JP7387319B2 - Information processing device and information processing program - Google Patents

Description

Embodiments of the present invention relate to an information processing device and an information processing program.

In order to manage sales performance at a store, it is useful to compare sales among multiple stores. However, it goes without saying that the amount of sales varies from store to store depending on various conditions such as the number of customers visiting the store, the customer base, and the layout of the shelves. For this reason, when comparing sales between multiple stores, it is common to normalize the sales of each store.
One normalization method is a method using sales ratios between stores. The sales ratio is the ratio of the total sales amount of products sold at both stores at both stores. Therefore, the sales ratio is an index value that indicates how many times the sales can be expected at one store compared to the other store when the same product is sold at two stores. Then, the normalized sales amount is obtained by dividing the sales amount for each product sold by one of the two stores by the sales ratio.

In this method, when comparing sales at a large number of stores, sales ratios must be calculated for all combinations of two stores among the large number of stores. Therefore, the order of the amount of calculation is O(n^2) if the number of stores is expressed as n. In other words, as the number of stores increases, the amount of calculation will increase significantly.
Under these circumstances, it has been desired to be able to keep the amount of calculations low even when performing normalization to compare sales for a large number of stores.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-136594

An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing device and an information processing program that can reduce the amount of calculation even when performing normalization for comparing sales for a large number of stores.

The information processing apparatus of the embodiment includes an acquisition means, a calculation means, and a normalization means. The acquisition means acquires data for each of the three or more stores to determine the sales amount for each product sold at the store. The calculation method is the total sales at the reference store for products sold together at the reference store, which is one of the three or more stores, and the target store, which is different from the reference store among the three or more stores. A process of calculating the ratio between the amount and the total sales amount at the target store based on the data acquired by the acquisition means is performed for each of the plurality of target stores among the three or more stores. The normalization means performs processing for each of the plurality of target stores to normalize the sales amount for each product determined from the data acquired by the acquisition means regarding the target store by the ratio calculated by the calculation means for the target store.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a main circuit configuration of an information providing server according to an embodiment and a schematic configuration of an information providing system to which the information providing server is applied. 2 is a flowchart of aggregation processing by the processor in FIG. 1.

An example of an embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, an information providing server that has a function as an information processing device and provides information via a communication network will be described as an example.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the main circuit configuration of an information providing server 1 according to this embodiment and the schematic configuration of an information providing system to which the information providing server 1 is applied.
This information providing system includes an information providing server 1, a plurality of store systems 2, and an information terminal 3. The information providing server 1, the plurality of store systems 2, and the information terminals 3 are capable of communicating via the communication network 4.
Note that in this embodiment, the "store" may be either a physical store or a virtual store. The plurality of stores may include a mixture of physical stores and virtual stores. However, in this embodiment, only physical stores are available.

The information providing server 1 executes information processing for providing an information providing service to be described later. The information providing server 1 is operated by, for example, a business that provides information providing services. The information providing server 1 may be owned by the business operator, or a rental server may be used. In other words, the information providing service is provided as a cloud service from the perspective of the user of the information providing service. Furthermore, it does not matter whether the information provision service is provided for profit or non-profit. The business operator that provides the information provision service may be the same business operator that operates the store.

The store system 2 is provided for each store that sells products. The store system 2 includes a plurality of POS terminals 21, a store server 22, and an in-store communication network 23. The POS terminal 21 performs information processing related to registration, accounting, payment, etc. related to product sales. The POS terminal 21 then sends the sales data obtained as a result of such information processing to the store server 22. The sales data includes store code, transaction date and time, product list, payment result, customer code, etc., and may be the same type of data used in existing POS systems. The store code is a predetermined code for identifying the store where the POS terminal 21 is installed. The transaction date and time is the date and time when the transaction was performed. The product list is a list showing SKU (stock keeping unit) codes determined to identify products sold in the corresponding transaction and the sales amount of each product. As the SKU code, a JAN (Japan article number) code may be used, or another predetermined code may be used. Note that SKU represents a group of products in sales management. For example, if a large number of similar products called "mixed sandwiches" are sold, these similar products called "mixed sandwiches" will be classified as belonging to the same SKU and will have the same SKU code. Identified by The payment result indicates the amount paid and the payment method applied.

The store server 22 collects and manages sales data sent from a plurality of POS terminals 21. The store server 22 sends the collected sales data all at once to the information providing server 1 at a predetermined timing. The store server 22 may add arbitrary data to the sales data. For example, the POS terminal 21 may not include the store code in the sales data, and the store server 22 may add the store code to the sales data.
The plurality of store systems 2 may all belong to the same company, or may belong to any one of a plurality of companies. However, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the plurality of store systems 2 all belong to the same company.

The information terminal 3 is an information processing device used by a viewer such as a store staff member to confirm various information provided by the information providing server 1 for sales data management. As the information terminal 3, it is assumed that an existing device with a web browsing function, such as a personal computer, a tablet terminal, a smartphone, or a wearable terminal, is used. Note that although a plurality of information terminals 3 may be included in the information providing system, only one is illustrated in FIG.

The communication network 4 transmits various data exchanged between the information providing server 1, the store system 2, and the information terminal 3. As the communication network 4, the Internet, a VPN (virtual private network), a LAN (local area network), a public communication network, a mobile communication network, etc. can be used alone or in an appropriate combination.

The information providing server 1 includes a processor 11, a main memory 12, an auxiliary storage unit 13, a communication interface 14, and a transmission path 15. As the hardware of this information providing server 1, for example, a general-purpose server computer device can be used.
In the information providing server 1, a processor 11, a main memory 12, and an auxiliary storage unit 13 are connected by a transmission path 15, thereby forming a computer that performs information processing to realize the functions of the information providing server 1. There is.
The processor 11 corresponds to the central part of the computer. The processor 11 executes the above information processing according to various information processing programs such as an operating system and application programs.

The main memory 12 corresponds to the main memory portion of the computer. Main memory 12 includes a nonvolatile memory area and a volatile memory area. The main memory 12 stores the above information processing program in a nonvolatile memory area. The main memory 12 may also store data necessary for the processor 11 to perform various information processing in a non-volatile or volatile memory area. The main memory 12 uses a volatile memory area as a work area in which data is appropriately rewritten by the processor 11.

The auxiliary storage unit 13 corresponds to the auxiliary storage portion of the computer. The auxiliary storage unit 13 is, for example, an EEPROM (electric erasable programmable read-only memory), an HDD (hard disc drive), or an SSD (solid state drive). The auxiliary storage unit 13 stores data used by the processor 11 to perform various information processing and data generated by processing by the processor 11. The auxiliary storage unit 13 may also store the above information processing program.
One of the information processing programs stored in the auxiliary storage unit 13 is the information providing program P1. The information providing program P1 is an information processing program that describes information processing to be described later for providing information. Further, a part of the storage area of the auxiliary storage unit 13 is used as an area for storing collected data D1 and sales table D2.

A plurality of pieces of collected data D1 can be stored in the auxiliary storage unit 13. The collected data D1 is associated with any one of the plurality of store systems 2. The collected data D1 is data obtained by accumulating sales data obtained in a predetermined unit period in the associated store system 2. The unit period may be arbitrarily determined by the creator of the information providing program P1, the administrator of the information providing server 1, or the like. In this embodiment, the unit period is one day. It is also assumed that the unit period may be one week or one month.

A plurality of sales tables D2 can be stored in the auxiliary storage unit 13. The sales table D2 is associated with a store where one of the plurality of store systems 2 is installed. The sales table D2 is table data representing, for each product, the sales amount normalized by information processing described later regarding sales at associated stores.

The communication interface 14 is an interface for data communication via the communication network 4.
The transmission line 15 includes an address bus, a data bus, a control signal line, etc., and transmits data and control signals exchanged between the connected parts.

Next, the operation of the information providing server 1 configured as above will be explained. Note that the contents of various processes described below are merely examples, and the order of some processes may be changed, some processes may be omitted, or other processes may be added as appropriate.
When a transaction involving the sale of a product is performed at a store, the POS terminal 21 generates sales data regarding the transaction. Sales data generated by each of the plurality of POS terminals 21 included in one store system 2 is collected from the POS terminals 21 to the store server 22 at predetermined timings. Note that the processing in these store systems 2 may be similar to the processing in existing POS systems and the like.

Now, in the information providing server 1, the processor 11 executes the aggregation process described below based on the information providing program P1 at a predetermined execution timing for each unit period. For example, if the unit period is one day and the business hours of each store are from daytime to nighttime, the execution timing is set to a certain time late at night every day.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart of aggregation processing by the processor 11.
In the following, specific examples will be included in the explanation of information processing based on this flowchart. In this specific example, for the sake of simplicity, it is assumed that there are three stores: a first store, a second store, and a third store. Assume that the sales amount of the first product in the most recent day is 1 million yen, 0 yen, and 4 million yen at the first, second, and third stores. Assume that the sales amount of the second product in the most recent day is 2 million yen, 3 million yen, and 5 million yen at the first, second, and third stores. It is also assumed that the sales amount of the third product in the most recent day is 3 million yen, 7 million yen, and 0 yen at the first, second, and third stores.

As ACT 1, the processor 11 collects sales data for the most recent day from each store server 22 of the plurality of store systems 2. At this time, the processor 11 associates the sales data received from the store server 22 with the store server 22 that sent it, and adds it to the collected data D1. The sales data is an example of data for determining the sales amount for each product sold at the store. As the processor 11 executes information processing based on the information providing program P1, the computer having the processor 11 as a core functions as an acquisition means.

In ACT2, the processor 11 checks whether the default store has been registered. The default store is a store where one of the store systems 2 is installed. The default store is arbitrarily determined, for example, by the administrator of the information providing server 1. In another setting process, the processor 11 stores the store code of the store specified by the administrator in the main memory 12 or the auxiliary storage unit 13 as the store code of the default store. Then, the processor 11 determines YES in ACT2 if, for example, the store code of the default store is stored in the main memory 12 or the auxiliary storage unit 13, and proceeds to ACT3.
In ACT3, the processor 11 sets the default store as the reference store. The processor 11 then proceeds to ACT5.

On the other hand, if the store code of the default store is not stored in the main memory 12 or the auxiliary storage unit 13, the processor 11 determines NO in ACT2 and proceeds to ACT4.
In ACT4, the processor 11 sets one store among a plurality of stores in which a plurality of store systems 2 are provided as a reference store according to a predetermined rule. The processor 11 then proceeds to ACT5. The above rules may be determined by the creator of the information providing program P1 or the user of the information providing server 1. For example, the above rule is assumed to be that the number of SKUs of products sold within a unit period is the largest. For example, the above rule assumes that the total sales amount in a unit period is the maximum. For example, the above rule assumes that the total number of sales items in a unit period is the maximum.

If the rule is that the number of SKUs of products sold within a unit period is the largest, then in the specific example, the processor 11 sets the first store as the reference store. In the description of the specific example below, the first store is thus assumed to be the reference store.
As the processor 11 executes information processing based on the information providing program P1, the computer having the processor 11 as a core functions as a setting means.

In ACT5, the processor 11 selects one store other than the reference store from among the plurality of stores in which the plurality of store systems 2 are provided as the target store. In the specific example, the processor 11 first selects the second store as the target store.
In ACT6, the processor 11 determines the products sold at both the reference store and the target store within the unit period. That is, the processor 11 extracts all the SKU codes commonly included in the most recent day's worth of sales data obtained for the reference store and the target store in ACT1. The product identified by the SKU code extracted here is a product sold at both the reference store and the target store. In a specific example, if the second store is the target store, the processor 11 determines that the second product and the third product are products that have been sold together.

In ACT7, the processor 11 calculates the total sales amount at the reference store and the total sales amount at the target store for all the products determined in ACT6. For example, the processor 11 calculates the total sales amount at the reference store by performing the calculation described below using the sales data acquired regarding the reference store in ACT1. Further, the processor 11 calculates the total sales amount at the target store by performing calculations described below using the sales data acquired regarding the target store in ACT1, for example.
Here, the product list included in the sales data may be expressed by associating the SKU code with the number and selling price, or may be expressed by associating the SKU code with the selling price without showing the number. In the latter case, the product list may include multiple identical SKU codes. However, since sales data usually includes multiple product lists, sales data may include multiple identical SKU codes. Therefore, when the product list represents the number of items, the processor 11 individually multiplies the sales amount and number of items associated with the SKU code extracted in ACT6 in the sales data. If the sales data includes a plurality of SKU codes extracted in ACT 6, the processor 11 calculates the sum of the above multiplication results for these codes, and uses this as the total sales amount. If the product list does not indicate the number of items, the processor 11 calculates the sum of the sales amounts expressed in the sales data in association with the SKU code extracted in ACT6, and sets this as the total sales amount.
In a specific example, the processor 11 calculates the total sales amount of the reference store to be 5 million yen. Furthermore, if the second store is the target store, the processor 11 calculates the total sales amount of the target store to be 10 million yen.

In ACT8, the processor 11 calculates the sales ratio between the reference store and the target store. For example, the processor 11 sets the ratio between the total sales amount of the reference store and the total sales amount of the target store calculated in ACT7 as the sales ratio. In a specific example, the processor 11 calculates the ratio of the above total sales amount as 10 million yen/5 million yen=2.
In ACT9, the processor 11 selects one of the products determined to be sold together in ACT6 as the target product. In a specific example, the processor 11 selects, for example, the second product as the target product.

As ACT10, the processor 11 normalizes the sales amount of the target product at the target store. For example, the processor 11 calculates the normalized sales amount by dividing the sales amount of the target product at the target store by the sales ratio. In a specific example, if the second product is the target product as described above, the processor 11 determines the normalization of the second product at the second store as [3 million yen/2 = 1.5 million yen]. Calculate the sales amount.
In ACT11, the processor 11 updates the sales table D2 to include the normalized sales amount calculated in ACT10 in association with the store code of the target store.

In ACT12, the processor 11 checks whether all of the products determined in ACT6 have been selected as target products. If there are still products to be targeted, the processor 11 determines NO and returns to ACT9. Then, the processor 11 selects a product different from the products selected as the target product so far as the target product, and performs ACT10 and ACT11 in the same manner as described above. In a specific example, the processor 11 takes the third product as the target product and calculates the normalized sales amount as [7 million yen/2=3.5 million yen].
As the processor 11 executes information processing based on the information providing program P1, the computer having the processor 11 as a core functions as a calculation means.

After executing ACT10 and ACT11 using all the products determined in ACT6 as target products, the processor 11 determines YES in ACT12 and proceeds to ACT13.
In ACT 13, the processor 11 checks whether all stores other than the reference store among the plurality of stores in which the plurality of store systems 2 are installed have been selected as target stores. If there are still stores to be targeted, the processor 11 determines NO and returns to ACT5. Then, the processor 11 selects a store different from the store selected as the target store so far as the target store, and performs ACT6 and subsequent steps in the same manner as described above. In a specific example, the processor 11 sets the third store as the target store, and performs ACT6 and subsequent steps regarding the third store in the same manner as described above. Accordingly, in the specific example, the processor 11 calculates the normalized sales amount for the first product as [4 million yen/3=1.33 million yen]. Furthermore, the processor 11 calculates the normalized sales amount for the second product as [5 million yen/3=1.67 million yen]. Note that although the specific example here uses rounding to the nearest whole number as a rounding process, other rounding processes may be applied.

When the processor 11 finishes executing ACT6 to ACT12 for all stores other than the reference store among the plurality of stores in which the plurality of store systems 2 are installed and proceeds to ACT13, in ACT13 The determination is YES, and this aggregation process is ended.
As the processor 11 executes information processing based on the information providing program P1, the computer having the processor 11 as a core functions as a normalizing means.

Thus, the store index is i, the reference store index is x, the product index is j, the sales amount of product j at store i is Pij, and the set of indexes of products sold at store i is s(i). Then, the sales ratio Ri calculated in ACT8 is expressed by the following equation.
Ri=(Σj∈s(i)∩s(x)Pi,j)/(Σj∈s(i)∩s(x)Px,j)

Now, if a viewer such as a store representative wants to compare sales between stores, he/she accesses the information providing server 1 via the communication network 4 using the web browsing function of the information terminal 3. The viewer then performs an operation on the information terminal 3 to request data display. Then, the information terminal 3 transmits request data for requesting the start of display to the information providing server 1 via the communication network 4.

When this request data is transmitted to the information providing server 1 via the communication network 4, the communication interface 14 in the information providing server 1 receives the request data. When the requested data is thus received, the processor 11 executes information processing for displaying the data based on the information providing program P1. Through this information processing, the processor 11 generates page data representing the viewed page in response to the request. The processor 11 then sends the generated page data to the communication network 4 from the communication interface 14 to the information terminal 3 that is the request source. When representing the sales amount for each product on the viewing page, the processor 11 uses the normalized sales amount shown in the sales table.

As described above, according to the information providing server 1 of the present embodiment, the amount of calculation related to normalization of sales amount is on the order of O(n), and the amount of calculation can be kept small even when comparing sales for a large number of stores. .

By the way, the sales ratio in the above specific example is "2" for the second store and "3" for the third store. Therefore, when comparing the sales amount normalized as described above using this sales ratio, the sales ratio at the second store and the third store will be approximately 3/2. However, the sales ratio between the second store and the third store in the above specific example is actually 5/3, which causes an error.

Even if such an error occurs, it is still effective for comparing sales amounts for the following reasons.
Assume that the calculation error in the sales ratio between the standard store and each store is small. In other words, it is assumed that the "multiplying factor indicating how many times more sales can be expected when selling the same product" for the reference store and each store is calculated with little error. Assuming that the sales ratio between the standard store and the second store is RA, and the sales ratio between the standard store and the third store is RB, the sales amount when the same product is sold at the same price at each store is as follows. It becomes like this. Note that the error occurring in the sales ratio RA is expressed as εA. Further, the error occurring in the sales ratio RB is expressed as εB.
Standard store → k
Second store → k・RA+εA
Third store → k・RB+εB
At this time, the sales ratio of only this product between the second store and the third store is (k·RB+εB)/(k·RA+εA). Based on the assumption, the errors εA and εB are sufficiently small. Then, the sales ratio of only this product between the second store and the third store becomes close to RB/RA. The same applies to other products sold at both the second store and the third store, and the actual sales ratio becomes close to the approximated sales ratio RB/RA.

Further, if a default store is set, the information providing server 1 always sets the default store as the reference store. Therefore, if there is a store that can serve as a model among a plurality of stores, by setting that store as a default store, it is possible to use that store as a reference store.

Further, if a default store is not set, the information providing server 1 selects a reference store according to predetermined rules. Therefore, by applying the above-described rules, it is possible to increase the number of product samples to be referred to for the sales ratio, and it is possible to increase the probability that the sales ratio will be a value more suitable for normalization.

Furthermore, the information providing server 1 can use either a case where the standard store is the default store or a case where the standard store is automatically selected according to rules. Therefore, one can be used depending on the user's needs.

This embodiment can be modified in various ways as follows.
The reference store may always be fixed to the default store. Alternatively, the reference store may always be selected according to predetermined rules. In other words, the processor 11 may perform ACT3 or ACT4 without performing ACT2.

As a rule for selecting a reference store, a rule specified in advance by the user from among a plurality of rules prepared in advance may be applied.

The sales data may be data that does not include a product list and represents the total sales amount for each product in association with the SKU code. That is, the calculation of the total sales amount for each product may be performed by the store server 22. In this case, the processor 11 omits ACT7.

The processes in ACT5 to ACT12 may be executed for only some of the stores other than the reference store among the plurality of stores in which the plurality of store systems 2 are provided. In this case, the processor 11 selects only stores predetermined as stores to be normalized, for example, in ACT5.

The information processing executed by the processor 11 may be distributed and processed by a plurality of processors respectively provided in a plurality of information processing devices.

Information processing for interacting with the information providing server 1 and displaying a viewing screen on the information terminal 3 may be executed according to a dedicated application program.

Each function realized by the processor 11 through information processing can be partially or entirely realized by hardware that executes information processing not based on a program, such as a logic circuit. Further, each of the above functions can also be realized by combining software control with hardware such as the above logic circuit.

Although several embodiments of the invention have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included within the scope and gist of the invention, as well as within the scope of the invention described in the claims and its equivalents.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Information provision server, 2... Store system, 3... Information terminal, 4... Communication network, 11... Processor, 12... Main memory, 13... Auxiliary storage unit, 14... Communication interface, 15... Transmission path, 21... POS terminal , 22... Store server, 23... In-store communication network.

Claims (5)

an acquisition means for acquiring data for each of three or more stores to determine the sales amount for each product sold at the store;
Total sales at the standard store regarding products sold together at a standard store that is one of the three or more stores and a target store that is different from the standard store among the three or more stores. calculation means for each of the plurality of target stores among the three or more stores, calculating the ratio of the sales amount to the total sales amount at the target store based on the data acquired by the acquisition means; ,
normalization for each of the plurality of target stores, normalizing the sales amount for each product determined from the data acquired by the acquisition means for the target store by the ratio calculated by the calculation means for the target store; means and
An information processing device equipped with. Setting means for setting a default store predetermined as one of the three or more stores as the reference store;
The information processing device according to claim 1, further comprising: setting means for selecting one of the three or more stores according to predetermined rules and setting it as the reference store;
The information processing device according to claim 1, further comprising: If a default store is predetermined as one of the three or more stores, the default store is set as the reference store, and if the default store is not predetermined, one of the three or more stores is set as the reference store. setting means for selecting one of the stores according to predetermined rules and setting it as the reference store;
The information processing device according to claim 1, further comprising:. A computer that constitutes an information processing device is
an acquisition means for acquiring data for each of three or more stores to determine the sales amount for each product sold at the store;
Total sales at the standard store regarding products sold together at a standard store that is one of the three or more stores and a target store that is different from the standard store among the three or more stores. calculation means for each of a plurality of target stores among the three or more stores to calculate a ratio between the sales amount and the total sales amount at the target store based on the data acquired by the acquisition means; and,
normalizing, for each of the plurality of target stores, normalizing the sales amount for each product determined from the data acquired by the acquisition means for the target store by the ratio calculated by the calculation means for the target store; and
An information processing program that makes it work.