JP2006185029A - Information processing system, information processing method, and information processing program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a framework for enabling a user to do electronic shopping by easily acquiring his or her desired merchandise information even when the user does not remember any specific maker name or brand name. <P>SOLUTION: This information processing system is provided with a database configured so that information of merchandise carried in a merchandise information carrying medium can be retrieved by using information to specify the medium as a retrieval key, an accepting means for accepting the specific information of the merchandise information carrying medium from a user, an extracting means for retrieving the database on the basis of the accepted specific information, and for extracting the information of the corresponding merchandise and a shopping means for presenting the extracted merchandise information to a user, and for providing an electronic shopping function relative to the merchandise. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing technique for searching for a product when realizing electronic shopping.

  In recent years, electronic shopping using the Internet or the like has been rapidly spreading for various products including services and intangibles.

  Usually, in the framework of electronic shopping, an electronic shopping site (virtual store site) is constructed by a product provider posting information on products handled by the product provider on a Web page. On the other hand, an Internet user who considers purchasing a product accesses an electronic shopping site on a Web page and applies for purchase.

  In conventional electronic shopping systems, product information is managed hierarchically classified into categories such as product types and manufacturers, and a product menu is presented for each category according to the hierarchy on the screen for selecting purchased products. It is common. In many cases, the user can easily obtain information on a desired product by providing a search function based on a product name or a manufacturer name.

  If the user specifically remembers the manufacturer name, product name, etc. of the desired product, such as when the product to be purchased is determined in advance, the product menu for each category as described above, the search function by product name, etc. By using it, it is possible to arrive at information on a desired product efficiently.

  However, if the user does not clearly remember the manufacturer name or product name of the product, the user must search for the desired product in order from the product menu for each category, which is a very complicated operation.

  In particular, in the case of a fashion-related product, the user looks at a photograph of the product on a product information publication medium such as a fashion magazine, and tries to purchase at an electronic shopping site based on the memory and impression at that time. However, in many cases, I do not remember the specific manufacturer name or product name of the product, so when I try to purchase on the electronic shopping site, I will search from the product menu for each category as described above, Or, in order to use the search function, it is necessary to start by searching for the fashion magazine or the like and confirming the product name.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a new framework that allows a user to easily acquire information on a desired product and perform electronic shopping even when the user does not remember the specific manufacturer name or product name of the product. The purpose is to do.

  The information processing system according to the present invention includes a database configured to be able to search for information on a product posted on the medium using information specifying the product information posting medium as a search key, and the specification of the product information posting medium from a user. An accepting means for receiving information, an extracting means for searching the database based on the received specific information, extracting information on the corresponding product, and presenting the extracted product information to the user, and an electronic shopping function related to the product And a shopping means for providing For example, the product is a fashion or / and cosmetic product, and the product information posting medium is a fashion magazine.

  Preferably, the database is configured to be able to search for product information using product type information, price, and / or manufacturer information as a search key, and the reception unit receives the specific information from the user, When receiving the product type information, price, and / or manufacturer information, the extraction means searches the database based on the received specific information and the product type information, price, or / and manufacturer information, It is characterized by extracting information on corresponding products.

  Further preferably, the database is configured to be able to search for image information of the product information posting medium using information specifying the product information posting medium as a search key, and the extracting means includes the received specifying information. The image information of the product information posting medium corresponding to is extracted, and the shopping means presents the extracted product information and image information to the user.

  The information processing method of the present invention is capable of searching for information on a product posted on the medium using a reception step of receiving the specific information of the product information posting medium from a user and information specifying the product information posting medium as a search key. An extraction step of referring to the database configured to extract product information corresponding to the received specific information, and a shopping step of presenting the extracted product information to the user and providing an electronic shopping function related to the product And.

  The program of the present invention is characterized by causing each step of the information processing method of the present invention to be executed on a computer. The program of the present invention can be installed or loaded on a computer through various recording media such as a CD-ROM, a magnetic disk, and a semiconductor memory, or by downloading via a communication network.

  In this specification, the term “means” does not simply mean a physical means, but also includes a case where the functions of the means are realized by software. Further, the function of one means may be realized by two or more physical means, or the functions of two or more means may be realized by one physical means.

  According to the present invention, even when a user does not remember a specific manufacturer name or product name of a product, information on a desired product can be easily acquired and electronic shopping can be performed.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a posted medium product search & electronic shopping system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the drawing, a posted medium product search & electronic shopping system 100 includes an information processing system 1 that provides an electronic shopping site, an information processing terminal 2 that corresponds to each user who purchases products using the electronic shopping site, and the like. It has. The information processing system 1 and each information processing terminal 2 are a predetermined communication network N (which may be any of LAN, the Internet, a dedicated line, a packet communication network, a combination thereof, and includes both wired and wireless) Are configured to be able to communicate with each other.

  Such a posted medium product search & electronic shopping system 100 can be configured using, for example, the technology of a conventional Web application server system. In this case, the information processing system 1 functions as a Web server, an AP (application) server, and a database server, and receives a predetermined request regarding electronic shopping transmitted according to, for example, the HTTP protocol from each information processing terminal 2 functioning as a client. Then, processing corresponding to the predetermined request is performed, and the processing result is transmitted to each information processing terminal 2. Each information processing terminal 2 is mounted with a Web browser, for example, and transmits a predetermined request regarding electronic shopping to the information processing system 1 according to a user's operation and receives a processing result in the information processing system 1. Then, this is displayed on the Web browser.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the information processing system 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the information processing system 1 can be configured by a general-purpose computer including hardware such as a CPU, ROM, RAM, external storage device, user interface, display, printer, and communication interface. The information processing system 1 may be configured by a single computer or may be configured by a plurality of computers distributed on a network.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the information processing system 1. As shown in FIG. 3, the information processing system 1 includes a product information database 10, a posting medium information database 11, a communication unit 12, a control unit 13, and the like. Each of these functional means is realized by the CPU executing a predetermined program (such as a program defining the information processing method of the present invention) stored in the ROM, RAM, external storage device or the like.

  The information processing terminal 2 includes an input device such as a keyboard and an output device such as a display and a printer. The information processing terminal 2 accepts input from a user who uses the information processing system 1 and can output information to the user. It has become. As such an information processing terminal 2, a general personal computer or a portable terminal can be used. Note that the information processing terminal 2 may be configured as a part of the information processing system 1.

  Hereinafter, the configuration of the information processing system 1 will be described in detail. In the present invention, what products (including intangibles such as services) are targeted can be determined according to the design, for example, fashion, furniture, miscellaneous goods, diet food, health food, cosmetic products. However, in the present embodiment, a case where fashion / cosmetic products such as clothes and cosmetics are targeted will be described as an example. Similarly, the medium to be selected as the product information posting medium can be determined according to the design. For example, various considerations can be given, from publication-type media such as magazines to broadcast-type media such as TV programs. However, in this embodiment, the case where a fashion magazine is selected as the product information posting medium will be described as an example.

  The product information database 10 stores product information in association with the product ID assigned to the product.

  The product ID is information for identifying the product. For example, it can be composed of identification information for identifying a product provider and a so-called product number (identification information used by the product provider itself to identify its own product).

  The product information includes information such as product type (knit, dress, etc.), brand name, product provider information (manufacturer name, etc.), price, inventory information, product description information, and the like.

  Of these, the product description information includes, for example, product feature information, product image information, and the like. The product description information may be in any form as long as it can be stored in the storage means, for example, text, table, graph, sound, image (moving image, still image), or CSV, html including these. Various forms such as information and computer programs described in (Hyper Text Markup Language) are conceivable.

  FIG. 4 conceptually shows the data structure of the product information database 10. A conventional database technology such as a relational database can be used for data management and retrieval.

  The publication medium information database 11 stores the related information of the fashion magazine, the product ID of the product published in the fashion magazine, and the like in association with the magazine ID assigned to the fashion magazine.

  The magazine ID is information for identifying the fashion magazine selected as the product information posting medium. The magazine ID can be arbitrarily set so as not to be duplicated by the operator of this system, and for example, an ISBN code can also be used.

  The related information of the fashion magazine includes, for example, a magazine name, issue month information, and cover image information. The related information can take various forms like the product description information.

  FIG. 5 conceptually shows the data structure of the publication medium information database 11. Similar to the merchandise information database 10, such a data structure can be configured using conventional database technology such as a relational database.

  Note that the data structures shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 are examples, and other data structures may be adopted.

  The communication unit 12 is configured to be able to input and output information to the information processing terminal 2 (that is, to the user) via the communication network N, and includes a communication module such as a PPP driver or a TCP / IP driver. Yes.

  The control means 13 controls the overall operation of the information processing system 1 to construct and provide an electronic shopping site, process for accepting a search key such as a magazine name, product search / extraction process based on a magazine name, etc., electronic shopping process And so on. In FIG. 3, the above-described processes executed by the control unit 13 are illustrated as functional units.

  In addition to the above processing, the control means 13 includes, for example, processing for providing predetermined information in response to a request from the user, processing for registering related information such as product information and fashion magazines in each database, etc. Various processes are executed.

  The framework realized by the posted medium product search & electronic shopping system 100 will be described below based on the flowcharts shown in FIGS. In addition, each step (including a partial process to which no reference numeral is assigned) can be executed in any order or in parallel within a range that does not contradict the processing contents.

  When receiving access from the user to the electronic shopping site of the information processing system 1 via the information processing terminal 2, the control means 13 transmits product selection screen information to the information processing terminal 2 (S100). When the product selection screen information is transmitted via the Internet, the screen information can be described in, for example, HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language).

  Various information can be included in the product selection screen information as in the conventional electronic shopping site.

  For example, the product selection screen information can include category menu screen information for selecting a product by category such as product type, price, manufacturer name, and brand name.

  The category menu screen information can be hierarchically configured, for example, such as screen information for selecting a category and screen information for selecting a product from the selected category. Individual screen information in a hierarchical relationship may be configured as a separate file. In this case, for example, when the user selects a category, a screen information file corresponding to the next screen is transmitted sequentially. The screen information may be transmitted. The number of hierarchies can be determined according to the design.

  Further, for example, the product selection screen information can include search key input screen information for searching by product type, price, manufacturer name, brand name, or the like. It is conceivable that the search key input screen information is configured so that a search key can be selected and input using, for example, a pull-down menu.

  Here, the product selection screen information of the present embodiment is different from the conventional one in that it includes search key input screen information for searching by magazine name in addition to the conventional screen information as described above. Is different.

  When receiving the product selection screen information, the information processing terminal 2 displays the product selection screen using, for example, a WEB browser and waits for input from the user (S101). As a result, the user refers to the product selection screen, selects a search key (product type, manufacturer name, brand name, magazine name, etc.) and instructs a search, or selects a product based on the category menu or search results. You can specify and instruct the transition to purchase processing.

  When receiving a search instruction from the user, the information processing terminal 2 transmits a search request to the information processing system 1 together with the search key selected by the user (S102).

  When receiving a search request from the information processing terminal 2 together with the search key, the control unit 13 determines whether or not a magazine name is included in the search key (S103).

  If the magazine name is included, the control means 13 sets a flag indicating that there is a magazine search key, and refers to the publication medium information database 11 to determine a product ID (magazine search product ID) corresponding to the magazine name. Extract (S104). At this time, a configuration may be adopted in which fashion magazine-related information other than the magazine name (for example, image information on the cover) is also extracted.

  On the other hand, if no magazine name is included in the search key, the control means 13 sets a flag indicating that there is no magazine search key (S105).

  Next, the control means 13 determines whether or not the product type, price, manufacturer name, and brand name are included in the search key (S106).

  If the search key includes a product type or the like, the control means 13 sets a flag indicating that the normal search key is present, and refers to the product information database 10 to check the product ID (normal search) corresponding to the product type or the like. (Product ID) is extracted (S107).

  On the other hand, if the product type or the like is not included, the control means 13 sets a flag indicating that there is no normal search key (S108).

  Next, the control means 13 determines the flag status of the magazine search key and the normal search key (S109).

  When the magazine search key absence flag and the normal search key absence flag are set, the control means 13 determines that information necessary for the search is not input, and transmits an error message to the information processing terminal 2 (S110).

  When receiving the error message, the information processing terminal 2 displays the message using, for example, a WEB browser (S111), and returns to S101 in response to an input from the user.

  On the other hand, when either the magazine search key present flag or the normal search key present flag is set, the control means 13 sets the extraction result of the flag set as the search result product ID (S112).

  In addition, when both the magazine search key presence flag and the normal search key presence flag are set, the logical product of the magazine search product ID and the normal search product ID is obtained (that is, the duplicate product ID is extracted). ) And set as the search result product ID (S113).

  Next, the control means 13 refers to the product information database 10 and extracts product information corresponding to the set search result product ID (S114).

  Next, the control means 13 generates search result screen information based on the extracted product information and transmits it to the information processing terminal 2 (S115). If the cover image information and the like are extracted in S104, the search result screen information including the cover image information and the like is generated so that the user can check the product publication magazine together with the search result. May be.

  When receiving the search result screen information, the information processing terminal 2 displays the search result screen by, for example, a WEB browser (S116), returns to S101, and waits for an input from the user.

  On the other hand, at the time of waiting in S101, when receiving a purchase instruction transfer instruction along with product designation from the user based on the category menu or search result screen, the information processing terminal 2 issues a purchase request together with the product ID corresponding to the designated product. It transmits to the information processing system 1 (S117).

  When receiving a purchase request together with the product ID from the information processing terminal 2, the control means 13 executes an electronic shopping process for the product (scheduled purchase product) specified by the product ID (provides an electronic shopping function) ( S118).

  The electronic shopping process is the same as the conventional electronic shopping process. For example, a process of presenting detailed information of a product scheduled for purchase to the user, a process of receiving a product attribute or number such as color or size from the user for the product planned for purchase, so-called “electronic” Processing to register / cancel products to be purchased using a cart (product basket), processing to receive information necessary for electronic shopping (user-specific information such as name and address, credit card information for payment, etc.) For example, it may include processing for confirming the purchase of a product and making a payment. The information processing system 1 stores and manages various types of information necessary for executing each of these processes.

  The payment process uses a known technique such as a method using a payment service of a so-called credit card company, a method using a prepaid billing service using the Internet, or a method of payment by paying at a store such as a convenience store. be able to. When these are used, the information processing system 1 is configured to be able to transmit / receive to / from the billing / settlement server of each service operating company.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, a configuration that allows searching for products listed in the magazine based on the magazine name as well as the product type and manufacturer name is adopted. A search with a high degree of freedom can be performed, such as “one piece that has been made”. As a result, even when the user does not remember the specific manufacturer name, product name, etc. of the product, information on the desired product can be easily obtained using the magazine name, etc. as a search key, and efficient electronic shopping is performed. It becomes possible.

(Other)
Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and can be variously modified and applied.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the name of a medium such as a magazine is used as a search key has been described. However, the issue month or posted page of the magazine may be input as a search key. Further, information other than a magazine name can be used as a search key if it is information specifying a medium such as a magazine. For example, with respect to the search key input screen information, a list of cover images of magazines may be presented and the user may select the cover image. In this case, the information processing terminal 2 may transmit the magazine ID corresponding to the cover image selected by the user to the information processing system 1 as a search key.

  Further, for example, a part of the steps performed by the information processing system 1 in the above embodiment (for example, judgments in S103, S105, and S109) may be performed in the information processing terminal 2.

  Further, for example, in the above-described embodiment, when a search is performed by a magazine name, the cover image of the magazine is configured to be displayed as a search result. The cover image of the magazine on which the product of the search result is posted may be extracted with reference to the posted medium information database 11 and displayed together with the search result.

  In addition, for example, if a magazine has a predetermined coordinate pattern (for example, a pattern in which a plurality of products such as caps, sweaters, pants, etc. are combined), when the magazine name is searched as a search key, the plurality The product may be configured to be displayed in association with a coordinate pattern. In this case, an electronic shopping function may be configured so that the plurality of products can be purchased together, or an application for a plan for presenting the plurality of products may be received from the user.

  Further, for example, in the above-described embodiment, a database function is provided in which the databases 10 and 11 are provided, the plurality of databases are coordinated, and information on products posted on the medium can be searched using a medium name such as a magazine as a search key. Although each of the databases 10 and 11 has a data structure for storing information in association with the product ID, the plurality of databases can be collected and searched using the product ID as a key. You may comprise as one database.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a posted medium product search & electronic shopping system 100. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the information processing system 1. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the information processing system 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a data structure of a product information database 10. FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a data structure of a publication medium information database 11. 5 is a flowchart for explaining a framework realized by the posted medium product search & electronic shopping system 100. 5 is a flowchart for explaining a framework realized by the posted medium product search & electronic shopping system 100.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Information processing system 2 Information processing terminal 10 Product information database 11 Placement medium information database 12 Communication means 13 Control means 100 Placement medium goods search & electronic shopping system

Claims (6)

A database configured to be able to search for information on products posted on the medium, using information specifying the product information posting medium as a search key;
Receiving means for receiving the specific information of the product information posting medium from the user;
An extraction means for searching the database based on the received specific information and extracting information of a corresponding product;
Shopping means for presenting the extracted product information to the user and providing an electronic shopping function related to the product;
An information processing system comprising: The database is configured to be able to search for product information using product type information, price, and / or manufacturer information as search keys,
When the reception unit receives the specific information and product type information, price, and / or manufacturer information from the user, the extraction unit receives the received specific information, product type information, price, or / The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the database is searched based on the manufacturer information and the corresponding product information is extracted.   3. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the product is fashion, furniture, miscellaneous goods, diet food, health food, and / or cosmetic product, and the product information posting medium is a medium such as a magazine. The database is configured to be able to search image information of the product information posting medium using information specifying the product information posting medium as a search key.
The extraction means extracts image information of a product information posting medium corresponding to the received specific information,
The information processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the shopping means presents the extracted product information and image information to a user. A receiving step for receiving the specific information of the product information posting medium from the user;
Extraction that extracts information on a product corresponding to the received specific information with reference to a database configured to be able to search for information on a product posted on the medium using information specifying the product information posting medium as a search key Process,
Presenting the extracted product information to the user and providing an electronic shopping function for the product;
An information processing method characterized by comprising: An information processing program for causing a computer to execute the information processing method according to claim 5.

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