JP7468947B1 - Search System - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a search system that builds a relationship of mutual trust between the facility hosting the event and the exhibitors, while improving convenience for both parties in the series of procedures required when opening a store.
[Solution] The search system includes a search condition acquisition means for acquiring input search conditions, an extraction means for extracting event space information or vacant bed information based on the acquired search conditions, a display data creation means for creating display data that displays the extracted event space information or vacant bed information, and an output means for outputting the display data to a display means.
The display data creation means creates the event space information or vacant floor information extracted by the extraction means in a plurality of selectable display formats.
[Selected Figure] Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a system for searching event spaces, available floor space, and exhibitors.

Traditionally, commercial facilities such as department stores and shopping malls have allowed outside vendors wishing to hold events in specific areas of the facility to use said areas (hereinafter referred to as "event space" in this specification) and received rent from them. Furthermore, events held by outside vendors also increase the commercial facility's overall ability to attract customers, which has the advantage that commercial facilities can expect not only profits from rental fees but also increased revenue for the entire facility.

Patent Document 1 discloses a system that acts as an intermediary between a location provider and a mobile sales vehicle owner when the location provider rents out a location (front porch) to the owner of the vehicle to operate the business, thereby improving the convenience of procedures for both parties.

JP 2023-55331 A

In the case of events at commercial facilities, unlike the so-called "front porch business" that provides a space for mobile sales vehicles as disclosed in Patent Document 1, the facility allows the use of an area within the facility. Therefore, when using the area to hold an event, it is necessary to ensure a strong relationship of trust with the exhibitors. However, since neither the facility staff nor the exhibitors usually know the other's circumstances, the presence of an intermediary who mediates between the two is extremely important.
In other words, the facility staff require exhibitors to comply with the rules of the facility while using the event space in a way that satisfies visitors to the facility and ultimately contributes to increasing the facility's overall customer attraction. Also, when exhibitors have little experience opening stores at a facility, they have little acquaintance with the facility staff and have not yet built a relationship of trust, making it difficult for them to even get an opportunity to open a store from the facility staff in the first place. Furthermore, it is difficult for intermediaries to smoothly process the procedures for opening a store at a facility in a way that satisfies both parties.
Therefore, there was a need for a tool that would enable facility personnel, exhibitors, and intermediaries to build trusting relationships between them, clearly understand this process, and improve convenience when using event spaces.

Similarly, when it comes to opening stores (tenants) in vacant space within commercial facilities, there was a demand for tools that would build trust between facility staff and store owners while improving convenience when opening a store.

Furthermore, facility personnel may not only wait for offers from exhibitors to host events or open tenant stores, but may also want to actively encourage exhibitors who match the facility's needs to host events or open tenant stores. In such cases, there is a demand for a tool that can identify trustworthy exhibitors and improve convenience when opening a store.

The present invention was made in light of this situation, and aims to provide a search system that builds trust between facility staff at facilities that own event space and exhibitors, while improving convenience for both parties in the series of procedures required for holding an event or opening a tenant store.

In order to achieve the above object, according to one embodiment of the present invention,
A search condition acquisition means for acquiring input search conditions;
An extraction means for extracting event space information or vacant floor information based on the acquired search conditions;
A display data creation means for creating display data that displays the extracted event space information or vacant floor information;
an output means for outputting display data to a display means;
A search system is provided, including:
According to the present invention, exhibitors who wish to hold events or open stores can easily find event spaces and vacant floor spaces within candidate facilities.

According to one embodiment of the present invention,
The display data creation means creates the event space information or vacant floor information extracted by the extraction means in a plurality of selectable display formats.
According to the present invention, the search results can be displayed in a format that is easy for shop owners to view, thereby improving convenience for shop owners when browsing.

According to one embodiment of the present invention,
The display data includes a display format having event space or available floor space as well as map information showing the location of the facility.
According to the present invention, it becomes easier to visually recognize the location of event spaces or vacant floors, as well as facilities, and candidate facilities can be narrowed down from the perspective of location information.

According to one embodiment of the present invention,
The display data includes a display format having map information that displays visually recognizable information regarding the location and appearance of the event space or vacant floor within the facility to which the event space or vacant floor belongs, as well as their surrounding environment.
According to the present invention, the location and appearance of event spaces within a facility can be visually grasped, and their relationship to the surrounding environment can also be recognized, making it easier to predict the actual ability to attract visitors, taking into account factors such as visitor flow.

According to one embodiment of the present invention,
A user registration means for registering user information including user identification information for identifying a user;
A user authentication means for authenticating a user;
a user history storage means for storing information generated during a user's use of the system in association with user identification information;
having
The extraction means extracts information from the information stored by the user history storage means in response to a user request;
The display data creation means creates display data that displays the information extracted by the extraction means;
A search system is provided in which the information extracted by the extraction means includes the adjustment status of the event hosting offer or tenant store opening offer applied for by the user.
According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the convenience for users in the process of holding an event or the like through the system of the present invention.

According to one embodiment of the present invention,
The information extracted by the extraction means includes instruction manuals relating to the facility and/or event space or vacant floor space, and the instruction manuals are viewable when the adjustment status of the event hosting offer or tenant shop offer reaches a predetermined stage.
According to the present invention, procedures such as offering to host an event can be carried out simply and easily.

According to one embodiment of the present invention,
The offer to hold an event or the offer to open a store as a tenant is approved or rejected by the system administrator.
According to the present invention, by granting a certain degree of authority to the administrator, the workload of facility staff can be reduced.

According to one embodiment of the present invention,
A search condition acquisition means for acquiring input search conditions;
An extraction means for extracting store owner information based on the acquired search conditions;
A display data generating means for generating display data for displaying the extracted store owner information;
an output means for outputting display data to a display means;
A search system is provided, including:
According to the present invention, facility personnel can easily search for exhibitors who will hold events in event spaces within the facility or set up tenant stores in vacant floor space.

According to one embodiment of the present invention,
The display data creating means creates the exhibitor information extracted by the extracting means in a plurality of selectable display formats.
According to the present invention, it is possible to display search results in a manner that is easy for the user to view, thereby improving the convenience of the user when browsing.

According to one embodiment of the present invention,
The search condition acquisition means acquires, as a search condition, store planning information related to the store owner's event planning,
The extraction means extracts store opening plan information.
According to the present invention, by making project information created by store owners the subject of a search, it becomes easier to match the needs of facilities and store owners.

The system of the present invention can build trusting relationships between facilities and exhibitors when hosting an event, while improving convenience for both parties in the series of procedures required for hosting the event.

Furthermore, it is possible to build a relationship of trust between the facility with the vacant space and the store owner, while improving convenience for both parties in the series of procedures required to allow a tenant to open a store in the vacant space.

1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a search system according to the present invention; 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a shop owner terminal, a manager terminal, and a facility terminal in the search system of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a server in the search system of the present invention. 11 is a diagram showing an example of exhibitor information and facility master data. FIG. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of user history master data. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a control unit in the search system of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing processing by a shop owner's search application. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an input page for user registration on the shop owner's search site. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a search menu page of a shop owner's search site. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a search condition input page of a shop owner's search site. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a page displaying search results from a shop owner's search site. 13 is a diagram showing a facility details display page of a shop owner's search site. This is a diagram showing the switch from the facility details display page to the event space details display page on the exhibitor's search site. 13 is a diagram showing an event space details display page on the exhibitor search site. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a My Page on a shop owner's search site. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a new project registration page on a shop owner search site. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of an offer application progress display page on a shop owner search site. 13 is a diagram showing the processing of an event hosting offer in a shop owner search application. FIG. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of an event hosting offer application page on a shop owner search site. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a process performed by a facility-side search application. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a search menu page of a facility search site. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a search condition input page of a facility search site. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a page displaying search results from a facility search site. This is a diagram showing the exhibitor project details display page of the facility search site. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a My Page on a facility search site. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a sales information display page of a facility search site. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a plan offer application page on a facility search site. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a relationship between an application and master data in the search system of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a relationship between an application and master data in the search system of the present invention.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The search system of the present invention is a system that enables searches between commercially usable facilities (hereinafter referred to as "facilities" in this specification) that have event space and/or vacant floor space, and vendors that hold events such as selling goods or services in the event space within the facility, and vendors that set up shop as tenants in the vacant floor space within the facility (hereinafter these two types of vendors are collectively referred to as "exhibitors" in this specification), thereby matching the needs of the facility and the exhibitors, and further supporting the various procedures for both parties involved in holding events, etc. through a system administrator (hereinafter referred to as "administrator" in this specification) who manages the system.

In this specification, examples of goods handled by exhibitors include food, drinking water, passenger cars, books, local products, communication equipment, housing, daily necessities, etc. Examples of services handled by exhibitors include educational facilities such as English conversation classes, cram schools, and various schools, operation of sports facilities such as swimming, dance, and training gyms, appraisal services for second-hand goods such as used books and antiques, provision of various insurance products, operation of beauty facilities, etc. Note that the goods and services handled by these exhibitors are not limited to the above examples.

Examples of facilities in this specification include, but are not limited to, commercial facilities, retail stores, hot spring facilities, movie theaters, rental shops, bookstores, department stores, shopping streets, drug stores, sports facilities, stations, office buildings, apartment complexes, post offices, playgrounds, athletic fields, road service facilities, etc.

In this specification, "event space" means an area within a facility that can be rented out for a certain period of time to various businesses for the purpose of providing or advertising goods or services.

In this specification, "event" means that exhibitors use the event space described above to provide or promote goods or services.

In this specification, "vacant space" refers to an area within a facility that can be used for retail purposes, but is not being used as a store. In addition, a store opened by a store owner in a vacant space is called a "tenant."

In this specification, "facility personnel" refers to a person in charge of managing event space and vacant floor space at a facility, and who has a certain degree of authority to allow exhibitors to use the event space and vacant floor space.

In this specification, "event hosting offer" means an offer submitted to a facility by an exhibitor who wishes to host an event in the event space within the facility.

In this specification, "tenant store offer" refers to both an offer made to facility personnel by a store owner wishing to open a tenant store in vacant space owned by a facility, and an offer made by facility personnel to a store owner to open a tenant store in vacant space owned by the facility.

In this specification, a "planning offer" refers to an offer made by a facility staff member to an exhibitor to allow the exhibitor to hold an event in the event space owned by the facility staff member.

In this specification, the term "user" refers to a person who has registered as a user to use the search system of the present invention. When there is no need to distinguish between store owners and facility personnel who use the search system of the present invention, they may be collectively referred to as "users."

[1. overall structure]
FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a search system 1 of the present invention.
The search system 1 of the present invention has a server 10, an exhibitor terminal 20, an administrator terminal 30, and a facility terminal 40, each of which is connected via a network N so as to be able to send and receive information. Here, the server 10 is a device operated by an administrator of the search system 1, the shop owner terminal 20 is an information terminal used by the shop owner to use the search system 1, and the facility terminal 40 is a terminal used by the facility owner. The administrator terminal 30 is an information terminal used by the person in charge to use the search system 1. The administrator terminal 30 is used by the administrator to connect to the server 10 and execute the various functions of the server 10 or to access the information stored in the server 10. It is an information terminal used for editing data, etc.

By using the search system 1, a store owner can search for event spaces where an event can be held, or vacant floor space where a tenant can set up a store. Furthermore, by starting and using an application program (hereinafter referred to as the "app" in this specification) in the search system 1, various procedures associated with holding an event or setting up a tenant store can be carried out (hereinafter, this app is referred to as the "store owner search app"). Furthermore, by using the search system 1, a facility staff member can search for a store owner who will hold an event in the event space owned by the facility or set up a tenant store in the vacant floor space, and by starting and using the app in the search system 1, the facility staff member can carry out the procedures necessary for holding an event or setting up a tenant store with the store owner (hereinafter, this app is referred to as the "facility search app"). In other words, the search system 1 can contribute to improving the convenience of both store owners and facilities by using the store owner search app or the facility search app, or by using both of them while sharing data.

The overall configuration of search system 1 is described in detail below.

[1.1 Exhibitor terminal]
2 shows the configuration of the exhibitor terminal 20. The exhibitor terminal 20 includes an input unit 202, a communication unit 204, a display unit 206, a control unit 208, and a memory unit 210. An exhibitor can use the exhibitor terminal 20 to connect to the search system 1 and search for event spaces or vacant floors. The exhibitor terminal 20 can be, for example, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or a personal computer, but is not limited to these.

In FIG. 2, the input unit 202 includes devices for accepting various input operations. The devices included in the input unit 202 include a button, a touch panel, a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a camera, etc.

The communication unit 204 is an interface for communicating with external devices, and includes a communication interface for connecting the exhibitor terminal 20 to a network N (FIG. 1). Examples of the network N (FIG. 1) include various networks such as the Internet, a wireless LAN, and a wired LAN.

The display unit 206 is equipped with a display device capable of displaying images, such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display.

The storage unit 210 is configured to be able to store various data. The storage unit 210 has semiconductor memory such as ROM, RAM, NVRAM, flash memory, and SSD.

The control unit 208 is mainly composed of a well-known microcomputer having a CPU and memories such as RAM, ROM, and flash memory. The various functions of the control unit 208 are realized by the CPU executing a program stored in a non-transient tangible storage medium. In this example, the memory corresponds to the non-transient tangible storage medium storing the program. Furthermore, the execution of this program executes a method corresponding to the program. The number of microcomputers constituting the control unit 208 may be one or more.
The control unit 208 can search for event spaces or vacant beds by executing the application of the search system 1 stored in the server 10 via the network.

1.2 Facility terminal
A facility staff member can use the facility terminal 40 to connect to the search system 1 and search for exhibitors who will hold events in the event space within the facility or set up tenant stores in vacant floor space.

As shown in FIG. 2, the facility terminal 40 includes an input unit 402, a communication unit 404, a display unit 406, a control unit 408, and a memory unit 410. Examples of the facility terminal 40 include, but are not limited to, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, and a personal computer.

The configurations of the memory unit 410, input unit 402, communication unit 404, and display unit 406 are the same as those of the input unit 202, communication unit 204, display unit 206, and memory unit 210 in the exhibitor terminal 20 described above.

The configuration of the control unit 408 is the same as the control unit 208 in the exhibitor terminal 20. The control unit 408 can search for exhibitors who will hold events in the event space or set up tenant stores in vacant floor space by executing the application of the search system 1 stored in the server 10 via the network.

[1.3 Administrator terminal]
The administrator terminal 30 is an information device used by the business operator (administrator) who provides the search system 1, and may be, for example, but is not limited to, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or a personal computer. As shown in FIG. 2, the configuration of the administrator terminal 30 is the same as that of the shop owner terminal 20 and the facility terminal 40, and includes an input unit 302, a communication unit 304, a display unit 306, a control unit 308, and a storage unit 310.

Specifically, the administrator terminal 30 performs various processing operations required for the administrator to operate the search system 1. For example, it performs operations related to account management for users of the search system 1 (facility personnel and shop owners), approving/rejecting user registration applications, editing information stored in a database (hereafter referred to as "DB") in the server 10, and mediating offers submitted by both users (facility personnel and shop owners).

1.4 Server
FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the server 10.
3A, the server 10 includes a communication unit 104, a control unit 108, and a storage unit 110. The communication unit 104 includes a communication interface for connecting the server 10 to a network N in order to communicate with external devices.

The server 10 is installed on the network N by the administrator. The server 10 functions as a web server and an application server for providing the search system 1. That is, the server 10 executes processing in response to a request from an app stored in the memory unit 110 in the server 10, or an app downloaded to the shop owner terminal 20 or the facility terminal 40. The server 10 then transmits screen data (e.g., HTML data) and control data corresponding to the results of the processing to the shop owner terminal 20, the facility terminal 40, or the manager terminal 30. A screen based on the received data is displayed on the shop owner terminal 20, the facility terminal 40, or the manager terminal 30.

1.4.1 Storage Unit
The storage unit 110 is configured to be able to store various data. The storage unit 110 has semiconductor memory such as ROM, RAM, NVRAM, flash memory, SSD, etc. The storage unit 110 also stores an application for implementing the functions of the search system 1, other programs for executing various processes in response to requests from the application, and various screen data and control data to be transmitted to the shop owner terminal 20, the facility terminal 40, and the manager terminal 30. The storage unit 110 also stores registration information of users who use the search system 1, and information on the system usage history of registered users.

In FIG. 3A, the memory unit 110 includes a store owner information DB 1102, a facility information DB 1104, and a user history DB 1106.

The exhibitor information DB 1102 mainly stores basic information about exhibitors such as company names and contact information in list format as master data (hereinafter referred to as "exhibitor master data" in this specification). Figure 3B (a) shows an example of exhibitor master data. The information that makes up the exhibitor master data may be obtained from registration information when the exhibitor registers as a user, detailed information added to the My Page in the exhibitor's search app, and information about event planning (Figure 14), or may be created in whole or in part by an administrator. The exhibitor master data can be edited by an administrator as appropriate.

Facility information DB1104 stores basic information such as location, rent, and contact information for event spaces and vacant beds within the facility in list format as master data (hereinafter referred to as "facility master data" in this specification). An example of facility master data is shown in FIG. 3B (b). Information constituting the facility master data may include information about the facility itself such as company name, branch name, trade name, store name, location, contact information, business hours, information about the person in charge, access information, parking information, bank account information, and number of customers, as well as information about the event space name, floor, space size, usage hours, available equipment, rent, documents that need to be submitted, payment methods, precautions within the facility, information about changing areas and restrooms, and available products.

The information that constitutes the facility master data may be obtained as a result of sales activities conducted by the administrator toward the facility or procedures such as basic transaction agreements, or may be obtained as user registration information when registering as a user on the facility search site described below. Searches for event space and available beds using the exhibitor search app described below are mainly extracted from the facility master data. The facility master data can be edited by the administrator as appropriate.

The data on vacant beds in the facility master data is composed of the same items as the facility master data shown in Figure 3B (b), but the facility may handle it differently from event space. In that case, it may be composed of different items, such as omitting some information, or it may be created as completely separate master data. Note that in this embodiment, for simplicity of explanation, both the master data on event space and vacant beds are stored in the same facility master data, and can be identified by the "category" in Figure 3B (b).

User history DB1106 mainly stores various data on each process that occurs for each case, for which an event hosting offer and a tenant store offer have been submitted, as master data in a list format that links the data to part of the store owner information and facility information (hereinafter referred to as "user history master data" in this specification).

Figure 3C shows an example of user history master data. The user history master data mainly consists of status information, exhibitor information, facility information, schedule information, sales information, etc. The status information includes information such as the application date, confirmation date, status, and person in charge for the event offer. The application date is automatically entered when the offer application form described below is submitted, but some information such as the status and information related to the person in charge may be entered by the administrator. The exhibitor information and facility information may be entered in the application form (Figure 17) when the user applies for an offer, or may be a copy of the master data stored in the exhibitor information DB and facility information DB mentioned above based on the user's identification information. The schedule information may be written in the application form when applying for an event offer.

The "status" in the user history master data is data that indicates the progress of an event offer application, and is updated by the administrator as the applied offer progresses. The administrator can update the user history master data. The status may be specified so that it can be checked each time on the My Page of the store owner's search app described below, for example, or the administrator may notify the store owner of the status via communication such as email or chat.

The "sales information" in the user history master data is payment information made by exhibitors to the manager through the holding of an event. In other words, in this embodiment, sales from an event held by an exhibitor are paid to the manager based on an agreement between the exhibitor and the manager, and this paid amount is entered by the manager as sales information. However, the processing of sales from the holding of an event is determined by an agreement between the manager, exhibitor, and facility, and the manner in which they are reflected in the master data is not limited to the above manner. Sales items are not limited to the sales and profits exemplified in Figure 3C, and items such as purchase amounts and expenses related to opening a store can be added as appropriate.

The data included in the user history master data may include a series of records of exchanges between exhibitors, managers, and facilities after an offer is submitted, such as the exchange of contract-related documents and various notification documents related to holding an event or opening a tenant store, payment history of usage fees and other payments made by exhibitors to the manager or facility, and distribution history of manuals and other documents sent after the offer is confirmed.

1.4.2 Control Unit
In Fig. 3A, the control unit 108 is mainly configured with a known microcomputer having a CPU 108A and a memory 108B such as a RAM, a ROM, or a flash memory. The various functions of the control unit 108 are realized by the CPU 108A executing a program stored in a non-transient substantial storage medium. In this example, the memory corresponds to the non-transient substantial storage medium storing the program. Furthermore, the execution of this program executes a method corresponding to the program. The number of microcomputers constituting the control unit 108 may be one or more.

In FIG. 3A, the control unit 108 has a function of launching and controlling a shopkeeper search application, a function of launching and controlling a facility search application, and a function of managing and controlling the entire system.
Here, the control unit 108 may be configured with a plurality of microcomputers, each of which is assigned a separate CPU 108A and memory 108B according to its function, or may be configured to share the same CPU 108A and memory 108B.

Figure 4 is a functional block diagram showing the functional configuration of the control unit 108.

The control unit 108 functions as a user registration means 1081, a user authentication means 1082, a search condition acquisition means 1083, an extraction means 1084, a display data creation means 1085, a display data output means 1086, an offer reception means 1087, a user history storage means 1088, and a DB editing means 1089. These execute the functions (programs) provided in the shop owner search app or the facility search app stored in the storage unit 110 in the control unit 108.

The user registration means 1081 acquires initial registration information when the user uses the search system 1 for the first time, assigns identification information, and stores them in the shop owner information DB 1102 or the facility information DB 1104. In addition to the initial registration information, the user registration means 1081 updates the shop owner information DB 1102 or the facility information DB 1104 when new information (project information, person in charge information, etc.) is registered from the My Page described below, or when there are changes to the information.
Here, the identification information may be a number assigned to each user, who is a store owner or a facility staff member (or a facility, etc.), or the name of the store owner or facility staff member (or a facility, etc.) may be used as the identification information.

When a user requests to log in to the search system 1, the user authentication means 1082 compares the user name and password entered by the user with those stored in the exhibitor information DB 1102 or facility information DB 1104, and if they match, it determines whether to allow the login, or not if they do not match.

The search condition acquisition means 1083 is a means for acquiring search conditions from the user. Search conditions are entered on a search condition input page (such as FIG. 8) described below. Examples of search conditions include, but are not limited to, location, products handled, and time. The search condition acquisition means 1083 can use known input means such as chat services, voice input, and image input in addition to input of character text.

The extraction means 1084 extracts necessary data from the exhibitor information DB 1102 or the facility information DB 1104 in response to a user request.
For example, data matching the search conditions acquired by the search condition acquisition means 1083 is extracted from the exhibitor information DB 1102 or the facility information DB 1104. That is, if the user is an exhibitor, information on event spaces matching specified conditions such as location, merchandise, and time is extracted from the facility information DB 1104. Similarly, if the user is a facility staff member, information on exhibitors matching the plan details entered as search conditions is extracted from the exhibitor information DB 1102.
Furthermore, in the My Page described below, information stored in the shop owner information DB 1102, facility information DB 1104, and user history information DB 1106 in association with the user's identification information is extracted based on the user's request.

The display data creation means 1085 creates display data from the data extracted by the extraction means 1084. The display data creation means 1085 also has a function of setting the layout of the display data. Since the search system 1 allows exhibitors to use sections within a facility, it is preferable for users to be able to visually recognize and consider the state of the event space in order to actually use it. Therefore, it is preferable for the display data creation means 1085 to be able to set a layout that displays basic information about the event space along with image data of the event space and surrounding facilities and stores, and embeds map information from a web mapping platform, etc.

Furthermore, it is preferable that the display data creation means 1085 can change the layout settings at any time. For example, it may be set to display the search results in a desired layout from the beginning, or it may be configured so that the search results are displayed in multiple display formats and the most suitable layout is selected each time.

The display data output means 1086 displays the created display data on a user terminal (exhibitor terminal 20 or facility terminal 40) or on a display device such as a projector that can be shared by multiple people.

The offer receiving means 1087 receives an offer to hold an event or an offer to open a tenant store from a store owner, or a project offer or an offer to open a tenant store from a facility staff member, and transmits information that an offer has been made from a user to the administrator terminal 30.

The user history storage means 1088 is a means for storing information in the user history DB 1106 according to the format of the user history master data.

The DB editing means 1089 is mainly used by the administrator when editing the master data in the above-mentioned store owner information DB 1102, facility information DB 1104, and user history DB 1106. The editing function may be included as a function of the store owner search app and the facility search app, or a separate app for editing the master data may be provided.

Note that the above functions are a list of the main functions of the control unit 108, but the functions used in the search system 1 are not limited to these.

[2 Processing]
2.1 Processing by search app
Next, we will explain the processing by the store owner search app and the facility search app used in the search system 1. Hereinafter, in this specification, the search site displayed by the store owner search app is referred to as the "store owner search site", and the search site displayed by the facility search app is referred to as the "facility search site".

The outline of the search system 1 using an app will now be explained in more detail.
FIG. 26 shows an outline of the relationship between the applications used in the search system 1, the master data in the database, the users, and the administrator.
Processing by the store owner search app and facility search app used by users (user registration, search, progress management, etc.) is carried out by exchanging data in three master data in the search system 1. In addition, the user history master data is formed by obtaining store owner and facility information from the store owner master data and facility master data, and further adding and editing information such as the user's system usage history. Meanwhile, the administrator can edit all of the master data. In this way, processing such as searches is carried out using information from the master data that is common to multiple types of apps.

[2.2 Store search app]
5 shows the processing of the system in which a store owner becomes a user of the store owner search application and searches for facilities, etc. The store owner uses the store owner search application to search for event space to hold an event, or search for vacant floor space to set up a tenant store, and also carries out procedures up to holding an event.

[2.2.1 User Registration Function]
The exhibitor accesses the URL of the exhibitor's search site from the exhibitor terminal 20 through the network N. When the exhibitor accesses the site, the control unit 108 (display data output means 1086) in the server 10 displays a top page with a login menu for the exhibitor's search site (S101a), and proceeds from the top page to the login page (S102). Here, the top page may be a page of the exhibitor's search site alone, or may be a top page jointly with the facility's search site, which will be described later. In addition, in this embodiment, the exhibitor's search site does not distinguish between search pages for event space and vacant beds, but searches for event space and vacant beds may be performed on separate search sites.

As described above, if the top page also serves as the top page for multiple types of sites, the store owner may be allowed to select the desired search site after logging in, or a page allowing the store owner to select the desired site may be displayed before logging in, and the login page may be displayed after the store owner has selected the desired site.

The top page may display not only the login menu but also a search page. In that case, the specifications may be such that only part of the search function can be used even before the store owner logs in, or only some of the search items may be displayed.

If the store owner has completed user registration on the store owner's search site (S103: Yes), the store owner enters the user name and password given by the administrator on the login page. If the control unit 108 (user authentication means 1082) determines that the user name and password entered by the store owner match those previously registered, the control unit 108 displays the search menu page of the store owner's search site to the store owner (S106). If the store owner has not completed user registration on the store owner's search site (S103: No), the control unit 108 (user registration means 1081) displays a new registration page (S104).

The new registration page allows the user to register an account (S104). Here, the user sets a username and password, and registers basic information such as a contact email address.

When the account registration is complete, the control unit 108 (user registration means 1081) displays a user information registration page (S105) as shown in FIG. 6, and requests the entry of basic store owner information. On the user information registration page, the store owner enters basic information (person in charge name, person in charge contact information, person in charge job title, company name, company contact information, company representative name, business details, etc.).

In addition to registering store owner information, the search system 1 may require the uploading of various certificates related to the store owner in order to guarantee the authenticity of the store owner's information and increase the facility's credibility. For example, a certificate upload page may be set up on the store owner's search site, and image data of various certificates may be uploaded on that page. Examples of various certificates include the store owner's identification card, seal certificate, registration book, land ownership certificate, etc.

Furthermore, the specifications may require approval from an administrator for user registration. In this case, the exhibitor information entered by the exhibitor is stored in the exhibitor information storage DB 1102, and the administrator refers to this information and allows user registration only if it determines that user registration is possible. By setting certain hurdles for user registration in this way, it is possible to reduce the risk of allowing an unreliable exhibitor to hold an event in the event space, which could result in damage to the facility.

Once user registration is complete, the store owner can use the store owner's search site, and the user information is stored in store owner information DB 1102. For example, if the store owner commits a serious breach of contract after user registration, the administrator can cancel the store owner's account information on server 10. Alternatively, without canceling the account information, the administrator can restrict the use of some functions, such as not displaying search items on the top page or disabling some of the search items.

When user registration is completed by inputting basic store owner information (S103: Yes), the control unit 108 displays a search menu page on the store owner terminal 20 (S106).

2.2.2 Search Function
The search menu page is a start page for exhibitors to search for event spaces, etc. Figure 7 shows an example of a search menu page on the exhibitor's search site. On the search menu page shown in Figure 7, exhibitors can select the most appropriate search item from multiple items and search for event spaces, etc.

In the search menu 1705 of FIG. 7, buttons for multiple search items are displayed. Examples of search items include, but are not limited to, a "free word search" for searching by an input term such as a facility name or address, an "area search" for searching by an area such as the location of the facility or a prefecture, a "product search" for searching by the type of product or service handled by a store owner, a "facility type search" for selecting a facility type such as a department store, a shopping district, or a road service facility, a "map search" for displaying map information on a page and searching for facilities based on their positional relationship on the map, a "new store search" for searching for newly opened facilities, a "my search" for repeatedly searching using preset search conditions, a "date search" for searching by specifying an event date or a desired date and time for a tenant store opening, and a "bulk search" for searching by combining these search conditions.

When a shop owner presses these search item buttons on the search menu page in Figure 7, the control unit 108 (search condition acquisition means 1083) displays pages (S107-1 to S107-n) for entering search conditions.

In addition, if the search items for searching event space and for searching available beds are significantly different, a "Search for available beds here" button 1701, such as that shown in the lower left of Figure 7, may be provided, and when an exhibitor presses this button, the control unit 108 (search condition acquisition means 1083) may display a separate page (not shown) for searching available beds.

In addition to the search items exemplified above, the search results may be narrowed down from other perspectives (special search 1702 in FIG. 7). Examples of narrowing down the results include data based on the number of visitors (ranking) to the event facility itself, the availability of power sources, equipment, and other facilities for each event facility, whether image data of the event space is available on the search site, data based on access status, and information based on circumstances specific to the event facility, such as store opening hours (S109).

An additional search item for event space may be provided (1703) to narrow down the search results to those properties owned by the administrator (S110). A property that is managed by an administrator is a facility that can only be set up through the administrator of the search system 1, and is a property that can be searched exclusively by registered users. By providing these properties as searchable items, it is possible to provide registered users of the search system 1 with added value that exceeds that of other systems.
When a shop owner presses the facility name button (Company A, etc. in Figure 7) listed in the list of entrusted management properties on the search menu page, the control unit 108 (search condition acquisition means 1083) displays a page (S114) showing the list of entrusted management properties on the shop owner terminal 20.

The search menu page may display information useful for searching as a special feature page 1704 (S108-1 to S108-n).
Examples of special feature pages include, but are not limited to, information on event space when handling products that require a certain amount of space such as passenger cars, a ranking of the number of events held in a certain period in the past, a ranking of the number of requests from exhibitors by city, town, village or prefecture, a list of newly opened facilities, past complaints, etc. In this way, by using information that can only be known through an administrator who has actually built a relationship of trust with the facility as a search condition, it is possible to provide an incentive for exhibitors to use the search system 1.

Figure 8 shows an example of a screen where a store owner inputs search conditions (S107-1 to S107-n). Figure 8 (a) is a condition input page for free word search, and Figure 8 (b) is a condition input page for product search. When a store owner inputs search conditions on the page for inputting search conditions and presses the "Search>" button, the control unit 108 (search condition acquisition means 1083) acquires a search request and search conditions. Then, the control unit 108 (extraction means 1084) extracts information about event spaces that match the search conditions from the facility information DB 1104. The extracted results are edited as display data by the control unit 108 (display data creation means 1085), and are transmitted from the server 10 to the store owner terminal 20 by the display data creation means 1085 (S112-1 to S112-n).

FIG. 9 shows an example of a search result display page extracted based on search conditions input by a shop owner.
On the search result display page, information on event spaces that match the entered search criteria is displayed in four different display formats, and the exhibitor can select the desired display from these display formats and view the information on the event spaces. As shown in Figure 9, it is preferable that the search results can be displayed in one or more display formats to improve the viewability of the exhibitor.

For example, Figure 9 shows examples of "list display" that shows a list of specified items for the search results, "list display" that displays more items than the list display, "block display" that lists blocks such as images of event facilities, and "map display" that shows the location of the event facility on a map, but the display formats are not limited to these.

On the search result display page in FIG. 9, detailed information about the facility can be displayed by pressing the "Facility Details" button provided on the page (S120). In the case of FIG. 9, in single column display, pressing the "Facility Details" button causes the control unit 108 (display data creation means 1085) to edit display data showing detailed information about the facility, and the display data output means 1086 to display the facility details display page. In block display or map display, pressing an icon consisting of a thumbnail or logo mark of an image of the facility also transitions to the facility details display page showing detailed facility information.

In addition, in the search result display page in FIG. 9, when the "Space details" button is pressed for list display, a detailed display page for event spaces within the facility, which will be described later, is directly displayed (S121). In this way, the order in which the search result page, facility display page, and event space detailed display page are displayed is not limited, and can be set appropriately by the administrator.

In addition, the results displayed when narrowing down search criteria from the special feature page described above are the same as those shown in Figure 9 (S113-1 to S-113-n), so we will omit the explanation.

FIG. 10 shows an example of a facility details display page.
The facility details display page can be configured to display basic information such as the facility name, location, access information, and business hours, as well as a calendar showing available days, map information for the facility, and a list of basic information for the event spaces. Note that the display contents on the facility details display page are not limited to the above items, and can be set appropriately while taking into consideration the display contents on the event space details display page described below. In Fig. 10, a "Space Details" button is displayed in the event space list, and pressing this button displays a details display page for each event space (S121).

As shown in FIG. 10, the facility details display page may include embedded map information about the facility and a floor map that displays the location of event spaces within the facility. Floor maps will be described later.

Figure 11 is an example of an event space details display page that displays details of a specific event space from the list display of the pages shown in Figures 9 and 10, for example. When a store owner presses the "Space details" button in the list display of Figure 9, or the "Space details" button in the event space list on the facility details display page in Figure 10, the control unit 108 (display data creation means 1085) creates data for the event space details display page, and the display data output means 1086 displays the event space details display page shown in Figure 11 on the store owner terminal 20.

The upper right portion of the event space details display page displays a "reservation request" button 1801 and an "inquiry" button 1802. The "reservation request" will be described later.
The "Contact Us" button is a button for making inquiries to the administrator regarding the event space displayed on the page. When the user presses the "Contact Us" button (S151), the control unit 108 displays a window for entering the inquiry (not shown). The window displays an inquiry entry field along with information about the exhibitor, such as the company name, the name of the person in charge, a telephone number, and a reply email address. When the exhibitor enters and submits the inquiry, the inquiry is notified to the administrator, and the administrator may confirm the inquiry and then send a reply to the reply email address, or display the reply using My Page, which will be described later, or reply by chat using a known chat tool.

The "Contact Us" button for the administrator can be placed on any page within the exhibitor's search site, such as the facility details display page or the search results list page.

In the event space details display page of FIG. 11, in addition to basic information and images of the event space within the facility, tabs 1803 for "Facility Information," "Usage Fees," "Merchandise," "Equipment/Rental," "Calendar," "Notes," and "Map Display" can be provided. Each item in this tab 1803 will be explained using FIG. 12.

As shown in Fig. 12, "facility information" displays comprehensive information about the facility to which the selected event space belongs. Examples of this information include, but are not limited to, the type of event facility, location, access information, information about various areas such as the site area, parking lot information, number of customers, number of stores, tenant information, information about setup and removal, location information, facility information such as power supply and water supply, and available hours. The above-mentioned map information may also be embedded as facility information.
The contents displayed as the facility information may overlap with the information on the facility details display page shown in Fig. 10. Since exhibitors can consider the information on the facility itself as well as the event space information, convenience for exhibitors can be improved.

"Usage Fee" shows details of the usage fee for the selected event space. For example, it shows the basic usage fee per day for each day of the week, the usage fee for equipment such as audio equipment, and cancellation fees for the event space and equipment usage.

"Merchandise" refers to products and services that can be handled in the selected event space.
The products may be classified into several types, for example, into groups such as "implementable products,""unimplementableproducts," and "products requiring confirmation."

"Equipment/Rental" shows information about the handling of equipment that exhibitors can use when holding an event. Examples of equipment include, but are not limited to, long tables, chairs, partitions, extension power cords, tents, audio equipment, loading carts, and storage. Additionally, information about how to handle this equipment and precautions when renting it can also be displayed.

"Calendar" shows the availability of the selected event space, the usage fee, etc., in a calendar display. In FIG. 12, the calendar can be displayed by selecting an item in the tab, but as shown in FIG. 11, it may be displayed permanently in the space below the tab for layout reasons.

As shown in FIG. 12, "Cautions" displays cautions for using the selected event space. Cautions include, but are not limited to, cautions for bringing in fixtures, rules for setting up and removing, power wattage and number of available sockets, cautions for distributing flyers, applications for vehicles to be brought in, filling out the management register, how to enter and exit the facility, changing areas, restrooms and smoking areas, procedures for renting equipment, cautions for nighttime work, height restrictions for exhibits, restrictions on calling in and calling out to people, rules for garbage disposal, entrance passes (badges, etc.), baggage inspection, restrictions on the use of rest areas, rules for taking photographs, and contact information for emergency trouble.

"Map" can display map information for the aforementioned facility and its surroundings. As mentioned above, maps may overlap with other pages such as facility information and search result lists, so they may be excluded from the detailed display page for the selected event space. However, being able to display maps on multiple display pages can improve convenience for exhibitors when considering event facilities.

When map information about a facility is used, a display format may be used in which a symbol indicating the location of the facility is superimposed on a map of the surrounding area. In this case, the display format can be devised in such a way that symbols indicating the locations of nearby facilities are also superimposed on the same map, a thumbnail image of the facility is displayed, the display of the thumbnail image is changed when the thumbnail image is selected by pressing it, or an explanation of the facility corresponding to the thumbnail image is displayed.

When a user (exhibitor) uses an event space within a facility to hold an event, the relative position of the event space to the surrounding stores, its relative position to visitor traffic such as entrances, aisles, and escalators, the orientation of the booth and how it is visible to passersby, etc. are all extremely important factors that affect the number of attendees the event will attract. Therefore, to avoid any misunderstandings between the facility and the exhibitors and allow both parties to hold the event with peace of mind, it is preferable that the floor map shows the above factors that will affect the number of attendees the event will attract.

Embedded map information may be inserted into the event space details display page, for example, a publicly available web mapping platform may be embedded and used. The map information used is preferably one that allows switching between maps and photos, and more preferably one that allows switching between not only planar maps but also so-called panoramic displays.
It is also preferable that the map information can be operated by the exhibitor to display the interior of the facility. If the map information can display detailed information about the interior of the facility, it may be used as a floor map of the event space.

It is preferable that the "Make a reservation" and "Inquiries" buttons are displayed on multiple pages on the pages displaying the details of these facilities and event spaces. Since exhibitors will usually decide to make an offer to host an event after consulting the detailed information of each page, it is more convenient for exhibitors to have a page structure that allows them to make an application immediately from multiple pages. More details on "Make a reservation" will be given later.

The event space details display page can have a communication display space 1804 that displays important precautions for each event space. In the case of the page shown in FIG. 11, it displays "Posting posters or other notices on the windows is prohibited," but this is because in past events, when posters were posted on the windows, it was time-consuming to clean the windows when the event was taken down. In this way, by prominently displaying important but additional notices that you would like to communicate based on past cases, it is possible to reduce trouble between the facility and exhibitors.

Display items provided on the event space details display page are not limited to these examples. For example, multiple tags with links indicating the characteristics of a particular event space viewed by an exhibitor (e.g., "3 minutes from station," "high-speed Wi-Fi," "under 20,000/day," etc.) may be displayed, and by clicking on these tags, a list of event spaces with similar characteristics may be displayed.

Additionally, comments from administrators or facility staff can be posted on the event space details page. For example, comments such as "This is one of the most popular spaces in the Omiya area, and vacancies rarely come up, so we recommend you apply now while spaces are available" or "This is a facility that sees many children as visitors. We recommend events for children" can encourage exhibitors to make the decision to hold an event.

[2.2.3 My Page]
When the "My Page" button is pressed on the search menu page shown in FIG. 7, the control unit 108 (display data output means 1086) displays the My Page (S111).
My Page is a page that, for a user who has completed user registration, extracts, by the extraction means 1084, information stored in association with the identification information of the exhibitor from the master data stored in each DB of the storage unit 110 of the search system 1, edits it, and displays it. Here, the information stored in association with the identification information corresponds to information generated due to the actions of the exhibitor, such as the exhibitor's search log and status information of an event hosting offer. My Page is a page that has been edited to provide this information for the convenience of the exhibitor.

FIG. 13 shows an example of a My Page on the shop owner's search site.
Items displayed on My Page include, but are not limited to, "Download Materials,""ProjectInformation,""CompanyInformation,""MyMenu,""AccountManagement," and "Offer Progress."

"Download materials" is a page where exhibitors can download facility rules and manuals when holding an event in the event space (S115). Examples of materials to be uploaded include an event operation manual summarizing the basic flow and precautions for holding an event, as exemplified in FIG. 13, and a morning assembly checklist summarizing items to be checked at the start of work each day. These materials may be general manuals that can be used for most facilities, or manuals with content specialized for a specific event space. If the manuals are related to a specific event space, they may be designed so that they can be downloaded only after the exhibitor, who is the party reserving the facility, has completed the reservation for use of the event space.
When an exhibitor presses the linked text, for example, "Event Management Manual" or "Morning Assembly Checklist," the control unit 108 displays a download page for the materials (S122) (not shown).

"Event Information" is a page where the exhibitor registers, edits, and displays the details of the event that he or she plans (S118). When the exhibitor presses the linked "Event Information", the control unit 108 displays buttons (not shown) for moving to a "New Event Registration" page for registering an event and a "Event Content Confirmation" page for viewing and editing the registered event.
When the exhibitor presses the linked "new project registration" button, the control unit 108 (display data output means 1086) displays a new project registration page for registering new project information (S128).

Figure 14 shows an example of a new project registration page. Items that can be registered on the new project registration page include, for example, the area where the event will be held, the target age group, the target gender, project name, project content, required space, budget, promotional points, project concept diagram or images, and project proposal upload. When an exhibitor enters these items on the new project registration page and presses the "Register" button, the information is sent to the administrator by the control unit 108. If the administrator allows the registration of the content, or automatically, it is registered as the exhibitor's project information.

When the linked "Confirm Plan Content" is pressed in the "Plan Information," the control unit 108 displays a plan content confirmation page (S129) (not shown) where the registered plan information can be viewed and edited.
The plan content confirmation page can be edited by the exhibitor, and the plan information edited by the exhibitor is updated each time with the permission of the administrator or automatically.

The project information registered and edited by exhibitors will be used by facility staff or managers as a basis for decision-making in the process of determining whether or not to offer an event, as described below. In addition, the project information registered here will be used by facility staff when searching for exhibitors on the facility search site, as described below.

In "Company Information," basic information about the exhibitor, the exhibitor's person in charge, and information about the group organization to which the exhibitor belongs can be registered (S119). Company information is registered on the company information registration page (S130), and can be viewed and edited on the company information confirmation page (S131).

"My Menu" (S117) is a page where exhibitors can view their past search history, event space browsing history in search results, third-party survey reports, and a list of their My Searches (S119).

A "third-party investigation report" is a summary of a report when a third party investigates an event previously held by an exhibitor via the search system 1. The subject of a third-party investigation may include, for example, the appearance and language of exhibitor staff, as well as infection control measures such as whether masks are worn, the availability of alcohol disinfectant, the installation of acrylic panels, and the use of gloves. In addition, items regarding the setup status may include, but are not limited to, the completeness of the booth setup, the use of handwritten POP, organization of the back yard, the height of fixtures and banners, and the use of sound equipment.

When the exhibitor clicks on the linked "Third Party Survey Report," the control unit 108 (display data output means 1086) displays the third party survey report page (S125). The third party report may be a numerical representation of the third party's evaluation, or an evaluation using a circle, cross, triangle, etc., and in the case of evaluations by multiple inspectors, the average, maximum, minimum, etc. may be shown. In this way, a third party survey can identify matters that the person involved would not be able to notice, and is effective in improving the exhibitor's operations and attracting more customers.

When the exhibitor presses the linked "browsing history" button, the control unit 108 (display data output means 1086) displays the browsing history of the event space extracted as a result of the search performed by the exhibitor on the exhibitor's search site (S126).
Moreover, when the linked "My Search" is pressed, the My Search usage history (search query) shown in FIG. 7 is displayed (S127).

"Account Management" is a page that displays a user account list page (S123) and an authority list page (S124) that sets the editing authority of store owners who use the search system 1 (S116).

"Application Progress Management" is a page that displays a list of the application status progress for each event hosting offer applied for by the exhibitor (S141). When the exhibitor presses the "Application Progress Management" button, the control unit 108 (display data creation means 1085) extracts and edits data including the latest status related to the offer from the user history master data in the user history DB 1106 for the event hosting offer applied for by the exhibitor, and displays a progress display page on the screen of the exhibitor terminal 20 by the display data output means 1086 (S142).

Figure 15 shows an example of a progress display page. Figure 15 shows a list of application progress for multiple event spaces for which exhibitors have made offers to host events. In the list, the "Status" column displays, for example, any of the following: Confirmed, NG, Applying, or Cancelled. Here, "Confirmed" indicates that the reservation procedure for hosting the event has been completed. "NG" indicates that the application to host the event has not been approved. "Applying" indicates that it has not yet been decided whether or not a exhibitor can be set up in the event space in response to the offer. "Cancelled" indicates that the offer to host an event has been cancelled by the user.

At the top of the page in Figure 15, there are provided buttons for "Confirm," "NG," "Applying," and "Cancel" for filtering the status of offers in the list. When these buttons are pressed, the control unit 108 (display data creation means 1085) extracts cases with the selected status and creates data for display on the exhibitor terminal 20. In Figure 15, filtering is limited to status, but it may also be possible to filter by other items, such as the date of request or store name.

Other examples of items that may be displayed on the My Page include reviews from visitors about the facility related to the exhibitor's offer, or reviews from visitors about events that the exhibitor has held in the past.

2.2.4 Processing of Event Hosting Offers
The processing of the event hosting offer will be described with reference to Fig. 16. As described above, when the exhibitor presses the "reservation request" button (S161) on the event space detail display page (Figs. 11 and 12), the event hosting offer is transmitted from the communication unit 204 in the exhibitor terminal 20 to the server 10 (S201), received by the control unit 108 (offer receiving means 1087), and notified to the administrator (S301).

17 shows an example of a form for applying for an offer. When applying for an offer, the items to be entered include basic information about the user (the exhibitor) as well as the desired date and time for the event. Information about the offer from the exhibitor is tagged with the user's identification information, is associated with exhibitor information about the user and facility information about the offered event space, and is stored as user history master data in user history DB 1106. Thereafter, as the event progresses, the data is updated with the addition of new information such as sales during the event and document transfers (hereinafter, this data will be referred to as data 1).
In Data 1, before an event hosting offer is submitted, there is no status.

Returning to FIG. 16, the processing of an offer to hold an event will be described. The administrator receives an offer application (S301), and changes the status of data 1 to "application pending" by the control unit 108 (DB editing means 1089) (S302). The administrator decides whether to inquire with the facility about the offer from the exhibitor, and if it is determined that an inquiry is necessary (S303: YES), the administrator sends part or all of data 1 related to the offer to the facility staff (S304). If it is determined that an inquiry is not necessary (S303: NO), the administrator decides whether to hold the event. The administrator may grant the facility staff the authority to view the information entered in data 1, as well as the registration information at the time of user registration and the project information entered on My Page.

Normally, the manager and the facility have a basic transaction contract, and in order to reduce the burden on the facility staff, the manager has the authority to approve event hosting offers from individual exhibitors, and the authority to act on behalf of the exhibitor in carrying out various procedures for facility use after the offer has been approved. Examples of cases in which the manager needs to inquire with the facility staff include exhibitors with no or very little experience of hosting events through the system of the present invention, or when a problem occurred in an event that the exhibitor held in the past, resulting in a complaint.
By having the administrator have the authority described above, the process from the offer by the exhibitor to the completion of the reservation can be completed between the exhibitor and the administrator, which reduces the workload of the facility staff.

Communication between the administrator and the facility staff can be carried out using e-mail, My Page, or chat functions. The facility staff who receives the inquiry (S401) sends a response to the administrator regarding whether or not the event can be held (S402).

The administrator who receives the response from the facility staff (S305) decides whether or not to allow the event to be held. If the administrator decides not to allow the event to be held (S306: NO), the administrator changes the status of data 1 to "NG" (S310) via the control unit 108 (DB editing means 1089). On the other hand, if the administrator decides to allow the event to be held (S306: YES), the administrator notifies the exhibitor that the event has been allowed to be held as necessary, and the procedures required for holding the event begin between the exhibitor and the administrator.

The administrator grants the exhibitor the authority to download from My Page any manuals or rules necessary for using the event space. The administrator then grants the exhibitor the authority to download any necessary procedural documents. The procedural documents necessary for holding the event may be mailed to the exhibitor, or may be sent as electronic files via email, or a new form for the procedures may be set up within My Page (not shown) to allow for a simplified process.

When the procedures necessary to hold the event have been completed with the exhibitor (S309: YES), the administrator changes the status of Data 1 to "Confirmed." On the other hand, if the procedures have not yet been completed with the exhibitor (S309: NO) and the exhibitor has notified the administrator that the offer has been canceled, the administrator changes the status of Data 1 to "Cancelled." If the procedures have not yet been completed with the exhibitor (S309: NO) and the exhibitor has not notified the administrator that the offer has been canceled, the administrator will not change the status of Data 1.

In the embodiment of the store owner search app described above, store owners search to find locations suitable for holding events in event spaces within the facility or for setting up tenant stores with vacant floor space, but the events and tenant stores described above may include so-called "pop-up stores." Pop-up stores are stores that are opened for a limited period of time, such as a few days to a few months, and may operate as temporary stores set up in event spaces or with vacant floor space. To search for a location suitable for setting up a "pop-up store," a search for event spaces or a search for vacant floor space can be used as appropriate depending on the type of pop-up store to be opened.

To facilitate searching for locations for pop-up stores, specifications for searching pop-up stores may be added to the store owner's search app. For example, the administrator may add a field in the facility master data for whether or not a pop-up store can be opened, and the search menu of the store owner's search app may be narrowed down by whether or not a pop-up store can be opened.

[2.3 Facility search app]
Next, a process performed by the facility-side search application used in the search system 1 will be described.

Figure 18 shows the processing of the system in which a facility staff member becomes a user of the facility search app and searches for exhibitors. The facility staff member uses the facility search app to search for exhibitors (exhibitor information) who will hold events in the event space owned by the facility or who will set up tenant stores in vacant floor space. Note that the exhibitor information searched for using the facility search app includes the exhibitor's plan information.

[2.3.1 User Registration Function]
The facility staff accesses the URL of the facility search site from the facility terminal 40 through the network N. When the facility staff accesses the facility search site, the control unit 108 in the server 10 displays a top page having a login menu for the facility search site (S501b). Here, the top page may be a page of the facility search site alone, or may be a top page jointly with the store owner search site. In addition, in this embodiment, the facility search site does not distinguish between search pages for opening a store in an event space and for opening a store as a tenant in an empty space, but the search pages for both may be different. When the facility staff issues a login instruction from the login menu, the control unit 108 (user authentication means 1082) displays the login page (S502).

The top page may display not only the login menu but also a search page. In that case, the specifications may be such that only part of the search function can be used even before the facility staff logs in, or only some of the search items may be displayed.

As with the shopkeeper search site, if user registration has been completed (S503: Yes), the facility staff enters the user name and password given by the administrator on the login page. If the control unit 108 (user authentication means 1082) determines that the user name and password entered by the facility staff match those previously registered, the control unit 108 displays the search menu page of the facility search site to the facility staff (S505). If the facility staff has not yet completed user registration on the facility search site (S503: No), the control unit 108 (user registration means 1081) displays a new account registration page (S504) and requests account registration.

Unlike store search sites, in many cases the administrator will already have acquired facility information through sales activities, etc. In such cases, the administrator may register users in advance without going through the account registration page on the site.

Once user registration is complete, the facility person in charge will be able to use the facility search site, and the facility person's information will be added to the facility master data in facility information DB 1104. If the facility person is no longer a facility person after user registration, the administrator can cancel the account information of that facility person. Alternatively, the administrator can restrict the use of some of the functions of the facility search site.

When user registration is completed by inputting basic store owner information (S503: Yes), the control unit 108 displays a search menu page on the facility terminal 40 (S505).

2.3.2 Search Function
The search menu page is a start page for facility personnel to search for store owners. Figure 19 shows an example of a search menu page on the facility search site. On the search menu page, facility personnel can select the most appropriate search item from multiple search items to search for store owners.

A search menu 1901 in Fig. 19 displays buttons for multiple search items. Examples of search items include, but are not limited to, a "free word search" for searching by a term including a facility name or area, an "area search" for searching by an area such as the location of a facility or a prefecture, a "plan content search" for searching by the plan content of an event planned by an exhibitor, a "product search" for searching by the type of product or service handled by an exhibitor, and a "bulk search" for searching by a combination of these search conditions.
When the facility staff member presses these search item buttons on the search menu page of FIG. 19, the control unit 108 (search condition acquisition means 1083) displays pages (S506-1 to S506-n) for inputting the respective search conditions.

The search menu page may have a special feature menu 1902 that allows a search from a group of exhibitors that is uniquely edited by the administrator (S507-1 to S507-n). The special feature menu 1902 illustrated in Fig. 19 is, for example, a list of merchandise handled by the exhibitors, categorized by a number of categories, and when the facility staff presses the button for each category, a list of plans by the corresponding exhibitor is displayed (S510-1 to S510-n).
The form of the special feature menu 1902 can be arbitrarily set by the administrator, and is not limited to the example of FIG.

Figure 20 shows an example of a page where the facility staff inputs search conditions (S506-1 to S506-n). Figure 20 is an example of an area search. When the facility staff presses the area search button on the search menu page, the control unit 108 (search condition acquisition means 1083) displays a search condition input page as shown in Figure 20a, which allows the user to select a major area category. When the facility staff checks the "Kanto Koshinetsu" checkbox, for example, and presses the "Search >" button, the control unit 108 (search condition acquisition means 1083) displays a search condition input page as shown in Figure 20b, which allows the user to select a minor area category.

For example, when a facility staff member checks the "Tokyo" and "Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa" checkboxes on the input page shown in FIG. 20b and presses the "Search>" button, the control unit 108 (extraction means 1084) extracts information about exhibitors that match the search criteria from the exhibitor information DB 1102. The extraction results are edited as display data by the control unit 108 (display data creation means 1085) and transmitted from the server 10 to the facility terminal 40 by the display data output means 1086. A search result display page (S509-1 to S509-n) is displayed on the exhibitor terminal 20.

FIG. 21 shows an example of a search result display page (S509-1 to S509-n) corresponding to the search conditions input by the facility staff.
The search result page displays the plan information of exhibitors that match the search criteria entered on the search criteria input page shown in Fig. 20(a) or 20(b) in three different display formats, and the facility staff can select an easy-to-use display from the multiple display formats to view the plan information. As shown in Fig. 21, in order to improve the viewability of the facility staff, it is preferable that the search results can be displayed by selecting any one or more of the multiple display formats.

For example, Figure 21 shows search results in a table format "list display," a "list display" with more display items than the list display, and a "block display" that lists blocks such as images of event facilities, but the display formats are not limited to these. Facility personnel can select these display formats as appropriate, and a list of results can be shown in multiple display formats on one page.

In the search result display page in FIG. 21, pressing a specific button provided on the page allows the user to move to a store owner plan details display page showing detailed information about the store owner's plan (S514). In the case of FIG. 21, pressing the "detailed information" button in the single column display causes the control unit 108 (display data creation means 1085) to edit display data showing detailed information about the store owner's plan, and the display data output means 1086 to display the store owner plan details display page. In addition, in the block display or map display, pressing an icon consisting of a thumbnail or logo mark or other image representing the store owner's plan displays the store owner plan details display page.

FIG. 22 is an example of an exhibitor project details display page, showing a promotional event by a business that runs an English conversation school.
In the example of Figure 22, the exhibitor project details display page is composed of basic information such as the area in which the event can be held, the target age group and gender, and the amount of space required to hold the event, as well as items such as project promotion points, project details, and company overview.
Facility staff will refer to these details and consider whether to submit a planning offer to exhibitors.

The upper right corner of the exhibitor project details display page displays a "Make a reservation" button 2201 and an "Inquiries" button 2202 (S524). The "Inquiries" button is the same as on the exhibitor search site, so a description of it will be omitted.

2.3.3 My Page
When the "My Page" button is pressed on the search menu page shown in FIG. 19, the control unit 108 (display data output means 1086) displays the My Page (S508).
My Page is a page that extracts and handles information stored in association with the identification information of a facility person in charge of a facility who is registered as a user, from the master data stored in each DB of the storage unit 110 of the search system 1. Here, the information stored in association with the identification information corresponds to the search log of the facility person in charge, event information at the facility or a group store described below, and the like, and this page is edited to improve the convenience of the facility person in charge of the facility.

FIG. 23 shows an example of My Page.
Items displayed on the My Page exemplified in FIG. 23 include "Schedule Management" (S511), "My Menu", "Management Screen", etc., but are not limited to these.

"Schedule Management" is a page that displays in calendar format the availability of event space or vacant beds within the facility to which the facility manager belongs (S515).

In "My Menu," the facility staff can view information on the system usage history (S512).
The "offer history" is a history of plan offers made from the account registered at the facility to which the facility staff member belongs (S516).
"Browse history" is the browse history when searching for shop owners using the facility search site (S517).
"My Search" is a function that allows a user to memorize a search formula and perform repeated searches using the same search formula, and can be used by facility personnel to periodically search for exhibitors (S518).

The "Management Screen" is a page where the status of a group of chain stores (hereafter referred to as group stores in this specification) including the facility to which the facility representative belongs can be managed and viewed in one place.

"Schedule management" displays the event status of group stores in calendar format (S519). By being able to refer to the event status of group stores all at once, facility personnel can plan event schedules for members of a group store. Event schedule information for group stores is compiled from data stored in the facility master data and user history master data, based on facility identification information. The data in the list is extracted and edited from the user history master data by the control unit 108 (display data creation means 1085), and is displayed on the facility terminal 40 by the display data output means 1086.

"Facility Information" is a page where basic information about the group's stores can be viewed in list format (S520).

"Sales Information" is a page where sales information for events held at group stores can be viewed in list form (S521).
Fig. 24 shows an example of a sales information display page. The list in Fig. 24 shows the event holding record in the A department store group in June 2023. The list can display information such as the store name, store name, event location, merchandise, schedule, and sales amount, and by referring to this data, the facility staff can use it as a reference material to decide what kind of event should be held at the store to which they belong.

In the table in FIG. 24, the actual sales values are data entered into the user history master data in the user history DB 1106 upon notification by exhibitors when an event is held at each store in Department Store A, and the data in the table is extracted and edited from the user history master data by the control unit 108 (display data creation means 1085), and is displayed on the facility terminal 40 by the display data output means 1086.

"Account Management" is a page where the account information of facility staff in the group store can be viewed (S522). The account information displayed here is extracted from the facility master data by the control unit 108 (display data creation means 1085) and displayed on the facility terminal 40 by the display data output means 1086.

The My Page may include items other than those mentioned above. For example, it may be possible to allow facility personnel to view reviews from attendees at past events about exhibitors narrowed down by search, as well as the aforementioned third-party survey reports.

2.3.4 Processing of Offers
When a store owner presses the "Offer" button on the store owner project details display page (Figure 22), the control unit 108 (display data creation means 1085) creates an application form for the project offer, and the application form is displayed on the facility terminal 40 by the display data output means 1086 (S).

Figure 25 shows an example of a form for submitting a project offer. When submitting an offer, the input items include basic information about the facility to which the facility staff member belongs, as well as the application details. Information about the offer from the facility staff member is associated with the identification information of the facility staff member and the facility information, and is stored as user history master data in the user history DB 1106.

When a planning offer application is made by a facility staff member, it is received by the offer receiving means 1087 and notified to the administrator. The administrator contacts the exhibitor that is the subject of the offer, and if the exhibitor wishes to hold an event at the facility, they submit a reservation application using the exhibitor's search site. The process thereafter is the same as a reservation application using the exhibitor's search site, so a description is omitted.

In addition, when a facility staff member submits a planning offer, the administrator may confirm the exhibitor's intentions and then use the DB editing means 1089 to create new user history master data related to the offer, without the exhibitor having to submit an event hosting offer again using the exhibitor's search site.

As with the store owner's search site, the status of the offer application can be checked on the user's personal page by extracting data from the user history master data, and the administrator can contact the facility staff each time by email or other means.

2.4 Searching for available beds
As mentioned above, the search for event space using the store owner's search app and the search for store owner plans using the facility's search app have been specifically explained, but the same process is also used for store owners searching for vacant floor space to open a store as a tenant, and for facility personnel searching for store owners to open a store in the vacant floor space. Note that, as mentioned above, in the case of vacant floor space searches, the administrator can make appropriate changes, such as using a different search site or changing some of the search items.

3. Modifications
In the above embodiment, the exhibitor search app is used to search for event spaces, and the facility search app is used to search for exhibitor plans, but both apps may be the same app ( FIG. 27 ). That is, since the exhibitor search app and the facility search app use the same DB data to extract results during processing such as searches, both apps may be integrated into the same app, and exhibitors and facility personnel may use either app by specifying the type of search after logging in.

In the above embodiment, the exhibitor search app is used to search for event spaces, and the facility search app is used to search for exhibitor plans, and both apps use the same database, but the databases used by the apps may be different. In that case, if multiple databases are used, it is preferable that the data they contain is synchronized.

In the above embodiment, the store owner search app and the facility search app are stored in the server 10 and controlled by the control unit 108 of the server 10, but they may be downloaded to the store owner terminal 20 and the facility terminal 40, respectively, and installed in each terminal, and only the information stored in the memory unit 110 in the server may be used. In that case, the control function of the control unit 108 of the server 10 is replaced by the control unit 208 in the store owner terminal or the control unit 408 in the facility terminal.

[4. Summary]
Although the embodiment of the information processing device of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment. Furthermore, the effects described in the above embodiment are merely a list of the most preferable effects resulting from the present invention, and the effects of the present invention are not limited to those described in the present embodiment.

1: Search system, 10: Server, 20: Shop owner terminal, 30: Administrator terminal, 40: Facility terminal, 104: Communication unit, 108: Control unit, 108A: CPU, 108B: Memory, 110: Storage unit, 202: Input unit, 204: Communication unit, 206: Display unit, 208: Control unit, 210: Storage unit, CPU: 212, Memory: 214, 302: Input unit, 304: Communication unit, 306: Display unit, 308: Control unit, 310: Storage unit, CPU: 312, Memory: 314, 402: Input unit, 4 04: communication unit, 406: display unit, 408: control unit, 410: storage unit, CPU: 412, memory: 414, 1081: user registration means, 1082: user authentication means, 1083: search condition acquisition means, 1084: extraction means, 1085: display data creation means, 1086: display data output means, 1087: offer reception means, 1088: user history storage means, 1089: DB editing means, 1102: shop owner information DB, 1104: facility information DB, 1106: user history DB

Claims (9)

A search system equipped with a server that supports various procedures for facilities and shop owners through a system administrator,
The server includes a control unit, a storage unit,
A search condition acquisition means for acquiring search conditions input to a terminal ;
An extraction means for extracting information on event spaces or vacant floors stored in the storage unit based on the acquired search conditions;
A display data creation means for creating display data that displays the extracted event space or vacant floor information;
an output means for outputting the display data to the terminal ;
An offer receiving means for receiving an offer from a user to hold an event or open a store as a tenant in response to the event space or vacant floor information stored in the storage unit;
A user history DB including status information regarding whether or not an event can be held or whether or not a tenant can open a store;
having
The control unit is
Transmitting a notification to an administrator terminal to cause the system administrator to determine whether or not the received offer is acceptable;
updating the status information based on an operation by the system administrator from the administrator terminal;
Search system. The display data creation means creates the event space or vacant floor information extracted by the extraction means in a plurality of selectable display formats.
The search system according to claim 1. The display data includes a display format having map information showing the event space or vacant floor, as well as the location of the facility;
The search system according to claim 1. The display data includes a display format having map information that displays the location and appearance of the event space or the vacant floor within the facility to which the event space or the vacant floor belongs, as well as visual information regarding their surrounding environment;
The search system according to claim 1. A user registration means for registering user information including user identification information for identifying a user;
A user authentication means for authenticating a user;
a user history storage means for storing information generated during a user's use of the system in the user history DB in association with the user identification information;
having
The extraction means extracts information from the information stored by the user history storage means in response to a user request,
the display data creation means creates display data for displaying the information extracted by the extraction means,
The information extracted by the extraction means includes the adjustment status of the offer for holding the event or opening a tenant store applied for by the user,
The search system according to claim 1. The information extracted by the extraction means includes an instruction manual for the facility and/or the event space or vacant floor space, and the instruction manual is made available for viewing when the adjustment status of the offer to hold the event or to open a tenant store reaches a predetermined stage.
The search system according to claim 5. A search system equipped with a server that supports various procedures for facilities and shop owners through a system administrator,
The server includes a control unit, a storage unit,
A search condition acquisition means for acquiring search conditions input to a terminal ;
An extraction means for extracting store owner information stored in the storage unit based on the acquired search conditions;
A display data creating means for creating display data for displaying the extracted store owner information;
an output means for outputting the display data to the terminal ;
An offer receiving means for receiving an offer from a user to hold an event or open a store as a tenant in response to the event space or vacant floor information stored in the storage unit;
A user history DB including status information regarding whether or not an event can be held or whether or not a tenant can open a store;
having
The control unit is
Transmitting a notification to an administrator terminal to cause the system administrator to determine whether or not the received offer is acceptable;
updating the status information based on an operation by the system administrator from the administrator terminal;
Search system. The display data creation means creates the store owner information extracted by the extraction means in a plurality of selectable display formats.
The search system according to claim 7 . The search condition acquisition means acquires, as the search conditions, store opening plan information related to the store opening plan of the store opening,
The extraction means extracts store opening plan information.
The search system according to claim 7 .

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