METHOD FOR SELLING ADVERTISED GOODS OVER COMPUTER NETWORK
Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to a method for selling advertised goods over a computer network, and more particularly to such a method which is capable of allowing a purchaser to view an advertisement provided by an advertiser and then purchase goods registered by the advertiser by lottery.
Background Art
Generally, an electronic commerce signifies commercial transactions of goods or services conducted entirely or partially in an electronic manner such as the exchange of electronic documents. In such an electronic commerce, all the subjects of commercial transactions participate in conduction similarly to an actual physical commerce.
For example, the subjects of the electronic commerce may be a virtual store for providing goods or a service, a purchaser for purchasing the goods or service from the virtual store, and a virtual bank or credit card company concerned with money matters in purchasing the goods or service.
The above-mentioned electronic commerce can be conducted in the following manner. First, the purchaser accesses and shops the virtual store using a terminal connected to the Internet. Upon finding desired goods during the shopping, the purchaser transfers his purchase intention to the virtual store using the terminal and provides settlement means such as a credit card number and password or a bank account number and password to the virtual store.
Then, the virtual store inquires of the credit card company or virtual bank about the credit card number and password or the bank account number and password and requests it to pay a purchasing price. If the credit card company or virtual bank pays the virtual store the purchasing price, then the virtual store
delivers the purchased goods to the purchaser, resulting in the electronic commerce being completed.
However, in the above-mentioned electronic commerce, conventionally, a seller decides a selling price of goods, which contains other marketing expenditures such as an outlay for advertisement. In this regard, the purchaser has to pay an unreasonable amount of money for the purchasing of goods because the seller takes the initiative in deciding the price of the goods. This is not adequate to the purchaser.
On the other hand, as an advertising method based on the Internet, there has been proposed a business model in which an advertisement is linked with premiums to lead Internet users to visit a Web site of an advertiser. Namely, such a business model offers premiums to the Internet users in return for viewing the advertisement. However, this business model is disadvantageous in that it has a limitation in advancing the Internet users to actual purchasing actions, thereby degrading an advertising efficiency.
Disclosure of the Invention
Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for selling advertised goods over a computer network, which is capable of allowing a purchaser to view an advertisement provided by an advertiser and then purchase goods registered by the advertiser by lottery, so that the purchaser can have an opportunity to purchase the goods at a reasonable price and the advertiser can have both opportunities to advertise and sell the goods.
In accordance with the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by a provision of a method for selling advertised goods over a computer network including at least one purchaser terminal, a lottery server, a database server and an Internet communication line for connecting the purchaser terminal to the lottery server, comprising the first step of allowing a given purchaser to connect the terminal to the lottery server and select goods that he
wishes to purchase, among goods registered in the database server; the second step of allowing the lottery server to display on the terminal an advertisement registered in the database server by an advertiser associated with the goods selected by the given purchaser; the third step of allowing the given purchaser to participate in a lottery for the selected goods by entering a desired purchase price for the selected goods in the lottery server; and the fourth step of allowing the lottery server to determine a winning purchase price by lottery among desired purchase prices of a large number of purchasers participating in the lottery as well as the desired purchase price of the given purchaser on a previously registered lottery day. Preferably, the above third step includes the step of allowing the lottery server to limit the desired purchase price entered by the given purchaser to within a price range previously registered by the advertiser and the step of allowing the lottery server to permit the desired purchase price entered by the given purchaser only when it is not the same as that previously entered. Further, the above third step includes the step of allowing the lottery server to permit the participation of the given purchaser in the lottery only when the given purchaser satisfies a lottery participation eligibility previously registered by the advertiser, so that the advertiser can contemplate target marketing.
Further, the above third step includes the step of allowing the lottery server to store lottery participation details in the database server and provide the stored details to the advertiser, so that the advertiser can utilize the provided details as marketing data.
Brief Description of the Drawings
The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the construction of a system for the execution of a method for selling advertised goods over a computer network in accordance with the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the method for selling the advertised goods over the computer network in accordance with the present invention; and
Fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a lottery participation step in Fig. 2 in more detail.
Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention
With reference to Fig. 1, there is schematically shown in block form the construction of a system for the execution of a method for selling advertised goods over a computer network in accordance with the present invention. As shown in this drawing, a plurality of purchaser terminals 10-1 ~ 10-N are connected to a lottery server 30 via an Internet communication network 20. Also connected to the lottery server 30 are a database server 40 and electronic mail (E-mail) server 50. respectively. The purchaser terminals 10-1 ~ 10-N are also connected to the E-mail server 50 via the Internet communication network 20.
In the present embodiment, each of the purchaser terminals 10-1 ~ 10-N, lottery server 30 and E-mail server 50 may preferably include a communication interface for connection to the Internet communication network 20, such as a modem, and appropriate communication software associated with the communication interface.
Further, the lottery server 30 may include a Web server and an operating program associated therewith and the database server 40 may include a member database, goods database, advertisement database, lottery participation details database, etc.
Fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the method for selling the advertised goods over the computer network in accordance with the present invention, and Fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a lottery participation step S20 in Fig. 2 in more detail.
As shown in Fig. 2, first, an advertiser determines information about the selling of advertised goods, such as a name and details of the goods to be sold, a lottery day. a lottery participation eligibility, an advertisement, etc.. and commits
the selling of the advertised goods to an operating center of the present system. Then, in response to such a commission from the advertiser, the operating center registers the above advertised goods selling information in the database server 40 at step S 10. Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed for illustrative purposes in such a way that the advertiser registers the advertised goods selling information in the database server 40 via the operating center, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the advertiser may access the present system over a computer network such as the Internet communication network 20 and register the advertised goods selling information in the database server 40.
Subsequently, the lottery server 30 opens the advertised goods selling information registered in the above manner to the public on an associated Web site and purchasers thus participate in a lottery for the goods to be sold, by connecting their terminals 10-1 — 10-N to the lottery server 30, at step S20.
That is, as shown in Fig. 3, first, the purchasers connect their terminals 10-1 — 10-N to the lottery server 30 over the Internet communication network 20 at step S21.
After connecting the terminals 10-1 — 10-N to the lottery server 30 as mentioned above, the purchasers enter their identification (ID) numbers and passwords by operating their terminals 10-1 — 10-N and the lottery server 30 performs a log-in procedure on the basis of the entered ID numbers and passwords at step S22.
In the present embodiment, the purchasers can be assigned with their ID numbers and passwords upon joining the present system as members by registering their personal information such as names. E-mail addresses, resident registration numbers, addresses, etc. in a member database.
Subsequently, the purchasers select goods that they wish to purchase, by operating their terminals 10-1 — 10-N, at step S23 and the lottery server 30 determines at step S24 whether each of the purchasers satisfies a lottery participation eligibility previously registered for the selected goods by the
advertiser. If a given purchaser does not satisfy the previously registered lottery participation eligibility, the lottery server 30 returns to the above step S23.
In other words, the advertiser decides a lottery participation eligibility for target marketing, such as a region, gender, age, etc., and registers it in the database server 40, and the lottery server 30 determines whether a given purchaser satisfies the lottery participation eligibility registered in the database server 40.
In the case where it is determined at the above step S24 that the purchasers satisfy the registered lottery participation eligibility, the lottery server 30 displays an advertisement previously registered in the database server 40 by the advertiser on the purchaser terminals 10-1 — 10-N at step S25.
After displaying the registered advertisement on the purchaser terminals 10-1 ~ 10-N, the lottery server 30 further displays a lottery participation window on the terminals 10-1 — 10-N and the purchasers then enter their desired purchase prices for the selected goods in the lottery server 30 through the displayed lottery participation window using the terminals 10-1 — 10-N. Then, the lottery server 30 stores lottery participation details as mentioned above in the database server 40 at step S26.
At this time, the lottery server 30 limits the desired purchase prices entered by the purchasers to within a price range previously registered by the advertiser and also permits the entered purchase prices only when they are not the same as those previously entered.
For example, the advertiser may limit the desired purchase prices to within the range from one hundred won to ten thousand won. In this case, each purchaser has to enter any value within the limited range, for example, one thousand won as his desired purchase price. Provided that one thousand won was previously entered, the lottery server 30 instructs an associated purchaser to enter a new desired purchase price. Then, the lottery server 30 recognizes the desired purchase prices entered in the above manner as lottery numbers.
Thereafter, the lottery server 30 determines at step S27 whether today is a lottery day previously registered by the advertiser. If today is not the registered lottery day, the lottery server 30 returns to the above step S21 to allow a large
number of purchasers to participate in the lottery. In the case where today is the registered lottery day, the lottery server 30 proceeds to step S30 of Fig. 2.
The lottery server 30 determines a winning number by lottery among the desired purchase prices, or lottery numbers, of the large number of purchasers participating in the lottery at step S30 and notifies an associated one of the purchasers through the E-mail server 50 that he has drawn the winning number at step S40.
Industrial Applicability
As apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, a purchaser can view an advertisement provided by an advertiser and then purchase goods registered by the advertiser by lottery. Therefore, the purchaser can have an opportunity to purchase the goods at a reasonable price and the advertiser can have both opportunities to advertise and sell the goods.
Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.