sells products through electronic commerce using a shopping application program installed in a terminal device (hereinafter referred to as "user terminal 13a") of user 13 who is a customer. There may be. Moreover, the store according to the embodiment may be a store that sells any service, not limited to products.

As shown in FIG. 1, for example, a trader 10 opens a store called A store 12 in a shopping site 11 established on a communication network N (step S1). The user 13 accesses the shopping site 11 and purchases a product from the A store 12 (step S2).

Merchant 10 may then issue a coupon Cp that can be used at A store 12 . In such a case, the trader 10 registers in the information providing device 1 information indicating that the store device 10a of the A store 12 issues the coupon Cp.

When the information is registered, the information providing device 1 acquires the coupon Cp issued by the A store 12 from the store device 10a (step S3). Then, the information providing device 1 acquires usage information of the A store 12 from the shopping site 11 (step S4).

At this time, the information providing apparatus 1 acquires the history information of the user 13 who took a positive action regarding the product purchase at the A store 12 as usage information. For example, the information providing apparatus 1 acquires usage information of all users including the user 13 who has a history of purchasing products at the A store 12 .

When the information providing device 1 operates the shopping site 11, the usage information of the A store 12 is acquired from the access information to the shopping site 11 accumulated in the own device. An example of such usage information will be described later with reference to FIG.

Then, based on the acquired usage information of the A store 12, the information providing apparatus 1 sends the coupon list content Cpc including the coupon Cp issued from the A store 12 to the user terminal 13a of the user 13 who has a purchase history at the A store 12. is distributed (step S5).

Thus, the information providing device 1 acquires usage information of the A store 12 regarding the user 13 who uses the A store 12 . Then, based on the acquired usage information of the A store 12, the information providing apparatus 1 provides coupon list content displaying a list of coupons Cp issued by the A store 12 in which the user 13 has a history of actions related to purchases. Distribute the Cpc to the user 13 .

As a result, the information providing apparatus 1 distributes to the user 13 the coupon Cp issued by the A store 12 familiar to the user 13 who has purchased products in the past, for example. can encourage shopping at Therefore, the information providing device 1 can improve the ability of the A store 12 to attract customers.

[2. Configuration of Information Providing Device]
Next, an example of the configuration of the information providing device 1 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the information providing device 1 according to the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the information providing device 1 is communicably connected to a plurality of store devices 10a, a shopping site server 11a, and a user terminal 13a via a communication network N such as the Internet. , a storage unit 3 and a control unit 4 .

A plurality of store devices 10a are devices used by different traders 10 to operate stores (for example, A store 12, etc.) opened in the shopping site 11. FIG. The shopping site server 11 a is a server device that provides electronic commerce services by the shopping site 11 .

When the information providing device 1 operates the shopping site 11, the information providing device 1 functions as the shopping site server 11a. The user terminal 13a is a device used by the user 13 as described above, and is, for example, a mobile terminal device such as a smart phone.

(communication department)
The communication unit 2 is realized by, for example, a NIC (Network Interface Card) or the like. The communication unit 2 is communicably connected to the plurality of store devices 10a, the shopping site server 11a, and the user terminal 13a by wire or wirelessly via the communication network N, for example.

(storage unit)
The storage unit 3 is realized by, for example, a semiconductor memory device such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a flash memory, or a storage device such as a hard disk or an optical disk. The storage unit 3 stores usage information 31, coupon information 32, and the like.

The usage information 31 includes history information of users who took positive actions regarding product purchases at the store. The storage unit 3 stores usage information 31 for each store. An example of such usage information 31 will be described later with reference to FIG. The coupon information 32 includes multiple coupons issued by multiple stores.

(control part)
The control unit 4 includes, for example, a microcomputer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), an input/output port, and various circuits.

The control unit 4 includes an acquisition unit 41 that functions by executing various programs (corresponding to an example of an information providing program according to the embodiment) stored in the ROM by the CPU using the RAM as a work area, a distribution user selection It includes a unit 42 , a display order determining unit 43 and a distribution unit 44 .

Part or all of the acquisition unit 41, the distribution user selection unit 42, the display order determination unit 43, and the distribution unit 44 are hardware such as ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) and FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). may be configured.

Acquisition unit 41 , distribution user selection unit 42 , display order determination unit 43 , and distribution unit 44 each realize or execute the action of information processing described below. Note that the internal configuration of the control unit 4 is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. 2, and may be another configuration as long as it performs the information processing described later.

(acquisition part)
The obtaining unit 41 obtains a newly issued coupon Cp from the store apparatus 10a and stores it in the storage unit 3 when receiving registration of information indicating that a new coupon Cp is to be issued from the store apparatus 10a. Add to existing coupon information 32 .

Further, the acquisition unit 41 acquires from the shopping site server 11 a usage information of the store opened by the store device 10 a that acquired the coupon Cp, and adds it to the usage information 31 stored in the storage unit 3 .

Here, an example of the usage information 31 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of usage information 31 according to the embodiment. Note that FIG. 3 shows part of the usage information of a certain store.

As shown in FIG. 3, the usage information 31 includes the user ID of the user who used the store, information indicating whether or not the user has registered the store as a favorite, the date of purchase of the product by the user, the product number of the purchased product. . and price etc. are associated with each other.

FIG. 3 shows, as an example, the usage information of two users who have made purchases at this store in the past. , the user's information is registered if he/she has taken an action related to the purchase of the product at this store.

For example, the usage information 31 includes users who did not purchase the product at this store but browsed the content of the product at this store on the shopping site 11, users who registered the product as a favorite product, users who added the product to the shopping cart but made payment. Information such as users who have not processed is also registered.

The acquisition unit 41 adds the newly acquired coupon Cp to the coupon information 32 in the storage unit 3, adds the usage information 31 of the store that issues the coupon Cp to the usage information 31 in the storage unit 3, and then displays the fact. to the distribution user selection unit 42.

(Delivery user selection part)
Returning to FIG. 2, the distribution user selection unit 42 will be described. When information indicating that the coupon Cp and the usage information 31 have been added to the storage unit 3 is input from the acquisition unit 41, the distribution user selection unit 42 selects a distribution user to whom the coupon Cp issued this time is to be distributed. do.

The distribution user selection unit 42 selects the distribution user of the coupon Cp based on the usage information 31 of the store that issued the coupon Cp this time. Here, referring to FIG. 4, a procedure for selecting a distribution user will be described. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a procedure for selecting a distribution user according to the embodiment.

Here, an example will be described in which information on six users Y-1 to Y-6 is registered in the usage information 31 of a store. In such a case, first, as shown in FIG. 1 is excluded from the distribution users of the coupon Cp.

As a result, the information providing apparatus 1 wastefully distributes the coupon Cp to the user Y-1 who has never purchased a product from this store and is unlikely to use the coupon Cp for shopping even if the coupon Cp is distributed. can be prevented.

After that, as shown in FIG. 4(b), the delivery user selection unit 42 determines that among the five users Y-2 to Y-6 who have purchase histories at this store, the purchase frequency is a predetermined frequency (for example, one year). 4 times) or more is selected as a distribution user of the coupon Cp.

As a result, the information providing apparatus 1 distributes the coupon Cp to the user Y-2 who frequently shop at this store, thereby encouraging him or her to shop more frequently, thereby improving the ability of the store to attract customers. can be made

Next, as shown in FIG. 4(c), the distribution user selection unit 42 determines that among the four users Y-3 to Y-6 whose purchase frequency at the store is less than the predetermined frequency, the number of purchases is the predetermined number. (For example, twice) or more users are selected as distribution users of the coupon Cp.

As a result, the information providing apparatus 1 distributes the coupon Cp to the user Y-3 who has purchased the product at least once as a repeater at this store, thereby encouraging him or her to make more purchases. It is possible to improve the ability of the store to attract customers.

After that, as shown in FIG. 4(d), the distribution user selection unit 42 selects, among the three users Y-4 to Y-6 who have made purchases at the store less than the predetermined number of User Y-4 within a period (for example, six months from the present time) is selected as a distribution user of coupon Cp.

As a result, the information providing apparatus 1 distributes the coupon Cp to the user Y-4 who has not passed a long period of time since he last used this store and who is highly likely to remember using this store. By encouraging customers to visit the store again, the store's ability to attract customers can be improved.

In addition, the information providing apparatus 1 suddenly distributes the coupon Cp to a user who has not remembered the store for a long time since he or she last used the store. It is possible to prevent the delivered user from feeling uncomfortable.

After that, as shown in FIG. 4(e), the delivery user selection unit 42 selects this store as a favorite among the two users Y-5 to Y-6 whose last purchase time at this store is outside the predetermined period. User Y-5 who has already registered with the store is selected as the distribution user of the coupon Cp. Then, the delivery user selection unit 42 excludes the user Y-6 who has not registered this store as a favorite store from the delivery users of the coupon Cp.

As a result, the information providing apparatus 1 distributes the coupon Cp to the user Y-5 who has registered this store as a favorite store, that is, who is interested in the products sold at this store. It is possible to improve the ability of the store to attract customers.

In this way, the information providing apparatus 1 selectively distributes coupons Cp to users Y-2 to Y-5 who have a purchase history at this store and who are highly likely to shop at this store again. can be distributed, it is possible to improve the ability of the store to attract customers. Then, the distribution user selection unit 42 outputs the selection result of the distribution users to the display order determination unit 43 .

(Display order determination unit)
Returning to FIG. 2, the display order determination unit 43 will be described. The display order determination unit 43 determines the display order of the coupons Cp in the coupon list content Cpc to be distributed to the users selected by the distribution user selection unit 42 .

A user selected as a distribution target of the coupon Cp by the distribution user selection unit 42 may be selected as a distribution user of a coupon issued by a store other than the store that issued the coupon Cp this time.

In such a case, the coupon list content Cpc distributed to the user includes coupons of multiple stores. Then, for example, when the coupon list content Cpc is displayed on the user terminal 13a, the display position of each coupon influences the ability of the store issuing the coupon to attract customers.

Therefore, the display order determination unit 43 determines the display order so that coupons that may increase the user's willingness to purchase are displayed higher, for example, in the display area of the user terminal 13a. do.

Here, with reference to FIG. 5, an example of the procedure for determining the display order of each coupon in the coupon list content Cpc will be described. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a coupon display order determination procedure according to the embodiment.

For each user selected as a distribution user, the display order determination unit 43 assigns a score to the shop that issued the coupon Cp this time and other shops in which the user has already been selected as a distribution user.

Specifically, as shown in the center of the right side of FIG. 5, the display order determination unit 43 gives each store a score according to the frequency of purchase, a score according to the number of purchases, and a score according to the time of purchase, Determine the display order according to the height of the total score.

At this time, the display order determining unit 43 assigns a higher score to a store with a higher frequency of purchase by the user distributing the coupon list content Cpc, a higher score to a store with a higher number of purchases, and a higher score to a store whose purchase time is newer. give a score.

As a result, the display order determination unit 43 causes the coupon Cp of the A store 12 to be displayed at the top of the coupon list content Cpc on the user terminal 13a when, for example, the total score value of the A store 12 is the highest. determine the ranking.

Further, when the total score value of the B store is the second highest and the total score value of the C store is the third highest, the display order determination unit 43 determines that the coupon C1p of the B store is placed under the coupon Cp of the A store 12, The display order is determined so that the coupon C2p of the B store is below the coupon C1p of the B store. Then, the display order determination unit 43 outputs the determined display order of the coupons to the distribution unit 44 .

(Distribution Department)
Returning to FIG. 2, the distribution unit 44 will be described. When the display order of the coupons is input from the display order determination unit 43, the distribution unit 44 reads the coupons from the coupon information 32 and generates coupon list content Cpc customized for each user according to the determined display order. to the user terminal 13a.

As a result, the information providing apparatus 1 displays the coupon list content at the top most conspicuously for stores that have a user's purchase history, that the user has purchased frequently and many times, and that have been purchased relatively recently. Cpc can be provided to the user. Therefore, the information providing device 1 can improve the ability to attract customers to stores that have issued coupons that are ranked high in the coupon list content Cpc.

[3. Processing of Information Providing Device]
Next, an example of main processing executed by the control unit 4 of the information providing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8. FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of main processing executed by the control unit of the information providing device according to the embodiment;

The control unit 4 executes the main processing shown in FIG. 8 when the coupon Cp is issued by the store device 10a. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, when a coupon Cp is issued by the store device 10a, the control unit 4 first acquires the coupon Cp from the store device 10a (step S101).

Subsequently, the control unit 4 acquires the usage information 31 of the store from the shopping site server 11a (step S102), and executes delivery user selection processing for selecting a user to whom the coupon Cp is to be delivered based on the usage information 31 (step S103). An example of such distribution user selection processing will be described later with reference to FIG.

Subsequently, the control unit 4 determines the order of the coupons Cp to be arranged in the coupon list content Cpc to be distributed to each user terminal 13a (the display top and bottom positions in the display screen) for each user selected in step S103. Processing is executed (step S104). An example of such display order determination processing will be described later with reference to FIG.

Then, the control unit 4 generates a coupon list content Cpc in which a plurality of coupons Cp are displayed in the order of arrangement determined in step S104, distributes the content to the user terminal 13a (step S105), and ends the process. do.

Next, an example of distribution user selection processing executed by the control unit 4 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of distribution user selection processing executed by the control unit of the information providing apparatus according to the embodiment;

As shown in FIG. 7, when the distribution user selection process is started, the control unit 4 first selects a user who uses a store (hereinafter simply referred to as a "store") that operates the store device 10a that issued the coupon Cp. Among them, a user with a purchase history is selected (step S201).

Subsequently, the control unit 4 determines whether or not the purchase frequency at the store is equal to or higher than a predetermined frequency for each user selected in step S201 (step S202). Then, when the control unit 4 determines that the purchase frequency is not equal to or greater than the predetermined frequency (step S202, No), it determines whether or not the number of purchases at the store is equal to or greater than the predetermined number (step S203).

Then, when the controller 4 determines that the number of purchases is not equal to or greater than the predetermined number (step S203, No), it determines whether the purchase time at the store is within a predetermined period (step S204). Here, the control unit 4 determines that the purchase time is within the predetermined period when the time from when the user last purchased the product at the store to the present time is within the predetermined period.

Then, if the control unit 4 determines that the purchase time is not within the predetermined period (step S204, No), it determines whether the user has already registered the store that issued the coupon Cp this time as a favorite store (step S205).

If the control unit 4 determines that the favorite store has not been registered (step S205, No), the user is excluded from distribution users to whom the coupon Cp is to be distributed (step S207), and the process ends.

Further, when the control unit 4 determines that the purchase frequency is equal to or greater than the predetermined frequency (step S202, Yes), or determines that the number of purchases is equal to or greater than the predetermined number (step S203, Yes), the user Select as a distribution user (step S206).

Also, when the control unit 4 determines that the purchase time is within the predetermined period (step S204, Yes), or determines that the favorite store has already been registered (step S205, Yes), the user Select as a distribution user (step S206).

After determining the distribution users in this manner, the control unit 4 ends the distribution user selection processing, and shifts the processing to the display order determination processing (step S104) shown in FIG. Next, an example of display order determination processing executed by the control unit 4 will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of display order determination processing executed by the control unit of the information providing apparatus according to the embodiment; By executing the display order determination process shown in FIG. 8, the control unit 4 determines, for each user selected in the current distribution user selection process, the store that issued the coupon Cp this time and the user that has already been selected as the distribution user. Give a score against other stores that have been.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, the control unit 4 gives the store a score according to the frequency of purchases by the user (step S301). At this time, the control unit 4 assigns a higher score to a store with a higher purchase frequency.

Subsequently, the control unit 4 gives the store a score corresponding to the number of purchases made by the user (step S302). At this time, the control unit 4 assigns a higher score to a store with a larger number of purchases. After that, the control unit 4 gives the store a score according to the purchase time of the user (step S303).

At this time, the control unit 4 assigns a higher score to a shop whose purchase time is more recent. Then, the control unit 4 arranges the coupons Cp of stores with higher scores higher (step S304). For example, the control unit 4 determines the order of display so that coupons Cp of stores with higher scores are displayed higher in the display area of the user terminal 13a.

The control unit 4 thus determines the display order of the coupons Cp in the coupon list content Cpc, and after completing the display order determination process, distributes the coupon list content shown in FIG. 6 (step S105), and ends the main process. .

[4. Modification]
As described above, some of the embodiments of the present application have been described in detail based on the drawings. It is possible to carry out the invention in other forms with modifications.

In the above-described embodiment, the information providing apparatus 1 distributes to the user only coupons for stores with a user's purchase history. However, for example, coupons for stores without a purchase history can also be distributed to the user. .

For example, if the information providing device 1 has not yet purchased a product, but is interested in the product and has registered it as a favorite, the information providing device 1 distributes the coupon of the store where the product is registered as a favorite to the user. do.

Further, for example, when the user has not yet purchased a certain product but puts the product in the shopping cart on the shopping site, the information providing apparatus 1 sends the coupon of the store where the product was put in the shopping cart to the user. deliver to

Further, for example, when the user does not have a purchase history at a certain store but registers the store as a favorite store, the information providing apparatus 1 distributes the coupon of the store registered as the favorite store to the user.

As a result, the information providing apparatus 1 distributes coupons that are highly likely to be used even to users with few product purchase histories, for example, thereby improving the power of attracting customers to the store that distributes the coupons. can be done.

For example, when distributing a coupon limited to a purchase amount, such as the coupon C1p of store B shown in FIG. Contents including coupons according to the conditions are distributed to users. As a result, the information providing apparatus 1 distributes coupons related to price ranges that are likely to be used by users, thereby improving the power of attracting customers to stores that issue coupons.

In addition, the information providing apparatus 1 acquires from the user terminal 13a information on products of an arbitrary store that the user 13 is viewing, and further acquires information on all products sold at stores where the user 13 has a purchase history. It may be configured to

In the case of such a configuration, the information providing apparatus 1, when the purchase target being browsed by the user is sold by the store used by the user in the past, the coupon issued by the store used by the user in the past is Deliver the contained content to users.

As a result, for example, when the user is interested in a product at a store that the user has never used, the information providing apparatus 1 distributes a coupon for the same product issued by a familiar store that the user has previously used. Therefore, it is possible to improve the ability to attract customers to stores that have used the service.

[5. effect〕
As described above, the information providing device 1 according to the embodiment includes the acquisition unit 41 and the distribution unit 44 . The acquisition unit 41 acquires store usage information 31 relating to a user (eg, user 13) who uses a store (eg, A store 12) that sells products or services through electronic commerce.

Based on the usage information 31 acquired by the acquisition unit 41, the distribution unit 44 generates content (e.g., coupons Cp) issued by stores that have a history of purchase-related behavior by the user. For example, the coupon list content Cpc) is distributed to the user 13 .

As a result, the information providing apparatus 1 provides the user with the content in which the coupons that are likely to be used by the user are displayed in a list, compared to the case where the content in which the coupons are listed is simply displayed in the order in which they were issued. can be delivered. Therefore, the information providing device 1 can improve the power of attracting customers to the store that issues the coupon.

In addition, the distribution unit 44 distributes to the user content including coupons issued by stores with a purchase history of the user. As a result, the information providing apparatus 1 distributes to the user coupons issued by familiar stores where the user has actually purchased products, thereby improving the ability of the stores issuing the coupons to attract customers. .

In addition, the distribution unit 44 distributes to the user content including coupons issued from stores registered as favorites by the user. As a result, the information providing apparatus 1 distributes to the user the coupons of the stores that the users have shown interest in and actively registered as favorites, thereby improving the ability of the stores that issue the coupons to attract customers.

In addition, the distribution unit 44 distributes to the user content including coupons issued by stores that sell purchase targets registered as favorites by the user. As a result, the information providing apparatus 1 distributes to the user the coupon of the store that sells the purchase target that the user has registered as a favorite, although the user has not yet made a purchase, so that the store that issues the coupon has the ability to attract customers. can be improved.

In addition, the distribution unit 44 distributes to the user content in which the coupon issued by the store with the higher frequency of purchase by the user is displayed at a higher rank. As a result, the information providing apparatus 1 distributes coupons of stores frequently used by users to users, thereby improving the power of attracting customers to stores that issue coupons.

In addition, the distribution unit 44 distributes to the user content in which the coupon issued by the store with the greater number of purchases by the user is displayed at a higher rank. As a result, the information providing apparatus 1 distributes the coupons of the stores to which the users are repeaters, thereby improving the ability of the stores that issue the coupons to attract customers.

In addition, the distribution unit 44 distributes to the user a content that is displayed higher for a coupon issued by a store in which the user purchases it more recently. As a result, the information providing apparatus 1 distributes to the user the coupon of the store relatively new to the user's memory, thereby improving the ability of the store that issues the coupon to attract customers.

In addition, when the purchase target browsed by the user is sold by the store used by the user in the past, the distribution unit 44 distributes to the user the content including the coupon issued by the store used by the user.

As a result, for example, when the user is interested in a product at a store that the user has never used, the information providing apparatus 1 distributes a coupon for the same product issued by a familiar store that the user has previously used. Therefore, it is possible to improve the ability to attract customers to stores that have used the service.

Further, the distribution unit 44 distributes to the user the content including the coupon corresponding to the price range of the purchase target purchased by the user. As a result, the information providing apparatus 1 distributes coupons related to price ranges that are likely to be used by users, thereby improving the power of attracting customers to stores that issue coupons.

[6. Hardware configuration]
Also, the information providing apparatus 1 according to the above-described embodiments is implemented by a computer 1000 configured as shown in FIG. 9, for example. FIG. 9 is a hardware configuration diagram showing an example of a computer that implements the functions of the information providing device 1 according to the embodiment. Computer 1000 has CPU 1100 , RAM 1200 , ROM 1300 , HDD 1400 , communication interface (I/F) 1500 , input/output interface (I/F) 1600 and media interface (I/F) 1700 .

The CPU 1100 operates based on programs stored in the ROM 1300 or HDD 1400 and controls each section. The ROM 1300 stores a boot program executed by the CPU 1100 when the computer 1000 is started up, a program depending on the hardware of the computer 1000, and the like.

The HDD 1400 stores programs executed by the CPU 1100, data used by the programs, and the like. Communication interface 1500 receives data from other devices via communication network N such as the Internet, sends the data to CPU 1100, and transmits data generated by CPU 1100 to other devices via communication network N.

The CPU 1100 controls output devices such as a display and a printer, and input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse through an input/output interface 1600 . CPU 1100 acquires data from an input device via input/output interface 1600 . CPU 1100 also outputs the generated data to an output device via input/output interface 1600 .

Media interface 1700 reads programs or data stored in recording medium 1800 and provides them to CPU 1100 via RAM 1200 . CPU 1100 loads such a program from recording medium 1800 onto RAM 1200 via media interface 1700, and executes the loaded program. The recording medium 1800 is, for example, an optical recording medium such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) or a PD (Phase change rewritable disc), a magneto-optical recording medium such as an MO (Magneto-Optical disk), a tape medium, a magnetic recording medium, or a semiconductor memory. etc.

For example, when the computer 1000 functions as the information providing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment, the CPU 1100 of the computer 1000 implements the functions of the control section 4 by executing the information providing program loaded on the RAM 1200 . CPU 1100 of computer 1000 reads these programs from recording medium 1800 and executes them, but as another example, these programs may be acquired via communication network N from another device.

[7. others〕
Further, among the processes described in the above embodiments and modifications, all or part of the processes described as being performed automatically can be performed manually, or described as being performed manually. All or part of the processing can also be performed automatically by known methods.

In addition, information including processing procedures, specific names, various data and parameters shown in the above documents and drawings can be arbitrarily changed unless otherwise specified. For example, the various information shown in each drawing is not limited to the illustrated information.

Also, each component of each device illustrated is functionally conceptual, and does not necessarily need to be physically configured as illustrated. In other words, the specific form of distribution and integration of each device is not limited to the one shown in the figure, and all or part of them can be functionally or physically distributed and integrated in arbitrary units according to various loads and usage conditions. Can be integrated and configured.

For example, the acquisition unit 41, the delivery user selection unit 42, the display order determination unit 43, and the delivery unit 44 may be connected as external devices of the information providing apparatus 1 via a network. Further, the acquiring unit 41, the distribution user selecting unit 42, the display order determining unit 43, and the distributing unit 44 are provided in separate devices, which are connected to a network and cooperate with each other to achieve the functions of the information providing device 1. It may be realized.

That is, the information providing apparatus 1 may be implemented by a plurality of server computers, and depending on the function, the configuration is flexible, such as by calling an external platform or the like using an API (Application Programming Interface) or network computing. can be changed to

Also, the above-described embodiments and modifications can be appropriately combined within a range that does not contradict the processing contents. Also, the above-mentioned "section, module, unit" can be read as "means" or "circuit". For example, the acquisition unit 41 can be read as acquisition means or an acquisition circuit.

1 information providing device 2 communication unit 3 storage unit 31 usage information 32 coupon information 4 control unit 41 acquisition unit 42 distribution user selection unit 43 display order determination unit 44 distribution unit 10 trader 10a store device 11 shopping site 11a shopping site server 12 A store 13 User 13a User terminal

Claims (10)

Usage information of the store related to the user who uses the store that sells goods or services by electronic commerce, which is information related to the purchase target of the arbitrary store that the user is browsing and the store that has the purchase history of the user an acquisition unit that acquires usage information of the store, including information about the purchase target purchased by the user and a coupon issued by the store with the user's purchase history ;
When it is determined, based on the usage information acquired by the acquisition unit, that a purchase target of a store browsed by the user that the user has never used is sold by a store that the user has used in the past , a generation unit that identifies a coupon issued by the store used and generates content that includes the coupon ;
and a distribution unit that distributes the content generated by the generation unit to the user. The distribution unit
2. The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said content including a coupon issued by a store having a purchase history of said user is distributed to said user. The distribution unit
3. The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the contents including coupons issued by stores registered as favorites by the user are distributed to the user. The distribution unit
4. The provision of information according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the contents containing coupons issued by stores that sell the purchase items registered as favorites by the user are distributed to the user. Device. The distribution unit
5. The information providing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the content is distributed to the user so that the coupon issued by the store with the higher frequency of purchase by the user is displayed at a higher rank. The distribution unit
6. The information providing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the content displayed at a higher rank is distributed to the user as the coupon issued by the store with the greater number of purchases by the user is issued. The usage information is
including the purchase history of the user at the store;
The generating unit
6. The content according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that , based on the usage information acquired by the acquisition unit, the content is generated such that coupons issued by stores that are purchased by the user more recently are displayed at higher ranks. 1. The information providing device according to one. The distribution unit
8. The information providing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the content including a coupon corresponding to the price range of the purchase target purchased by the user is distributed to the user. A computer-executed information provision method comprising:
Usage information of the store related to the user who uses the store that sells goods or services by electronic commerce, which is information related to the purchase target of the arbitrary store that the user is browsing and the store that has the purchase history of the user an acquisition step of acquiring usage information of the store including information about the purchase target purchased by the user and a coupon issued by the store with the user's purchase history ;
When it is determined, based on the usage information acquired by the acquisition step, that a purchase target of a store browsed by the user that the user has not used in the past is sold by a store that the user has used in the past a generation step of identifying a coupon issued by the store used and generating content including the coupon;
and a distribution step of distributing the content generated by the generation step to the user. Usage information of the store related to the user who uses the store that sells goods or services by electronic commerce, which is information related to the purchase target of the arbitrary store that the user is browsing and the store that has the purchase history of the user an acquisition procedure for acquiring usage information of the store including information about the purchase target purchased by the user and a coupon issued by the store where the user has a purchase history ;
When it is determined, based on the usage information acquired by the acquisition procedure, that an item to be purchased at a store browsed by the user that the user has never used is sold by a store that the user has used in the past , a generation procedure for identifying a coupon issued by the store used and generating content containing the coupon ;
and a distribution procedure for distributing the content generated by the generation procedure to the user.

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