WO2024122007A1

WO2024122007A1 - Information provision device, information provision method, information provision system, and recording medium

Info

Publication number: WO2024122007A1
Application number: PCT/JP2022/045196
Authority: WO
Inventors: 貴史清水; 孝宏松井; 慎二船井; 義也魚谷
Original assignee: 日本電気株式会社
Priority date: 2022-12-07
Filing date: 2022-12-07
Publication date: 2024-06-13

Abstract

This information provision device comprises: a detection means that detects a customer reaction to content, the reaction being outputted to one of output devices in a store; an acquisition means that, when a customer reaction is detected, acquires information relating to commodities in a commodity accommodation means used by the customer; a determination means that, on the basis of details of the content and the information relating to the commodities in the commodity accommodation means, determines advertisement information to be provided to the customer; and an output means that outputs the advertisement information to one of the output devices.

Description

Information providing device, information providing method, information providing system, and recording medium

This disclosure relates to an information provision device, an information provision method, an information provision system, and a recording medium.

There is a signage advertising information distribution system that can provide customers with information that they are interested in. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses that product advertisements and coupon information are determined based on the history of users' responses to promotional information provided to shoppers.

JP 2020-173711 A

There is a demand for stores to provide customers with more effective advertising information. In the technology described in Patent Document 1, the content of the advertisement is determined based on the customer's behavioral history, including the customer's reaction to promotional information. However, when the content of the advertisement is determined using the customer's behavioral history, information processing becomes complicated.

One example of the objective of this disclosure is to provide an information providing device that can provide effective advertising information while minimizing the load on information processing.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, the information providing device includes a detection means for detecting a customer's reaction to content output to one of the output devices in the store, an acquisition means for acquiring product information in the product storage means used by the customer when detection is detected, a determination means for determining advertising information to be provided to the customer based on the content and the product information in the product storage means, and an output means for outputting the advertising information to one of the output devices.

In one aspect of the information provision method disclosed herein, a computer detects a customer's reaction to content output to one of the output devices in the store, and when detected, obtains product information in the product storage means used by the customer, determines advertising information to be provided to the customer based on the content and the product information in the product storage means, and outputs the advertising information to one of the output devices.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the recording medium stores a program that causes a computer to execute a process that detects a customer's reaction to content output to one of the output devices in the store, and when detected, obtains product information in the product storage means used by the customer, determines advertising information to be provided to the customer based on the content and the product information in the product storage means, and outputs the advertising information to one of the output devices.

According to this disclosure, it is possible to provide effective advertising information while reducing the load on information processing.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of an information providing device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration in which the information providing device according to the first embodiment is realized by a computer device and its peripheral devices. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a situation in which the detection unit detects a customer's reaction. FIG. 4 is an example of a screen of advertisement information output by the output unit in the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the information providing device in the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information providing system according to a modified example of the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is an example of a screen of advertisement information output by an output unit in the modified example of the first embodiment. FIG. 8 shows another example of a screen of advertising information output by the output unit in the modified example of the first embodiment. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information providing system according to the second embodiment.

Below, with reference to the drawings, an embodiment of the information providing device, information providing method, and non-transitory recording medium for recording a program according to the present disclosure will be described in detail. The disclosed technology is not limited to this embodiment.

In this embodiment, content for customers shopping is output to an output device in a store. The store is, for example, a retail store such as a supermarket or a home improvement center. The content is audio, video, or still images related to store and product information. Examples of output devices include a customer terminal carried by a customer, a tablet terminal mounted in a shopping cart, signage, or a speaker. Furthermore, advertising information in this embodiment is sales information about a specific product, and includes product features, price, display location, and inventory information. Content in this embodiment includes content that includes advertising information and content that does not include advertising information. Furthermore, the content may be arbitrary, and may be controlled to output content related to multiple products in a predetermined order.

The location where the output device is installed is not particularly limited. For example, the output device may be installed near the entrance/exit of the store, on a product shelf, a product shelf door, a store window, the ceiling, or on the floor of the store.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information providing system according to the first embodiment.
Referring to FIG. 1, an information providing device 100 includes a detection unit 101 , an acquisition unit 102 , a determination unit 103 , and an output unit 104 .

2 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration in which the information providing device 100 in the first embodiment of the present disclosure is realized by a computer device 500 including a processor. As shown in FIG. 2, the information providing device 100 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 501, memories such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) 502 and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 503, a storage device 505 such as a hard disk for storing a program 504, a communication interface 508 for network connection, and an input/output interface 509 for inputting and outputting data. In the first embodiment, the information providing device 100 is connected to each component via a bus 510. The information providing device 100 in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 can also be configured using cloud computing or the like.

The CPU 501 runs an operating system to control the entire information providing device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The CPU 501 also reads programs and data from a recording medium 506 mounted in a drive device 507 or the like, into memory. The CPU 501 also functions as the detection unit 101, acquisition unit 102, decision unit 103, and output unit 104 in the first embodiment, or as part of these, and executes the processes or commands in the flowchart shown in FIG. 5, which will be described later, based on the programs.

The recording medium 506 is, for example, an optical disk, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, an external hard disk, or a semiconductor memory. The semiconductor memory, which is part of the recording medium, is a non-volatile storage device in which the program is recorded. The program may also be downloaded from an external computer (not shown) that is connected to a communication network.

As described above, the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is realized by the computer hardware shown in FIG. 2. However, the means for realizing each part of the information providing device 100 in FIG. 1 is not limited to the configuration described above. The information providing device 100 may be realized by a single physically combined device, or may be realized by a system consisting of two or more physically separated devices connected by wire or wirelessly.

The detection unit 101 is a means for detecting a customer's reaction to content output to one of the output devices in the store. A reaction is a behavior that shows a customer's interest in the content. Reactions include the behavior of viewing or listening to the content, and actions after viewing or listening to the content. The detection unit 101 may detect that a customer has viewed the content when the customer has viewed the content for a predetermined period of time or more. The detection unit 101 may detect that content about a product in the same category has been viewed multiple times on different output devices. Furthermore, when the content is audio, the detection unit 101 may detect the behavior of turning towards a speaker that outputs the audio of the content, or the behavior of stopping and listening to the audio of the content.

The detection unit 101 may detect a customer's behavior of approaching the output device after viewing or listening to the content. The behavior also includes the customer's gaze. The detection unit 101 may also detect a customer's behavior of encouraging a companion to view or listen to the content, or moving in the direction of the display of products displayed in the content. The detection unit 101 may also detect that the customer is positive about the content based on the customer's mouth movements or facial expressions. The detection unit 101 may change the criteria for the behavior to be detected depending on the attributes of the customer, and may detect the customer's degree of interest in the products included in the content depending on the content of the detected behavior. However, detection by the detection unit 101 is not limited to the above-mentioned examples, and any known method may be used.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a situation in which the detection unit 101 detects a customer's reaction. In the example of FIG. 3, a signage 2 is installed as an output device next to a product shelf 1 in a store, and a customer 3 is visually viewing the content displayed on the signage 2. The detection unit 101 may detect the reaction of the customer 3 based on an image captured by an imaging element provided in the signage 2, or may detect the reaction of the customer 3 based on an image captured by a surveillance camera installed in the store.

The acquisition unit 102 is a means for acquiring product information in the product storage means used by the customer when a customer's reaction is detected. The product storage means is a container for storing products purchased by the customer, such as a shopping basket or shopping cart. The shopping cart may be a smart shopping cart equipped with a product scanning function. The shopping cart may be equipped with a tablet terminal having a display. In the example of FIG. 3, customer 3 is using shopping basket 4. Product information refers to product information placed in the product storage means, and if the product storage means is equipped with a scanning function, it refers to scanned product information.

The acquisition unit 102 identifies the product storage means used by the customer who responded to the content based on the image taken to detect the customer's reaction. The acquisition unit 102 identifies the product storage means held by the customer or the product storage means placed at a predetermined distance from the customer as the product storage means used by the customer. For example, each product storage means is provided with identification information such as a mark, and the acquisition unit 102 acquires the identification information of the identified product storage means by image recognition. Also, each product storage means may be provided with an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag on which identification information is recorded, and the acquisition unit 102 may acquire the identification information of the identified product storage means by an RFID reading means. Next, the acquisition unit 102 reads the identification code attached to the product with, for example, a camera or scanner to acquire the product information. The acquisition unit 102 may acquire the product information by analyzing the product image acquired by a camera or the like provided at a position where the contents of the product storage means can be seen. The acquisition unit 102 may acquire the product information by analyzing the image captured by a security camera in the store.

The determination unit 103 is a means for determining advertising information to be provided to a customer based on the content and the product information in the product storage means. For example, the determination unit 103 analyzes products that the customer may purchase based on the product information, and selects a product for which advertising information is to be provided based on the analysis results from among products that are the same as or related to the products included in the content.

The determination unit 103 analyzes the customer's purchasing tendency, for example, from the product information in the customer's product storage means to determine products that the customer may purchase. If the customer's product information contains a predetermined percentage or more of low-priced products, the determination unit 103 analyzes that the customer's purchasing tendency is price-oriented. On the other hand, if the customer's product information contains a predetermined percentage or more of high-quality products, the determination unit 103 analyzes that the customer's purchasing tendency is quality-oriented.

The determination unit 103 may, for example, infer the type of dish to be made from the customer's product information as a product that the customer may purchase, and analyze other ingredients required to make that dish. The determination unit 103 may further determine to provide advertising information for an ingredient product that is more in line with the customer's purchasing tendencies, or may determine to provide advertising information for an ingredient product that has a certain or greater amount of stock in the store.

The determination unit 103 may decide to provide advertising information for products in a category not included in the customer's product information. On the other hand, when the customer's product information includes a predetermined number or more products in a particular category, the determination unit 103 may decide to provide advertising information for other products in that category. The product category may be a major classification such as a sales area such as vegetables, meat, confectionery, frozen foods, fresh foods, seasonings, etc. The product category may also be a minor classification such as potato chips, curry roux, etc. The product category may also be both a major classification and a minor classification. In this case, the determination unit 103 may further decide to provide advertising information for products that are more in line with the purchasing tendencies of the customer from among food ingredients, or may decide to provide advertising information for products that are in stock at the store in a predetermined number or more from among food ingredients.

The determination unit 103 may decide to provide multiple pieces of advertising information. If the multiple pieces of advertising information are for products displayed in separate sales areas, the determination unit 103 may identify the location of an output device that provides each piece of advertising information.

The output unit 104 is a means for outputting advertising information to one of the output devices. The output unit 104 outputs advertising information to one of the output devices in the store. The output unit 104 may output advertising information to an output device that is within a predetermined distance from a customer whose appearance matches that of the customer who responded to the content. The output unit 104 may also output advertising information to the same output device that displayed the content.

The output unit 104 outputs, as the advertising information, for example, an area map showing the display location of the advertised product, coupons, price change information, or stock replenishment information. Figure 4 is an example of an advertising information screen output by the output unit 104. In the example of Figure 4, an area map showing the display location of the product and a coupon are output. Price change information is information indicating that the advertised product has been reduced in price. Stock replenishment information is information indicating that the advertised product has been replenished on the product shelves. However, the information output by the output unit 104 is not limited to these, as long as it is information regarding the advertised product.

The output unit 104 may output the advertising information on a receipt issued after the product is paid for. Also, a two-dimensional barcode for outputting the advertising information may be attached to the product container or the receipt. In this case, the output unit 104 displays the advertising information linked to the two-dimensional barcode on the customer terminal, triggered by the customer terminal reading the information of the two-dimensional barcode.

In this embodiment, the detection unit 101 detects the customer's reaction to the content displayed on the signage among the output devices in the store, and the output unit 104 may output advertising information to the display of the product storage means or the customer terminal. In this case, for example, detailed information about the product can be provided to a customer who shows an interest in a product in the content displayed on the signage on the display of the product storage means or the customer terminal.

In addition, in this embodiment, the detection unit 101 may detect the customer's reaction to the content displayed on the display of the product storage means or the customer terminal, among the output devices in the store, and the output unit 104 may output advertising information to the signage in the store. In this case, for example, it is possible to provide information about a product on an easy-to-view screen to a customer who shows an interest in a product in the content on the display of the product storage means or the customer terminal.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an outline of the operation of the information providing device 100 in the first embodiment. The process according to this flowchart may be executed based on program control by the processor described above. The process according to this flowchart is executed each time the detection unit 101 detects a customer's reaction to content output to one of the output devices in the store.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the information providing device 100 in the first embodiment. When the detection unit 101 detects a customer's reaction to content output to one of the output devices in the store (step S101; YES), the acquisition unit 102 acquires product information in the product storage means used by the customer (step S102). Next, the determination unit 103 determines advertising information to be provided to the customer based on the content and the product information in the product storage means (step S103). The output unit 104 outputs the advertising information to one of the output devices (step S104). With this, the information providing device 100 ends the information provision process.

As described above, in the first embodiment, the information providing device 100 has the determination unit 103 determine the advertising information to be provided to the customer based on the content to which the customer responded and the product information in the product storage means, and the output unit 104 outputs the advertising information to one of the output devices. In this case, for example, it is possible to provide advertising information for products that the customer may purchase without tracking the customer's behavioral history. Therefore, it is possible to provide effective advertising information while reducing the load on information processing.

[Modification of the first embodiment]
Next, a modified example of the first embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following, the description of the present embodiment will be omitted to the extent that the description of the present embodiment is not unclear.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the information providing system 11 in a modified example of the first embodiment. The information providing device 110 is connected to a customer terminal 210 via a communication network. The customer terminal 210 may be a terminal device owned by the customer or a terminal device loaned by the store for shopping purposes. As shown in FIG. 6, it may be a tablet terminal mounted on a shopping cart.

The customer terminal 210 has an application program for shopping at a store installed in advance, and store information for the store to be shopped is selected. Product information is scanned by the customer and stored in the application program. As with the computer device shown in Figure 2, the functions of the information providing device 110 and customer terminal 210 can be realized not only by hardware, but also by a computer device and software based on program control.

In a variation of the first embodiment, the detection unit 111 may detect behavior of operating content displayed on the customer terminal 210 in addition to the method of detecting the customer's reaction by the detection unit 101.

The acquisition unit 112 first identifies customers who have responded to the content based on the location of the customer terminal 210. The acquisition unit 112 may identify the location of the customer terminal 210 based on GPS information, and identify the customer ID (Identification) on the application program of the customer who is near the output device that displays the content. As another example, the acquisition unit 112 may identify the customer ID near the output device that displays the content based on, for example, store information selected on the application program and the location of the customer terminal 210 identified by the radio wave intensity of wireless communication between the customer terminal 210 using short-range wireless communication by BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) and a communication device installed in the store. After identifying the customer ID, the acquisition unit 112 acquires product information for that customer through the communication interface 508.

In a variation of the first embodiment, the determination unit 113 may determine the advertising information using customer information such as attribute information such as the gender and age of the user, which is registered in association with the customer ID of the application program, purchase history, and movement line analysis results, in addition to the method of determining the advertising information by the determination unit 103. In this case, the determination unit 113 can determine to provide advertising information for products that better match the customer's preferences.

In this embodiment, the output unit 114 may output advertising information through an application program.

Figure 7 is an example of an advertising information screen output by the output unit 114. In the example screen of Figure 7, advertising information to be provided to the customer is displayed on the application program in addition to product information in the customer's product storage means. In Figure 7, the product information in the product storage means (basket) includes high-quality "pork from XX," "organic potatoes," "organic carrots," and "organic onions." Therefore, the decision unit 103 analyzes that the customer's purchasing tendency is to place emphasis on quality. Furthermore, the decision unit 113 decides to provide advertising information for high-quality curry roux as an ingredient not in the product storage means, since it is an ingredient necessary for curry. Then, the output unit 114 displays the advertising information for high-quality curry roux on the application program.

Figure 8 is another example of an advertising information screen output by the output unit. In the example of Figure 8, low-priced "pork," "taro," "carrot," and "onion" are displayed as product information in the product storage means (basket). Therefore, the decision unit 113 analyzes that the customer's purchasing tendency is price-oriented. Furthermore, because the product information in the product storage means is an ingredient necessary for curry, the decision unit 113 decides to provide advertising information for a low-priced curry roux as an ingredient not in the product storage means. The output unit 114 then displays the advertising information for the low-priced curry roux on the application program.

As described above, in the modified example of the first embodiment, the information providing device 110 has the acquisition unit 112 acquire product information registered in the application program of the identified customer as product information in the product storage means. In this case, for example, product information can be acquired more easily, and the load of information processing can be further reduced.

[Second embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following, the description of the second embodiment will be omitted unless the description is unclear.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the information provision system 12 in the second embodiment. The information provision device 120 is connected to the mobile sales vehicle 220 via a communication network. As with the computer device shown in FIG. 2, the functions of the information provision device 120 and the mobile sales vehicle 220 can be realized not only by hardware but also by a computer device and software based on program control.

The mobile sales vehicle 220 is not particularly limited as long as it is, for example, a self-propelled product shelf or wagon and has a structure that allows it to move around the store with products displayed. The mobile sales vehicle 220 moves to the destination in accordance with the signal from the information providing device 120, triggered by receiving a signal from the information providing device 120 that includes the destination location. In this embodiment, the information providing device 120 stores in the memory device 505 a list of products displayed in the mobile sales vehicle 220 in the store.

In addition to the components of the information providing device 100 in the first embodiment, the information providing device 120 includes a control unit 125 that controls the position of the mobile sales vehicle 220 in the store. If a product included in the advertising information is displayed in any of the mobile sales vehicles 220 in the store, the control unit 125 moves that mobile sales vehicle 220 to a location where a customer will pass. The control unit 125 designates, as the location where the customer will pass, an arbitrary location a predetermined distance along a shopping route set by the store from the location of the output device that displays the content that detected the customer's reaction. However, the location to which the control unit 125 moves the mobile sales vehicle 220 is not limited to this, and the location where the customer will pass may be estimated by analyzing the customer's past movement line. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the output unit 124 may output that a product included in the advertising information has been moved closer to the customer.

As described above, in the second embodiment, the information providing device 120 causes the control unit 125 to move the mobile sales vehicle 220 to a location where customers will pass if the product included in the advertising information is displayed in any of the mobile sales vehicles 220. In this case, it is possible to bring customers closer to the location where the product is displayed without the customers having to go to the location.

Although the present disclosure has been described above with reference to each embodiment, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment. The configuration and details of each of the present disclosures may include embodiments to which various modifications that a person skilled in the art may understand within the scope of the present disclosure are applied. The present disclosure may include embodiments in which the matters described in this specification are appropriately combined or substituted as necessary. For example, matters described using a specific embodiment may also be applied to other embodiments to the extent that no contradiction occurs. For example, although multiple operations are described in order in the form of a flowchart, the order of description does not limit the order in which the multiple operations are performed. Therefore, when implementing each embodiment, the order of the multiple operations may be changed to the extent that the content is not impaired.

11, 12

Information provision system

100, 110, 120

Information provision device

101, 111, 121

Detection unit

102, 112, 122

Acquisition unit

103, 113, 123

Decision unit

104, 114, 124 Output unit 125 Control unit 210 Customer terminal 220 Mobile sales vehicle 500 Computer device 501 CPU
502 ROM
503 RAM
504 Program 505 Storage device 506 Recording medium 507 Drive device 508 Communication interface 509 Input/output interface 510 Bus

Claims

A detection means for detecting a customer's reaction to the content outputted to any one of the output devices in the store;
an acquisition means for acquiring, when the detection is made, product information in the product storage means used by the customer;
a determining means for determining advertising information to be provided to the customer based on the content and the product information in the product storage means;
and an output unit for outputting the advertisement information to any one of the output devices.
The information providing device according to claim 1, wherein the determining means analyzes products that the customer may purchase based on the product information, and selects a product for which the advertising information is to be provided based on the results of the analysis from among products that are the same as or related to the product included in the content.
The information providing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the output means outputs the advertising information to an output device located within a predetermined distance from a customer whose appearance matches that of the customer who responded to the content.
The detection means detects a customer's reaction to content displayed on a signage in the store,
4. The information providing device according to claim 1, wherein the output means outputs advertising information to a display of the product containing means or a customer terminal.
The detection means detects a customer's reaction to content displayed on a display of the product storage means or a customer terminal,
4. The information providing device according to claim 1, wherein the output means outputs advertising information to a signage in the store.
the product storage means is in an application program installed in a terminal used by the customer,
6. The information providing device according to claim 1, wherein the acquiring means acquires the product information registered in the application program of the customer identified based on the location of the terminal.
The information providing device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the output means outputs, as the advertising information, an area map, a coupon, price change information, or inventory replenishment information relating to the advertised product.
An information provision system comprising the information provision device according to any one of claims 1 to 7 and a mobile sales vehicle in the store,
The information providing device further includes a control means for controlling a position of the mobile sales vehicle within the store,
The control means, when the advertised product is displayed in the mobile sales vehicle, moves the mobile sales vehicle to a location where the customer passes through.
The computer
Detecting customer reactions to content outputted to one of the output devices in the store;
When the detection is made, product information in the product storage means used by the customer is acquired;
determining advertising information to be provided to the customer based on the content and the product information in the product storage means;
The information providing method further comprises outputting the advertising information to any one of the output devices.
Detecting customer reactions to content outputted to one of the output devices in the store;
When the detection is made, product information in the product storage means used by the customer is acquired;
determining advertising information to be provided to the customer based on the content and the product information in the product storage means;
A recording medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute a process for outputting the advertising information to any one of the output devices.