Method, apparatus, and non-transitory computerreadable storage medium for providing information on coupon

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention provides a method for providing coupon information via an electronic device, comprising the following steps: confirming an item list based on first information obtained from a user's terminal; confirming a coupon list based on user information; confirming a grouped coupon list, wherein the grouped coupon list is formed by grouping coupons in the coupon list into at least one group based on information of at least one item included in the item list; and providing a page including the grouped coupon list to the user's terminal.

Description

Method and apparatus for providing coupon information Embodiments of the present specification relate to a method and apparatus for providing coupon information. With the popularization of Internet use, the e-commerce market is constantly expanding. In particular, with the spread of infectious diseases, the ratio of going to offline stores to buy goods is gradually decreasing. In contrast, the ratio of buying goods through e-commerce using a computer or smartphone is increasing rapidly. Merchants providing e-commerce services can provide discount information of items to encourage service users to buy items. The discount information can include various discount information, such as coupon discounts, payment method discounts, limited-time activities, membership discounts, new member joining discounts, etc. In particular, in order to provide discounts to members who have joined the membership or users who have purchased multiple items, e-commerce merchants can provide, for example, the following coupons, that is, if used when purchasing items of a specific category above a fixed amount, a part of the discount can be obtained. Coupons can be provided not only on the shopping cart page or the settlement page that displays information of one or more items selected by the user for purchase, but also on various pages such as the item search result page, the item detailed information page, and the membership joining page for the user to download. On the other hand, compared with the fact that there may be a very large number of coupons that users can hold or apply to items by downloading, the area of the page where coupon information can be provided may be limited. If a lot of coupon information is listed in a limited area of the page without specific classification or rules as in the prior art, it is difficult for users to quickly confirm the information of the required coupons, and the possibility that users miss coupons that can only be applied to the items currently to be purchased or coupons with little remaining validity period becomes higher, which may have an adverse impact on the customer experience. Therefore, an electronic device needs to effectively provide one or more coupon information related to at least one of the user and the items on the page so that users can easily confirm the information of the best available coupons when purchasing items. The related prior art document is Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2017-0094000 (published on August 16, 2017). [Problems to be solved by the invention] Embodiments of the present specification are proposed to solve the above problems. The purpose is to confirm the item list and the coupon list, group the coupons in the coupon list based on the information of at least one item included in the item list, and provide a page including the grouped coupon list to the user. [Technical means for solving the problems] In order to achieve the above object, a method for providing coupon information by an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that it includes the following steps: confirming an item list based on first information obtained from a user's terminal; confirming a coupon list based on the user's information; confirming a grouped coupon list, the grouped coupon list being a list obtained by grouping coupons in the coupon list into at least one group based on information of at least one item included in the item list; and providing a page including the grouped coupon list to the user's terminal. According to an embodiment, it is characterized in that the first information includes information on the user's selection of items, and the page further includes an item list. According to an embodiment, it is characterized in that the step of confirming the coupon list includes the following steps: requesting a coupon list from a promotion server based on the user's information; and obtaining the coupon list from the promotion server. According to an embodiment, it is characterized in that the step of confirming the grouped coupon list includes the following steps: confirming the application conditions of each coupon in the coupon list; confirming whether at least one item meets the application conditions of each coupon; and grouping the coupons in the coupon list for which at least one item meets the application conditions into a first group, and grouping the coupons in the coupon list for which at least one item does not meet the application conditions into a second group. According to an embodiment, it is characterized in that the application conditions of the coupon include at least one of the following: at least one item is included in the category corresponding to the coupon; and the total amount of at least one item is above the threshold value of the coupon. According to an embodiment, it is characterized in that the threshold value is adjusted based on the user's purchase history corresponding to the category. According to an embodiment, it is characterized in that the page includes a first area for displaying coupon information included in the first group, and a second area for displaying coupon information included in the second group. According to an embodiment, it is characterized in that the first area includes the total discount amount corresponding to the coupons included in the first group. According to an embodiment, it is characterized in that the second area includes information on a first coupon included in the second group, the first coupon being determined as the coupon with the smallest additional purchase amount required to reach the threshold value of each coupon among the coupons included in the second group. According to an embodiment, it is characterized in that the second area includes a first object that displays the additional purchase amount required to reach the threshold value of the first coupon. The method for providing coupon information further includes the following steps: obtaining a first user input corresponding to the first object; and in response to the first user input, providing a second page including a list of items included in the category corresponding to the first coupon. According to an embodiment, it is characterized in that the second region further includes information on recommended items among the items that can be further purchased to reach the threshold of the first coupon. The recommended item is the item with the lowest price among the following items, and the above items are included in the category corresponding to the first coupon and have a price higher than the amount that needs to be further purchased to reach the threshold of the first coupon. According to an embodiment, it is characterized in that the method for providing coupon information includes the following steps: obtaining a second user input corresponding to a second object included in the second region; and in response to the second user input, providing a list of coupons included in the second group. According to an embodiment, it is characterized in that the order of arrangement of the list of coupons included in the second group is determined based on at least one of the amount that needs to be further purchased to reach the threshold of each coupon included in the second group, the discount amount, and the remaining period until the end of the discount period. According to an embodiment, it is characterized in that the step of confirming the grouped coupon list further includes the following steps: grouping the coupons in the coupon list that are not grouped into the first group and the second group into the third group; and the page further includes a third region for displaying the coupon information included in the third group. According to an embodiment, it is characterized in that the coupon list includes two or more duplicate coupons. When one of the duplicate coupons is included in the first group, the remaining parts of the duplicate coupons are grouped into the third group. According to an embodiment, it is characterized in that when at least one item meets the application conditions of two or more of the duplicate coupons, the coupon selected by the user among the duplicate coupons is grouped into the first group. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to an embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that it includes a medium configured to store computer-readable commands; and when the computer-readable commands are executed by a processor, the processor is caused to implement a method for providing coupon information including the following steps: confirming an item list based on the first information obtained from the user's terminal; confirming a coupon list based on the user's information; confirming a grouped coupon list, which is a list obtained by grouping the coupons in the coupon list into at least one group based on the information of at least one item included in the item list; and providing a page including the grouped coupon list to the user's terminal. An electronic device for providing coupon information according to an embodiment of the present invention is characterized by including: a memory that stores at least one command; and a processor that executes at least one command, whereby an item list is confirmed based on the first information obtained from the user's terminal, a coupon list is confirmed based on the user's information, and a grouped coupon list is confirmed, the grouped coupon list being a grouping of the coupons in the coupon list into at least one group based on the information of at least one item included in the item list, and a page including the grouped coupon list is provided to the user's terminal. [Effects of the Invention] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the electronic device can display the applied coupons and the unapplied coupons in separate areas, rather than listing one or more coupons applicable to the item selected by the user without sorting and classification. Thereby, the user can easily identify the discount information obtained due to their current purchase, thereby enhancing the satisfaction brought by the discount, and can also effectively confirm the discount information that can be obtained when purchasing some additional items, and formulate a strategy for efficiently purchasing items. Also, e-commerce merchants can effectively display coupon information, thereby enhancing the user's satisfaction with e-commerce utilization and customer experience and encouraging the user to purchase items. Also, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the electronic device can filter the coupon information to be displayed on the page showing the coupon information and adaptively determine the sorting order of the coupon list, thereby effectively utilizing the limited space of the page and enhancing the user experience of the page display. Also, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the electronic device can use icons of the same shape when displaying coupon information on the page showing item information, thereby effectively highlighting and providing the available coupon information to the user. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. When describing the embodiments, descriptions of technical content that is well-known in the technical field to which the present invention belongs and is not directly related to the present invention will be omitted. The reason is that by omitting the redundant descriptions, the gist of the present invention can be clearly conveyed to avoid confusing the gist of the present invention. For the same reason, some constituent elements are exaggerated, omitted, or schematically represented in the accompanying drawings. Also, the dimensions of each constituent element do not fully reflect the actual dimensions. In each figure, the same or corresponding constituent elements are given the same reference numerals. Advantages and features of the present invention, and methods for realizing the same, will become apparent by referring to the embodiments described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, and can also be implemented in various different forms. The provision of these embodiments is only to make the disclosure of the present invention more complete, and to enable those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains to fully understand the technical field to which the present invention belongs. The present invention is only defined by the scope of the patent application. Throughout the specification, the same reference symbols refer to the same components. At this time, it should be understood that the blocks of the process flowchart and the combination of the flowchart can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be loaded into the processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing devices. Therefore, these instructions implemented by the processor of a computer or other programmable data processing devices will produce a method for implementing the functions described in the blocks of the flowchart. In order to implement the functions in a specific manner, these computer program instructions can be stored in a computer-usable or computer-readable memory that is accessible to a computer or other programmable data processing devices. The instructions stored in this computer-usable or computer-readable memory can produce a manufactured item that includes an instruction method as follows, and this instruction method implements the functions described in the blocks of the flowchart. The computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing devices. Therefore, by performing a series of action steps on a computer or other programmable data processing devices, a process executed by the computer is generated. Thus, the instructions implemented by the computer or other programmable data processing devices can also provide steps for implementing the functions described in the blocks of the flowchart. Furthermore, each block may represent a part of a module, segment, or code that includes one or more executable instructions for performing a specific logical function. Additionally, it should be noted that in some alternative embodiments, the functions mentioned in the blocks may not be generated in sequence. For example, two consecutively represented blocks may be substantially implemented simultaneously, or may occasionally be implemented in the reverse order according to the corresponding functions. At this time, the term "~ unit" used in this embodiment refers to software, or hardware components such as FPGA (field-programmable gate array) or ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), and the "~ unit" plays certain roles. However, the "~ unit" is not limited to hardware or software. The "~ unit" can be configured to be located on an addressable storage medium, or can be configured to reproduce one or more processors. Therefore, as an example, the "~ unit" includes components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components, and task components, processes, functions, attributes, programs, subroutines, fragments of code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuits, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. The functions provided inside the components and the "~ unit" can be combined into a smaller number of components and "~ unit", or can be further separated into other components and "~ unit". Moreover, the components and the "~ unit" can also be implemented in the form of one or more CPUs (central processing units) in a playback device or a secure multimedia card. FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of a coupon information providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, a coupon information providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a user terminal 110 and an electronic device 120. In one embodiment, an e-commerce user can use the user terminal 110 to communicate with a service server including the electronic device 120. The user terminal 110 is provided with an e-commerce application program, can be connected to the electronic device 120 under the control of the application program, and can utilize e-commerce based on the information exchange with the electronic device 120. The user terminal 110 can be a mobile device such as a smart phone and a tablet PC (Personal Computer), or a static device such as a desktop PC, and as long as it is a machine that can set and execute an e-commerce application program, it can be used as the user terminal 110 without limitation. In one embodiment, the electronic device 120 can communicate with the user terminal 110 and provide information related to e-commerce to the user terminal 110, and can be included in a service server that provides e-commerce services. The electronic device 120 can provide a catalog of items or provide detailed information of each item stored in the database as a search result of the database. The electronic device 120 can provide information of items to e-commerce users and provide discount information of items to encourage users to purchase items. In one embodiment, the coupon information providing system may further include a promotion server (not shown) that exchanges information with the electronic device 120. The promotion server may have a database storing promotion information provided by e-commerce merchants to encourage users to make purchases. The promotion information may include information on various discounts such as coupon discounts, settlement card discounts, time-limited activities, membership discounts, new member joining discounts, etc. In particular, e-commerce merchants may cooperate with specific credit card merchants to provide price discount offers only when users purchase specific items with specific credit cards, and the funds corresponding to the discounts may be obtained from the credit card merchants. The promotion server may communicate with the electronic device 120 included in the service server to provide the electronic device 120 with real-time information on coupons that can apply discounts to items. In one embodiment, the electronic device 120 may confirm an item list based on the first information obtained from the user terminal 110, confirm a coupon list based on the user's information, and confirm a grouped coupon list that groups the coupons in the coupon list into at least one group based on the information of at least one item included in the item list, and provide a page including the grouped coupon list to the user's terminal. Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 2, a method for the electronic device 120 to provide coupon information that can be applied when purchasing items will be described in detail. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing information exchange between nodes related to a method for providing coupon information according to an embodiment of the present invention and corresponding actions. The user terminal and the electronic device shown in FIG. 2 may include the user terminal 110 and the electronic device 120 shown in FIG. 1, respectively. In step 210, the electronic device may obtain the first information from the user terminal. In one embodiment, the first information may include the user's selection information for items. The user may confirm a list of a plurality of items provided by the e-commerce application installed in the user terminal and select one or more items that the user wishes to purchase. Similar to putting the items displayed on the display stand into the shopping cart during offline shopping, in e-commerce, the items selected by the user may also be temporarily stored in a virtual shopping cart before actual purchase. The electronic device may provide a cart page including the item list, and the item list includes one or more items selected by the user. At this time, the electronic device may display discount information that can be applied to one or more items together with the information of one or more items on the cart page, and the discount information may include coupon information, card discount information, discount activity information, membership discount information, etc. In step 220, the electronic device can confirm the item list based on the first information. In one embodiment, the electronic device can obtain information on the items selected by the user based on the first information, and confirm the item list including the items selected by the user. In one embodiment, the item list may include one or more items selected by the user for temporary storage in a virtual shopping cart before actually purchasing the items. In step 230, the electronic device can confirm the coupon list based on the user's information. In one embodiment, the electronic device can confirm the coupons selected, stored, or downloaded by the user when purchasing items or before purchasing items. In one embodiment, the electronic device can confirm the coupon list based on the information of the item list. The electronic device can confirm the coupon list including the following coupons, and if these coupons are used when purchasing at least one item included in the item list, a discount can be obtained. In one embodiment, the electronic device can confirm the coupon list based on at least one of the user's information and the information of the item list. In one embodiment, the coupon may include a fixed-amount coupon that gives a fixed amount of discount regardless of the price of the item (for example, a 1,000 won discount coupon, a 5,000 won discount coupon), and a fixed-rate coupon that gives a fixed percentage of discount on the price of the item (for example, a 10% discount coupon, a 30% discount coupon). In one embodiment, the coupon may include a coupon that provides an additional identical item when purchasing an item (for example, a buy-one-get-one-free coupon), or a coupon that provides an additional item related to the item (for example, a free gift coupon). On the other hand, those of ordinary skill in the art can understand that, in addition to the exemplary coupons mentioned above, as long as the coupon can provide some kind of discount when the user purchases an item, it can be included in the coupons used in the present invention. In one embodiment, the step of confirming the coupon list may include the following steps: requesting the coupon list from the promotion server based on the user's information, and obtaining the coupon list from the promotion server. The coupons included in the coupon list may be more than one, and the discount amount, discount ratio, discount offer, discount target, discount application conditions, expiration date, etc. of each coupon may be different. The promotion server can update in real time the promotion information including coupon information that can be changed based on the strategies of e-commerce merchants, customer experience, contracts with item-providing merchants, etc. The electronic device can obtain information on the coupons that the user can download or has downloaded from the promotion server. In one embodiment, the electronic device can request coupon information applicable to the item from the promotion server based on the item information, and the promotion server can provide the requested coupon information applicable to the item to the electronic device. In step 240, the electronic device can confirm a grouped coupon list, which groups the coupons in the coupon list into at least one group based on the information of at least one item included in the item list. Compared with the fact that the coupons held by the user or applicable to the items may be very numerous, the area of the page that can provide coupon information is limited. If a lot of coupon information is listed on the limited area of the page without specific classification or rules, it is difficult for the user to quickly confirm the information of the required coupons, and the possibility that the user misses the coupons that can only be applied to the currently intended purchase item or the coupons with little remaining expiration date becomes higher, which may have an adverse impact on the customer experience. Therefore, the electronic device needs to effectively provide one or more coupon information related to at least one of the user and the items on the page so that the user can easily confirm the information of the best available coupon when purchasing items. For this purpose, the electronic device can classify (i.e., group) one or more coupons into at least one group according to specific criteria. In one embodiment, the electronic device can confirm the application conditions of each coupon in the coupon list, confirm whether at least one item meets the application conditions of each coupon, group the coupons in the coupon list for which at least one item meets the application conditions into Group 1, and group the coupons in the coupon list for which at least one item does not meet the application conditions into Group 2. The electronic device can classify the coupons for which the items selected by the user have met the application conditions of the coupons and apply discounts and the coupons for which the items selected by the user have not met the application conditions of the coupons into different groups and display them separately in separate groups when displaying the coupon information on the page. For example, the coupons in Group 1 are displayed as "Applied Coupons", and the coupons in Group 2 are displayed as "Apply when Adding Products", whereby it can be indicated that in order to use the coupons in Group 2, it is necessary to add and purchase some items. In one embodiment, the application conditions of the coupons can include at least one of the following: at least one item is included in the category corresponding to the coupon; and the total amount of at least one item is above the threshold value of the coupon. In one embodiment, the coupon can correspond to a specific category (e.g., products of Company A, kitchen supplies, bathroom supplies, event products, etc.) and can have a condition that a fixed amount or a fixed number of times of items belonging to the specific category need to be purchased to be used (e.g., purchase products of Company A for more than 10,000 Korean won, purchase event products for more than 3 times, etc.). That is, the threshold value of the coupon can represent the threshold value of the total amount of the items that need to be purchased at least to use the coupon. Also, the coupon can have an available period. In one embodiment, the threshold value of the coupon can be adjusted based on the purchase history of the user corresponding to the category. For example, if User 1 has a history of purchasing more than a fixed amount of items belonging to Category 1 within a fixed period in the past, the electronic device can determine to lower the threshold value of the coupon corresponding to Category 1 only for User 1 to express gratitude to User 1. The information of the lowered threshold value as described above can be displayed together with the coupon information, thereby improving user satisfaction. As another example, if User 2 has no history of purchasing items belonging to Category 1 at all, the electronic device can determine to lower the threshold value of the coupon corresponding to Category 1 only for User 2 to promote the items of Category 1 to User 2. In one embodiment, the threshold value of the coupon can be adjusted based on the remaining period until the expiration date of the coupon. For example, when the remaining time until the expiration of the coupon is within 1 hour, the electronic device can adjust by lowering the threshold value of the coupon by a fixed amount to encourage the user to use the coupon and make additional purchases. In step 250, the electronic device can provide a page including a grouped coupon list to the user terminal. In one embodiment, the page can include a shopping cart page, and the shopping cart page includes information on one or more items selected by the user. The shopping cart page can include information on one or more items and information on one or more coupons related to the user and at least one of the one or more items. In one embodiment, the page can include a first area for displaying coupon information included in the first group and a second area for displaying coupon information included in the second group. The electronic device can display the applied coupons and the unapplied coupons in separate areas, rather than listing one or more coupons applicable to the items selected by the user without sorting and classifying them. Thereby, the user can easily identify the discount information obtained due to their current purchase, thus improving the satisfaction brought by the discount. Also, the user can effectively confirm the discount information that can be obtained when purchasing some additional items, and formulate a strategy for purchasing items efficiently. Moreover, the e-commerce merchant can effectively display the coupon information, thereby improving the user's satisfaction with e-commerce utilization and customer experience and encouraging the user to purchase items. In one embodiment, one or more coupons each have a promotion identifier and can be grouped based on the promotion identifier. A promotion server that provides information on one or more coupons can generate and manage a plurality of coupons based on the promotion identifier (or ID), and one or more coupons can be grouped and displayed on a page based on the promotion identifier. The promotion identifier can be determined according to the entity supporting the corresponding promotion (e.g., the item-providing merchant, the e-commerce merchant) and can correspond to different promotion themes. In one embodiment, if a user clicks on a coupon that is grouped and displayed based on the promotion identifier on a page, the electronic device can provide a product list page (PLP) corresponding to the promotion identifier of the coupon and display a list of products in the category corresponding to the promotion identifier. Hereinafter, with reference to the exemplary diagrams of the shopping cart page, namely FIGS. 3 and 4a to 4d, embodiments related to the method of providing coupon information by the above-described electronic device will be described. FIG. 3 is an exemplary diagram showing a shopping cart page according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3, a page 300 including a list of one or more items selected by a user is shown. One or more items selected by the user can be temporarily stored in a virtual shopping cart before purchase, and the page 300 can be a shopping cart page including information on the items stored in the virtual shopping cart. As shown in FIG. 3, the page 300 can display information on the shampoo of Company A, the collagen ampoule of Company B, and the dry battery of Company C selected by the user. The page 300 can display the name, quantity, price, delivery information, coupon information, etc. of the items. In particular, the page 300 can display coupon information related to the items, as shown in areas 301, 302, 303, and 304. Referring to FIG. 3, among the three items placed in the virtual shopping cart by the user, the collagen ampoule of Company B and the dry battery of Company C meet the coupon application conditions related to the items, and it can be confirmed that text such as "Automatically apply coupon at checkout" is displayed in areas 303 and 304. On the contrary, since the shampoo of Company A does not meet the coupon application conditions related to the items, it can be confirmed that the unapplied coupon information such as "1,000 won coupon" is displayed in area 301. At the same time, page 300 can display text such as "Additional event product for 7,700 won and get a discount" in area 302 below area 301, providing the user with the following information, that is, if you want to use the coupon displayed in area 301, you need to additionally purchase some amount of goods. In one embodiment, the user can click on the text in area 302 to enter a page displaying a list of items corresponding to the category corresponding to the coupon displayed in area 301, and then continue shopping. In one embodiment, the coupon displayed in area 301 can be the coupon that is the easiest to meet the conditions among the multiple unapplied coupons that do not meet the conditions (for example, the one that requires the least additional purchase amount to reach the coupon threshold). In one embodiment, page 300 may include check boxes 305 corresponding to each item included in page 300, and the user can click on the check boxes 305 corresponding to each item to determine whether to actually purchase each item. Depending on whether the user selects the check box 305, the settlement amount of the item and whether the coupon application conditions are met may vary. The electronic device can determine whether to apply the coupon only based on the items for which the check boxes 305 on page 300 are selected as "V". FIGS. 4A to 4D are exemplary diagrams showing a shopping cart page providing coupon information according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4A, a page 400 including coupon information applicable to items included in the shopping cart page is shown. In one embodiment, page 400 is a page displayed by scrolling the page 300 shown in FIG. 3 downward, and can be the same page as page 300. In one embodiment, page 400 may include an area 410 for displaying coupon information included in the first group, an area 420 for displaying coupon information included in the second group, and an area 430 for displaying coupon information included in the third group. In one embodiment, the first group may include coupons for which one or more items selected by the user among one or more coupons meet the application conditions, and the second group may include coupons for which one or more items selected by the user among one or more coupons do not meet the application conditions. In one embodiment, one or more items selected by the user may include the items selected by the user through the check box 305 in FIG. 3. In one embodiment, page 400 may further include: area 440, which displays the total settlement estimated amount obtained by summing the total price of the items selected by the user and the total coupon discount amount; and area 450, which displays the object selected by the user to purchase the items included in the virtual shopping cart at the displayed settlement estimated amount. In one embodiment, area 410 may include the total discount amount corresponding to the coupons included in the first group. As shown in FIG. 4a, area 410 may include a "View Details" object 411 and an area 412 that displays information about the currently applied coupons. Area 412 may display the total discount amount of the currently applied coupons. For coupons for which the discount offer has been applied because the application conditions of the coupons have been met, only the quantity and total discount amount of the applied coupons are displayed, without displaying all the detailed information of the coupons. Thereby, the user can confirm that the coupons have been applied and have a high degree of satisfaction with the discount, and effectively utilize the limited space of page 400. Displaying all the detailed information of the applied coupons may result in unnecessary waste of page space. In one embodiment, area 420 may include information about the first coupon included in the second group. The first coupon may be determined as the coupon with the smallest additional purchase amount required to reach the threshold value of each coupon among the coupons included in the second group. Different from area 410 that displays information about the applied coupons, area 420 that displays information about the unapplied coupons may need to display the information of the coupons in more detail. However, displaying the information of all the coupons included in the second group is still limited by the page space. Therefore, the electronic device may display the detailed information of one representative coupon (i.e., the first coupon) among the coupons included in the second group on area 420. At this time, setting the first coupon as the coupon that the user is most likely to meet the application conditions in the current state is beneficial to motivating the user to apply the coupon. Therefore, the first coupon may be determined as the coupon with the least remaining amount from the current purchase amount to reach the threshold value for applying the coupon. As another example, the first coupon may be determined as the coupon with the largest discount amount or the least remaining expiration date among the coupons included in the second group, or may be determined as a randomly selected coupon. As shown in FIG. 4a, area 420 may include: a "View Details" object 421; an area 422 indicating that the coupon is a member-exclusive discount coupon; an area 423 that displays the discount amount; an area 424 that displays the threshold value of the minimum purchase amount for which the coupon can be used; an area 425 that displays the category corresponding to the coupon and the coupon usage expiration date information; and an area 426 that includes a first object that displays the additional purchase amount required to reach the threshold value. In one embodiment, the user can click on area 424 to confirm whether the information about the threshold value has been adjusted according to the user's purchase history, the expiration date of the coupon, etc. In one embodiment, the area 420 may include a first object that displays the amount that needs to be further purchased to reach the threshold of the first coupon. The electronic device may obtain a first user input corresponding to the first object, and in response to the first user input, provide a second page including a list of items having a category corresponding to the first coupon. In the example shown in FIG. 4a, the first object may be included in the area 426, and the user may click on the first object (i.e., the object including the text "Add 7,700 won of promotional items and get a discount") to enter a page including a list of promotional items of Company B to continue shopping. In one embodiment, the area 420 may further include information on recommended items among the items that may be further purchased to reach the threshold of the first coupon. The recommended item may be selected as the item with the lowest price among the following items, which are included in the category corresponding to the first coupon and have a price higher than the amount that needs to be further purchased to reach the threshold of the first coupon. The electronic device may attract the user to quickly identify suitable items for using the coupon and make additional purchases by recommending items within a suitable price range for the user to make additional purchases to meet the application conditions of the first coupon on the area 420. In other embodiments, the electronic device may confirm the sales volume, profit margin, etc. of a plurality of items included in the category corresponding to the first coupon based on the purchase statistics of other users, and select the item with a higher sales volume or profit margin as the recommended item. In one embodiment, the electronic device may obtain the coupon information downloaded by the user, and group the coupons that are not grouped into the first group and the second group among the coupons downloaded by the user into the third group. In the area 430 of the page 400, information on the coupons included in the third group (e.g., other held coupons) may be included. However, as shown in FIG. 4a, the area 430 may include a "View Details" object 431, and the information on the coupons included in the third group may not display any content other than the number of coupons. In order to efficiently utilize the limited page space, the electronic device may not display the detailed information on the coupons included in the third group in the area 430, but only display the detailed information on the coupons when obtaining a user input corresponding to the object 431. In one embodiment, the display order of the first area that displays the coupon information included in the first group, the second area that displays the coupon information included in the second group, and the third area that displays the coupon information included in the third group in the page may be determined based on the number of coupons included in each group. For example, when displaying the first area, the second area, and the third area on the page, the electronic device may display them in order starting from the area with a larger number of coupons included in the group displayed in each area. In one embodiment, the electronic device may determine the display order of the first region, the second region, and the third region on the page based on the user's coupon usage history. For example, when the total number of coupons used by the user in the past exceeds the average of other users, the electronic device may display the second region showing coupon information that has not yet met the application conditions higher on the page than the first region. As described above, the display order of each group on the page may be dynamically determined based on at least one of the number of coupons included in the group and the user's coupon usage history. Referring to FIG. 4b, a region 410 is shown that displays the detailed information of the coupons included in the first group according to a user input corresponding to an object 411 in the region 410 of the page 400 in FIG. 4a. Along with the detailed information of the coupons included in the first group, the region 410 may also include a "View Details" object 411, a region 412 that displays the total discount amount of the currently applied coupon, and check boxes 413 corresponding to each coupon. The user can click the "View Details" object 411 in FIG. 4b again to return to the display of the region 410 shown in FIG. 4a. The user can click the check boxes 413 corresponding to each coupon to determine whether to apply the coupon. For example, for a coupon that automatically applies a discount when the application conditions of the coupon are met, the user can also cancel the selection of the check box corresponding to the coupon to determine not to use the coupon. In one embodiment, the user can click on the region that displays the threshold value of the applied coupon to purchase an item, thereby confirming the detailed information of whether the threshold value has been met. Referring to FIG. 4c, a region 420 is shown that displays the detailed information of the coupons included in the second group according to a user input corresponding to an object 421 in the region 420 of the page 400 in FIG. 4a. In one embodiment, the electronic device may obtain a second user input corresponding to the object 421 included in the region 420, and in response to the second user input, provide a list of all the coupons included in the second group. The list of coupons may, for each coupon, include a region indicating that the coupon is a member-only discount coupon, a region that displays the threshold value of the minimum purchase amount for which the coupon can be used, a region that displays the discount amount, a region that displays the category corresponding to the coupon and the coupon usage expiration date information, and a region that displays the amount to be additionally purchased to reach the threshold value. The user can click the "View Details" object 421 in FIG. 4c again to return to the display of the region 420 shown in FIG. 4a. In one embodiment, the arrangement order of the list of coupons may be determined based on at least one of the amount to be additionally purchased to reach the threshold value of each coupon included in the second group, the discount amount, and the remaining period until the discount period ends. For example, the electronic device may arrange the list of coupons in ascending order of the remaining amount to reach the threshold value of each coupon, in descending order of the discount amount, in ascending order of the remaining period until the discount period ends, or randomly. In one embodiment, when arranging the list of coupons included in the second group, the electronic device may preferentially display the same coupons as those the user has a usage history with. For example, if the user has a history of using a coupon with a discount of 4,000 Korean won for "popular hair care products", the same coupon as the corresponding coupon among the coupons included in the second group may be displayed at the top of the list, or highlighted together with a separate label to attract the user's attention and encourage the user to use the coupon. In one embodiment, when arranging the list of coupons, the electronic device may preferentially display coupons with little time remaining until expiration (e.g., within 1 hour). Referring to FIG. 4d, an area 430 is shown that displays the detailed information of the coupons included in the third group according to a user input corresponding to an object 431 in the area 430 of the page 400 in FIG. 4a. The user can click on the "View Details" object 431 in FIG. 4d again to return to the display of the area 430 shown in FIG. 4a. In one embodiment, when the coupon list includes two or more duplicate coupons, and one of the duplicate coupons is included in the first group, the remaining parts of the duplicate coupons may be grouped into the third group. The third group may include coupons 432 for which the item selected by the user has met the coupon application conditions but has already used the same coupon and cannot be reused. Also, the third group may include coupons that the user has downloaded and obtained, such as "rural activities" and "diaper" categories, but correspond to categories unrelated to the category of the item selected by the user. In one embodiment, when at least one item meets the application conditions of two or more duplicate coupons, the coupon selected by the user among the duplicate coupons may be grouped into the first group. For example, when there are two or more duplicate coupons applicable to items of the same category, the user can select to include the coupon that is more beneficial to the user (e.g., a coupon with a shorter remaining usage period, a coupon with a higher discount rate, etc.) among the two duplicate coupons in the first group (i.e., the applied coupon). In one embodiment, when displaying the list of coupons included in the first group, the second group, and the third group, the electronic device may set the colors of the coupons displayed on the page differently for each group. For example, the electronic device may display the colors of the coupons included in the applied coupon group (i.e., the first group) as cyan, and display the colors of the coupons included in the additional item application group (i.e., the second group) as red, so that the user can intuitively distinguish between the coupons that meet the application conditions and the coupons that do not meet the application conditions. FIG. 5 is an exemplary diagram showing a search result page of an item according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 5, two examples of areas 510 and 520 where information about the item "Company A's emulsion" can be displayed on the search result page for the keyword "emulsion" (or a page including an item list) are illustratively shown. Area 510 may represent a situation where "Company A's emulsion" meets the application conditions for a discount coupon, and area 520 may represent a situation where "Company A's emulsion" does not meet the application conditions for a discount coupon. Area 510 may include an area 511 that displays information indicating that the user meets the application conditions for a 2,000 won discount coupon and can obtain a discount. Referring to area 511, the discount amount of 2,000 won can be displayed on an icon of a first shape having a coupon shape. In contrast, when only "Company A's emulsion" does not meet the application conditions for a discount coupon, area 520 may include an area 521 that displays information indicating the existence of an additional discount coupon. Referring to area 521, the text "Additional Discount Coupon" is displayed together with an icon of a first shape having the same shape as the icon displayed in area 511. In one embodiment, the electronic device may, in response to a user input corresponding to area 521, provide a list of coupons (such as those shown in FIG. 4c) that can be applied when additional items are purchased, and the information of each coupon shown in the coupon list may also be displayed on the icon of the first shape. As described above, when displaying coupon information on a page that displays item information, the electronic device can use icons of the same shape, thereby effectively highlighting and providing the available coupon information to the user. In one embodiment, regarding whether the application conditions of a coupon for determining the method of displaying coupon information on the information display page of an item are met, it can be determined based on the total price of the items placed in the user's virtual shopping cart and the price of the item that the user is currently viewing. FIGS. 6a and 6b are illustrative diagrams showing a detailed information page and a coupon information page of an item according to an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 6a, two examples of the detailed information pages 610 and 620 of "Company A's emulsion" are illustratively shown. Page 610 may represent the situation where the "Company A lotion" meets the application conditions of the discount coupon, and page 620 may represent the situation where the "Company A lotion" does not meet the application conditions of the discount coupon. Page 610 may include an area 611 that displays information indicating that the user meets the application conditions of the 2,000 won discount coupon and can obtain a discount, and a notification message 612. In area 611 and notification message 612, text can be displayed together with an icon of a first shape having a coupon shape. On the contrary, when only the "Company A lotion" does not meet the application conditions of the discount coupon, page 620 may include an area 621 that displays information indicating that an additional discount can be obtained when purchasing promotional items, and a notification message 622. In area 621 and notification message 622, text can also be displayed together with an icon of a first shape having a coupon shape, similar to area 611 and notification message 612. Referring to FIG. 6b, a coupon information page 630 including a coupon list 631 is shown. The coupon list 631 is provided in response to a user input corresponding to area 611 or 621, or notification message 612 or 622 in FIG. 6a. As shown in page 630, the information of each coupon shown in coupon list 631 can also be displayed on the icon of the first shape. As described above, when displaying coupon information on the page showing item information, the electronic device can use icons of the same shape, thereby effectively highlighting and providing the available coupon information to the user. FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing the process of a method for providing coupon information by an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The execution subject of each step of the sequence diagram 700 shown in FIG. 7 may include the electronic device 120 shown in FIG. 1 or the electronic device shown in FIG. 2. The following description may omit the repetition of the above content. In step S710, the electronic device can confirm an item list based on the first information obtained from the user's terminal. In one embodiment, the first information may include the user's selection information for the item. The user can confirm a list of multiple items provided by an e-commerce application installed in the user terminal and select one or more items that the user wishes to purchase. Similar to putting the items displayed on the display stand into the shopping cart during offline shopping, in e-commerce, the items selected by the user can also be temporarily stored in a virtual shopping cart before actual purchase. The electronic device can provide a cart page including the item list, and the item list includes one or more items selected by the user. At this time, the electronic device can display discount information applicable to one or more items together with the information of one or more items on the cart page. The discount information may include coupon information, card discount information, discount event information, membership discount information, etc. In step S720, the electronic device can confirm the coupon list based on the user's information. The electronic device can confirm the coupon list based on the user's information. In one embodiment, the electronic device can confirm the coupons selected, stored, or downloaded by the user when purchasing an item or before purchasing an item. In step S730, the electronic device can confirm a grouped coupon list, which groups the coupons in the coupon list into at least one group based on the information of at least one item included in the item list. Compared with the fact that there may be a very large number of coupons held by the user or applicable to the item, the area of the page that can provide coupon information is limited. If a lot of coupon information is listed in the limited area of the page without specific classification or rules, it is difficult for the user to quickly confirm the information of the required coupons, and the possibility that the user misses the coupons that can only be applied to the currently purchased item or the coupons with little remaining validity period becomes higher, which may have an adverse impact on the customer experience. Therefore, the electronic device needs to effectively provide more than one coupon information related to at least one of the user and the item on the page so that the user can easily confirm the information of the best available coupons when purchasing an item. For this purpose, the electronic device can classify (i.e., group) more than one coupon into at least one group according to specific criteria. In step S740, the electronic device can provide a page including the grouped coupon list to the user's terminal. In one embodiment, the page can include a shopping cart page, which includes the information of more than one item selected by the user. The shopping cart page can include the information of more than one item and the information of more than one coupon related to at least one of the user and more than one item. FIG. 8 is a schematic illustration showing the components of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 8, the electronic device 800 can include a processor 810 and a memory 820, and can implement a method for providing discount information of an item. The electronic device 800 shown in FIG. 9 only shows the components related to this embodiment. Therefore, those skilled in the art related to this embodiment can understand that in addition to the components shown in FIG. 9, the electronic device 800 may further include other general components. The processor 810 functions to control the overall function of providing information about an item in the electronic device 800. For example, the processor 810 controls the electronic device 800 as a whole by executing a program stored in the memory 820 within the electronic device 800. The processor 810 can be implemented as a CPU (central processing unit), GPU (graphics processing unit), AP (application processor), etc. provided within the electronic device 100, but is not limited thereto. The memory 820 is hardware that stores various data processed within the electronic device 800. The memory 820 can store the data that has been processed and the data to be processed in the electronic device 800. Also, the memory 820 can store application programs, driver programs, etc. that will be driven by the electronic device 800. The memory 820 can include RAM (random access memory) such as DRAM (dynamic random access memory) and SRAM (static random access memory), ROM (read-only memory), EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory), CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory), Blu-ray or other optical disc storage, HDD (hard disk drive), SSD (solid state drive), or flash memory. On the other hand, the preferred embodiments of the present invention are disclosed in this specification and the drawings. Although specific terms are used, they are only used in a general sense to facilitate the description of the technical content of the present invention and to help understand the invention, rather than to limit the scope of the present invention. It is obvious to those with common knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention pertains that, in addition to the embodiments disclosed herein, other variations based on the technical idea of the present invention can also be implemented. 110: User terminal 120: Electronic device 210: Step 220: Step 230: Step 240: Step 250: Step 300: Page 301: Area 302: Area 303: Area 304: Area 305: Check box 400: Page 410: Area 411: Object 412: Area 413: Check box 420: Area 421: Object 422: Area 423: Area 424: Area 425: Area 426: Area 430: Area 431: Object 432: Coupon 440: Area 450: Area 510: Area 520: Area 610: Page 611: Area 612: Notification message 620: Page 621: Area 622: Notification message 630: Page 631: Coupon list S710: Step S720: Step S730: Step S740: Step 800: Electronic device 810: Processor 820: Memory FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of a coupon information providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing information exchange between nodes related to a method of providing coupon information according to an embodiment of the present invention and corresponding actions. FIG. 3 is an exemplary diagram showing a shopping cart page according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 4A to 4D are exemplary diagrams showing a shopping cart page for providing coupon information according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is an exemplary diagram showing a search result page for items according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 6A and 6B are exemplary diagrams showing a detailed information page for items and a coupon information page according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing a process of a method of providing coupon information by an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is an exemplary diagram schematically showing the components of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 210: Step 220: Step 230: Step 240: Step 250: Step

Claims

1. A method for providing coupon information, performed via an electronic device, comprising the following steps: confirming an item list based on first information obtained from a user's terminal; confirming a coupon list based on the user's information; confirming a grouped coupon list, the grouped coupon list being formed by grouping coupons in the coupon list into at least one group based on information of at least one item included in the item list; and providing a page including the grouped coupon list to the user's terminal; wherein the step of confirming the grouped coupon list comprises the following steps: confirming the application conditions of each coupon in the coupon list; confirming whether the at least one item meets the application conditions of each coupon; and grouping coupons in the coupon list whose at least one item meets the application conditions into a first group, and grouping coupons in the coupon list whose at least one item does not meet the application conditions into a second group; wherein the page includes a first area displaying coupon information included in the first group and a second area displaying coupon information included in the second group; wherein, The second area above displays information about a representative first coupon, which is included in one or more coupons in the second group above; and the first coupon displayed in the second area above is determined to be the coupon with the smallest amount required to reach the threshold of each coupon among the one or more coupons included in the second group above; wherein the application conditions of the coupon include at least one of the following: at least one item is included in the category corresponding to the coupon above; and the total amount of at least one item is above the threshold of the coupon above; and wherein the threshold is adjusted based on the user's purchase history corresponding to the category above.

2. As in request item 1, the method of providing coupon information, wherein the first information mentioned above includes the user's selection information of items, and the page further includes the list of items mentioned above.

3. The method for providing coupon information as requested in Request 1, wherein the step of confirming the above coupon list includes the following steps: requesting the above coupon list from the promotion server based on the above user information; and obtaining the above coupon list from the above promotion server.

4. The method of providing coupon information as requested in item 1, wherein the first area above includes the total discount amount corresponding to the coupons included in the first group above.

5. The method for providing coupon information as requested in item 1, wherein the second area includes a first object that displays the amount required to purchase in order to reach the threshold of the first coupon, the method for providing coupon information further includes the following steps: obtaining a first user input corresponding to the first object; and in response to the first user input, providing a second page that includes a list of items included in the category corresponding to the first coupon.

6. The method of providing coupon information as requested in Request 1, wherein the second area further includes information on recommended items among those that can be purchased in order to reach the threshold of the first coupon, wherein the recommended items are the lowest priced items that are included in the category corresponding to the first coupon and have a price higher than the amount required to reach the threshold of the first coupon.

7. The method for providing coupon information as requested in item 1 includes the following steps: obtaining a second user input corresponding to the second object included in the second area above; and in response to the second user input, providing a list of coupons included in the second group above.

8. The method of providing coupon information as requested in item 7, wherein the order of the list of coupons included in the second group above is determined based on at least one of the following: the amount that needs to be purchased to reach the threshold, the discount amount, and the remaining period before the end of the discount period for each coupon included in the second group above.

9. The method for providing coupon information as requested in Request 1, wherein the step of confirming the above-mentioned grouped coupon list further includes the following steps: grouping the coupons in the above-mentioned coupon list that are not grouped into the above-mentioned Group 1 and the above-mentioned Group 2 into Group 3; and the above-mentioned page further includes a third area for displaying the coupon information included in the above-mentioned Group 3.

10. As in the method of providing coupon information in request item 9, where the coupon list includes two or more duplicate coupons, if one of the duplicate coupons is included in the first group, the remaining duplicate coupons shall be grouped into the third group.

11. The method of providing coupon information as in request item 10, wherein when at least one item satisfies two or more application conditions among the aforementioned duplicate coupons, the coupons selected by the user among the aforementioned duplicate coupons are grouped into the aforementioned first group.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising a medium configured to store computer-readable commands; wherein, when the computer-readable commands are executed by a processor, the processor performs a method of providing coupon information comprising the steps of: confirming an item list based on first information obtained from a user's terminal; confirming a coupon list based on the user's information; confirming a grouped coupon list, the grouped coupon list being a list of coupons grouped into at least one group based on information of at least one item included in the item list; and providing a page including the grouped coupon list to the user's terminal; wherein the step of confirming the grouped coupon list comprises the steps of: confirming the application conditions of each coupon in the coupon list; confirming whether the at least one item meets the application conditions of each coupon; and grouping coupons in the coupon list whose at least one item meets the application conditions into a first group, and grouping coupons in the coupon list whose at least one item does not meet the application conditions into a second group; The aforementioned page includes a first area displaying coupon information from the first group and a second area displaying coupon information from the second group. The second area above displays information about a representative first coupon, which is included in one or more coupons in the second group above; and the first coupon displayed in the second area above is determined to be the coupon with the smallest amount required to reach the threshold of each coupon among the one or more coupons included in the second group above; wherein the application conditions of the coupon include at least one of the following: at least one item is included in the category corresponding to the coupon above; and the total amount of at least one item is above the threshold of the coupon above; and wherein the threshold is adjusted based on the user's purchase history corresponding to the category above.

13. An electronic device for providing coupon information, comprising: Memory It stores at least one command; The system includes a processor that executes at least one of the above commands to confirm an item list based on first information obtained from the user's terminal, a coupon list based on the user's information, and a grouped coupon list, wherein the grouped coupon list is formed by grouping coupons in the coupon list into at least one group based on information of at least one item included in the item list, and provides a page including the grouped coupon list to the user's terminal; wherein the step of confirming the grouped coupon list includes the following steps: confirming the application conditions of each coupon in the coupon list; confirming whether the at least one item meets the application conditions of each coupon; and grouping coupons in the coupon list that meet the application conditions of at least one item into a first group, and grouping coupons in the coupon list that do not meet the application conditions of at least one item into a second group; wherein the page includes a first area displaying information of coupons included in the first group and a second area displaying information of coupons included in the second group; The second area displays information about a representative first coupon, which is included in one or more coupons in the second group. The first coupon displayed in the second area is defined as the coupon with the smallest purchase amount required to reach the threshold of each coupon among the one or more coupons included in the second group. The application conditions for the coupon include at least one of the following: at least one item is included in the category corresponding to the coupon; and the total amount of at least one item is above the threshold of the coupon; and the threshold is adjusted based on the user's purchase history corresponding to the category.

Images