KR102458245B1 - Apparatus and method for providing sales commodity management service - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for providing a sales article management service and an apparatus for providing a sales article management service for performing the same are provided, and according to an embodiment described in the present specification, the sales article management service providing apparatus includes a communication unit for performing communication with a POS terminal and a manufacturer terminal; A storage unit in which a program and data for providing a sales article management service are stored, and by executing the program, an urgency index for a product is calculated based on the POS data transmitted from the POS terminal, and the calculated urgency index is used and a control unit for selecting a product targeted for discount promotion in the retail store based on the base.

Description

Apparatus and method for providing goods management service for sale

Embodiments disclosed herein relate to an apparatus and method for providing a goods for sale management service, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for providing a goods for sale management service for selecting a product to be discounted based on an urgency index.

With the rapid development of communication technologies such as the Internet and mobile devices, online product transactions and product supply are rapidly increasing. Online product transactions or product supply are not only made between suppliers and consumers (so-called Business-to-Consumer), but also between manufacturers who produce products and wholesalers/retailers who receive and sell them (so-called business-to-consumers). , Business-to-Business).

In order for a manufacturer (or supplier) to conduct a discount promotion event for retail stores, salespersons such as manufacturers visit individual retail stores one by one to find out how much stock is left on the product shelf and what competitor products are on display. The products that need discount promotion are selected by comprehensively considering the current inventory of the company's products and the competitive situation with competitors.

The number of salespeople is limited, and the current method of visiting many retail stores across the country is very inefficient.

In particular, in the current competitive environment, where the frequency of new product launches is high and the product exit cycle is shortened, quick decision-making is of paramount importance. can do it

If the appropriate discount promotion event is missed and sales are sluggish at the retailer, or worse, if the product is returned from the retailer to the manufacturer due to the expiration of the product expiration date, this can result in a huge cost burden to the manufacturer.

In addition, from the manufacturer's point of view, the promotional expenses should be settled according to the actual sales performance of the event product at the retail store, but there is no mutually reliable data such as POS data shared in real time. There was always room for contention.

Therefore, there is a need for a technique for solving the above-mentioned problems.

On the other hand, the above-mentioned background art is technical information that the inventor possessed for the derivation of the present invention or acquired in the process of derivation of the present invention, and it cannot be said that it is necessarily a known technique disclosed to the general public before the filing of the present invention. .

Embodiments disclosed in the present specification have an object to provide an apparatus and method for providing an article for sale management service for selecting a product that urgently needs a discount promotion in a retail store.

As a technical means for achieving the above-described technical problem, according to an embodiment, a method for providing a sales article management service includes calculating an urgency index for a product based on POS data transmitted from a POS terminal and the calculated The method may include selecting a product for discount promotion in the retail store based on the urgency index.

According to another embodiment, the apparatus for providing goods for sale management service includes a communication unit for performing communication with a POS terminal and a manufacturer's terminal, a storage unit in which a program and data for providing a product management service for sale are stored, and the POS by executing the program. The control unit may include a control unit that calculates an urgency index for a product based on the force data transmitted from the terminal, and selects a discount promotion target product in the retail store based on the calculated urgency index.

According to another embodiment, there is provided a computer-readable recording medium in which a program for executing a method of providing a sales article management service is recorded, wherein the sales article management service providing method includes: The method may include calculating an urgency index and selecting a discount promotion target product in a retail store based on the calculated urgency index.

According to another embodiment, as a computer program stored in a medium to be performed by a sales article management service providing apparatus and to perform a sales article management service providing method, the sales article management service providing method includes a POS transmitted from a POS terminal The method may include calculating an urgency index for a product based on the data, and selecting a discount promotion target product in a retail store based on the calculated urgency index.

By any one of the above-described problem solving means, products that urgently need a discount promotion in a retail store are automatically selected, so that the number of man hours required for a discount promotion event by a manufacturer can be expected to be reduced.

In addition, by any one of the above-mentioned problem solving means, it is possible to prevent sluggish sales of specific products in advance through timely discount promotion events, and to minimize return costs that may occur in the future, thereby contributing to the increase in profits of manufacturers. can

In addition, by any one of the above-described problem solving means, it is possible to prevent disputes between the retail store and the manufacturer, etc. by setting the promotional expenses based on mutually reliable real-time force data.

Effects obtainable in the disclosed embodiments are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and other effects not mentioned are clear to those of ordinary skill in the art to which the embodiments disclosed from the description below belong. will be able to understand

1 is a diagram illustrating a system for providing a service for managing goods for sale according to an exemplary embodiment.
2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration included in a server according to an embodiment.
3 to 5 are diagrams for explaining a method of providing a sales article management service according to an exemplary embodiment.

Hereinafter, various embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments described below may be modified and implemented in various different forms. In order to more clearly describe the characteristics of the embodiments, detailed descriptions of matters widely known to those of ordinary skill in the art to which the following embodiments belong are omitted. And, in the drawings, parts not related to the description of the embodiments are omitted, and similar reference numerals are attached to similar parts throughout the specification.

Throughout the specification, when a component is said to be "connected" with another component, it includes not only a case of 'directly connected' but also a case of 'connected with another component interposed therebetween'. In addition, when a component "includes" a component, it means that other components may be further included, rather than excluding other components, unless otherwise stated.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

However, before explaining this, the meaning of the terms used below is first defined.

'Discount promotion' refers to inducing sales of promotional items by discounting them by a specified amount or discount rate.

In addition to the terms defined above, terms that require explanation will be separately explained below.

1 is a diagram illustrating a system 10 for providing a sales article management service according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1 , a system for providing a service for managing goods for sale 10 may include a server 100 , a POS terminal 200 , and a manufacturer terminal 300 . The server 100 is connected to the POS terminal 200 and the manufacturer's terminal 300 through a network (not shown). The server 100 , the POS terminal 200 , and the manufacturer terminal 300 may access a network and transmit/receive data.

The server 100 may calculate an urgency index of discount promotion for a product based on the stock information received from the POS terminal 200 and select a discount promotion target product based on the calculated urgency index. A specific method of calculating the urgency index and selecting a product subject to discount promotion based on this will be described below with reference to other drawings.

Each POS terminal 200 installed in a plurality of retail stores provides POS data, which is information about products owned by each retail store, to the server 100 . For example, each of the retail stores is provided with a retail POS terminal 200 having a barcode reader and a card terminal therein. The retail store POS can obtain POS data by reading the barcode of the product when the product is received and sold in the retail store. The POS data means data provided from the POS terminal 200 in order for the server 100 to provide a sales product management service. Examples of the POS data may include a product supply company, a product name, a stock quantity, a normal selling price, a remaining expiration date, and the like. The remaining distribution period can be calculated by subtracting the elapsed distribution date from the initial remaining distribution date. Products that have expired can be treated as waste, and other items can be treated as stock items. The POS data provided to the server 100 by synthesizing discarded and stocked products may include inventory information regarding the remaining shelf life and inventory amount of the retained products. In addition, the POS data may include an initial selling price, a discount selling price, and a sales quantity, which are prices before discount promotion used for settlement of products subject to discount promotion.

The manufacturer's terminal 300 means a terminal managed by a person in charge who performs actual work of a discount promotion event for a retail store in each manufacturer. A non-limiting example of the manufacturer's terminal 300 may be a computer terminal, such as a PC, a laptop, and/or a notebook, which may be installed in an office in charge of a discount promotion event for a retail store. Alternatively, the manufacturer's terminal 300 may be a mobile terminal such as a smart device such as a mobile phone, a PDA, a smart phone, and/or a tablet PC managed by a person in charge of a discount promotion event. A person in charge of a discount promotion event such as a manufacturer connects to the server 100 through a communication network using the manufacturer's terminal, downloads an application (app) provided by the server 100, runs the app, and provides it from the server 100 You can enjoy services for managing items that are

Although the sales article management service providing system 10 shown in FIG. 1 is a server-client system, it may be configured as a single electronic device in which an application is installed differently.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration included in a server according to an embodiment. Referring to FIG. 2 , the server 100 according to an embodiment may include a communication unit 110 , a control unit 120 , and a storage unit 130 .

The communication unit 110 may perform wired/wireless communication with other devices or networks. To this end, the communication unit 110 may include a communication module that supports at least one of various wired and wireless communication methods. For example, the communication module may be implemented in the form of a chipset.

The wireless communication supported by the communication unit 110 may be, for example, Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth, Ultra Wide Band (UWB), or Near Field Communication (NFC). Also, wired communication supported by the communication unit 110 may be, for example, USB or High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI).

The controller 120 controls the overall operation of the server 100 and may include a processor such as a CPU. The controller 120 may execute a program for providing the goods for sale management service stored in the storage unit 130 to provide the goods for sale management service.

A detailed method for the control unit 120 to provide a sales article management service will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5 .

In the storage unit 130 , various types of data for providing a sales article management service, such as files, applications, and programs, may be installed and stored.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing a sales article management service according to embodiments. Hereinafter, it will be described with reference to FIG. 3 . If necessary, each step may be omitted.

1. Create a subdivision group

In step 301 , the controller 120 may generate subdivision groups in which stores having similar characteristics are classified into the same group based on the region of the store, the size of the store, the sales scale of the store, and the sales ratio for each category of the store.

At this time, information on the sales ratio by category in the store plays an important role in defining the store's characteristics. For example, if the sales proportion of seasonings and sauces is high in a retail store, the retail store is classified as a food material store group, and if the sales proportion of beverages, alcoholic beverages, and instant food is high, it is classified as a store near a university district. In this case, specific categories (in the above example, seasonings and sauces/drinks, alcoholic beverages and instant food) that determine the nature of the store can be identified through regression analysis among AI machine learning algorithms.

2. Calculation of urgency indicators

In step 302 , the controller 120 may calculate an urgency index for the product based on the POS data transmitted from the POS terminal 200 . In this case, the urgency index may be calculated based on the average number of days in stock of the product and the same type of product.

The urgency indicator is an indicator to measure the degree of sluggish sales of a specific product. A retailer returns a particular product to the manufacturer if the retailer determines that it is on a sales shelf but sales are sluggish and occupying space. In this case, when the urgency index of a specific product is high, it can be selected as a target for discount promotion to induce sales to increase, and as a result, the return rate of the specific product can be lowered.

The urgency index is calculated by Equation (1).

[Equation 1]

At this time, the average number of days of inventory is determined by (current inventory quantity)/(average daily sales quantity).

For example, if the stock quantity of cereal product A on July 31, 2020 is 200 pieces, and the total sales volume for the last month (7.1.~7.31.) is 310 pieces, the daily average sales quantity is: It is calculated as a period and is 10, and the number of days in stock is 20 days, calculated as the current inventory quantity/average sales quantity per day. If the average inventory days of a cereal product that is the same product as Product A in the store (or the entire retail store) is 15 days, the urgency of Product A is calculated as 0.33 (or 33%) by Equation 1.

Also, the controller 120 may calculate an urgency index for each category of each store. In this case, the urgency index for each category may be calculated as an average of the urgency indexes of products belonging to the same category sold in one store.

3. Selection of products subject to discount promotion

In step 303 , the controller 120 may select a discount promotion target product in the retail store based on the calculated urgency index. Hereinafter, a specific embodiment of selecting a product targeted for discount promotion in a retail store based on the urgency index will be described. However, this is only an example for better understanding, and a method of selecting a product to be discounted and promoted in a retail store based on the urgency index may be implemented in various ways other than the presented embodiment.

When the urgency index of the product is greater than a preset reference value, the controller 120 may select the corresponding product as a product to be discounted and promoted. For example, if the urgency index of a certain product is greater than 0.7, the controller 120 may select the corresponding product as a product targeted for discount promotion.

In addition, the control unit 120 calculates a reference value for classifying the urgency level of the sold product using the cumulative distribution ratio of the urgency index for each category of each store in the subdivision group, and based on the calculated reference value, It is possible to classify the level of urgency and select products subject to discount promotion according to the level of urgency. Here, the urgency index for each category is the average of the urgency index of products belonging to the same category sold in a store. The distribution number indicates the number of stores corresponding to each section of the urgency index when individual stores in the subdivision group are listed in the order of highest urgency index by category in the same category, and the cumulative distribution number is the accumulated value. Incidentally, the cumulative distribution ratio is a ratio that the cumulative distribution number occupies in the whole. Referring to FIG. 4 , it can be seen that the number of distributions, the number of cumulative distributions, and the cumulative distribution ratio of the urgency index for snacks of the food material store group among the subdivision groups are displayed. After listing the snack urgency indicators of the stores in the grocery store group in the highest order, the urgency indicator value corresponding to the top 11% of the cumulative distribution is used as a reference value to classify the urgency level of the product as “high”. can be calculated. For example, if the urgency index value corresponding to 11% of the cumulative distribution ratio of snack urgency among 200 stores is 0.91, snack products with an urgency index of 0.91 or higher sold at individual stores in the food material store group are in the urgency level. can be classified as “high”. Similarly, the urgency index value corresponding to the top 44% of the cumulative number of secondary guns can be calculated as a reference value that can classify the urgency level of the sold product as “intermediate”. If the urgency index value, which corresponds to 44% of the cumulative distribution of snack urgency indicators among 200 stores, is 0.62, then snack products with urgency indicators sold at individual stores within the planting sister store group are at the urgency level. It can be classified as “intermediate”.

The controller 120 may select a product whose urgency level is “high” or “middle” as a discount promotion target. At this time, the values (the top 11%, the top 44%) of the cumulative distribution ratio for each category of the individual stores in the subdivision group for classifying the urgency stage are only examples for helping understanding, and the reference values of the cumulative distribution ratio are presented in the embodiment In addition, various settings can be made.

The control unit 120 may transmit a list of selected discount promotion products to the manufacturer's terminal. In the manufacturer terminal 300 , the person in charge may view the product list and process approval. Upon receiving the discount promotion approval from the manufacturer's terminal, the control unit 120 may store the approved discount promotion target product list in the storage unit 130 and output the approved discount promotion target product list according to the request of the retail store.

4. Calculation of discount promotion settlement amount

In step 304, the control unit 120 may calculate the promotional settlement amount based on the POS data transmitted from the POS terminal 200, and store the calculated promotional payment amount in the storage unit 130, retail stores, manufacturers, etc. You can print the promotional settlement amount upon request. Through this, it is possible to prevent disputes between retailers and manufacturers by providing them to retailers and manufacturers.

The formula for calculating the promotional settlement amount is as shown in Equation 2.

[Equation 2]

Hereinafter, processes performed in time series in the server 100 according to an embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 5 .

Referring to FIG. 5 , in step 501 , subdivision groups in which stores having similar characteristics are classified into the same group may be preset by the manager or the controller 120 of the server 100 . In this case, the controller 120 may create subdivision groups in which stores having similar characteristics are classified into the same group based on the region of the store, the size of the store, the sales scale of the store, and the sales ratio by category of the store. The preset subdivision groups are stored in the storage unit 130 of the server 100 .

In step 502, the controller 120 calculates a reference value for classifying the urgency level of the sold product by using the cumulative distribution ratio of the urgency index for each category of each store in the subdivision group. As described above, the method of calculating the reference value uses the cumulative distribution ratio of the urgency index for each category of each store in the subdivision group.

In step 503 , the controller 120 may calculate an urgency index for the product based on the POS data transmitted from the POS terminal 200 . In this case, the urgency index may be calculated based on the average number of days in stock of the product and the same type of product. Proceeding to step 504, the control unit 120 compares a reference value for classifying the urgency level with the urgency index for the corresponding product, and determines whether the urgency level corresponds to a high or an intermediate level.

As a result of the determination, if the urgency level is high or medium, the control unit 120 proceeds to step 505 and selects the item as a target for discount promotion, but if the urgency level does not correspond to high or intermediate, the process is terminated .

Meanwhile, the control unit 120 may transmit the selected discount promotion target product list to the manufacturer terminal 300 . In the manufacturer terminal 300 , the person in charge may view the product list and process approval. When receiving the discount promotion approval from the manufacturer terminal 300, the control unit 120 stores the approved discount promotion target product list in the storage unit 130, and outputs the approved discount promotion target product list according to the request of the retail store. can

In step 506, when the discount promotion target product is sold, a promotion settlement amount may be calculated based on the POS data transmitted from the POS terminal. As described above, the promotional settlement amount is calculated by Equation 2. The controller 120 may store the calculated promotion settlement amount in the storage unit 130 and output the sales promotion settlement amount according to a request from a retail store, a manufacturer, and the like.

The term '~ unit' used in the above embodiments means software or hardware components such as field programmable gate array (FPGA) or ASIC, and '~ unit' performs certain roles. However, '-part' is not limited to software or hardware. '~unit' may be configured to reside on an addressable storage medium or may be configured to refresh one or more processors. Thus, as an example, '~' denotes components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components, and task components, and processes, functions, properties, and procedures. , subroutines, segments of program patent code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuitry, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables.

Functions provided in components and '~ units' may be combined into a smaller number of components and '~ units' or separated from additional components and '~ units'.

In addition, components and '~ units' may be implemented to play one or more CPUs in a device or secure multimedia card.

The method for providing a sales article management service according to the embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5 may also be implemented in the form of a computer-readable medium for storing computer-executable instructions and data. In this case, the instructions and data may be stored in the form of program codes, and when executed by the processor, a predetermined program module may be generated to perform a predetermined operation. In addition, computer-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer, and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. In addition, the computer readable medium may be a computer recording medium, which is a volatile and non-volatile and non-volatile embodied in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. It may include both volatile, removable and non-removable media. For example, the computer recording medium may be a magnetic storage medium such as HDD and SSD, an optical recording medium such as CD, DVD, and Blu-ray disc, or a memory included in a server accessible through a network.

In addition, the method for providing a sales article management service according to the embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5 may be implemented as a computer program (or computer program product) including instructions executable by a computer. The computer program includes programmable machine instructions processed by a processor, and may be implemented in a high-level programming language, an object-oriented programming language, an assembly language, or a machine language. . In addition, the computer program may be recorded in a tangible computer-readable recording medium (eg, a memory, a hard disk, a magnetic/optical medium, or a solid-state drive (SSD), etc.).

Accordingly, the method for providing a sales article management service according to the embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5 may be implemented by executing the above-described computer program by a computing device. The computing device may include at least a portion of a processor, a memory, a storage device, a high-speed interface connected to the memory and the high-speed expansion port, and a low-speed interface connected to the low-speed bus and the storage device. Each of these components is connected to each other using various buses, and may be mounted on a common motherboard or mounted in any other suitable manner.

Here, the processor may process commands within the computing device, such as for displaying graphic information for providing a Graphical User Interface (GUI) on an external input or output device, such as a display connected to a high-speed interface. Examples are instructions stored in memory or a storage device. In other embodiments, multiple processors and/or multiple buses may be used with multiple memories and types of memory as appropriate. In addition, the processor may be implemented as a chipset formed by chips including a plurality of independent analog and/or digital processors.

Memory also stores information within the computing device. As an example, the memory may be configured as a volatile memory unit or a set thereof. As another example, the memory may be configured as a non-volatile memory unit or a set thereof. The memory may also be another form of computer readable medium such as, for example, a magnetic or optical disk.

In addition, the storage device may provide a large-capacity storage space to the computing device. The storage device may be a computer-readable medium or a component comprising such a medium, and may include, for example, devices or other components within a storage area network (SAN), a floppy disk device, a hard disk device, an optical disk device, Alternatively, it may be a tape device, a flash memory, or other semiconductor memory device or device array similar thereto.

The above-described embodiments are for illustration, and those of ordinary skill in the art to which the above-described embodiments belong can easily transform into other specific forms without changing the technical idea or essential features of the above-described embodiments. You will understand. Therefore, it should be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. For example, each component described as a single type may be implemented in a distributed manner, and likewise components described as distributed may also be implemented in a combined form.

The scope to be protected through this specification is indicated by the claims below rather than the above detailed description, and should be construed to include all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents. .

10: Sales item management service provision system
100: server 200: force terminal
300: manufacturer terminal 110: communication unit
120: control unit 130: storage unit

Claims (12)

A method in which an article for sale management service providing apparatus provides a goods for sale management service, the method comprising:
generating, by the controller, subdivision groups in which stores having similar characteristics are classified into the same group based on the region of the store, the size of the store, the sales scale of the store, and the sales ratio by category of the store;
calculating, by the control unit, an urgency index for a product based on the POS data transmitted from the POS terminal;
calculating, by the control unit, a reference value capable of classifying the urgency level of the sold product by using the cumulative distribution ratio of the urgency index for each category of each store in the subdivision group; and
and the control unit classifying the urgency level of the product for sale based on the reference value, and selecting a discount promotion target product from among products sold at individual stores in the subdivision group according to the classified urgency level. HOW TO PROVIDE ITEMS MANAGEMENT SERVICES. According to claim 1,
The method of providing the sales article management service,
When the discount promotion target product is sold, the method further comprising the step of calculating, by the control unit, a promotion settlement amount using the original sales price, the discount sales price, and the sales quantity transmitted from the POS terminal. delete According to claim 1,
The urgency indicator is
A method for providing a product management service for sale, characterized in that the calculation is based on the average number of days in stock of the product and the same type of product. According to claim 1,
The step of selecting the product for the discount promotion includes:
If the urgency index of the product is greater than a preset reference value, selecting the product as a discount promotion target product. A sales article management service providing device, comprising:
a communication unit for performing communication with the POS terminal and the manufacturer's terminal;
a storage unit in which a program and data for providing a sales article management service are stored; and
By executing the program, subdivision groups are created in which stores with similar characteristics are classified into the same group based on the region of the store, the size of the store, the size of the sales of the store, and the sales ratio by category of the store. Calculating an urgency index for a product based on the data, calculating a reference value for classifying the urgency level of a product for sale by using the cumulative distribution ratio of the urgency index for each category of each store in the subdivision group, and and a control unit for classifying an urgency level of a product for sale based on a reference value, and selecting a discount promotion target product from among products sold at individual stores in the subdivision group according to the classified urgency level. . 7. The method of claim 6,
The control unit is
When the discount promotion target product is sold, a sales product management service providing apparatus for calculating a sales promotion settlement amount using the original sales price, the discount sales price, and the sales quantity transmitted from the POS terminal. delete 7. The method of claim 6,
The urgency indicator is
An apparatus for providing a sales article management service, characterized in that the calculation is performed based on the average number of days in stock of the product and the same type of product. 7. The method of claim 6,
The control unit is
When the urgency index of the product is greater than a preset reference value, the product for sale management service providing apparatus for selecting the product as a target product for discount promotion. A computer-readable recording medium in which a program for executing the method according to claim 1 is recorded on a computer. A computer program stored in a medium for performing the method according to claim 1, which is performed by an apparatus for providing a sales article management service.

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