WO2013046465A1

WO2013046465A1 - Price analysis processing system and computer program

Info

Publication number: WO2013046465A1
Application number: PCT/JP2011/072656
Authority: WO
Inventors: 修一武永
Original assignee: 株式会社オークファン
Priority date: 2011-09-30
Filing date: 2011-09-30
Publication date: 2013-04-04

Abstract

[Problem] The objective of the present invention is to ascertain a quoted price and perform a price comparison with competitors on the basis of price information acquired from an arbitrary number of net auction sites and e-commerce sites in order to obtain a criterion for determining a suitable price [Solution] A user terminal (5) which is used by a retailer, accesses a price analysis processing server (1) via the Internet (N) in order to receive provision of the following service. Namely; information related to a site of interest is accessed, suitably edited, and displayed upon a screen using various types of graphs or a table format. Not only is a list of site information displayed, but a price of a competing shop is periodically updated so as to compare with the price of the company itself, or price information of a plurality of auction sites is acquired so as to compare the average price with the price of the company itself. In addition, data for prices and quantities are displayed chronologically in predetermined intervals. Furthermore, in addition to the screen display of the raw data and the processed data, settings of sales prices of the company itself are changed, and simulations of profit amounts are also performed.

Description

Price analysis processing system and computer program

The present invention performs market analysis based on price information acquired from one or more arbitrary number of net auction sites and electronic commerce sites, and performs price comparison analysis between the company and competitors, and makes decisions for its own sales activities, particularly for pricing. The present invention relates to a price analysis processing system that provides materials in an ASP (Application Service Provider) system, and a computer program.

With the spread of PCs and mobile phones with internet connection functions, you can shop at shops (hereinafter referred to as “EC Shops”) that open stores on e-commerce sites (hereinafter referred to as “EC Sites”) without going to actual stores. And second-hand goods are often obtained at low prices through online auctions.
In order to obtain a good product at a reasonable price, a system that provides information such as a selling price and a successful bid price of an auction is put into practical use.
“Statistical data providing system related to net auction” described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-199794 (Patent Document 1) and “Internet auction market price search” described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-265849 (Patent Document 2). "System" also relates to a system that provides price information. These are intended to provide information regarding a plurality of net auction sites (hereinafter referred to as “auction sites”) to a person who intends to use the net auction in a lump so that the user can make an appropriate decision.

JP 2007-199794 A JP 2009-265849 A

The systems described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 both provide market information obtained from a plurality of auction sites and price sites in a common format in an easy-to-read manner. Therefore, these systems have high convenience for those who are going to participate in the auction.
However, a system that provides market price information does not only benefit the auction parties. In fact, price information obtained by cross-site search across multiple sites is valuable information that affects profit growth for EC shops and thrift shops. The reason is as follows. In the past, EC shops handled new products, while online auctions handled used products. However, recently, it is not uncommon to purchase second-hand goods at EC shops or purchase new ones at an online auction. In other words, in a real store and online shopping, and online auctions, buying and selling beyond the barrier has been performed. Furthermore, as seen in the advent of PC shops that buy used PCs and department stores that buy branded goods via the Web, it is also true that entry into the used market from the new market is accelerating. This means that the price information of online auctions where used goods are often handled is useful information for retailers who also handle used goods.
The present invention expands the conventional function of searching and providing information across auctions to providing price information across auctions and shops. As a result, it is assumed that a shop that handles both new and second-hand goods is assumed as a main user, and an object is to provide not only information but also judgment materials for determining prices that are extremely important for retailers.

By the way, financial information terminals such as Bloomberg (registered trademark) have been widely used among investors (institutional investors, securities companies, financial institutions, etc.). This is because a dedicated application program is installed in a terminal device constituted by a computer, and the user of this terminal obtains various price information necessary for the judgment of a transaction, and performs various calculations such as an option price and VaR. It can be done. Some investors have each employee use such a financial information terminal in order to make the employee work efficiently.
The applicant proposes the present invention by introducing an information terminal such as Bloomberg in the retail industry, and eager to enable judgment and decision making based on reliable information without relying on intuition. is there. Note that the system of the present invention is provided in an ASP system so that users such as retailers can easily and inexpensively introduce it. This is because if there is a personal computer or a portable information terminal in which a Web browser is installed, application software and a database can be used simply by accessing the ASP provider's server.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1
A price at which a user terminal connected to the price analysis processing server via the Internet accesses the price analysis processing server and can collectively extract information on one or more arbitrary numbers of electronic commerce sites and net auction sites. An analytical processing system,
The price analysis processing server
A storage unit, a processing unit, and a communication interface unit;
Information on the electronic commerce site and the net auction site is acquired via the communication interface unit via the Internet.
The storage unit includes information (e.g., product name, purchase value, quantity purchased, sales price, etc.) related to a product handled by the user (hereinafter, “in-house product”), parameters referred to in processing by the processing unit ( Example: Stores information including the name of the site from which information is to be obtained, the name of the product / product type from which information is to be obtained from other sites, and temporary data generated during the process.
The processing unit includes information acquisition means for acquiring information related to a predesignated product in the site selected by the user;
In accordance with a search request or an analysis processing request transmitted from the user terminal of the user, the information editing means for editing the acquired information together with information on the user's own product as appropriate,
Editing information transmitting means for graphing or numbering the edited information as a user presentation and transmitting the information to the user terminal;
The user terminal includes an input unit (e.g., a mouse and a keyboard) that receives a user operation, an output unit including a screen display unit (e.g., a liquid crystal display), and the user operation received by the input unit as the price analysis process. A communication interface unit is provided for receiving data transmitted to the server and transmitted by the editing information transmitting means.

As a result, retailers (e.g., EC shops and recycle shops) that are assumed to be users of the present invention can conduct price surveys and prices based on information collectively acquired from a plurality of auction sites and EC sites across sites. It is possible to obtain information useful for decision making, such as setting sales prices, simply by conducting accurate analysis.
Users select a site of interest from a large number of sites, select products that are highly relevant to their products, and acquire information on the site, so only the truly necessary data can be acquired quickly from a huge amount of data. .

In order to achieve the above object, the price analysis processing server may further include competitive price update means.
The competitive price update means obtains the price of a registered commodity group of one shop designated as a competitive shop by the input unit of the user terminal and sets it as the first competitive price, and designates it as a competitive shop by the input unit. The prices of the registered merchandise groups of the plurality of shops are acquired and the average price is set as the second competitive price, and the first and second competitive prices are updated at a predetermined timing.
The “competitive shop” is a shop in which the user is particularly aware of the price difference. First, only one important shop is set. Next, a plurality of shop groups whose priority falls below that are set.

In order to achieve the above object, the editing process by the information editing unit preferably includes a competitive price comparison process, an auction price comparison process, a profit amount simulation process, and a time series analysis process.

The competitive price comparison process displays a warning when the price of the user's own product exceeds the first competitive price or the second competitive price by a predetermined value or more.
Thereby, it can be judged whether the price of the product of the company is competitive as compared with the competitors. The warning display will make it easier to identify the product whose price setting should be changed.

When the auction price comparison process takes out the products corresponding to the company's products from two or more auction sites, averages the prices, and compares the average price with the price of the company's products and exceeds the predetermined value Displays a warning.
This makes it easy to determine when and where it is advantageous to sell.

The profit amount simulation process simulates the profit for each in-house product, that is, the profit for each product, and the profit of the entire in-house product that is the sum of these profits.
As a result, not only the profit for each product but also the profit of the entire shop is predicted and calculated, which is useful for setting a selling price for increasing profit.

The time series analysis process edits data in order to display price information and successful bid related information acquired by designating products in time series at predetermined intervals.
This data is useful for pricing, taking into account trend fluctuations and seasonal fluctuations, and effective purchase timing and purchase volume.

A computer program that causes a computer to operate as a price analysis processing server also achieves the object of the present invention.

An important decision for retailers is "when and how much to buy and how much to sell." According to the present invention, it is possible to freely extract and analyze data including prices and transaction volumes of new and used products from a plurality of EC sites and auction sites. And if you make the above decision based on the results of this analysis without relying on intuition, it will help increase sales and profits.
In addition, since information on multiple sites can be obtained simultaneously, the time and personnel required to investigate sales prices of competitors can be reduced.
Furthermore, if the user terminal can access the price analysis processing server, the above-described useful data can be obtained even if the user terminal itself does not have application software or a database.

It is a figure which shows the system configuration example of embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of the price analysis processing server of the embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which illustrates the screen which displays the information of multiple sites collectively of embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which illustrates the screen which displays the competitive price of an embodiment of the invention. It is a figure which illustrates the display screen of the auction price which competes of an embodiment of the invention. It is a figure explaining price simulation of an embodiment of the invention. It is a figure which illustrates the screen which displays the time series data of an embodiment of the invention.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
This embodiment is configured by a system centered on a price analysis processing server 1 as shown in FIG.

The price analysis processing server 1 is connected via the Internet N to a site management computer 2 that operates various EC sites and auction sites. A database management computer 3 that collects information from these site management computers 2 in a batch and creates a database is also connected to the Internet N. The database management computer 3 manages and operates a site information database 4 that stores site information.
The price analysis processing server 1 may directly access each site management computer 2 to acquire site information, or may acquire an arbitrary number of site information from the site information database 4. It is important that information on multiple sites can be acquired, and the acquisition route is not limited.
The database management computer 3 may be operated by an ASP company that operates the price analysis processing server 1. In that case, the database management computer 3 may be the same computer as the price analysis processing server 1.

The price analysis processing server 1 is accessed from an arbitrary number of user terminals 5 via the Internet N. The user terminal 5 accesses the price analysis processing server 1 and uses its application software and database. It can be considered that the price analysis processing server 1 and the user terminal 5 are integrated and play a part of an in-house business system as a device that supports decision making including price determination.
The user terminal 5 is configured by a personal computer, a portable information terminal, and the like, and includes an input unit such as a keyboard and a mouse (not shown), an output unit such as a display, and a communication interface unit.
Each user terminal 5 may be accessible to an in-house computer (not shown). As such in-house computers, there are terminal devices and point-of-sale terminals for purchasing and sales personnel. In the present embodiment, information related to the company's product is also important, such as comparing the price of the company's product with the price of the competing product or performing a profit simulation. These pieces of information are usually obtained from other computers in the company.

The price analysis processing server 1 is configured by a computer and includes a processing unit 6, a storage unit 7, and a communication interface unit 8 as shown in FIG. An input unit such as a keyboard and a mouse (not shown) and an output unit such as a display are also provided as appropriate.

Various functions of the processing unit 6 are realized by a CPU (not shown) executing each instruction code of the computer program. However, some of the functions may be shared by hardware. Various functions of the processing unit 6 will be described in detail later.

The communication interface unit 8 may share the function between software and hardware, but may implement one of them.
Transmission / reception of information to / from the site management computer 2 and the user terminal 5 and access to the site information database 4 are performed via the communication interface unit 8 via the Internet N. Although not shown in particular, the processing unit 6 also has a function of controlling the communication interface unit 8.

The storage unit 7 may be realized by an auxiliary storage medium such as a RAM, a ROM, or a hard disk according to the type of data to be stored, or may be realized by a database server separate from the price analysis processing server 1. May be.

The storage unit 7 includes a site information storage unit 9, an edit data storage unit 10, a parameter storage unit 11, a program storage unit 12, and other storage units (not shown) that temporarily store values during the process. ) Etc.

The site information storage means 9 stores raw data acquired by searching a plurality of sites across sites.
The edit data storage means 10 stores the processed data after data processing based on information including price information obtained from the EC site / auction site and the user terminal 5.
The parameter storage unit 11 stores site information search conditions and parameters for various analysis processes. The search conditions include the name of the EC site to be searched, the name of the auction site, the product to be searched, the name of the competitor shop, and the like. The parameters include an interval for time series display and a price difference for issuing a warning.
The program storage unit 12 stores various programs necessary for the computer to operate as the price analysis processing server 1.

The processing unit 6 includes an information acquisition unit 13, an information editing unit 14, and an editing information transmission unit 15.
The information editing unit 14 is divided into a product list creation unit 16, a competitive price update unit 17, a competitive price comparison unit 18, an auction price comparison unit 19, a profit amount simulation unit 20, and a time series analysis unit 21 according to functions.
The division of the processing unit 6 in this way is only for convenience of explanation.

The information acquisition unit 13 has a function of controlling acquisition of information from the EC site and the auction site, and is acquired from the site management computer 2 via the Internet N via the communication interface unit 8 or acquired from the site information database 4. This information is stored in the site information storage means 9.
Information acquisition by the information acquisition means 13 may be performed whenever an instruction is received from the user terminal 5 via the communication interface unit 8. However, from the viewpoint of prompt provision of information to the user, the target EC site and auction site are visited at regular time intervals to obtain the latest information and stored in the site information storage means 9. Is desirable. This is because the site information storage means 9 may be referred to each time a browsing request for site information or edited information from the user terminal 5 is made, and communication with the outside becomes unnecessary.
The frequency of periodic site visits may be stored in the parameter storage unit 11. The parameter storage unit 11 stores, for each user, the name of a site for which the user wants to acquire information, the name of a product that the user wants to browse, and the like, and acquires site information based on this. Since the number of products handled by various sites is enormous, you should focus on browsing site information that is meaningful to users. It is complicated for the user to input these search conditions each time, and it is desirable to store them as parameters on the price analysis processing server 1 side.

The information editing unit 14 performs various editing / processing processes by inputting information stored in the site information storage unit 9 and information from the user terminal 5 as appropriate in accordance with a processing request from the user terminal 5. The user instruction includes a search request that involves inputting a search keyword by operating the input unit of the user terminal 5, a processing request such as time-series display of data and price display of a competitive shop. The data processed by various processes may be stored in the edit data storage means 10 when subsequent browsing is expected.

Since the processing by the information editing unit 14 will be described in detail later, the subordinate units of the information editing unit 14 will be briefly described here.
The product list creation unit 16 creates data for displaying a list of information acquired by cross-site search on the screen so that comparison between sites, similar products, and the like is easy.
The competitive price update means 17 automatically acquires the latest prices (= competitive prices) of the shops most interested in the user (= competitive shops) and the plurality of shops interested next.
The competitive price comparison means 18 compares the price of the product handled by the user (in-house price) with the competitive price, and displays a warning if the in-house price exceeds a predetermined value.
The auction price comparison means 19 acquires the latest price information of the auction site, compares this auction price with the company price, and displays a warning if the company price exceeds a predetermined value.
The profit amount simulation means 20 calculates the profit amount based on its own sales price, estimated sales quantity, and the like. An appropriate price or quantity can be determined by changing the selling price of the company with reference to the comparison with the competitive price or the latest price of the auction, and calculating the profit amount based on the value after the change.
The time series analysis means 21 extracts data in order to plot changes in price, quantity, etc. for a specific product.

Editing information transmitting means 15 graphs or numerically edits the edited information as a user presentation, transmits it to the user terminal 5, and displays it on the screen display means. The user terminal 5 may output processed data to a printing unit such as a printer.

Next, the operation by the price analysis processing server 1 will be described.
Examples of main processing provided by the price analysis processing server 1 are as follows. These will be described in order below.
(1) Display of site information list (2) Automatic update of competitive price and comparison with own price (3) Acquisition of price information on auction site and comparison with own price (4) Simulation of profit amount (5) Price / Time series display of transaction amount

(1) Display of site information list For the products handled by the company itself, the quantity, sales price, successful bid price, etc. handled on the EC site or auction site are displayed in an easy-to-see manner. FIG. 3 shows an example of this display screen.
For example, a user inputs “XY electric notebook computer” and a search keyword via an input unit, and an auction site (AZ auction) and an EC site (CX market) are registered as sites to be referred to in the parameter storage unit 11. Suppose that The merchandise list creation means 16 extracts these sites from the site information storage means 9, and further extracts information that matches the search keyword from the sites. The extracted information is arranged in a tabular format as illustrated in FIG. 3 by the editing information transmitting unit 15 and transmitted to the user terminal 5 and displayed on the screen. In this way, when searching across multiple sites, it is possible to check the market price more efficiently than searching every single site.
The search result may be further narrowed down by adding conditions regarding price and period.
Note that the information extracted by the product list creation unit 16 may be stored in the editing data storage unit 10. It is because it may be browsed repeatedly by the user.

(2) Automatic renewal of competitive prices and comparison with in-house prices Establish one shop that is particularly aware of price differences for in-house products and make it a competitive shop. This may be stored in the parameter storage unit 11. The parameter storage means 11 also stores the automatic update timing, and the competitive price automatic update means 17 acquires the first competitive price, that is, the sales price of the competitive shop by accessing a predetermined URL according to this timing, It is added to the site information storage means 9. If there are shops other than the competing shops, an appropriate number (for example, 10) is stored in the parameter storage means 11, the selling prices of these shops are automatically acquired, and the average price ( 2nd competitive price) is calculated. Since these competitive prices can be referred to repeatedly, they may be stored in the edit data storage means 10. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the editing information transmission unit 15 compares the company price with the competitive price and displays the table price on the screen of the user terminal 5.
The competitive price comparison means 18 compares the competitive price with the company price, and displays a warning when the company price exceeds the competitive price by a predetermined value or more. The value of the price difference for warning display may be stored in the parameter storage unit 11. For example, if this value is 4000 yen, in the example of FIG. 4, hatching is shown in the corresponding part of the product column that is 5000 yen higher than the competitive price, and a warning is displayed. Any warning display can be used as long as it can be recognized at a glance.

(3) Price information acquisition of auction sites and comparison with company prices Price information of auction sites that mainly handle second-hand goods is also helpful for users. For example, since the successful bid price is a contract price, it is a meaningful numerical value for the user who is a retailer, and can be a judgment material for determining the sales price.
Therefore, it is important to check the prices of major auction sites. The auction price comparison means 19 captures the price of the latest site at a predetermined timing, calculates an average value, and compares this with the company price. If the in-house price exceeds a predetermined value and exceeds the average auction price, a warning is displayed as if hatching is shown in the corresponding part in the screen example of FIG.

(4) Simulation of profit amount The profit amount can be calculated on a competitive price display screen as illustrated in FIG.
For example, the data acquired by the user terminal 5 is displayed in the purchase value column, and the predicted sales quantity is keyed in the number column. The profit amount for each product can be calculated by (sales price−purchase value) × sales quantity, and the total profit amount of the user's shop can be calculated by adding the profit amounts for all the products. This calculation is performed, for example, by the profit amount simulation means 20 as a trigger when the “Profit amount simulation” button on the upper right of the screen of FIG. 4 is pressed.
The user changes the sales price in consideration of the price difference with the competitor, and calculates the total profit every time the change is made.
For example, as shown in FIG. 6, if the total profit is calculated with the numerical example enclosed by the broken line in FIG. 4, it will be 500,000 yen. If you change the sales price and recalculate the total profit, you will get 520,000 yen. Such a simulation will give you the materials to make a price strategy, such as “Gathering customers with deficit ready products and making profits with other product groups”.

(5) Time-series display of price / handling amount As illustrated in FIG. 7, the price and the handling amount of a specific product are displayed in time-series. The display interval (10 days in the example of FIG. 7) may be stored in the parameter storage unit 11. The time series analysis unit 21 extracts data for the specified interval from the site information storage unit 9, creates data for the editing information transmission unit 15 to display in an easy-to-view format such as a line graph, and the like on the user terminal 5. Send and display on screen.
As shown in the example of FIG. 7, it is possible to determine an appropriate selling price by displaying each of the own price, purchase price, first competitive price, second competitive price, and main auction price in time series. . In addition, the transaction amount of the company, competing shops, and major auction sites can be displayed in time series, which can be used as a basis for determining the purchase timing of products with seasonal factors and the appropriate purchase amount.

For the retailer, using the price analysis processing server 1 that provides the functions including the above (1) to (5) via the user terminal 5 makes it possible to obtain information directly related to profits.
According to a survey conducted by a research company in 2010, nearly half of retailers thought that profits would increase by devising pricing. As a device for pricing, it is desirable to check competing stores frequently and consider their own prices. However, there is a problem that time and labor costs increase when trying to achieve highly accurate pricing. It was. The present invention solves such problems of retailers, and by using the price analysis processing server 1, it is possible to obtain competitive price and auction market price data while in the office, and to determine an appropriate selling price. . In addition, since it has a function of automatically updating the prices of competing stores and the average auction price, it is possible to devote survey time for competing stores to other operations.

It should be noted that the embodiment disclosed above is illustrative in all respects and is not restrictive. Therefore, various modifications are possible. However, as long as the modification is based on the technical idea described in the claims, the modification is included in the technical scope of the present invention.

Suppose retailers such as EC shops and recycle shops are users, and the development of the retail industry can be supported by providing data that can be used as a judgment material when users decide on pricing.

1: Price analysis processing server, 2: Site management computer,
3: database management computer, 4: site information database,
5: User terminal
6: processing unit, 7: storage unit, 8: communication interface unit,
9: Site information storage means, 10: Edit data storage means, 11: Parameter storage means, 12: Program storage means,
13: Information acquisition means, 14: Information editing means, 15: Edit information transmitting means,
16: Commodity list creation means, 17: Competitive price update means, 18: Competitive price comparison means, 19: Auction price comparison means, 20: Profit amount simulation means, 21: Time series analysis means,
N: Internet

Claims

A price at which a user terminal connected to the price analysis processing server via the Internet accesses the price analysis processing server and can collectively extract information on one or more arbitrary numbers of electronic commerce sites and net auction sites. An analytical processing system,
The price analysis processing server
A storage unit, a processing unit, and a communication interface unit;
Via the Internet via the communication interface unit, it is possible to obtain information about the electronic commerce site and the net auction site,
The storage unit
Storing information including information on products handled by the user (hereinafter, “in-house products”), parameters referred to in the processing by the processing unit, and temporary data generated in the course of processing;
The processor is
Information acquisition means for acquiring information related to a predesignated product in the site selected by the user;
In accordance with a search request or an analysis processing request transmitted from the user terminal of the user, the information editing means for editing the acquired information together with information on the user's own product as appropriate,
The edited information is graphed or numbered as a user presentation, and includes an editing information transmitting means for transmitting the information to the user terminal,
The user terminal is
An input unit that receives a user operation, an output unit including a screen display unit, and a user operation received by the input unit is transmitted to the price analysis processing server, and data transmitted by the editing information transmission unit is received. A price analysis processing system comprising a communication interface unit.
The price analysis processing server further includes competitive price update means,
This competitive price update means
The price of a registered merchandise group of one shop designated as a competing shop is obtained by the input unit of the user terminal as a first competitive price, and a plurality of shops designated as competing shops by the input unit are registered. Take the price of the product group and use that average price as the second competitive price,
The price analysis processing system according to claim 1, wherein the first and second competitive prices are updated at a predetermined timing.
For the editing process by the information editing means,
When the price of the user's own product exceeds the first competitive price or the second competitive price by a predetermined value or more, a competitive price comparison process for displaying a warning is included. The price analysis processing system according to claim 2, wherein:
For the editing process by the information editing means,
The product corresponding to the user's handling product is taken out from two or more auction sites, the price is averaged, and the average price and the price of the handling product are compared and a warning is given when the value exceeds a predetermined value. The price analysis processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising auction price comparison processing for display.
For the editing process by the information editing means,
5. A profit amount simulation process for simulating profits for each of the handled products of the user, that is, profits for each product, and profits of the entire handled products obtained by adding up the profits. Price analysis processing system described in.
For the editing process by the information editing means,
6. The time series analysis process for displaying the price information and the successful bid related information acquired by designating the product in a time series at a predetermined interval is included. Price analysis processing system.
A computer program for causing a computer to operate as the price analysis processing server according to any one of claims 1 to 6.