JPH02171855A - Commodity control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To effectively utilize a stock and to improve customer service by automatically ordering a desired commodity by a customer itself by using existent customer information control data when the desired commodity is exhausted during the shopping of the customer. CONSTITUTION:When the desired commodity is exhausted, a customer 5 receives the commodity information of a commodity master storing part 33 by a CRT 11 and keyboard 12 by a controller 10. The name of the desired commodity, number and delivery destination are inputted and data are transmitted to a store controller 30. The controller 30 updates the information of a shop order data storing part 35 at real time and transmits the ordered data to a head office 2. A processor 40 of the head office 2 receives the shop order data and executes the order processing of the commodity. Then, the information of a whole shop order data storing part 45 are updated and the order data are transmitted to a distribution center 3. Thus, the customer itself can automatically order the desired commodity and the customer service is improved.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a retail store system that handles merchandise transactions, and in particular uses a point-of-sale terminal to allow customers to purchase out-of-stock products requested by customers themselves. The present invention relates to a product management system suitable for automatic manual ordering.

[Conventional technology]

In the retail industry, an example of conventional technology for a sales branch system that connects one store, four headquarters, and a distribution center through communication means and performs automatic processing is Nikkei Computer 1988 4.2.
5 PpH4-123. In the above-mentioned conventional technology, a handy terminal or a personal computer for ordering work is installed in a store, and a store clerk or store manager operates these devices to place an order. Order data is sent from the store to the headquarters by means of communication, automatically processed by a processor installed at the headquarters, and delivery instructions are issued to the distribution center.This automates the ordering process that was previously done by telephone, etc. This has made it possible to prevent ordering errors due to misunderstandings, etc., and to significantly save labor.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Currently, in the retail industry, etc., by introducing PO8 terminals, POS (replenishment ordering system), etc., it is possible to save labor at the cash register, speed up customer service, accurately understand best-selling products, and promote sales. This has been a big turn-on for the expansion of profits. As one means of achieving this, an automated ordering system as shown in the above-mentioned prior art has been devised.

The conventional method above improves efficiency by automating ordering.

Although labor savings can be achieved, 5 types of products to order.

The amount of orders and the timing of orders are still decided by the people at the store (sales staff, store manager, buyers, etc.).

No consideration is given to the case where a desired product is out of stock while the customer is shopping, and in such a case, the customer either gives up or buys a substitute item.

Alternatively, you may have to look for it at another store, or you can negotiate with the store staff to order the desired product and have it delivered to your home, but the store staff may be busy or the process may take a long time. The problem was that negotiations were difficult.

An object of the present invention is to provide a product management system 11 using a point-of-sale terminal that allows a customer to manually order the desired product and carry out home delivery procedures if the desired product is out of stock while the customer is shopping. It is about providing.

In order to achieve the above object, the system of the present invention sends the product information searched by the customer, the desired number of products manually entered by the customer, and the product delivery address to the point-of-sale terminal in the store. A means is provided to send product order information consisting of addresses, and stores transmit product order information to the headquarters and distribution center, one headquarters processes the product order based on the received information, and the distribution center processes the product order based on the received information. The products purchased based on this system are delivered to the customer's home.

[Effect]

If a customer does not have the product they want while shopping, they can
Search for the desired product using means provided on point-of-sale terminals such as The search is performed by interactively narrowing down the target product by inputting the attributes of the desired product one after another.6 For the selected products, the customer enters the desired quantity and delivery address.

Complete entry for ordered products. If the customer does not want to take the purchased product home due to reasons such as its size or weight, the customer inputs a request for home delivery of the product using the delivery procedure selection means.

At that time, product entry can be easily done by reading a barcode or other code that corresponds to the product, or manually inputting a key, or by using an IC card with pre-stored delivery address information. It is also possible to do so.

After entering the desired product and desired delivery address,
A customer receives an order slip as evidence of a product order or home delivery request using an order slip issuing means. At this time, the expected date and time of the product's arrival is printed on one order slip using the product's expected arrival date and time printing means.

After the customer has completed the ordering process, the store system transmits the information selected and input by the customer to the headquarters and distribution center using communication means.

The headquarters processes product orders based on the received information, and the distribution center purchases the products ordered by the headquarters and performs home delivery procedures for the purchased products based on the received information.
In addition, at the time the customer sends order information, the store's inventory information is referred to, and if the store has it in stock, the customer is notified that the order is in stock, and the order is canceled or at the time the order is placed at one headquarters. Please refer to the inventory information of the distribution center and do not process the order if the distribution center has the item in stock.

By immediately delivering the stock to your home, you can make effective use of your stock.

With the above, even if a customer does not have the desired product while shopping, the customer can easily order the desired product automatically,
This enables home delivery procedures while making effective use of inventory.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a retail store system, which is an embodiment of the present invention. Sales branch system.

As shown in this diagram, there are 11 stores, 1 headquarters, and 2. It is composed of a distribution center 3.

Store l has a keyboard 21. Barcode scanner 22
p equipped with 2 displays 23 and 2 station printers 24
An OS terminal 20 and a store controller 30 that manages the POS terminal, processes POS data, etc. are installed.

The store controller 30 includes a CRT 31. Keepo 13
22 Store parts master storage section 33. PO8 Sales data storage unit 34° Store order data storage unit 35. A store inventory data storage section 36 is provided. The POS terminal 20 includes a CRTll,
Keyboard 12. Card reader 13. Customer order data input/output control device that controls the order slip printer 14! 10 are connected.

Headquarters 2 has 1 communication control table @41. Store-wide product mask storage section 43. Store-wide sales data storage unit 44. A host processor 40 including a store-wide order data storage section 45 is installed.

The distribution center 3 has a CRT51. Keyboard 52, store-wide order data storage section 55. A center terminal 50 equipped with a center purchasing/inventory data storage section 56 and a delivery/delivery data storage section 57 is atlled.

Store 1 and headquarters 2 are connected by modem too, 101 and communication line 110, and headquarters 2, which sends and receives information, and distribution center 3 are connected by modem 102, 103 and communication line 111, and information is transmitted and received. Send and receive 8
A head office 2 performs order processing, a distribution center 3 performs purchasing work, and the products purchased at the distribution center 3 are delivered to a store 1 or delivered to a customer's home 4 as necessary.

2 and 3 are flowcharts showing transaction processing for implementing an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 2(a), the operation flow of the customer 5 is shown in the second It! I
t (b) shows the operation flow of store manager 7. l
(0) shows the processing flow of the store controller 30, and FIG. 2(d) shows the processing flow of the host processor 40.

Necessary product data is loaded in advance from the store-wide product master storage section 43 to the store product master storage section 33.

When the customer 5 is shopping and the product he or she desires is out of stock, the customer 5 uses the CRT II and keyboard 12 provided in the customer order data input/output control device 10 to retrieve the product stored in the one-store parts master storage unit 33. Search for information (step 200), and if you find the product you want,
Step 201: Enter the product and the required quantity.
), enter the desired delivery address (step 202), and finally send the entered data to the store controller 30 (step 203), thereby completing the customer's order input for out-of-stock items.6 After completing the order, the customer An order slip is received (step 204).

On the other hand, the store manager 7 can check the status of the store face or view the CRT 31 provided in the store controller 30. The user accesses the store inventory data storage section 36 using the keyboard 32 to understand the inventory status of one store, and orders products as necessary (step 210).

The store controller 30 receives customer order data and store manager order data in real time (step 220).
, accesses the store order data storage section 35 and updates the information (step 221).

After that, the order data is sent to headquarters 2 (step 22
2).

In the host processor 40 of the headquarters 2, the communication control device! 4
1 receives the received store order data (step 23
0) Processing orders for products from wholesalers and manufacturers (step 231).Orders may be processed one by one, or may be performed after a certain amount of order data has been compiled.0 After order processing, all stores The order data storage unit 45 is accessed and the information is updated (step 232), and then the order data is sent to the distribution center 3 (step 233).
).

FIG. 3(a) shows the processing flow of the center terminal 50, and FIG. 3(b) shows the purchasing work flow of the center staff 8.
FIG. 3 (Q) shows the delivery/delivery work flow of the center personnel 8.

The center terminal 50 of the distribution center 3 receives the order data sent from the headquarters 2 (step 300) and stores it in the store-wide order data storage section 55 (step 301).

The center personnel 8 perform product purchasing work and delivery/home delivery work. When purchasing products from wholesalers and manufacturers (step 310), center personnel 8.

A CRT 51 provided in the center terminal 50. Access the center purchasing/inventory data storage unit 56 using the keyboard 52 and update purchasing information (step 311).
, At the same time, inventory information is also updated (step 312).
It is also possible to automatically update the inventory information within the center terminal 50 upon updating the purchasing information.

On the other hand, when performing delivery/home delivery work, first, the CRT 51. Using the keyboard 52, the order data stored in the store-wide order data storage section 55 is retrieved (step 320). Next, the retrieved order data is checked to determine whether to deliver to the store or to the customer's home (step 320). Step 321), if delivery is to be carried out, perform delivery procedures to one store (step 322), access delivery/delivery data storage unit 57 and update information (step 323), if delivery is to be delivered to the customer's home. performs delivery procedures to (step 324), accesses the delivery/delivery data storage section 57, and updates information (step 325).
), once the product is delivered or home delivered, the number of stocks in the distribution center 3 will decrease, so access the center purchasing/inventory data storage unit 56 and update the inventory information (
step 326).

Figure 4 is for searching for the product a customer desires.

In FIG. 4, which shows the process of interactively inputting product attributes, a first interactive output screen 410 is displayed on the CRTll. On the dialogue output screen 410, the customer is asked about the type of product desired. When the customer 5 uses the keyboard 12 to input the human interaction data 420 ``magazine'', the next dialog output screen 411 is displayed and asks for the publisher of the magazine. In this way, by interactively inputting product attributes one after another, it becomes possible to refer to the PLU table 400 stored in the store product master storage unit 33.
Finally, the dialogue 8 force meat side 413 is obtained. Dialogue output screen 41
3 is a PL based on the product attribute information input by customer 5.
This is a screen that displays product information obtained as a result of searching the U table 400 and requests confirmation from the customer 5. Control of the interlocutor's output is performed by the customer order data input/output control device.

5th wU shows the process of searching the PLO table based on product attribute information input interactively by the customer. In the example of FIG. , a major classification table, a department table, a group table, and an attribute table.

The input dictionary table 500 defines a major classification code, a department code, and a group code for the data input on the first dialog screen.

For example, the major classification code for the initial input data ``Magazine'' is '
02', department code is '03', group code is'
02', the major classification code for "books" is '02', the department code is '03', and the group code is undefined.

The major classification table, department table, and group table are
For example, a major classification table 510 that defines the code corresponding to each classification and link information to the next table.
There are two major categories: “food” and “non-food”.
Each code is 101'"02", and "Non-food" indicates that it is linked to the department table 511.Similarly, the department table 511 of "Non-food" is ``Non-food'' is It consists of departments such as "Clothing", "Home Appliances", etc., and shows the definition of each department code and link information to the group.

The attribute table defines codes corresponding to each attribute and link information to the next table.

For example, the attribute table 520 is the group table 51
It is linked from the "1 Magazine" group in Section 2, and the attribute "Publisher" has "Company A", "Company B", etc., and the definition of each attribute code and link information to the next attribute table is shown. There is.

Furthermore, the link information in the attribute table 521 indicates a link to the PLU code in the PLU table 400.

FIG. 5 shows how the link information of each table is traced to finally access the PLU table 400 when the dialogue shown in FIG. 4 is performed manually.

First, when "Magazine" is input, the input dictionary table 500 determines the major classification code, department code,
A group code is determined. By following the link information of each classification table from the determined code, the first attribute table 520 is reached. Since the attribute of the attribute table 520 is "publisher", the system prompts the customer to input the publisher name. Can be done. When the customer inputs “Company A”, the next attribute table 521 is linked. Since the link in the attribute table 521 is a link to the PLU table 400, the next time the customer inputs an attribute, the PLU table 400 can be accessed.

Fig. 6 shows the process of confirming the searched product data and inputting the desired quantity and delivery address.
inputs 6″Y” (423) L/, which means understanding. Further, the desired number of products and delivery address are also entered on dialog screens 414 and 415, respectively.

On the other hand, in the store order data storage unit 35, the customer 5 is
Order data consisting of product data retrieved from the U table 400, input quantity, and delivery information is recorded. An order serial number is added to these customer order data and written into the single store order data table 600. Eventually 1
The data is sent to the host processor as store order data.

FIG. 7 shows the dialog process when selecting a request for home delivery of a product. In the example of FIG.
0 information search is barcode 7 added to product 700.
01 is read by the barcode scanner 22 of the POS terminal 20 in a conventional manner. PLU in the store product master storage unit 33 based on the read barcode information.
The table 400 is searched, and product information is output to the dialogue output screen 713, and at the same time, the customer is asked whether or not he or she would like home delivery. If you wish for home delivery, please indicate “
Y" (723). Thereafter, a store order data table 600 is created in the one store order data storage section 35 through the same process as shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 shows an example of inputting the delivery address using an IC card.The main memory 820 of the IC card 800 is provided with a delivery optical storage area 821, in which information about the delivery destination is recorded in advance. There is. Customer 5 sees the dialog output screen 815 prompting him to insert a card for inputting the delivery address, and then inserts the IC card 80.
0 in the card reader 13. Card reader 13
The customer can be confirmed by reading the delivery address and outputting it on the dialog output screen 816. In addition, the read delivery address is stored in the store order data storage unit 33 as is.
The store order data table 600 in FIG.

9th Lgl shows an example of printing the expected date and time of product arrival on the order slip. In FIG. It is a provision. In the delivery time data table 900, the required delivery time for each region is recorded in advance for each product.For example, if the PLU code is "49"
1234567800'' requires 30 hours to be delivered to area α and 28 hours to area B. Current time data storage area 90 provided in store order data storage unit 35
The expected time of arrival of the product is calculated by adding the required delivery time specified from the PLU code and delivery address recorded in the store order data file 600 to the date and time of 1.

For example, in FIG. 9, the required delivery time of 28 hours is added to the current time, July 11, 1987, 13:30, and the expected product arrival time is July 12, 1987, 17:30. The estimated arrival time of the product is stored in the scheduled delivery time data storage area 902 in the store order data storage section 35, and is used when printing the purchase slip 920 with the order slip printer 14 as evidence of product purchase, product order, or delivery request. , and print them together. The customer 5 can receive the purchase slip 920 on which the expected time of arrival of the product is printed while viewing the message on the dialog output screen 917.

FIG. 10 shows an example where the store has stock when the customer performs the ordering procedure. In FIG. It is input by.

The store processor 30 refers to the store inventory data table 1020 stored in the one store inventory data storage section 36 using the PLU code of the order data with order number "98" as a key. As a result of the reference, PLO code “491234
567,800" is in stock, the output screen 1018 is sent to the user. By looking at the output screen 1o18, the user confirms that the desired product is in stock in the store. However, at the store where you can purchase the desired product, the order number is “98”.
By deleting the order data from the store order data table 600, it is possible to effectively utilize inventory without placing unnecessary orders.

11th L! i shows an example where there is inventory at the distribution center when one headquarters processes an order. In Figure 11, order data sent from one store is stored in the all-store order data storage unit 4.
5 is stored in the all-store order data table 1100. The host processor 40 stores all store order data table 1
100, the center inventory table 1120 stored in the center purchasing/inventory data storage section 56 is referred to before ordering to a wholesaler or manufacturer.

Reference is made using the PLU code of the store-wide order data table as a key.1 In Figure 11, the result of reference is 1 order number "98".
It was found that the product with "PLU code"491234567800" was in stock. Host processor 40
For products that are found to be in stock, we will instruct our distribution centers to immediately deliver the stock to your home.
It is deleted from the store-wide order data table 1100. Thereafter, by processing orders to wholesalers or manufacturers based on the remaining order data, it is possible to effectively utilize inventory without placing unnecessary orders.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, even if the desired product is out of stock while the customer is shopping, the customer can easily automatically order the desired product using existing POS data and carry out home delivery procedures while making effective use of inventory. This makes it possible to further improve customer service.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a branch system for realizing an embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are flowcharts showing transaction processing for realizing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram for detailed explanation of the present invention,
FIG. 4 shows the process of interactively inputting product attributes, and FIG. 5 shows the process of searching the PLO table based on the input product attributes. Figure 6 shows the process of confirming the searched product data and inputting the desired quantity and delivery address, Figure 7 shows the dialogue process when selecting the desired home delivery of the product, and Figure 8 shows the process of using an IC card to send the product to the delivery address. Figure 9 is an example of printing the expected arrival date and time of the product on the order slip, Figure 10 is an example of when the store has stock, and Figure 111gI is when the distribution center has stock. Here is an example. 1...store, 2...headquarters, 3...distribution center,
4...Customer's home, 5...Customer, 6...Salesperson, 7...
・Store staff, 8... Center personnel, 10... Customer order data input/output control device, 11.31.51... CRT,
12, 32, 52...Keyboard, 13...Card reader, 14...Order slip printer, 20...PO
8 Terminal body, 21... Keyboard for PO8, 22...
・Barcode scanner, 23...PO8 display, 2
4...2 station printer, 30... store controller main body, 33... store product mask storage section, 3
4... PO8 sales data storage unit, 35... Store order data storage unit, 36... Store inventory data storage unit, 40
... host processor, 41 ... communication control device, 4
3... Store-wide product master storage section, 44... Store-wide sales data storage section, 45.55... Store-wide order data storage section,
50...Center terminal main body, 56...Center purchasing/inventory data storage section, 57...Delivery/delivery data storage section, 100-103...Mofuzu (ton<C) Kamimi error me ni1 ☆ arrogant beak floor ((L) times (ton (C)

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Stores that have introduced point-of-sale terminals such as POS, a headquarters that has a processor that centrally processes sales information for each store, and sorting of purchased products according to orders from stores or headquarters.・In a retail business system that connects the distribution center that carries out the delivery via communication means, information is sent to the point-of-sale terminal in the store, consisting of the searched product information, the desired number of products entered, and the product delivery address. A product management system characterized by providing a means for transmitting product order information. 2. In the product management system as set forth in claim 1, product order information consisting of searched product information, entered desired number of products, and product delivery address is transmitted to the headquarters and distribution center, and the headquarters uses the received information to A product management system is characterized in that product orders are processed based on the information received, and a distribution center delivers the purchased products to customers based on the received information. 3. The product management system according to claim 1, characterized in that a product is searched for based on product attribute information. 4. The product management system according to claim 1, characterized in that a product is searched for using a code corresponding to the product. 5. The product management system according to claim 1, further comprising means for selecting and inputting whether home delivery is desired. 6. The product management system according to claim 1, characterized in that the delivery address of the product is input using a storage medium such as an IC card in which delivery address information is stored in advance. 7. The product management system according to claim 1, further comprising means for printing the expected time of arrival of the product on the order slip. 8. In the product management system according to claim 1, the store's inventory information is referred to at the time of transmitting the order information, and if the store has the item in stock, the information that the item is in stock is notified and the order is canceled. A product management system featuring: 9. In the product management system according to claim 1, when the head office places an order, the inventory information of the distribution center is referred to, and if the distribution center has inventory, the inventory is immediately delivered without processing the order. A product management system that is characterized by: