JP7259256B2 - Merchandise management system, merchandise management method and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a product management system, product management method and program.

In the publishing industry, it is common for books to be distributed from publishers to bookstores through publishing agents. The number of copies of a book to be distributed is often determined by a publisher or a publishing agency in consideration of the past sales situation of the bookstore to which the book is distributed. As a technology related to receiving and placing orders for such books, especially a technology related to replenishment of books, the bookstore side can search the publisher's inventory book information and select the books to be replenished. There is a technique of sending a replenishment order form specified by (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP-A-2003-256696

Since the publishing agency cannot grasp the inventory of the bookstore, it is difficult to manage inventory such as the replenishment timing of the inventory held by the publishing agency. In addition, publishers and publishing agents cannot actively distribute books to bookstores because they cannot grasp the inventories of bookstores. In addition, there is an industry-specific custom of returning books to books, and books that have passed a certain period of sale at bookstores are returned to the publisher by the bookstore. Accounting processing is complicated. As described above, the conventional technology has the problem that it is difficult to centrally manage the business of the publishing agency and the business of the bookstore.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and its object is to provide a product management system, product management method, and program capable of centrally managing the business of a publishing agency and the business of a bookstore.

In order to solve the above problem, one aspect of the present invention is a product management system in a bookstore and a publishing agency, comprising: a receiving unit that receives a product order instruction from a bookstore terminal of the bookstore to the publishing agency; a registration unit for registering purchase information related to the sale when the product is sold in the a bookstore inventory update unit for updating product inventory at the bookstore; a brokerage inventory update unit for updating product inventory at the publication agency when the order instruction is received by the reception unit; and registration by the registration unit. a settlement unit for generating settlement information indicating the price to be paid by the bookstore to the publishing agency based on the purchased information received by the bookstore; a determination unit that determines to accept the book if the bookstore score exceeds the bookstore score, and the bookstore score increases in proportion to the number of products sold at the bookstore and decreases in proportion to the number of products in stock at the bookstore. , the required score increases in proportion to the number of ordered products .

Further, in one aspect of the present invention, regarding the necessary score, the product score with product ID id is P(id), the order number score is Q(id), and the order number of the product with product ID id is R ( id), the required score NS is determined by the following formula 1, NS = Σ (P (id) + Q (id) × R (id)) (Formula 1) (Σ in Formula 1 is Regarding the bookstore score (indicating the sum of the product IDs of all products), let X(id) be the additional value added per product when the product with the product ID of id is sold, and the number of products with the product ID of id Let A(id) be the number of sales, let Y(id) be the subtraction value to be subtracted per inventory of the product with the product ID of id, and let B(id) be the inventory quantity of the product with the product ID of id. 2. The merchandise management system according to claim 1, wherein the updated bookstore score SS is determined by the following formula 2. Bookstore score after update SS = Bookstore score before update SS + ΣA(id) x X(id) - Σ'B(id) x Y(id) (formula 2) (Σ in formula 2 is all sold products Σ′ in Equation 2 indicates the sum of all inventory product IDs)

One aspect of the present invention that solves the above-described problems is a merchandise management method, comprising: a receiving step of receiving an instruction to order merchandise from a bookstore terminal of a bookstore to a publishing agency; a registration step of registering purchase information related to the sale; and updating the stock of the product in the bookstore when the order instruction is received by the reception step or when the purchase information is registered by the registration step. a bookstore inventory update step; a brokerage inventory update step of updating the inventory of the product in the publication agency when the order instruction is accepted by the acceptance step; and based on the purchase information registered by the registration step, the A settlement step of generating settlement information indicating the price to be paid by the bookstore to the publishing agency; a determination step of determining, wherein the bookstore score increases in proportion to the number of products sold at the bookstore and decreases in proportion to the number of products in stock at the bookstore; increase in proportion to the number.

According to one aspect of the present invention for solving the above-described problems, a computer receives a product order instruction from a bookstore terminal of a bookstore to a publishing agency; a registration step of registering information; and a bookstore inventory update step of updating product inventory at the bookstore when the order instruction is received by the reception step or when the purchase information is registered by the registration step. an agency inventory update step of updating the inventory of merchandise in the publication agency when the order instruction is accepted by the acceptance step; A settlement step of generating settlement information indicating a price to be paid to a broker, and a determination step of determining that an order for a product indicated in the order instruction accepted by the acceptance step is accepted when the bookstore score exceeds the required score. wherein the bookstore score increases in proportion to the number of products sold at the bookstore and decreases in proportion to the number of products in stock at the bookstore; increase in proportion to the number of orders.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a merchandise management system, a merchandise management method, and a program capable of centrally managing publication agency business and bookstore business.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the merchandise management system by this embodiment. 1 is a diagram showing schematic configurations of a brokerage server, a publication server, and a bookstore terminal; FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of various DB. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen displayed on a bookstore terminal. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen displayed on a bookstore terminal. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing bookstore registration processing; FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing order processing (Part 1); FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing order processing (part 2); FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing order processing (part 3); FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing book return processing; It is a sequence diagram showing purchase processing and settlement processing. It is a figure which shows the structural example in the case of referring to common DB from the publishing agency of three companies.

A merchandise management system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a product management system 100 according to this embodiment.
In FIG. 1, the merchandise management system 100 includes an agency server 10, a publication server 40, and bookstore terminals 20A and 20B. The agency server 10, the publication server 40, and the bookstore terminals 20A and 20B are connected by a network 50. FIG. The network 50 is composed of a LAN (Local Area Network), the Internet, a telephone line, or the like.

The agency server 10 is a server managed by a publishing agency. The publication server 40 is a server managed by a book publisher. The agency server 10 and the publication server 40 may be provided on a cloud or the like. The bookstore terminals 20A and 20B are terminals managed by bookstores. In this embodiment, the bookstore terminal 20A is exemplified by a personal computer, and the bookstore terminal 20B is exemplified by a tablet terminal. When the bookstore terminals 20A and 20B are not distinguished from each other, they may be collectively referred to as the bookstore terminal 20. FIG. The brokerage server 10, the publication server 40, and the bookstore terminal 20 each include a computing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a storage device such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and an HDD (Hard Disk Drive). consists of

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the agency server 10, the publishing server 40, and the bookstore terminal 20A. The brokerage server 10 is composed of a purchase section 101 , a bookstore order reception section 102 , a shipment management section 103 , a purchase management section 104 , a brokerage settlement section 105 , a recommendation section 106 and a scoring section 107 . In addition, the brokerage server 10 has a database (hereinafter also referred to as "DB") including a purchase master, an order handling product master, an order return master, a shipping management master, a bookstore purchase master, an accounting master, a product master, a bookstore master, and a A bookstore inventory master is provided. The product master, the bookstore master, and the bookstore inventory master are a common DB 108 that is referred to and updated by multiple units of the agency server 10 . Details of various DBs will be described later.

The purchasing unit 101 performs processes related to book purchasing, such as ordering books from the publication server 40 . The bookstore order receiving unit 102 performs processing related to orders from the bookstore terminal 20 . The shipment management unit 103 performs processing related to shipment of books to bookstores and receipt of books from publishers. The purchase management unit 104 performs processing related to book sales at bookstores. The brokerage settlement unit 105 performs processes such as billing the bookstore for the price of the books. The recommendation unit 106 performs processing related to books recommended to bookstores. The recommendation unit 106 uses artificial intelligence technology or the like to provide the bookstore terminal 20 with information on books according to the characteristics of the bookstore, provides information on the best-selling products of other bookstores, is less than a predetermined number, a bookstore terminal 20 is provided with the fact that the number is less than the predetermined number, and when the stock of the bookstore is less than the predetermined stock number, the book is automatically distributed to the bookstore. It has functions such as The scoring unit 107 performs processing related to scores calculated for each bookstore.

The publication server 40 is composed of an agency order reception unit 401 and a shipping unit 402 . The brokerage order receiving unit 401 performs processing related to orders from the brokerage server 10 . The shipping unit 402 performs processing related to shipping the book to the publishing agency.

The bookstore terminal 20A includes an order input unit 201, a sales unit 202, a bookstore checkout unit 203, and a recommendation reception unit 204. FIG. The order input unit 201 performs processing related to ordering books, such as placing an order for books with the agency server 10 . The sales unit 202 performs processing related to book sales at the bookstore, such as notifying the agency server 10 that the book has been sold at the bookstore. The bookstore settlement unit 203 performs processing related to the price paid by the bookstore to the publication agency, such as receiving an invoice from the agency server 10 . The recommendation receiving unit 204 performs processing such as acquiring information on books recommended to bookstores from the agency server 10 . The bookstore terminal 20B also has the same function as the bookstore terminal 20A.

Next, structures of various DBs will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the structure of various DBs. In the following description, the attributes of various DBs will also be described, but the description of the attributes that have already been described will be omitted.

The bookstore master has the bookstore ID as the main key and the bookstore name, bookstore address, telephone number, bookstore sales floor area, closing date/payment method, name of person in charge, e-mail address, and bookstore score as non-key attributes. The bookstore ID is an identifier that uniquely identifies the bookstore. The bookstore name indicates the name of the bookstore. The bookstore address indicates the address of the bookstore. The phone number indicates the phone number of the bookstore. The bookstore sales floor area indicates the sales floor area of the bookstore. The closing date/payment method indicates the due date for totaling transactions for a predetermined period and the payment method (cash, credit, etc.). The name of person in charge indicates the name of the person in charge of the bookstore. The e-mail address indicates the e-mail address of the bookstore. The bookstore score indicates the current score of the bookstore.

The product master has product ID as a primary key, and product name, product information details, brokerage stock, supplier (publisher), wholesale price, author, copy, ISBN, and sales period as non-key attributes. A product ID is an identifier that uniquely identifies a product. The product name indicates the name of the product. The product information details indicate detailed information (for example, synopsis) of the product. The brokerage stock indicates the number of stocks of the product in question in the publication brokerage. The supplier indicates a supplier such as a publishing company from which the publication agent purchases the product. The wholesale price indicates the wholesale price of the product. The author indicates the author of the product. The print shows the appearance of the product. ISBN is an identifier for internationally identifying the product. The sales period indicates the sales period of the product.

The bookstore inventory master has the bookstore ID and product ID as primary keys, and the bookstore inventory, the number of purchases, and the number of returned copies as non-key attributes. The bookstore inventory indicates the inventory of the product indicated by the product ID at the bookstore indicated by the bookstore ID. The number of purchases indicates the number of products indicated by the product ID purchased by the bookstore indicated by the bookstore ID. The number of returned books indicates the number of products indicated by the product ID that have been returned by the bookstore indicated by the bookstore ID.

The order returned book master has the order ID as a primary key, and the product ID, bookstore ID, number of orders/number of returned books, order date, and order status as non-key attributes. An order ID is an identifier that uniquely identifies an order. The handling product ID is the product ID of the product ordered or returned. The number of orders/number of returned products indicates the number of ordered products or the number of returned products. The order date indicates the date on which the order was placed. The order status indicates the state of the order.

The order handling product master has the handling product ID as a primary key, and has product ID, selling price, sales period, handling quantity, product score, and order quantity score as non-key attributes. The selling price indicates the selling price of the product when it is sold at the bookstore. The number of items handled indicates the number of items handled with the item ID. A product score is a score given to each product. The number-of-orders score is a score determined according to the number of orders.

The purchase master has purchase ID as a primary key and order ID, supplier, and purchase flag as non-key attributes. The purchase ID is an identifier that uniquely identifies the purchase. The supplier indicates the supplier of the purchased product. The purchase flag indicates the state of purchase. The shipping management master has the shipping ID as a primary key and the order ID, shipping company information, and shipping status as non-key attributes. A shipment ID is an identifier that uniquely identifies a shipment. The delivery company information is information indicating a delivery company that delivers the shipped product. The shipping status indicates the state of shipping.

The bookstore purchase master has the purchase ID as a primary key and the bookstore ID, product ID, number of purchases, and settlement date as non-key attributes. A purchase ID is information that uniquely identifies a purchase. The number of purchases indicates the number of products sold to consumers. The settlement date indicates the date on which the payment for the purchase of the product was settled. The settlement master has the purchase ID as a primary key and the bookstore ID, settlement information, number of purchases, and billing amount as non-key attributes. The settlement information indicates information related to settlement such as settlement method. The number of purchases indicates the number of products sold during a predetermined period.

The various DBs described above may be stored in the agency server 10, or may be stored in another device that the agency server 10 can update and refer to. Next, an example of a screen displayed on the bookstore terminal 20A will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on the bookstore terminal 20A.

FIG. 4A shows an example of a startup screen displayed on the bookstore terminal 20A when the agency server 10 is accessed. A login field 210 and a new registration field 211 are displayed on the startup screen. A login field 210 is an area for entering a bookstore ID (ID in the figure) and a password (PW in the figure). The ID and password are issued by the agency server 10 when the bookstore is registered with the agency server 10 . When the OK button under the login field 210 is selected, the entered ID and password are transmitted to the agency server 10, and when the authentication is successful, the menu screen shown in FIG. 4(C) is displayed.

If the bookstore is not registered in the agency server 10 and the OK button under the new registration field 211 is selected, the registration screen shown in FIG. 4B is displayed. FIG. 4B is a diagram showing an example of the registration screen. A bookstore information input field 212 is displayed on the registration screen. When the bookstore clerk inputs various information and selects the registration button, the input various information is transmitted to the agency server 10 . If there is no problem with the received various information, the agency server 10 registers it as a bookstore master indicating the various information. At this time, the ID and password are transmitted to the bookstore terminal 20A.

FIG. 4C is a diagram showing an example of the menu screen. A menu button group 213 and a notification column 214 are displayed on the menu screen. The menu button group 213 includes a bookstore information button, an order button, a book return button, and a payment button. The bookstore information button is a button for displaying registration information of the bookstore. The order button is a button for ordering products. When the order button is selected, the order screen of FIG. 4(D) is displayed. The book return button is a button for returning the product. The payment button is a button for downloading a bill indicating the price to be paid to the publishing agency. The notification column 214 displays various information such as recommendation information received from the agency server 10 . Further, when "see more" displayed on the menu screen is selected, further information is displayed in the notification column 214. FIG.

FIG. 4D is a diagram showing an example of an order screen. A search field 215 and an order field 216 are displayed on the order screen. The search field 215 is composed of a text box and a search button. When the search button is selected, the product searched for by the input character string (XYZ in the drawing) is displayed in the order column 216. FIG. In the order field 216, the title, publisher, author, and summary of the searched product are displayed for each product, and an order button is displayed for each product. In the case of FIG. 4D, three products are displayed, but the number is not limited to three, and zero or more products can be displayed according to the search results. A bookstore clerk can order a product by selecting an order button corresponding to the desired product. By selecting the order status/history button on the order screen, the order history and order status are displayed.

Next, an example of a screen displayed on the bookstore terminal 20B will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on the bookstore terminal 20B. FIG. 5A shows an example of a startup screen displayed on the bookstore terminal 20B when the agency server 10 is accessed. A login field 220 and a new registration button 221 are displayed on the startup screen. When the new registration button 221 is selected, a screen for tablet terminals corresponding to the registration screen of FIG. 4B is displayed.

A login field 220 is an area for entering a bookstore ID (ID in the figure) and a password (PW in the figure). The ID and password are issued by the agency server 10 when the bookstore is registered with the agency server 10 . When the OK button under the login field 220 is selected, the entered ID and password are transmitted to the agency server 10, and if the authentication is successful, the menu screen shown in FIG. 5B is displayed.

FIG. 5B is a diagram showing an example of the menu screen. A menu button group 222 and a notification column 223 are displayed on the menu screen. The menu button group 222 includes a bookstore information button, an order button, a book return button, and a payment button. The bookstore information button is a button for displaying registration information of the bookstore. The order button is a button for ordering products. When the order button is selected, the order screen of FIG. 5(C) is displayed. The book return button is a button for returning the product. The payment button is a button for downloading a bill indicating the price to be paid to the publishing agency. The notification column 223 displays various information such as recommendation information received from the agency server 10 . The text displayed in the notification column 223 can be scrolled, and further information is displayed by scrolling.

FIG. 5C is a diagram showing an example of an order screen. A search field 224 and a scan image display field 225 are displayed on the order screen. The search field 224 is composed of a text box and a search button. When the search button is selected, the scan image display field 225 is cleared, and the product retrieved by the input character string (XYZ in the figure) is displayed in the area where the scan image display field 225 was displayed. An image captured by the camera of the tablet terminal is displayed in the scan image display field 225 . Then, when the ISBN code is imaged by the camera, the ISBN code is recognized, and the product corresponding to the recognized ISBN code is displayed in the empty area by erasing the scan image display column 225 . By selecting "search from order history", it is possible to easily search for previously ordered products.

Next, the flow of processing performed by the bookstore terminal 20, the agency server 10, and the publication server 40 will be described. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing bookstore registration processing. The bookstore terminal 20 displays the registration screen of FIG. 4B (step S101). When the bookstore clerk inputs various information (step S102) and selects the registration button (step S103), the bookstore terminal 20 transmits a registration request for new registration of the bookstore to the agency server 10 (step S103). S104). The registration request includes various types of input information.

Upon receiving the registration request, the agency server 10 registers the bookstore in the bookstore master based on various information (step S105). At this time, a bookstore score is given (step S106). The agency server 10 transmits the bookstore ID and password to the bookstore terminal 20 (step S107), and ends the process. The bookstore ID and password are sent by e-mail, for example.

Next, order processing will be described. 7, 8, and 9 are sequence diagrams showing order processing. In FIG. 7, the bookstore terminal 20 displays the startup screen shown in FIG. 4A (step S201). When the bookstore ID and password are entered (step S202) and the OK button is selected (step S203), the bookstore terminal 20 transmits a login request to the agency server 10. FIG. This login request includes the bookstore ID and password.

The agency server 10 performs authentication using the bookstore ID and password (step S205). Here, it is assumed that the authentication has succeeded, but if the authentication fails, the bookstore terminal 20 displays that the authentication has failed.

When the authentication is successful, the agency server 10 transmits a menu response showing the menu screen shown in FIG. 4(C) (step S206). When the bookstore terminal 20 receives the menu response, it displays the menu screen (step S207), and when the order button is selected (step S208), it transmits an order screen request to the agency server 10 (step S209). The agency server 10 transmits an order response indicating an order screen (step S210). When the bookstore terminal 20 receives the order response, it displays an order screen (step S211). When the bookstore clerk enters a character string in the text box of the search column 215 and selects the search button (step S212), A search request is transmitted to the agency server 10 (step S213). This search request contains the string entered in the text box.

Upon receiving the search request, the agency server 10 searches for the character string included in the search request in the product name and product information details of the product master (step S214). The agency server 10 transmits a search response indicating the search results (step S215). The bookstore terminal 20 that has received the search response displays the search results (step S216). When the order button is selected by the clerk on the order screen (step S217), the bookstore terminal 20 transmits an order request to the agency server 10 (step S218). The agency server 10 that has received the order request performs a score check (step S219). Details of the score check will be described later. Here, it is assumed that the score check determines that the order is possible.

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing order processing (Part 2). If the score check determines that the order can be placed, the agency server 10 issues an order ID from the order return master (step S301). The agency server 10 updates the bookstore inventory and the agency inventory (step S302). Specifically, in step S302, the agency server 10 inquires the bookstore inventory master using the handling product ID (product ID) and the bookstore ID of the order-returned book master as keys, increases the bookstore inventory by the number of returned books ordered, The merchandise master is queried using the merchandise ID as a key, and the stock on commission is reduced by the number of returned items ordered. If the ordered product is the first product for the bookstore, the bookstore inventory master does not exist, so the process of step S302 is performed after newly registering the bookstore inventory master.

After step S302, if the wholesaler inventory in the product master becomes negative, it is necessary to place an order with the publisher because of the lack of inventory in the publishing agency. Here, it is assumed that the brokerage inventory in the product master has not become negative. The agency server 10 registers the order ID, delivery company information, and shipping status in the shipping management master (step S303).

The bookstore terminal 20 can always check the status of the ordered product on the order screen. Specifically, when the clerk selects the order status/history button on the order screen, the bookstore terminal 20 transmits a history request to the agency server 10 (step S304). Upon receiving the history request, the agency server 10 acquires the shipping status of the shipping management master (step S305), and transmits the acquired shipping status to the bookstore terminal 20 as a history response (step S306). The bookstore terminal 20 that has received the history response displays the received shipping status (step S307).

When the ordered product is shipped, the publishing agency updates the shipping status of the shipping management master to "shipped" (step S308). At the bookstore, when the product has been delivered, the receipt is input by the store clerk at the bookstore terminal 20 (step S309). The bookstore terminal 20 transmits a receipt notification to the agency server 10 (step S310). This acknowledgment includes the shipment ID. The agency server 10 that has received the receipt notification updates the shipment status to "received" (step S311).

FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing order processing (Part 3). This order processing (Part 3) shows the processing when the brokerage stock of the product master becomes negative after step S302 in the order processing (Part 2). The agency server 10 registers the order ID, the supplier, and the purchase flag in the purchase master (step S401), and transmits an order notification to the publication server 40 (step S402). This order notification includes the purchase ID and ISBN. When the publisher ships the product, the publication server 40 transmits a shipping notification to the agency server 10 (step S403). The agency server 10 that has received the shipping notification registers the order ID, delivery company information, and shipping status in the shipping management master (step S404). Since the processing after this is the same as the processing after step S303 in FIG. 8, it is omitted.

FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing book return processing. The bookstore terminal 20 transmits a returned book information request to the agency server 10 in order to display the returned book screen (step S501). This returned book information request includes the bookstore ID. The agency server 10, which has received the return information request, inquires the order return master (step S502), and transmits a list of returnable products as a return information response (step S503). The bookstore terminal 20 displays a book return screen based on the returned book information response (step S504). (step S506). This return request includes the merchandise ID and the bookstore ID. Upon receiving the return request, the agency server 10 inquires the bookstore inventory master from the product ID and the bookstore ID, updates the bookstore inventory and the agency inventory (step S507), and returns the order status of the order return master of the product requested to be returned. It is updated to completed (step S508), and the process ends. In step S507, the brokerage inventory in the merchandise master is increased by the number of returned books, the bookstore inventory in the bookstore inventory master is decreased by the number of returned books, and the returned number in the bookstore inventory master is increased by the number of returned books.

FIG. 11A is a sequence diagram showing purchase processing. When the product is sold, the bookstore terminal 20 transmits a purchase notification to the agency server 10 (step S601). This purchase notification includes the bookstore ID, product ID, number of purchases, and settlement date. The agency server 10 that has received the purchase notification registers the bookstore ID, the product ID, the number of purchases, and the settlement date in the bookstore purchase master (step S602). The agency server 10 updates the bookstore inventory and the number of purchases in the bookstore inventory master (step S603), and terminates the process. Specifically, the agency server 10 decreases the bookstore inventory in the bookstore inventory master by the number of purchases included in the purchase notification, and increases the purchase number in the bookstore inventory master by the number of purchases included in the purchase notification.

FIG. 11B is a sequence diagram showing settlement processing. When the closing date for the bookstore master arrives, the brokerage server 10 registers the bookstore ID, settlement information, number of purchases, and wholesale price in the settlement master (step S701). The agency server 10 generates a bill based on the settlement master (step S702). After generating the invoice, the bookstore terminal 20 transmits a settlement request to the agency server 10 (step S703), and the agency server 10 transmits the invoice as a request response (step S704). is displayed (step S705). The invoice may include information, for example, guiding various payment methods.

Next, the score will be explained. The score in this embodiment is used to determine whether or not the agency server 10 accepts the order from the bookstore terminal 20 . That is, it is used to limit the items that a bookstore can order.

As an example of how the scores are used, a bookstore score is set for each bookstore ID, and orders for expensive products are not accepted from bookstores with low bookstore scores. Also, the bookstore score increases in proportion to the number of products sold at the bookstore, and decreases as the bookstore inventory increases. For books with a sales period, if the stock exceeds the sales period, the stock may be reduced more.

As another example of operation, the number of products that can be ordered in a certain period (for example, one month) may be restricted according to the bookstore score. The number of products that can be ordered in a month is calculated by subtracting the bookstore inventory quantity from the allowable quantity calculated by the bookstore score. As a result, it is possible to prevent unnecessary orders, and especially when there is a large amount of inventory, new orders may not be possible. For example, if the bookstore score is 100, the allowable number of stocks is 1000. In this case, if there are 900 books in stock at the present time, only up to 100 books can be ordered.

Based on these score management examples, the bookstore score, product score, and number-of-orders score used by the scoring unit 107 in this embodiment will be described. A bookstore score is assigned to each bookstore ID. A product score and an order quantity score are defined for each product. The required score is determined using the product score and the number-of-orders score based on the product the bookstore wants to order and the number of products. If the bookstore score exceeds the required score, the bookstore can order the product.

Let P(id) be the product score of product ID id, Q(id) be the number of orders score, and R(id) be the number of orders for the product with product ID id. Determined by
NS=Σ(P(id)+Q(id)×R(id)) (Formula 1)
Σ in Equation 1 indicates the sum of product IDs of all ordered products.

The bookstore score SS is updated according to the number of purchases and the number of books in stock at the bookstore. Let X(id) be the additional value added per product when the product with the product ID of id is sold. Let A(id) be the number of sales of a product whose product ID is id. Let Y(id) be a subtraction value to be subtracted for each item in stock with the item ID of id. Let B(id) be the inventory quantity of the product with the product ID of id. It should be noted that the subtraction value Y(id) differs depending on whether it is within the product sales period or not. That is, there are two types of values, a subtraction value Y(id) within the sales period and a subtraction value Y(id) after the sales period, and the value after the sales period is larger. Therefore, the larger the stock after the sales period, the more the amount will be subtracted.

The updated bookstore score SS is determined by the following formula.
Bookstore score SS after update = Bookstore score SS before update
+ΣA(id)×X(id)−Σ′B(id)×Y(id) (Equation 2)
Σ in Equation 2 indicates the sum of the product IDs of all the products sold. Σ' in Equation 2 indicates the sum of the product IDs of all stocks.

As shown in Equation 1, the required score NS is a value determined according to the product and the number of orders, and the required score increases in proportion to the number of orders. Also, as shown in Equation 2, the bookstore score SS is a value determined by the number of sales and the number of inventories, increases in proportion to the number of sales, and decreases in proportion to the number of inventories.

Description will be made using specific numerical values. The scores for products A, B, and C are as follows.
Product A: Product Score (30), Number of Orders Score (1)
Product B: product score (50), number of orders score (2)
Product C: product score (80), number of orders score (2)
Also, the bookstore score SS is assumed to be 100.
At this time, when the bookstore orders 10 copies of product A and 4 copies of product B, the agency server 10 calculates the required score.
Required score NS = Product A score (30) + Product A order count score (1 x 10) + Product B score (50) + Product B order count score (2 x 4) = 98
Since the bookstore score SS (100) is higher than the required score NS (98), the agency server 10 accepts the order.

It is assumed that the bookstore sells 8 copies of product A and 0 copies of product B after the products have been received by this order. Assume that 10 copies of product C are ordered while product A is within its sales period and product B has expired. Further, the additional value X due to the sale of the product A is assumed to be 2, and the additional value X due to the sale of the product B is assumed to be 4. Assume that the subtraction value Y during the sale period of the product A is 1, and the subtraction value Y after the sale period of the product B is 4.

In this case, the agency server 10 first calculates the required score NS.
Necessary score NS = Product C score (80) + Product C order number score (2 x 10) = 100
Next, the agency server 10 updates the bookstore score SS.
Post-update bookstore score SS = Pre-update bookstore score SS (100) + product A additional value X (2) x sales volume (8) + product B additional value X (4) x sales volume (0) - product A subtraction Value Y (1) x Inventory quantity (2) - Product B subtraction value Y (4) x Inventory quantity (4) = 98
Since the bookstore score SS (98) does not exceed the required score NS (100), the agency server 10 does not accept the order.

By using the score in this way, the agency server 10 can appropriately accept orders from bookstores without excessive inventory and a large number of returned books. In addition, since the bookstore score is based on the inventory of the bookstore, the agency server 10 can appropriately accept orders according to the inventory. Furthermore, the bookstore score increases as the number of sales increases, and it becomes possible to accept orders for a larger number of products, so that incentives for bookstore sales can be provided.

As shown in the embodiments described above, according to the present embodiment, in principle, bookstores can freely order products. In addition, according to the present embodiment, since only the price of the product sold to the consumer is paid, there is no need to settle the account when the book is returned. can do.

In addition, in the past, it was common for publishers or publishing agents to set the number of copies to be distributed to bookstores, so bookstores did not have enough freedom in purchasing books. Since it becomes possible to place an order arbitrarily, the degree of freedom in purchasing books is improved for the bookstore side. In other words, according to the present embodiment, for the bookstore, it is possible to reduce the decrease in the degree of freedom in purchasing due to book distribution.

In addition, since the publisher or the publishing agent can grasp the inventory status of the bookstore, it becomes easier to estimate the number of returned books and manage the returned books.

In the present embodiment, the inventory of the publishing agency and the inventory of the bookstore are updated immediately when an operation for updating the inventory (an operation for ordering a product or an operation for returning a book) occurs, but the product actually becomes the inventory. It may be updated at the timing when the product is actually returned or when the product is actually returned.

In the above-described embodiment, for the sake of clarity, FIG. There are multiple bookstores. Therefore, for example, since an agency server is provided for each publication agency, there are a plurality of agency servers. In this case, since the common DB 108 indicating bookstore inventory and bookstore scores can be data common to any publishing agency, the common DB 108 is configured so that it can be referred to by a plurality of publishing agencies. may

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing, as an example, a configuration example when referring to the common DB 108 from three publishers (A company, B company, and C company). FIG. 12 shows an agency server 200A as an agency server for company A, an agency server 200B as an agency server for company B, and an agency server 200C as an agency server for company C. FIG. A different point from the configuration shown in FIG. 2 is that the common DB 108 included in the agency server 10 of FIG. By doing so, each publishing agency can share and refer to the common DB 108 (merchandise master, bookstore master, and bookstore inventory master).

It should be noted that each configuration included in the merchandise management system 100 described above has a computer system therein. Then, a program for realizing the function of each configuration provided in the product management system 100 described above is recorded in a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded in this recording medium is read into a computer system and executed. , the processing in each configuration provided in the merchandise management system 100 described above may be performed. Here, "loading and executing the program recorded on the recording medium into the computer system" includes installing the program in the computer system. The "computer system" here includes hardware such as an OS and peripheral devices.
Also, the "computer system" may include a plurality of computer devices connected via a network including communication lines such as the Internet, WAN, LAN, and dedicated lines. The term "computer-readable recording medium" refers to portable media such as flexible discs, magneto-optical discs, ROMs and CD-ROMs, and storage devices such as hard discs incorporated in computer systems. Thus, the recording medium storing the program may be a non-transitory recording medium such as a CD-ROM.

Recording media also include internal or external recording media accessible from the distribution server for distributing the program. Note that the program may be divided into a plurality of programs, and after downloading the programs at different timings, the programs may be united in each structure provided in the product management system 100, or the distribution servers that distribute the divided programs may be different. In addition, "computer-readable recording medium" is a volatile memory (RAM) inside a computer system that acts as a server or client when the program is transmitted via a network, and retains the program for a certain period of time. It shall also include things. Further, the program may be for realizing part of the functions described above. Further, it may be a so-called difference file (difference program) that can realize the above functions by combining with a program already recorded in the computer system.

Also, part or all of the functions described above may be implemented as an integrated circuit such as an LSI (Large Scale Integration). Each function mentioned above may be processor-ized individually, and may integrate|stack and processor-ize a part or all. Also, the method of circuit integration is not limited to LSI, but may be realized by a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. In addition, when an integration circuit technology that replaces LSI appears due to advances in semiconductor technology, an integrated circuit based on this technology may be used.

10 Agency Server 20 Bookstore Terminal 40 Publishing Server 100 Merchandise Management System 101 Purchasing Department 102 Bookstore Order Receiving Department 103 Shipping Management Department 104 Purchasing Management Department 105 Agency Accounting Department 106 Recommendation Department 107 Scoring Department

Claims (4)

A product management system in a bookstore and a publishing agency,
a reception unit that receives a product order instruction from the bookstore terminal of the bookstore to the publication agency;
a registration unit for registering purchase information related to the sale of a product at the bookstore;
a bookstore inventory updating unit that updates product inventory in the bookstore when the order instruction is received by the reception unit or when the purchase information is registered by the registration unit;
a brokerage inventory update unit that updates the inventory of products in the publication brokerage when the order instruction is accepted by the reception unit;
a checkout unit for generating checkout information indicating a price to be paid by the bookstore to the publication agent based on the purchase information registered by the registration unit ;
a determining unit that determines to accept an order for a product indicated in the order instruction accepted by the accepting unit when the bookstore score exceeds the required score;
with
The bookstore score increases in proportion to the number of products sold at the bookstore and decreases in proportion to the number of products in stock at the bookstore,
The merchandise management system , wherein the required score increases in proportion to the number of merchandise ordered . Regarding the required score, when the product score of product ID id is P(id), the number of orders score is Q(id), and the number of orders of the product with product ID id is R(id), the required score NS is defined by Equation 1 below,
NS=Σ(P(id)+Q(id)×R(id)) (Formula 1)
(Σ in Formula 1 indicates the sum of product IDs of all products to be ordered)
Regarding the bookstore score, let X(id) be the added value added per product when the product with the product ID of id is sold, and let A(id) be the number of sales of the product with the product ID of id. When Y (id) is the subtraction value to be subtracted per inventory of the product with id, and B (id) is the inventory quantity of the product with the product ID of id, the updated bookstore score SS is as follows: 2. The product management system according to claim 1, defined by Equation 2.
Bookstore score SS after update = Bookstore score SS before update
+ΣA(id)×X(id)−Σ′B(id)×Y(id) (Equation 2)
(Σ in Formula 2 indicates the sum of product IDs of all sold products. Σ′ in Formula 2 indicates the sum of product IDs of all inventory) A merchandise management method,
a receiving step of receiving a product order instruction from a bookstore terminal of a bookstore to a publishing agency;
a registration step of registering purchase information related to the sale when the product is sold at the bookstore;
a bookstore inventory update step of updating the inventory of the product at the bookstore when the order instruction is received by the receiving step or when the purchase information is registered by the registering step;
a brokerage inventory update step of updating the inventory of products in the publication agency when the order instruction is accepted by the acceptance step;
a settlement step of generating settlement information indicating a price to be paid by the bookstore to the publication agency based on the purchase information registered in the registration step ;
a determining step for determining that the order for the product indicated in the order instruction accepted by the accepting step is to be accepted when the bookstore score exceeds the required score;
with
The bookstore score increases in proportion to the number of products sold at the bookstore and decreases in proportion to the number of products in stock at the bookstore,
The merchandise management method , wherein the required score increases in proportion to the number of merchandise ordered . to the computer,
a receiving step of receiving a product order instruction from a bookstore terminal of a bookstore to a publishing agency;
a registration step of registering purchase information related to the sale when the product is sold at the bookstore;
a bookstore inventory update step of updating the inventory of the product at the bookstore when the order instruction is received by the receiving step or when the purchase information is registered by the registering step;
a brokerage inventory update step of updating the inventory of products in the publication agency when the order instruction is accepted by the acceptance step;
a settlement step of generating settlement information indicating a price to be paid by the bookstore to the publication agency based on the purchase information registered in the registration step ;
a determining step for determining that the order for the product indicated in the order instruction accepted by the accepting step is to be accepted when the bookstore score exceeds the required score;
is a program for executing
The bookstore score increases in proportion to the number of products sold at the bookstore and decreases in proportion to the number of products in stock at the bookstore,
The program, wherein the required score increases in proportion to the number of products ordered.

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