WO2009051291A1

WO2009051291A1 - Multi-language support service method of online service system

Info

Publication number: WO2009051291A1
Application number: PCT/KR2007/006769
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yeong-Chun Kwon
Original assignee: Yeong-Chun Kwon
Priority date: 2007-10-19
Filing date: 2007-12-22
Publication date: 2009-04-23
Also published as: KR100850691B1; KR20070107646A

Abstract

A multi-language support service method of an online service system includes, when a goods registrant selects national languages from a main homepage of a super administration service unit or member country service units and requests goods information to be registered in the selected national languages, providing the goods registrant with national language registration form pages including a standard input item part of which the format is standardized by country, a free input item part for allowing the goods registrant to freely input data, and a registration form extension field through a main server of the corresponding service unit, when the goods registrant inputs data of material or immaterial goods using a national language registration form page, storing the inputted data in a database such that the inputted data corresponds to the selected countries, allowing translator members to translate the description of the goods specification of the free input item part into the selected national language, and registering and administrating the translation, thereby enabling users of other member countries using languages different from the language of a first country or other nonmember countries to be provided with the same online integrated shopping mall service as the first country without the language communication barrier.

Description

[DESCRIPTION]

[Invention Title]

MULTI-LANGUAGE SUPPORT SERVICE METHOD OF ONLINE SERVICE SYSTEM

[Technical Field]

The present invention relates to an online service system, and, more particularly, to a multi-language support service method of an online service system having a service device that serves material or immaterial goods.

[Background Art]

Generally, most of the existing medium- and small-sized enterprises related to a manufacturing industry, an export industry, and a distribution industry does a passive marketing, such as the delivery of goods to wholesale dealer, commission brokers, or sales corporations having sales network of other companies, because it costs a great deal to construct a countrywide business network. For this reason, they have a difficulty in sales due to the lack of public information, although they have quality products.

A good many personal business owners related to a manufacturing or distribution industry are small-scale business owners, which are not possible to construct a countrywide sales network and local sales network. Even when they make an attempt to construct an online small office and home office (SOHO) shopping mall, which has been currently in the spotlight, the manufacture of the photographs of products, registration and administration of goods, and settlement administration are not easily performed, apart from the costs necessary to construct the shopping mall. Furthermore, when the number of product items is small, it is not possible to assort a stock of goods, with the result that frequent visit of consumers is not expected.

Meanwhile, most advertisement patterns of the existing online shopping malls are to pay advertising costs to portal sites such that banners of the online shopping malls appear on web pages of the portal sites, and therefore, the online shopping malls are exposed to visitors to the portal sites. Alternatively, an advertiser may pay advertising costs to a web site that relays advertisement such that an advertisement banner of the advertiser is registered in a web page of the web site, and a publicizer who has joined the advertisement relaying web site as a member may carry the advertisement banner through other different web sites, for which the publicizer is given profits in the form of points.

In the advertising system of the existing online shopping malls, however, a considerable portion of the income is spent as advertising costs, with the result that a profit of business through the online shopping malls is lowered. In fact, most online shopping mall enterprises make an insignificantly small business profit due to the expenditure of the advertising costs.

In order to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks or problems, the applicant of the present application has filed a patent application to a Korea Industrial Property Office (Korean Patent Application No. 10-2007-0031537) and subsequently filed an International PCT application claiming a convention priority (PCT Application No. PCT/KR2007/002258) entitled "SERVICE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR UNIFIED ONLINE SHOPPING MALL."

The online unified shopping mall technology disclosed in PCT/KR2007/002258 enables transactions, such as security of supplied products, registration of the products, wholesale and retail trade of goods, product information, and advertisement, to be achieved at the online unified shopping mall in a unified fashion, thereby solving troublesomeness in which consumers, manufacturers, distributors, and wholesale and retail dealers go to several places to collect information and obtain necessary information through commission brokers. Also, the disclosed online unified shopping mall technology has an advantage of strengthening participation, sharing, and opening aspects in dealing for products online, like the current user-centered Internet environment concept, i.e., the concept of Web 2.0.

In the disclosed online unified shopping mall, it is possible to contract a member store for each country except a first country, and it is possible for the contracted member store to construct a member store server in its own country and to provide the same online unified shopping mall service linked to the first country.

When the member country uses a language different from that of the first country, however, the online unified shopping mall service at the member country is not smoothly performed due to the language barrier. For this reason, it is required to smoothly perform the online unified shopping mall service at member country using a language different from that of the first country without the language barrier.

_ 2 _ Also, immaterial goods service sites that principally handle immaterial goods online, including search sites or portal sites, enables users to surf the Internet without the barrier between countries. When the users access sites located in other countries, however, they cannot understand language stated on the sites well, with the result that they have a problem in understanding the contents served by the sites due to the language barrier. Although some portal sites provide a translation service achieved by a mechanical translation program, the quality of the translation is very poor, and therefore, it is difficult to sufficiently and properly introduce, and publicize or sell material goods, such as products, or make an appointment of immaterial goods, such as culture, tourism, or industry.

[Disclosure]

[Technical Problem]

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 multi-language support service method of an online service system that is capable of serving the same material or immaterial goods as a first country online at other member countries using languages different from that of the first country without the language communication barrier.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a multi-language support service method of an online service system that is capable of registering and administering the information of multinational goods by a language of each country online. [Technical Solution]

In accordance with the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by the provision of a multi-language support service method of an online service system having a service device that is connected to computer terminals through the Internet and serves material or immaterial goods, the multi-language support service method including a first process for allowing a super administration service unit and a plurality of member country service units, which are located in different countries and each of which has a service device, to communicate with each other through the Internet such that goods are periodically registered and administrated, a second process for, when a goods registrant selects at least one national language from a main homepage of the super administration service unit or any one of the member country service units and requests goods information to be registered in the selected national language, allowing a main server of the corresponding service unit to read out national language registration form pages including a standard input item part of which the format is standardized by country, a free input item part for allowing a goods registrant to freely input data, and a registration form extension field from a database unit of the corresponding service unit and to display a native language registration form page, a third process for, when data is inputted in a plurality of menu items of the standard input item part of the native language registration form page and data is inputted in a specification column of the free input item part, displaying the inputted data on the native language registration form page, copying and pasting the inputted data on the other national language registration forms of the selected countries, and, at the same time, storing the inputted data in storage regions, assigned to each country, of the database unit, a fourth process for, when the good registrant to check the request of translation of the description of the specification column of the free input item part of the standard input item part, displaying the translation request state in the country items in the registration form extension field, and a fifth process for, when a translator member, joined to the main homepage, selects the translation of the description of specific goods, registered in the database unit and stated in the specification column, in a predetermined national language, providing a translation input column together with the description of the specification column in the free input item part, and when the translation is completed, storing the translation in the database unit.

[Advantageous Effects]

The present invention has the effect of serving the same material or immaterial goods as a first country online at other member countries using languages different from that of the first country without the language communication barrier and registering and administering the information of multinational goods through an online service unit by a language of each country online, thereby easily achieving orders between countries and activating trade between countries or information exchange of material and immaterial goods, such as culture or tourism. [Description of 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 conceptual diagram illustrating a global type online service system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an online integrated shopping mall service device applied to a super administration country of FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an online item portal site service device applied to the super administration country of FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating registration and administration of multinational goods information by a language of each country in the global type online service system;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the details of a member DB 28a of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the details of a goods DB 28b of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating the details of an advertisement DB 28c of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating the details of a first visitor record DB 28d of FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating the details of a product stock and goods administration server 30 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 is a state view illustrating sale-in-lots administration class in a sale-in-lots administration unit 32 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating the details of a profit administration unit 36 of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 12 and 13 are overall flow charts illustrating registration of the multinational material and immaterial goods information according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention by a language of each country in the online service system;

FIG. 14 is a view illustrating an example of a goods registration form list window by a language of each country;

FIG. 15 is a view illustrating an example of desired national languages checked in the registration form list window of FIG. 14;

FIGS. 16 and 17 are state views illustrating native language registration form pages for an online integrated shopping mall;

FIGS. 18 and 19 are state views illustrating English registration form formats displayed enlargedly on the online integrated shopping mall native language registration form pages;

FIGS. 20 and 21 are views illustrating display screens of registered goods pages for an online integrated shopping mall;

FIG. 22 is a control flow chart illustrating translator member joining and translation execution according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 23 is a state view illustrating a national language list of goods that are requested to be translated;

FIG. 24 is a state view illustrating a translation activation window activated by a translator member;

FIG. 25 is a control flow chart illustrating a reverse auction translation request in a my page of a translation client; FIG. 26 is a view illustrating a list of the reverse auction translation request countries in a my page of the translator member;

FIG. 27 is a view illustrating an example of a translation evaluation bulletin board displayed at the lowermost end of a registered goods pages, on which goods information is registered, in a main homepage;

FIGS. 28 and 29 are state views illustrating native language registration form pages for an online item portal site;

FIGS. 30 to 32 are views illustrating display screens of registered goods pages for the online item portal site;

FIGS. 33 to 35 are views illustrating a screen example of English registered goods pages in the online item portal site;

FIGS. 36 to 38 are views illustrating a screen example of Chinese registered goods pages in the online item portal site; and

FIG. 39 is a view illustrating a screen example of the upper half part of a main homepage of the online item portal site.

[Mode for Invention]

Now, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a constructional view schematically illustrating a global type online service system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an online integrated shopping mall service device 2, in which the operation of a shopping mall having online advertisement and business integrated and B2B, B2C, and C2C integrated is possible, applied to a super administration country service unit 50 of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an online item portal site service device 3, in which immaterial goods information, such as culture, tourism, industry, or the like, is registered and shared for information exchange, applied to the super administration country service unit 50 of FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating registration and administration of multinational material and immaterial goods information by a language of each country in the global type online service system of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the global type online service system according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a super administration country service unit 50, located in a first country (for example, Korea), having an online service device, for example, an online integrated shopping mall service device 2 of FIG. 2 or an online item portal site service device 3 of FIG. 3. The super administration country service unit 50 is connected to a member country 1 service unit 52 located in a second country (for example, China), a member country 2 service unit 54 located in a third country (for example, America) ^{■ • •} and a member country M service unit 56 located in an N-th country (for example, Japan), through the Internet 4.

The super administration country service unit 50 of the first country, which serves as a super administration country, has the highest country level code, for example, " 1," and a domain name, for example, "http://www.epvz.com' (for the online integrated shopping mall service device) or "http://gieop.com" (for the online item portal site service device). The super administration country service unit 50 has a super database unit 46 (see FIG. 4) for registering and administrating multinational material and immaterial goods information by a language of each country.

Here, the goods information is a concept including not only material goods, such as products, but also immaterial goods, such as contents or items. The online integrated shopping mall service device 2 shown in FIG. 2 will be described as a representative example of a service device principally handling material goods information in the present invention, and the online item portal site service device 3 shown in FIG. 3 will be described as a representative example of a service device principally handling immaterial goods information, such as culture, tourism, industry, or the like, in the present invention.

In the super administration country service unit 50 of the super administration country or the service units 52, 54, and 56 of the member countries, only an online integrated shopping mall principally serving material goods or an online item portal site principally serving immaterial goods may be constructed. As another example, both the two services may be constructed to be served in a combined mall site. More preferably, the online integrated shopping mall and the online item portal site are independently constructed in the respective service units 50, 52, 54, and 56, in a structure in which the online integrated shopping mall and the online item portal site are linked to each other.

Hereinafter, the registration and administration of multinational material and immaterial goods information by the global type online service system according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 4. A main server 20 of the super administration country service unit 50 registers material and immaterial goods information, including products, contents, and items, requested to be registered in the first country (Korea), as a native country, and, in addition, material and immaterial goods information, including products, contents, and items, primarily registered in the service units 52, 54, and 56 of the respective member countries in storage regions assigned to the respective countries in the super database unit 46 through the periodical communication between the main server 20 of the super administration country service unit 50 and main servers 20- 1 , 20-2 ^{■ • •} 20-M of the respective member countries. Also, the main server 20 of the super administration country service unit 50 registers material and immaterial goods information, including products, contents, and items, requested to be registered in other countries, not the member countries, in storage regions assigned to nonmember countries in the super database unit 46. Furthermore, the main server 20 of the super administration country service unit 50 serves to perform a general administration operation such that users of the respective countries can easily order multinational material and immaterial goods information collected from the respective countries and registered in the super database unit 46 or have other business transactions, such as contract, without the language barrier.

Also, the main server 20 of the super administration country service unit 50 periodically transmits the multinational material and immaterial goods information, generally administered by the main server 20 of the super administration country service unit 50, to the main servers 20-1, 20-2 ^{• • •} 20-M of the respective member countries such that the service units 52, 54, and 56 of the respective member countries can provide material and immaterial goods service almost equal to that of the super administration country service unit 50.

A process for a foreign business owner to join to the super administration country, i.e., the first country, as a member country is as follows.

When the foreign business owner applies to the super administration country for the member country online or offline, the super administration country of the first country examines the applicant's qualifications. When the applicant satisfies a criterion of member country qualifications internally established, the super administration country approves the application for the member country, and constructs the online integrated shopping mall service device 2 as shown in FIG. 2 or the online item portal site service device 3 as shown in FIG. 3, as qualifications of a member country service device. The member country online integrated shopping mall service device 2 or the member country online item portal site service device 3 does not have the super database unit 46 of the super administration country, which stores and administers all the goods information of the respective countries, included in the super administration country service unit 50, but has a local database that stores and administers only goods information registered in the member country.

When foreign business owners submit applications for member countries, the super administration country service unit 50 grants country level codes and domain names to the foreign business owners in order of application.

As an example, when an online service device is the online integrated shopping mall service device 2 as shown in FIG. 2, and foreign business owners submit applications for member countries in order of the second country (China), the third country (America), and the N-th country (Japan), the super administration country service unit 50 grants a country level code of " 1 - 1" and a domain name of "www.epvzchina.com" to the member country 1 service unit 52 corresponding to the second country (China), a country level code of " 1-2" and a domain name of "www.epvzusa.com" to the member country 2 service unit 54 corresponding to the third country (America), and a country level code of " 1-3" and a domain name of "www.epvzjapan.com" to the member country M service unit 56 corresponding to the N-th country (Japan), as shown in FIG. 1.

As another example, when an online service device is the online item portal site service device 3 as shown in FIG. 3, and foreign business owners submit applications for member countries in order of the second country (China), the third country (America), and the N-th country (Japan), the super administration country service unit 50 grants a country level code of " 1 - 1" and a domain name of "www.gieopcn.com" to the member country 1 service unit 52 corresponding to the second country (China), a country level code of " 1 -2" and a domain name of "www.gieopsa.com" to the member country 2 service unit 54 corresponding to the third country (America), and a country level code of " 1 -3" and a domain name of "www.gieopjp.com" to the member country M service unit 56 corresponding to the N-th country (Japan), as shown in FIG. 1. Of the service devices constituting the super administration country service unit 50, the online integrated shopping mall service device 2 shown in FIG. 2 is constructed to provide integrated shopping mall service of B2B, B2C, and C2C.

Referring to FIG. 2, the online integrated shopping mall service device 2 is connected to user terminals 6-1 and 6-2, which can be used by B2C members, C2C members, simple consumers, or the like, through the Internet 4. Also, the online integrated shopping mall service device 2 may be connected to a portal site server (not shown) that provides general portal service or the online item portal site service device 3 shown in FIG. 3 through the Internet 4. Furthermore, the online integrated shopping mall service device 2 is connected to a foreign member store server 10, which is a foreign member store corresponding to the member country service units 52, 54, and 56 shown in FIG. 1. Also, the online integrated shopping mall service device 2 may be connected to a B2B/B2C member store server 12 by the cooperation with manufacturing enterprises or distribution enterprises. Terminals connected to the portal site server 8 or the B2B/B2C member store server 12 may be internal administrator terminals. Also, the terminals connected to the portal site server 8 or the B2B/B2C member store server 12 may be B2B member terminals connected through an internal intranet or the external Internet 4.

In the online integrated shopping mall service device 2, the main server 20 generally controls the respective units such that all transactions and sales between businesses (B2B), all transactions and sales between a business and a consumer (B2C), and all transactions and sales between businesses and between a business and a consumer (B2B2C) at one site. Especially, the main server 20 controls the respective units such that the respective units can be appropriately used by shopping mall founders, side business persons, private store operators, small office and home office (SOHO) distributors, SOHO traders (importers), and manufacturers.

The main server 20 of the present invention registers and administers manufacturers, product distributors, SOHO distributors, SOHO traders (importers) as corporate members (member stores, general). The member store corporate members include manufacturing companies or distribution companies and associations having sales organizations. The general corporate members include general companies and associations that wish to simply stock products. The main server 20 administers the supply of products possessed by the corporate members (member stores, general) and the sale of goods. Also, the main server 20 provides an independent homepage linked to the main homepage to administer the administration of products.

Also, the main server 20 of the present invention grants qualifications to be have free client shopping malls in the form of a retail mall, which are sold in lots to shopping mall founders, side business persons, private store operators, SOHO distributors, and SOHO traders (importers), provided that the shopping mall founders, the side business persons, the private store operators, the SOHO distributors, and the SOHO traders (importers) have joined as members. When a free client shopping mall in the form of a retail mall is sold in a sale-in-lots manner to a member, the main server 20 makes the administration of the shopping mall, such as retail sale and advertisement of products, achieved in the client shopping mall. Also, the main server 20 makes goods supplied in various forms sold in the client shopping mall and goods of the client shopping mall operator stocked and sold. The main server 20 performs administration such that the operator of the client shopping mall in the form of the retail mall sells low-level client shopping malls in lots.

The main server 20 of the present invention grants qualifications of wholesale malls to client shopping mall operators who satisfy the necessary requirements, sells wholesale shopping malls in lots to qualified persons who apply for wholesale malls, and makes the administration of shopping malls, such as wholesale and advertisement of products, be achieved in the wholesale shopping malls sold in lots. It is constructed such that low-level wholesale shopping malls cannot be sold in lots in the wholesale shopping malls.

As shown in FIG. 2, an input and output unit 22 is controlled by the main server 20. The input and output unit 22 serves as an input and output interface for a system main administrator.

A shopping mall administration server 24 has a product supplying company mall administration unit 25a, a retail mall administration unit 25b, and a wholesale mall administration unit 25c. Under the control of the main server 20, the shopping mall administration server 24 performs the product supplying company mall administration through the product supplying company mall administration unit 25a, the retail mall administration through the retail mall administration unit 25b, and the wholesale mall administration through the wholesale mall administration unit 25c.

The shopping mall administration server 24 divides the domain of the online integrated shopping mall into a main domain and a sub domain, which are operated and administered by the shopping mall administration server 24. The main domain has a name in the form of www.epvz.com. A web page of the main domain is administered by a system-provided main administrator and becomes a main homepage of a global type integrated shopping mall.

On the other hand, the sub domain is dependently linked to the main domain. The sub domain is divided into a plurality of sub domains by the shopping mall administration server 24. The divided sub domains are also administered by the shopping mall administration server 24. The sub domain may have an address obtained by positioning an identification code (ID) of a regular member applying for purchasing a shopping mall in a purchase-in-lots manner, as a sub domain name, before the main domain name, epvz.com, for example, in the form of www.ID.epvz.com, or an address obtained by positioning the identification code (ID) after the main domain, for example, in the form of www.epvz/ID. Homepages of the respective sub domains become homepages of the client shopping malls of the corresponding operators.

The sub domain is constructed through the product supplying company mall administration unit 25a, the sub domain becomes an independent homepage of a corresponding corporate member. The independent homepage includes an independent administration page given to an administrator (operator) of the corporate member and a goods administration page that generally administers goods supplied to the integrated shopping mall, as a lower page.

When the sub domain is constructed through the retail mall administration unit 25b, the sub domain is divided into a plurality of sub domains corresponding to the number of the applications for purchasing shopping malls in the form of a retail mall in lots. The divided sub domains are administered as homepages of client shopping malls operated by client operators, who are regular members to whom the shopping malls are sold in lots.

When a sub domain is constructed through the wholesale mall administration unit 25c, the sub domain is divided into a plurality of sub domains corresponding to the number of wholesale qualified members who apply for purchasing shopping malls in the form of a wholesale mall in lots. The divided sub domains are administered as homepages of wholesale shopping malls operated by the wholesale qualified members to whom wholesale shopping malls are sold in lots. General members cannot access the homepages of the wholesale shopping malls. Wholesale mall sample sites are opened to the regular members to whom the client shopping malls are sold in lots. Wholesale shopping malls may be also sold in lots to qualified regular members.

As shown in FIG. 2, a database (DB) server 26 administers various databases, such as a member DB 28a, a goods DB 28b, an advertisement DB 28c, a first visitor record DB 28d, an information registration DB 28e, an account settlement administration DB 28f, and multi-language support DB 28g, under the control of the main server 20. The DB server 26 and the various databases 28a to 28g become the super database unit 46 of FIG. 4, provided that the DB server 26 and the various databases 28a to 28g belong to the super administration country service unit 50 of FIG. 1. The respective databases 28a to 28g, controlled by the DB server 26, are divided into storage regions assigned to the respective countries such that data for the respective countries can be stored in the divided storage regions.

As shown in FIG. 5, the member DB 28a includes a general member storage unit 100 for storing information of general members, a regular member storage unit 102 for storing information of regular members of retail malls, a wholesale mall qualified member storage unit 104 for storing information of members qualified as wholesale malls, and a corporate member storage unit 106 for storing information of corporate members who supply products.

For example, when a user (including a native and a foreigner) accesses the main homepage of the integrated shopping mall service device 2, using the computer terminal 6- 1, to submit an application for free membership, the main server 20 registers the applicant for free membership in the general member storage unit 100 of the member DB 28a as a general member, using the DB server 26. General members means a consumer group who does the shopping and given price benefits for the general members.

General members can apply for purchasing free client shopping malls in lots. When the general members apply for purchasing free shopping malls in lots, the main server 20 registers the applicants for purchasing free shopping malls in lots in the retail mall regular member storage unit 102 of the member DB 28a as regular members, using the DB server 26. The regular members become operators to which client shopping malls in the form of a retail mall are sold in lots. The operators of the client shopping malls can sell various kinds of goods in their client shopping malls, and, in addition, individually register and sell goods possessed by them. Also, the operators, qualified as the regular members, have authorities to sell low-level client shopping malls in lots.

The retail mall regular members stored in the retail mall regular member storage unit 102 of FIG. 5 are classified into store members 110, agent members 112, and level agent members 114. The store members 110 are regular members to whom client shopping malls are sold in lots, and the agent members 112 are regular members who sell one or more shopping malls in lots. The level agent members 114 are regular members who satisfy predetermined level requirements in the number of shopping malls sold in lots or in sales performance. Based on the number of shopping malls sold in lots or sales performance, the level agent members 114 are classified into a plurality of level agents, for example, a level 1 agent, a level 2 agent ^{• • •} a level N agent. The information of recommenders who recommend the applicants to purchase shopping malls in lot is also registered in the retail mall regular member storage unit 102.

The wholesale mall qualified members, stored in the wholesale mall qualified member storage unit 104 of FIG. 5, must be at least retail mall regular members, and, at the same time, must have predetermined qualifications, for example, must become taxable business owners having certificates for general business registration. The wholesale mall qualified members are classified into free wholesale mall qualified members and charged wholesale mall qualified members. The charged wholesale mall qualified members can be supplied with products at wholesale prices much less than the free wholesale mall qualified members. Wholesale shopping malls, which are quite different in concept from retail client shopping malls, are sold in lots to the wholesale mall qualified members. However, the wholesale mall qualified members do not have authorities to sell wholesale shopping malls in lots, unlike retail mall regular members. That is, the wholesale mall qualified members are not allowed to sell wholesale shopping malls in lots.

The corporate members (B2B members), stored in the corporate member storage unit 106 of FIG. 5, are cooperated product supplying enterprises. The corporate members are classified into general corporate members 130 and member store corporate members 132. The general corporate members 130 are members of general companies and associations that simply wish for their products to be stocked, and the member store corporate members 132 are members of manufacturing companies or distribution companies and associations, for example, having sales organizations including more than 1 ,000 salespersons. The member store corporate members 132 may include existing door-to-door sales companies or pyramid selling companies as well as manufacturing companies.

A translator member storage unit 134 of FIG. 5 stores the information of members joined as translator members.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the goods DB 28b, administered by the DB server 26, will be described as follows.

The goods DB 28b stores the information of various kinds of goods. The goods information includes data, such as the images of goods, the prices of goods, the names of companies, and the descriptions of products.

As shown in FIG. 6, the goods DB 28b includes a head office goods storage unit 140, a first warehouse stock goods storage unit 142, a second warehouse stock goods storage unit 144, an individual stock goods storage unit 146, and a wholesale mall goods storage unit 148. Consequently, various kinds of goods are classified and stored in the goods DB 28b.

The head office goods storage unit 140 of FIG. 6 stores the information of goods directly supplied from the head office providing the system or consigned to the head office according to a contract as head office goods. The information of the head office goods is stored in the head office goods storage unit 140 of the goods DB 28b through the input and output unit 22 by the system main administrator.

The first and second warehouse stock goods storage units 142 and 144 of FIG. 6 store the information of goods stocked in the logistics warehouse of the head office. The information of the first warehouse stock goods, stored in the first warehouse stock goods storage unit 142, is related to goods that are image-processed by the system main administrator and simultaneously displayed in all the client shopping malls, after the goods are stocked in the logistics warehouse (offline) of the head office providing the system. The information of the second warehouse stock goods, stored in the second warehouse stock goods storage unit 144, is related to goods that are image-processed by the client shopping mall operators and simultaneously displayed in all the client shopping malls.

The information of the individual stock goods, stored in the individual stock goods storage unit 146 of FIG. 6, is related to goods that are directly image-processed by the client shopping mall operators, to whom the client shopping malls are sold in lots, and displayed only in their own the client shopping malls. The information of the wholesale mall goods, stored in the wholesale mall goods storage unit 148, is related to goods that are displayed in the wholesale shopping malls.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the advertisement DB 28c, administered by the DB server 26, includes a whole registration advertisement storage unit 150 and an individual registration advertisement storage unit 152, as shown in FIG. 7. The whole registration advertisement storage unit 150 of FIG. 7 stores the information of advertisements registered in the client pages of all the client shopping malls sold in lots as well as the main homepage of the integrated shopping mall. The individual registration advertisement storage unit 152 stores the information of advertisements (public information) registered only in the client page of each individual client shopping mall sold in a sale-in-lots manner. The advertisement information stored in the whole registration advertisement storage unit 150 and the individual registration advertisement storage unit 152 includes member information of shopping mall operators, company information, and goods information. Also, the advertisement information stored in the whole registration advertisement storage unit 150 and the individual registration advertisement storage unit 152 further includes information related to advertisement banners and information related to advertisements, such as the request of business cards or handbills. The advertisement information may be inputted when the main administrator or client operators register the advertisement through a banner advertisement recommender administration unit 34.

Of the DBs 28a to 28g of FIG. 2, the first visitor record DB 28d is provided to record the information of visitors having accessed first client shopping malls in the form of a retail mall or wholesale shopping malls through the Internet banner advertisement. As shown in FIG. 8, the first visitor record DB 28d stores IP addresses 160 of computer terminals used by the first visitors and identification codes (ID) 162 of the corresponding client shopping mall operators, which are matched in the form of a table.

The information registration DB 28e of FIG. 2 is a database for storing various kinds of information of the integrated shopping mall. Specifically, the information registration DB 28e stores information related to the shopping mall administrator mains of the respective clients, information of client operators, order selling administration information of the client operators, goods registration administration information of the client operators, design administration information of the client shopping malls, member administration information of the client operators, bulletin board administration information of the client servers, additional bulletin board creation administration information of the client operators, access statistics administration information of the client operators, main domain forwarding service information of the client operators, information related to the request of client public information, extension request information of the client operators, and information of direct sale in lots to clients and sale and account settlement administration:

Of the DBs 28a to 28g of FIG. 2, the account settlement administration DB 28f is a database for administrating various kinds of account settlement details information of the client operators or the wholesale shopping mall operators. The account settlement details information includes information of account settlement of profits to the sales at all the shopping malls in the form of a retail mall, information of account settlement of profits to the sales of the B2C individual stock goods, information of account settlement of profits to the sales of the first and second warehouse stock goods, information of account settlement of profits of the corporate members, such as B2B manufacturing companies or distribution companies, and information of account settlement of profits obtained through the sale of the free shopping malls in lots or support money for sale and advertisement of shopping malls.

Of the DBs 28a to 28g of FIG. 2, the multi-language support DB 28g stores data supportable to allow various languages to be inputted and displayed. The multi-language support DB 28g includes a standard input item part and a free input item part. The multi-language support DB 28g stores a unified registration form input format for each country. Also, the multi-language support DB 28g stores translations translated by the translator members.

In FIG. 2, a product stock and goods administration server 30 perform a product stocking process of various shapes and kinds of products according to a product stock registration request mode, administers the sale of the stocked goods, and performs product update and inventory management, under the control of the main server 20. Here, the 'product stocking process' means to classify the products according to goods menu categories, to store the information of the goods in the corresponding storage units of the goods DB 28b through the DB server 26, and to display the goods information, including the description of the goods and the images of the goods, only in the corresponding main homepage and homepage of the client shopping malls administered by the shopping mall administration server 24 or in the homepages of the corresponding client shopping malls, such that the goods can be purchased.

The product stock registration request mode includes first and second warehouse stock process modes and an individual stock process mode.

The first and second warehouse stock process modes are identical to each other in that the goods are displayed simultaneously in the main homepage of the integrated shopping mall and the homepages of all the shopping malls sold in lots upon their request of the stock registration of products possessed by the operators, qualified as the regular members and the corporate members. However, the first and second warehouse stock process modes are different from each other in terms of the subjects who perform a stock process. In the first warehouse stock process mode, the main administrator of the integrated shopping mall performs image processes to the products requested to be stocked and registered and processes the stock of the goods. In the second warehouse stock process mode, the operators, qualified as the regular members and the corporate members, directly perform image processes to products possessed by them, through the administrator pages, and process the stock of the goods. In the individual stock process mode, the operators, qualified as the regular members, directly perform image processes to products possessed by them, through the administrator pages, and the goods are displayed only in their homepages of the client shopping malls, upon their request of the individual stock registration of products possessed by them.

As shown in FIG. 9, the product stock and goods administration server 30 includes a head office product stock process unit 170 for stocking the products of the head office, which will be stored in the head office goods storage unit 140, a first warehouse stock process unit 172 for stocking the products of the first warehouse stock goods, which will be stored in the first warehouse stock goods storage unit 142, a second warehouse stock process unit 174 for stocking the products of the second warehouse stock goods, which will be stored in the second warehouse stock goods storage unit 144, an individual stock process unit 176 for stocking the products of the individual stock goods, which will be stored in the individual stock goods storage unit 146, a wholesale stock process unit 178 for stocking the products of the wholesale mall goods, which will be stored in the wholesale mall goods storage unit 148, and a goods sale administration unit 179 for administrating the sale of the goods and performing product update and inventory management.

For the first warehouse stock goods, when the operator concerned (the regular member or the corporate member) requests the products possessed by him/her to be stocked and registered in an (imaginary) logistics warehouse, the main administrator performs an image process to the products requested to be stocked and registered and simultaneously displays the image-processed goods on the main homepage of the integrated shopping mall and the homepages of all the shopping malls sold in lots. For the first warehouse stock goods, the stock prices of the stocked products may be established by conference with the head office providing the system or may be established by manufacturing companies or distribution companies, without conference with the head office providing the system, and then approved by the head office providing the system.

FOr the first warehouse stock goods and the individual stock goods, the operator concerned is provided with an administrator page administered by the shopping mall administrator server 24, such that the operator can perform the stock registration of the goods. The individual stock goods can be displayed only on the site operated by the corresponding client shopping mall operator. On the corresponding goods details description page is stated information of address/name/contact information/after service/return of goods.

In FIG. 2, a sale-in-lots administration unit 32 administers only members to whom the wholesale shopping malls are sold in lots for the wholesale malls. For the retail malls, the sale-in-lots administration unit 32 sells client shopping malls in lots, administers stores, administers agents, and administers level agents. The sale of the client shopping malls in the form of a retail mall at the sale-in-lots administration unit 32 is achieved only through the regular members to whom the client shopping malls have been sold in lots.

When a client shopping mall is sold in a sale-in-lots manner through the regular member to whom the client shopping mall has been sold in a sale-in-lots manner, the sold client shopping mall is administered as a store by the sale-in-lots administration unit 32, as at Step 180 of FIG. 10. When a client shopping mall is sold in a sale-in-lots manner through a shopping mall operated by a regular member, the regular member, who has sold the client shopping mall, becomes a recommender, and is administered as an agent by the sale-in-lots administration unit 32, as at Step 182 of FIG. 10. Also, when the regular member who has sold the client shopping mall in a sale-in-lots manner satisfies predetermined level requirements in the number of shopping malls sold in lots or in sales performance, the regular member is administered as a level agent by the sale-in-lots administration unit 32, as at Step 184 of FIG. 10. Based on the number of shopping malls sold in lots or sales performance, the level agent may be classified as a level 1 agent, a level 2 agent ^{■ ■ •} or a level N agent.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the banner advertisement recommender administration unit 34 performs administration such that shopping mall advertisement banners are displayed on a main page and a plurality of sub pages that can be extensibly created in the integrated shopping mall according to the request of the client shopping mall operators or the wholesale shopping mall operators. Also, the banner advertisement recommender administration unit 34 pursues first visitors having accessed through advertisement banners of other portal sites or advertisement banners of the integrated shopping mall and the identification information of client shopping malls operated by the operators presenting the advertisement banners such that results obtained by the advertisement can be given to the operators of the corresponding client shopping malls or the corresponding wholesale shopping malls. That is, the results obtained by the application of users watching the corresponding advertisements for membership or purchasing the shopping malls in lots are given to the operators of the client shopping malls presenting the advertisement banners.

A profit administration unit 36 of FIG. 2 administers various profits related to the regular members of the retail malls, the qualified members of the wholesale malls, and the corporate members, under the control of the main server 20.

As shown in FIG. 11 , the profit administration unit 36 includes a retail mall regular member profit administration unit 190, a level agent performance dividend profit administration unit 192, a bonus reserve administration unit 194, a performance dividend share profit administration unit 196, a wholesale mall profit administration unit 198, and a corporate member profit administration unit 200.

The retail mall regular member profit administration unit 190 of the profit administration unit 36 of FIG. 11 administers profits obtained by the operation of the client shopping malls in the form of a retail mall. The profits obtained by the operation of the client shopping malls in the form of a retail mall may be classified into the-person-concerned (client shopping mall) sale profit, low-level mall sale profit, sale-in-lots profit, and administration profit.

The the-person-concerned sale profit is profit given back by a predetermined percentage of sales or margin obtained through the sale at the client shopping mall of the person concerned. At need, the the-person-concerned sale profit is administered as a cash-type bonus reserve by the bonus reserve administration unit 194 such that the the-person-concerned sale profit can be given back by month. The low-level mall sale profit is profit given back by a predetermined percentage of sales or margin obtained through the sale at a low-level mall directly sold in a sale-in-lots manner. The sale-in-lots profit is profit produced whenever one low-level mall is sold in a sale-in-lots manner through advertisement by the advertisement banners or through offline advertisement. The administration profit is profit given back by a predetermined percentage of the server maintenance expenses paid by the low-level malls directly sold in a sale-in-lots manner upon renewal every year.

The level agent performance dividend profit administration unit 192 of the profit administration unit 36 of FIG. 11 administers profits given back through the dividend when a regular member of the client shopping mall becomes a level agent, and the level of the level agent is maintained by month. The dividend profit is changed depending upon the level ranks from level 1 to level N. The maintenance of the level by month is classified as a sale-in-lots performance level maintenance method or a sales performance level maintenance method.

The bonus reserve administration unit 194 of FIG. 11 administers a predetermined percentage of product prices at which the operator of the client shopping mall purchases the products of the head office through his/her own mall as a cash-type bonus reserve. Also, when door-to-door sales companies and pyramid selling companies are registered as corporate members, and entrepreneurs of the corporate members are sold client shopping malls of the integrated shopping mall in lots, the bonus reserve administration unit 194 administers bonus reserve of the corporate members. At this time, the bonus reserve may be appropriated adaptably in response to the request of the corporate members. The maintenance of the bonus reserve may be confirmed through the main homepage of the integrated shopping mall or the homepages of the client shopping malls.

The performance dividend share profit administration unit 196 of FIG. 11 is an administration unit for adding up the following profit produced according to the operation of the integrated shopping mall to set the added-up profit as share profit and for distributing the share profit to the head office of the integrated shopping mall, the corporate members, and the level agents. Items becoming the share profit include a commission of stock sale to the client shopping mall, a commission of stock sale of the B2B/B2C member store corporate member, advertisement profit, trade import-export brokerage profit, and wholesale shopping mall sale-in-lots profit.

In FIG. 11 , the wholesale mall profit administration unit 198 is an administration unit for administering the profit of the wholesale mall. The profit of the wholesale mall is administered in a profit structure different from that of the retail mall. The profit structure and the operating system of the wholesale mall are established to be suitable for companies providing logistics.

In FIG. 11, the corporate member profit administration unit 200 is an administration unit for administering the profit of the corporate members. The corporate member profit administration unit 200 administers a portion of the above-described share profit, a portion of profit given whenever each subsidiary client shopping mall is sold in a sale-in-lots manner after the company organizations of the corporate members are set, and a portion of the total sale of the subsidiary client shopping malls, as the profit.

Referring back to FIG. 2, a member qualification administration unit 38 administers the member qualification of the integrated shopping mall under the control of the main server 20. In particular, the member qualification administration unit 38 administers the rank state of the level agent of the regular member at the retail mall by month. The member qualification administration unit 38 administers the rank state of the level agent based on the sale-in-lots performance and the sales performance of the regular member concerned.

A settlement server 40 is connected to an external settlement service unit 42, such as servers of various credit cards, servers of banks, servers of mobile communication companies, and electronic money servers. Under the control of the main server 20, the settlement server 40 concentrates and processes all the settlements at all the wholesale shopping malls or client shopping malls in the form of a retail mall, sold in lots. The settlement at each client shopping mall upon the sale of the product is configured to be processed through the account of the head office providing the service, thereby preventing the occurrence of expenses due to the construction of the settlement system at each shopping mall and the occurrence of inefficient and duplicate investments.

A settlement method through the settlement server 40 includes credit card settlement (electronic settlement), deposit without passbook, settlement using a bonus reserve card, mileage settlement, settlement using electronic money, mobile phone settlement, or other electronic settlement methods.

Of the service devices constituting the super administration country service unit 50 shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the online item portal site service device 3 shown in FIG. 3 is constructed to register and share immaterial goods information, such as culture, tourism, industry, or the like, for appointment and information exchange.

The online item portal site service device 3 of FIG. 3 is connected to the online integrated shopping mall service device 2 of FIG. 2 through the Internet 4. Also, the online item portal site service device 3 of FIG. 3 is connected to the foreign member store server 10 corresponding to the member country service units 52, 54, and 56 shown in FIG. 1. The online item portal site service device 3 of FIG. 3 has a main server 20 for controlling the online item portal site service. Also, the online item portal site service device 3 has an 'item goods administration server' in place of the shopping mall administration server 24 of FIG. 2. The online item portal site service device 3 does not have the product supplying company mall administration unit 25a, the retail mall administration unit 25b, and the wholesale mall administration unit 25c of FIG. 2. The item goods administration server 24 is a server for registering and administering immaterial goods, such as culture, tourism, industry, or the like. The online item portal site service device 3 of FIG. 3 includes the DB server 26 of FIG. 2, the various databases 28a to 28g related to the DB server 26, and the banner advertisement recommender administration unit 34. However, the product stock and goods administration server 30, the sale-in-lots administration unit 32, the profit administration unit 36, and the member qualification administration unit 38 of FIG. 2 are excluded from the online item portal site service device 3.

The various databases 28a to 28g of FIG. 3 are similar in construction to the various databases of FIG. 2; however, the databases 28a to 28g of FIG. 3 have different detailed information to which immaterial goods handling characteristics are reflected.

As can be seen from the detailed construction of FIG. 5, the member DB 28a of FIG. 3 includes the general member storage unit 100 and the translator member storage unit 134. However, the retail mall regular member storage unit 102, the wholesale mall qualified member storage unit 104, and the corporate member storage unit 106 are not included in the member DB 28a. The goods DB 28b of FIG. 3 is not classified into the head office goods storage unit 140, the first warehouse stock goods storage unit 142, the second warehouse stock goods storage unit 144, the individual stock goods storage unit 146, and the wholesale mall goods storage unit 148 of FIG. 6, but classifies and stores immaterial goods information, such as culture, tourism, industry, or the like. The advertisement DB 28c of FIG. 3 is not classified into the whole registration advertisement storage unit 150 and the individual registration advertisement storage unit 152 of FIG. 7, but stores whole registration advertisement. The first visitor record DB 28d of FIG. 3 is identical in construction to that of FIG. 2. The information registration DB 28e of FIG. 3 is a database for storing various kinds of information of the online item portal site. The account settlement administration DB 28f of FIG. 3 is a database for storing account settlement administration data related to the online item portal site. The multi-language support DB 28g of FIG. 3 is identical in construction to that of FIG. 2.

According to the present invention, the online service device, such as the online integrated shopping mall service device 2 or the online item portal site service device 3, serves to register and administer multinational material and immaterial goods information by a language of each country. Consequently, the trade and information exchange between countries can be activated without the language barrier.

FIG. 12 is a overall flow chart illustrating registration of the multinational material and immaterial goods information according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention by a language of each country. In the following description with reference to FIG. 12, it should be noted that the online service mainly related to the material goods information will be described on the assumption that the online service is applied to an example of the online integrated shopping mall, whereas the online service related to the immaterial goods information, such as culture, tourism, industry, or the like, will be described on the assumption that the online service is applied to an example of the online item portal site.

The main homepage (the main homepage of the online integrated shopping mall or the main homepage of the online item portal site) provided by the main server 20 of the super administration country service unit 50 located in the first country or the main homepages (the main homepages of the online integrated shopping malls or the main homepages of the online item portal sites) provided by the main servers 20- 1, 20-2, and 20-M of other member country service units 52, 54 and 56 excluding the first country have an icon button for allowing a goods registrant to register material or immaterial goods. When a user clicks on the icon button, a goods registration window is opened and displayed. The goods registration window has an 'open a registration form list' button for allowing the user to select and register languages of various countries except the native language.

Consequently, the goods registrants of the first country, i.e., the super administration country, and the goods registrants of the respective member countries can register material or immaterial goods through the use of the main homepages of the online service devices (the online integrated shopping mall service devices 2 or the online item portal site service devices 3) of the respective service units 50, 52, 54, and 56 located in their countries. A goods registrant who does not reside in any member country can access the main homepage of the super administration country service unit 50 located in the first country to register material or immaterial goods.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, which will be described below, it should be understood that a detailed description will be given on the assumption that the goods registrant residing in the first country, in which the super administration country service unit 50 is located, registers goods through the main homepage of the corresponding online service device.

When a goods registrant, who wishes to register material and immaterial goods, such as products, contents, and items, clicks on the 'open a registration form list' button in the goods registration window of the main homepage of the service device, the main server 20 determines at Step 300 of FIG. 12 that the 'open a registration form list' button was clicked, and advances to Step 302 of FIG. 12 to display a language-by-country product and contents registration form list 400 as shown in FIG. 14 on a computer monitor.

The language-by-country goods registration form list 400 shown in FIG. 14 contains principal countries of the world provided in the form of a table with check columns such that goods, such as products, contents, and items, can be registered using a large number of national languages desired by the goods registrant in a bundle. In the table, check columns 402 and 404 corresponding to the native language of the first country (for example, Korea) and English are checked in a default state. That is, the native language of the first country, i.e., the super administration country, and English, which is widely used all over the world, are basically checked in the registration form list.

As an example shown in FIG. 14, when the goods registrant checks the check columns 406 of the countries to be registered one by one and clicks on a 'register' button 408, the main server 20 determines at Step 304 of FIG. 12 that the 'register' button 408 was clicked, and advances to Step 306 of FIG. 12.

At Step 306 of the FIG. 12, the main server 20 reads out an input format of the native language and English registration form checked in the default state and a format of the country (language) registration form checked by the goods registrant from the multi-language support DB 28g, and activates the read-out registration forms. Subsequently, the main server 20 advances to Step 308 of FIG. 12 and displays only a native language registration form page 410 or 410a, as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17 (for the online integrated shopping mall) or as shown in FIGS. 28 and 29 (for the online item portal site).

FIGS. 16 and 17 illustrate the native language registration form page 410 for the online integrated shopping mall. Specifically, FIG. 16 illustrates the upper part of the native language registration form page 410, and FIG. 17 illustrates the lower part of the native language registration form page 410. The upper and lower parts of the native language registration form page 410 are connected to each other such that the native language registration form page 410 can be scrolled through.

FIGS. 28 and 29 illustrate the native language registration form page 410a for the online item portal site. Specifically, FIG. 28 illustrates the upper part of the native language registration form page 410a, and FIG. 29 illustrates the lower part of the native language registration form page 410a. The upper and lower parts of the native language registration form page 410a are connected to each other such that the native language registration form page 410a can be scrolled through.

Referring to FIGS. 16, 17, 28, and 29, the native language registration form pages 410 and 410a have a plurality of input menu items. The input menu items are generally classified into a standard input item part 412 (see FIG. 16 and FIG. 28) all the formats of which are standardized for each country and a free input item part 414 (see FIG. 17 and FIG. 29) allowing the arbitrary and free input operation of the goods registrant. The native language registration form page 410 also includes a registration form extension field 416.

The standard input item part 412 for the online integrated shopping mall includes the menu items shown in FIG. 16, i.e., an image input menu item 420, a product information input menu item 422, a price-by-country input menu item 424, a goods registrant information input menu item 426, a delivery related input menu item 428, and a translation related input menu item 430. The free input item part 414 includes a "product specification' menu item, one of the items shown in FIG. 17.

The image input menu item 420 of the standard input item part 412 for the online integrated shopping mall has an image frame for allowing several sheets of products and contents images to be registered in a standardized fashion. The product information input menu item 422 preferably includes detailed items, such as the number of goods, the name of goods, the manufacturer, the place of origin, the seller, brand name, quantity available for order, and graded price information depending upon purchase quantity.

Preferably, the price-by-country input menu item 424 of the standard input item part 412 basically includes USD($) price as a detailed item and further includes other detailed items to additionally register prices for countries concerned. In particular, when the price-by-country list including two or more countries is registered, the present invention is preferably configured such that a monetary unit-by-country popup menu input window, which is activated by an onmouse event, is displayed at the right side of the price-by-country input menu item 424 in a popup fashion, and is linked to a bank site such that real-time inquiry of exchange rate is possible.

The goods registrant information input menu item 426 of the standard input item part 412 for the online integrated shopping mall preferably includes detailed items, such as the country of the goods registrant, the company name of the goods registrant (corporate and individual), the location and contact information of the business place of the goods registrant, the contact information related to goods, whether after service is possible or not, and the registration date. Also, the delivery related input menu item 428 of the standard input item part 412 preferably includes detailed items, such as shipping/forwarding period and estimated arrival date for each country, estimated shipping date calculated from the date of receipt, a forwarding method (ocean shipping, air freight, or courier), and forwarding expenses. For example, the forwarding expenses may be registered in the format of 'China: $20.00 / 18,744 Won, America: $30.00 / 28, 116 Won, Japan: $20.00 / 18,744 Won.

Also, the translation related input menu item 430 of the standard input item part 412 for the online integrated shopping mall is a menu field for requesting the product specification of the native language registration form to be translated by country. The translation related input menu item 430 has a check column for allowing the countries corresponding to the currently selected native languages to be checked. At the rear of the check column for each country is formed an input column for allowing translation fee to be inputted.

The standard input item part 412 of the native language registration form page 410 for the online integrated shopping mall also includes a countries shipped to display menu item 432. In the countries shipped to display menu item 432, the countries of which the goods have been previously checked (executed at Step 304 of FIG. 12) are registered as the "countries shipped to, " and therefore, it is possible for the goods registrant to visibly confirm the countries shipped to. When the goods registrant newly adds countries shipped to or partially deletes the checked countries shipped to, the goods registrant may click on an 'add a form for another language' button or a 'modify' button provided at the lowermost end of the registration form page 410 shown in FIG. 17.

The native language registration form page 410 for the online integrated shopping mall, shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, includes a registration form extension field 416, which is located at the lowermost end thereof. The registration form extension field 416 is provided to display an English registration form format, which is activated but not displayed yet, and other national language registration form formats, which are checked by the goods registrant, following the native language registration form page 410, in an extended fashion, in addition to a currently displayed native language registration form format, only upon the request of the goods registrant.

In the registration form extension field 416 shown in FIG. 17, countries corresponding to the currently selected national languages are displayed in the form of a list. When the goods registrant clicks on a country character area (for example, 'England,' 'China,' or the like) on which a country desired by the goods registrant is stated, a corresponding language registration form format extension page is displayed following the native language registration form page 410. For example, when the goods registrant clicks on a country character area of 'England,' an English registration form extension page 440 as shown in FIGS. 18 and 19 are displayed following the native language registration form page 410.

The menu items in the standard input item part 412 for the online item portal site shown in FIG. 28 are similar to those in the standard input item part 412 for the online integrated shopping mall shown in FIG. 28; however, the standard input item part 412 for online item portal site is different from the standard input item part 412 for the online integrated shopping mall in that the standard input item part 412 for the online item portal site includes menu items related to immaterial goods (items), which are distinguished from other menu items. For example, the standard input item part 412 for the online item portal site shown in FIG. 28 does not include the delivery related input menu item 428, which is included in the standard input item part 412 for the online integrated shopping mall, but an appointment reception related menu item 428a. Also, the standard input item part 412 for the online item portal site does not include the countries shipped to display menu item 432 but an available country display menu item 432a.

The standard input item part 412 for the online item portal site of FIG. 28 includes an image input menu item 420a, an item information input menu item 422a for inputting the information of items, which are immaterial goods, a price-by-country input menu item 424a, a goods registrant information input menu item 426a, an appointment reception related menu item 428a, and a translation related input menu item 430a, and an available country display menu item 432a.

Also, a free input item part 414 for the online item portal site of FIG. 29 includes an 'item specification' menu item, at the lower end of which a registration form extension field 416 is located.

Meanwhile, when the goods registrant inputs desired data (image and registration details) in the items of the native language registration form pages 410 and 410a (Step 310 of FIG. 12), the main server 20 not only displays the inputted data on the native language registration form pages 410 and 410a, at Step 312 of FIG. 12, but also copy and paste the inputted data in all national language registration forms checked by the goods registrant.

During the input of the data, when the place of business of the registrant is inputted in the goods registrant information input menu items 426 and 426a, the native language (Korean) is inputted and displayed in the native language registration form pages 410 and 410a. For the English and other selected national language registration form formats, however, the place of business of the registrant is automatically translated by a predetermined automatic address translation program, and therefore, the English address of the registrant is stored.

When the goods registrant clicks on a specific country character area stated in the registration form extension field 416, the main server 20 performs a process from Step 314 of FIG. 12 to Step 318 of FIG. 13 such that a corresponding national language registration form is displayed following the native language registration form pages 410 and 410a, in an extended fashion. When the goods registrant modifies the language part, a modification process is performed. The reason why the goods registrant displays the selected national language registration form extension page in the extended fashion is that it is necessary to modify the language of the standard input item part 412, in which the language modification is somewhat necessary, after the completion of the inputting of the respective items of the native language registration form pages 410 and 410a.

Describing in more details, when the goods registrant clicks on a specific country character area stated in the registration form extension field 416, the main server determines at Step 314 of FIG. 12 that the country character area was clicked, and advances to Step 316 of FlG. 13.

At Step 316 of FIG. 13, the main server 20 displays a language registration form extension page corresponding to the clicked country character area following the native language registration form pages 410 and 410a.

For example, when the goods registrant clicks on a country character area of 'England' in the registration form extension field 416 of FIG. 17, the English registration form extension page 440, as shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, is displayed following the native language registration form page 410.

Most entry parts of the menu items of the English registration form extension page 440 are comprised of numbers; however, the product name or the seller is inputted and displayed in the native language. Consequently, when the goods registrant modifies the corresponding part in English using a user interface, such as a keyboard, the main server 20 controls the corresponding part of the English registration form to be modified and displayed in English (Step 318 of FIG. 13). For example, 'i#' is modified into 'salt.' However, it should be noted that the description of the free input item part 414 of the English registration form extension page 440 for the online integrated shopping mall, i.e., the 'product specification' column, is still displayed in the native language (Korean) initially inputted, as shown in FIG. 19.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is possible for the goods registrant to request the translation of the description of the free input item part 414, such as the 'product specification' or the 'item specification', in the native language registration form pages 410 and 410a such that the translation is suitable for the 'product specification' or the 'item specification' of the selected another national language registration form extension page.

That is, when a country for which the translation is required is checked in the translation related input menu item 430 of the native language registration form page 410 shown in FIG. 16, the main server 20 determines at Step 320 of FIG. 13 that the country for which the translation was required was checked, and advances to Step 322 of FIG. 13.

At Step 322 of FIG. 13, the main server 20 displays a message 'request for translation' on the corresponding national language area in the registration form extension field 416, as shown in FIG. 17. The message 'request for translation' is preferably displayed in the corresponding national language of the language-by-country registration form format.

Subsequently, when the goods registrant clicks on a 'register' button located at the lower part of the native language registration form pages 410 and 410a, the main server 20 determines at Step 324 of FIG. 13 that the 'register' button was clicked, and advances to Step 326 of FIG. 13. At Step 326 of FIG. 13, the main server 20 registers the inputted data in each corresponding country storage area of the super database unit 46 in a matched manner.

When a user access the main homepage of the online integrated shopping mall or the online item portal site using a user terminal, such as a computer, and clicks on goods concerned, after the goods information is registered as described above, a registered goods page 450, configured in the same form as FIGS. 20 and 21 (for the online integrated shopping mall) or FIGS. 30 to 32 (for the online item portal site) are displayed on a computer monitor.

FIG. 20 illustrates the upper part of the registered goods page 450 for the online integrated shopping mall, and FIG. 21 illustrates the lower part of the registered goods page 450 for the online integrated shopping mall. The upper and lower parts of the registered goods page 450 are connected to each other such that the registered goods page 450 can be scrolled through.

FIG. 30 illustrates the upper part of the registered goods page 450 for the online item portal site, FIG. 31 illustrates the middle part of the registered goods page 450 for the online item portal site, and FIG. 32 illustrates the lower part of the registered goods page 450 for the online item portal site.

The user can see goods on the registered goods page 450 concerned and purchase or reserve the goods. When the user wishes to see a registered good page written in another language different from the native language, he/she may click on a 'see' button in the corresponding national language column of a 'matched country list' 452 located at the lowermost part of the registered goods page 450. As a result, the registered goods page written in the corresponding national language is displayed. At this time, the standard input item part in the national language registration page is stated in the corresponding national language; however, the description of the 'product specification' column (see FIG. 21) or the 'item specification' column (see FIGS. 31 and 32) and the 'appointment guidance' column (see FIG. 32) for the respective countries are not still translated, with the result that the description is stated in the native language of the first country (for example, Korean).

Even in the other national language registration form extension pages, including the native language registration form page 410, all the 'product specification' columns are stated in the language of the first country, and therefore, the present invention is embodied such that the description of the free input item part 414, i.e., the 'product specification' column, the 'item specification' column, and the 'appointment guidance' column, can be translated into languages suitable for the corresponding national language registration forms.

The present invention is embodied to translate the description of the 'product specification' column, the 'item specification' column, and the 'appointment guidance' column, corresponding to the free input item part 414; however, the translation process is not performed by a mechanical translation program.

It is actually impossible to exactly translate commercial, special sentences or terms, such as the description of material or immaterial goods, by the mechanical translation process using the translation program.

Therefore, the present invention is embodied such that the translation of the description of the 'product specification' column, the 'item specification' column, and the 'appointment guidance' column is achieved by specialized translators registered as translator members. As a result, the quality of translation of the description of the 'product specification' column, the 'item specification' column, and the 'appointment guidance' column is increased, and therefore, the exact description of the material and immaterial goods can be visually provided to users speaking different languages.

FIG. 22 is a control flow chart illustrating translator member joining and translation execution according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

A user can be registered as a translator member on the main homepage of the online integrated shopping mall or the main homepage of the online item portal site. FIG. 39 illustrates an example of the upper half part of the main homepage of the online item portal site. The main homepage has a translator member joining button 460.

When a user, who wishes to be a translator member, makes an application for membership as a translator member on the online integrated shopping mall or the online item portal site (Step 500 of FIG. 22), the main server 20 provides a translator member joining form including a school career or a career record to the applicant. When the translator member applicant is a corporate, the main server 20 provides a translator member joining form including the historical record of a company to the applicant. When the applicant fills out the translator member joining form, the administrator of the online integrated shopping mall or the online item portal site examines the submitted translator member joining form, and, when the applicant satisfies the internal prescribed regulations of the online integrated shopping mall or the online item portal site, the administrator approves the applicant to join as a translator member. At this time, the main server 20 registers the translator member applicant in the translator member storage unit 134 of the member DB 28a as a translator member, at Step 502 of FIG. 22.

Subsequently, when the translator member logins and selects the translation of specific goods from a translation request list in a my page (Step 504 and Step 506 of FIG. 22), the main server 20 advances to Step 508 of FIG. 22. At Step 508 of FIG. 22, the main server 20 displays a national language list 530 of the corresponding goods that are requested to be translated, as shown in FIG. 23.

In the national language list 530 of FIG. 23, a 'translation completed' is displayed on country items for which the translation is completed, and a 'under translation' is displayed on country items for which the translation is being carried out. For country items for which the translation is not yet completed, a 'translation requested' is displayed on each country item, and, at the same time, a 'translate' button is activated on each country item.

When the translator member selects a national language item for which he/her is able to translate and clicks on the 'translate' button in the selected national language item, the main server 20 determines at Step 510 of FIG. 22 that the 'translate' button was clicked, and advances to Step 512 of FIG. 22. At Step 512 of FIG. 22, the main server 20 changes the 'translation requested' indication into the 'under translation' indication on the corresponding national language item of the national language list 530, as shown in FIG. 23, and inactivate the 'under translation' indication. Subsequently, at Step 514 of FIG. 22, the main server 20 displays a translation activation window 540 as shown in FIG. 24. In the translation activation window 540, the native language description column 542 stated in the free input item part 414 of the national language registration form format in the corresponding goods, i.e., the 'product specification' column, is activated and displayed together with a translation input column 544, which is located below the native language description column 542 and in which the translation will be written. At this time, the name and identification of the translator member are also displayed at the right side of the activated blank column.

Consequently, the translator member translates the native language description in the translation input column 544, and, when the translator clicks on a 'register translation' button located at the right side, after the completion of the translation, the main server 20 determines at Step 516 of FIG. 22 that the translation has been completed, and advances to Step 518 of FIG. 22. At Step 518 of FIG. 22, the main server 20 stores the translation in the multi-language support DB 28g, and, at the same time, transmits a message of translation completion to an address, such as mails of the translation client and the administrator or a mobile communication terminal. Subsequently, the main server 20 performs predetermined processes, and, at Step 520 of FIG. 22, reserves the translation fee concerned in the account (identification) of the translator member. The translation fee concerned may be reserves, for example, as a cash-type reserve.

In the my page of the translator member, a translation request list, a registration list of translation translated by the translator member, a reverse auction translation request list, reverse auction translation bid/accepted records, and details of profit (commission) produced by the registration of the translation are displayed.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is possible for a translation client, among goods registrants, to request the translation of the description of the free input item part 414 in a general translation mode. Alternatively, the translation is requested in a reverse auction mode provided in the my page.

FIG. 25 is a control flow chart illustrating a reverse auction translation request in a my page of a translation client.

When a translation client who requests the translation of a product specification, among goods registrants, checks a reverse auction translation request box in the my page of the translation client (Step 600 of FIG. 25), the main server 20 activates a reverse auction translation fee input column at Step 602 of FIG. 25.

When the translation client inputs and registers a translation fee in the reverse auction translation fee input column, the main server 20 determines at Step 604 of FIG. 25 that the translation fee was inputted and registered, and advances to Step 606 of FIG. 25. At Step 606 of FIG. 25, the main server 20 updates a list of reverse auction translation request by country 610 (see FIG. 26) in the my pages of the translator member and the translation client.

The list of reverse auction translation request by country 610 in the my page of the translator member is illustrated as an example in FIG. 26.

As shown in FIG. 26, a translation client presents a reverse auction translation fee (beginning price), translator members bid with less than the translation fee presented by the translation client, and the bid of a translator member presenting the lowest bidding price at the end of the bid is accepted. If there is no bidder, the bid is not accepted. When the bid is not accepted, the translation client requesting the reverse auction translation must present a new reverse auction translation fee, higher than the previously presented translation fee, to proceed with the next reverse auction translation request.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 27, a translation evaluation bulletin board 700, on which the evaluation of translations translated by translator members is notified, is displayed at the lowermost end of the registered goods page 450 of FIGS. 20 and 21 or the registered goods page 450 of FIGS. 30 to 32. Users may write their evaluation of the translation of the product specification on the translation evaluation bulletin board 700 of FIG. 27. Also, the user may point out wrongly translated sentences or typographical errors of the translations on translation evaluation bulletin board.

Based on the evaluation of the translations, the goods registrants or the administrator of the homepage may provide incentive to the users according to a policy. Also, it is possible to indirectly evaluate the translation ability of the translator members based on the users' evaluation of the translations.

FIGS. 33 to 35 are views illustrating a screen example of English registered goods pages in the online item portal site. It can be seen from these drawings that the description of the 'item explanation translation (written in English)' column or the 'appointment guidance translation (written in English) is translated by the translator member in English.

FIGS. 36 to 38 are views illustrating a screen example of Chinese registered goods pages in the online item portal site. It can be seen from these drawings that the description of the 'item explanation translation (written in Chinese)' column or the 'appointment guidance translation (written in Chinese) is translated by the translator member in Chinese.

In short, it can be seen from FIGS. 33 to 38 that the description of the goods stated in the standard input item part and the free input item part is perfectly expressed in the language of the countries concerned.

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. [Industrial Applicability]

The present invention is applicable to service of material and immaterial goods using the Internet.

Claims

[CLAIMS] [Claim 1 ]

A multi-language support service method of an online service system having a service device that is connected to computer terminals through the Internet and serves material or immaterial goods, the multi-language support service method comprising: a first process for allowing a super administration service unit and a plurality of member country service units, which are located in different countries and each of which has a service device, to communicate with each other through the Internet such that goods are periodically registered and administrated; a second process for, when a goods registrant selects at least one national language from a main homepage of the super administration service unit or any one of the member country service units and requests goods information to be registered in the selected national language, allowing a main server of the corresponding service unit to read out national language registration form pages including a standard input item part of which the format is standardized by country, a free input item part for allowing a goods registrant to freely input data, and a registration form extension field from a database unit of the corresponding service unit and to display a native language registration form page; a third process for, when data is inputted in a plurality of menu items of the standard input item part of the native language registration form page and data is inputted in a specification column of the free input item part, displaying the inputted data on the native language registration form page, copying and pasting the inputted data on the other national language registration forms of the selected countries, and, at the same time, storing the inputted data in storage regions, assigned to each country, of the database unit; a fourth process for, when the good registrant to check the request of translation of the description of the specification column of the free input item part of the standard input item part, displaying the translation request state in the country items in the registration form extension field; and a fifth process for, when a translator member, joined to the main homepage, selects the translation of the description of specific goods, registered in the database unit and stated in the specification column, in a predetermined national language, providing a translation input column together with the description of the specification column in the free input item part, and when the translation is completed, storing the translation in the database unit.

[Claim 2]

The multi-language support service method according to claim 1 , further comprising: a process for, when one of the country items in the registration form extension field is selected, allowing a corresponding national language registration form page including a standard input item part of which the format is standardized by country and a free input item part for allowing a goods registrant to freely input data to be displayed following the native language registration form page in an extended fashion such that the language modification is possible to the data inputted in the menu items of the standard input item part.

[Claim 3]

The multi-language support service method according to claim 2, wherein an English language item, among the country items of the registration form extension field is selected in a default state.

[Claim 4]

The multi-language support service method according to claim 1 , wherein the translator member is approved through the examination, when a user makes an application for membership as a translator member, and the translator member is stored in a translator member storage unit of the database unit.

[Claim 5]

The multi-language support service method according to claim 4, wherein, when the translation is completed at the fifth process, the translation is stored in the database unit, and, at the same time, a message of translation completion is transmitted to communication addresses of a translation client and an administrator.

[Claim 6]

The multi-language support service method according to claim 1 or 4, further comprising: a process for, when a translation client, among goods registrants, who requests to be translated the specification of goods registered by the translation client, checks a reverse auction translation request in a my page of the translation client, activating a reverse auction translation fee input window such that the translation client can input a reverse auction translation fee; and a process for, when the translation client inputs and registers the reverse auction translation fee in the reverse auction translation fee input window, updating a list of reverse auction translation request by country in the my page of the translator member.

[Claim 7]

The multi-language support service method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a translation evaluation bulletin board is displayed at the lowermost end of a registered goods page, in which goods information is registered, of the main homepage such that users can write their evaluation of translation of the specification on the translation evaluation bulletin board.

[Claim 8]

The multi-language support service method according to claim 1 , wherein the standard input item part includes an image input menu item, a product information input menu item, a price-by-country input menu item, a goods registrant information input menu item, a delivery related input menu item, and a translation related input menu item.

[Claim 9]

The multi-language support service method according to claim 8, wherein the standard input item part further includes a countries shipped to display menu item for allowing countries of which the goods registered by the goods registrant to be displayed as countries shipped to.

[Claim 10]

The multi-language support service method according to claim 1 , wherein the standard input item part includes an image input menu item, an item information input menu item for inputting the information of items, which are immaterial goods, a price-by-country input menu item, a goods registrant information input menu item, an appointment reception related menu item, and a translation related input menu item, and an available country display menu item.

[Claim 11 ]

The multi-language support service method according to claim 6, wherein the my page of the translator member includes a translation request list, a registration list of translation translated by the translator member, a reverse auction translation request list, reverse auction translation bid/accepted records, and details of profit produced by the registration of the translation.

[Claim 12]

The multi-language support service method according to claim 1 , wherein the first process is configured such that the super administration country service unit, which is located in a first country and has a uppermost-level country level code, has a super database unit for registering and administrating multinational material and immaterial goods information by a language of each country, that the member country service units located in the respective other countries except the first country are accorded different country level codes according to the improvement to the request of member countries, and that the main server of the super administration country service unit periodically transmits the collected data of the super database unit to the respective member country service units.