Information processing device and information processing method

Abstract

To appropriately manage the time limits of products.SOLUTION: An information processing device includes a reception unit that acquires time limit information about time limits determined for products in a shop, and a control unit that performs management based on the time limit information, distinguishing between the time limit of a product stored in a first state of being purchasable by a customer in the shop and the time limit of a product stored in a second state of being not purchasable the customer in the shop.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 12

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information processing device and an information processing method. [Background technology]

[0002] Products sold in stores such as supermarkets and convenience stores are provided with expiration dates, such as best-before dates or best-before dates. In the stores, store clerks replenish and sell products in accordance with the expiration dates of the products in the store. Systems for managing the expiration dates of such products are being considered.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 describes an information processing device that includes a communication processing unit that receives attribute information of a managed item associated with an RFID tag and position information of the managed item from a tag communication device capable of measuring the position of an RFID tag by wirelessly communicating with the RFID tag, a placement position determination unit that determines whether the placement position of the managed item is appropriate based on the attribute information and the position information, and a placement position indication unit that performs control to notify a user of information about the managed item when there is a managed item whose placement position has been determined to be inappropriate by the placement position determination unit. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2006-256856 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, while Patent Document 1 describes managing the placement of products on display, it is not sufficient for managing the expiration dates of products in the store, including products that are not on display, and this increases the workload of store staff managing the expiration dates of products in the store.

[0006] Non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure contribute to providing an information processing device and an information processing method that can appropriately manage the expiration dates of products. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] An information processing device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a receiving unit that acquires expiration information regarding expiration dates set for products in a store, and a control unit that, based on the expiration information, distinguishes and manages the expiration dates of products stored in the store in a first state in which the customer is able to purchase them and the expiration dates of products stored in the store in a second state in which the customer is not able to purchase them.

[0008] In an information processing method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, an information processing device acquires expiration information regarding expiration dates set for products in a store, and based on the expiration information, manages the expiration dates of products stored in the store in a first state in which the customers can purchase them, separately from the expiration dates of products stored in the store in a second state in which the customers cannot purchase them.

[0009] In addition, these comprehensive or specific aspects may be realized by a system, an apparatus, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, or a recording medium, or may be realized by any combination of a system, an apparatus, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, and a recording medium. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, product expiration dates can be appropriately managed.

[0011] Further advantages and benefits of an embodiment of the present disclosure will become apparent from the specification and drawings, in which such advantages and / or benefits are provided by some of the embodiments and features described in the specification and drawings, respectively, but not necessarily all of which are provided to obtain one or more identical features. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a management system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a first example of a format of notification information according to an embodiment. [Diagram 3] A diagram showing an example of a product expiration date information database. [Figure 4] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a second example of a format of notification information in one embodiment. [Diagram 5] A diagram showing an example of a product consumption / best-before date information database [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a format of instruction information according to an embodiment; [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a display on a terminal that has received instruction information; [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a third example of a format of notification information in one embodiment. [Figure 9] A flowchart showing an example of a process flow of a terminal according to an embodiment. [Figure 10] A flowchart showing an example of a process flow of an information processing device according to an embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a terminal according to an embodiment; [Figure 12] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information processing device according to an embodiment; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this specification and the drawings, components having substantially the same functions are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

[0014] (One embodiment) Many products are sold in stores such as supermarkets and convenience stores. The management system according to the present embodiment is a system that manages expiration dates, such as best-before dates, of products in the store and instructs store clerks on what to do.

[0015] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a management system according to the present embodiment. Fig. 1 shows the flow of a product from when the product is delivered to a store until when it is sold. Fig. 1 also shows a plurality of terminals 10 and an information processing device 20.

[0016] The terminal 10 is owned by a store clerk and used by the clerk. Some of the terminals 10 are mounted on a cart or the like in which a customer places products that the customer wishes to purchase, instead of being used by the store clerk. The terminal 10 mounted on the cart or the like is used by the customer when making payment for products, etc. The terminal 10 may be a smartphone, a tablet, etc. Note that, although an example in which a camera is mounted on the terminal 10 is shown below, a terminal 10 that does not have a camera may be connected to a camera provided separately from the terminal 10.

[0017] The information processing device 20 may be provided, for example, in a waiting area (for example, a staff room) where a store clerk waits, or may be provided outside the store. The information processing device 20 may be, for example, a personal computer or a server device.

[0018] The terminal 10 may be directly connected wirelessly to the information processing device 20, or may be connected to the information processing device 20 via a base station or an access point (not shown in FIG. 1) installed in the store. Alternatively, the terminal 10 may be connected to the information processing device 20 via a base station or an access point (not shown in FIG. 1) installed in the store and a network.

[0019] The flow of goods from when they are transported to a store until when they are sold includes the stages of transporting the goods to the store and storing them in the store's warehouse, replenishing the store's shelves with the goods stored in the warehouse, and purchasing the goods displayed on the shelves by customers. The stages of storing the goods in the store's warehouse, replenishing the store's shelves with the goods, and purchasing the goods displayed on the shelves by customers correspond to the "goods storage stage," "goods replenishing stage," and "payment stage" in Figure 1, respectively.

[0020] For example, a store clerk operates the terminal 10 to detect and notify information related to the expiration date of a product (hereinafter, expiration date information) at each stage. For example, the terminal 10 acquires an image of a product (hereinafter, product image) captured by a camera mounted on the terminal 10, and detects expiration date information based on the product image. Exemplarily, the terminal 10 analyzes the acquired product image, acquires text data contained in the product image by OCR (Optical Character Recognition) processing of the product image, and detects expiration date information of the product contained in the acquired text data. The terminal 10 transmits notification information including the detected expiration date information to the information processing device 20.

[0021] It should be noted that the expiration date information may be obtained by other procedures. For example, if the expiration date information of a product is stored in advance in a database held by a server or the like, a store clerk may operate a reading device such as a barcode reader (for example, mounted on the terminal 10), and the reading device may read information identifying the product from a barcode or the like attached to the product, and obtain the expiration date information corresponding to the product stored in the database. Then, the terminal 10 may transmit notification information including the obtained expiration date information to the information processing device 20.

[0022] The information processing device 20 acquires notification information from the terminal 10. Based on the expiration date information included in the notification information acquired from the terminal 10, the information processing device 20 manages the expiration date information of products stored in a warehouse and the expiration date information of products displayed on a display shelf separately.

[0023] An example of the process of detecting expiration date information at each of the "product storage stage", "product replenishment stage", and "payment stage" will be described below.

[0024] <Product Stocking Stage> Products are transported from a manufacturing plant or the like to a store, and the transported products are stored in the store's warehouse. At the product storage stage, a store clerk detects expiration date information by holding the stored product up to the camera of the terminal 10. The terminal 10 acquires a product image and detects expiration date information. The detected expiration date information is transmitted from the terminal 10 to the information processing device 20. The store clerk then stores the product whose expiration date information has been detected in a specified location in the warehouse. Through this detection, the products stored in the warehouse are managed for each expiration date. For example, the number of products stored in the warehouse and the expiration date of each product are managed. In the following, products stored in the warehouse may be referred to as products in the warehouse. Products in the warehouse may correspond to products that are not on display, products that are not available for purchase by customers, or products that are stored in a state where they are not available for purchase by customers. The number of products in the warehouse may be the total number of products stored in the warehouse minus the total number of products restocked on the shelves.

[0025] At the stage of warehousing the product, the information processing device 20 may acquire the expiration date information by a method other than the method by which the terminal 10 transmits the expiration date information to the information processing device 20. For example, at the stage of transportation from a manufacturing factory or the like, the expiration date information of the transported product may be transmitted from a server or the like of the manufacturing factory to the information processing device 20. The method of acquiring the expiration date information may differ for each product.

[0026] <Product replenishment stage> When there are no more or less products on the display shelves, the store clerk takes out products from the warehouse and refills the display shelves. In the product refilling stage, the store clerk detects expiration date information by holding the product to be refilled up to the camera of the terminal 10. The terminal 10 acquires product images and detects expiration date information. The detected expiration date information is transmitted from the terminal 10 to the information device 20. The store clerk then refills the products whose expiration date information has been detected to a predetermined position on the display shelves. Through this detection, the products refilled on the display shelves are managed for each expiration date. For example, the number of products with expiration dates refilled on the display shelves is managed. In the following, products displayed on the display shelves are referred to as products on the display shelves. Products on the display shelves may correspond to products that are displayed, products in a displayed state, products that are available for purchase by customers, or products that are stored in a state where they can be purchased by customers. In the following description, the products in the warehouse and the products on the shelves are collectively referred to as products in the store. The number of products on the shelves may be the total number of products stocked on the shelves minus the total number of products sold (the total number of products purchased by customers).

[0027] In this embodiment, replenishing merchandise is not limited to replenishing merchandise that was previously displayed on the shelves, but also includes replenishing merchandise (e.g., new products) that was not previously displayed on the shelves to be newly displayed.

[0028] <Payment stage> A customer takes out a product that he or she wishes to purchase from a display shelf where the products are displayed, and places it in a cart or the like. When the customer purchases the product that he or she has placed in the cart or the like, the customer makes a payment for that product. At the payment stage, the product to be purchased is held up to a camera and expiration date information is detected. The detected expiration date information is transmitted from terminal 10 to information device 20. Through this detection, the purchased products are managed by expiration date. For example, the number of products purchased with expiration dates is managed.

[0029] The method of detecting expiration date information may differ depending on the payment method. Payment methods include, for example, a register payment method in which a store clerk operates a register to make payment for the product that the customer wishes to purchase, and an automatic payment method in which the customer makes payment for the product using a terminal 10 mounted on a cart. In the automatic payment method, for example, a camera of the terminal 10 mounted on the cart takes an image of the product, and the terminal 10 identifies the product placed in the cart by performing image recognition processing on the captured product image, and makes payment for the identified product.

[0030] In the case of a cash register payment, a store clerk detects the expiration date information by operating the terminal 10 owned by the store clerk. For example, the store clerk detects the expiration date information by holding the product to be purchased up to the camera of the terminal 10.

[0031] In the case of automatic payment, expiration date information is detected based on product images captured by the camera of the terminal 10 mounted on the cart.

[0032] At the payment stage, the product is purchased and disappears from the store, so the payment stage is an example of a stage where the product has disappeared from the store. The stage where the product has disappeared from the store may include, for example, a stage where a product whose expiration date or the like has passed a predetermined date is discarded, a stage where a product has been discarded due to damage, etc. At the stage where the product is discarded, the store clerk operates the terminal 10 to detect the expiration date information of the product to be discarded and transmits the information to the information processing device 20 before discarding the product. In this case, the expiration date information may be clearly indicated as the expiration date of the product to be discarded and transmitted to the information processing device 20.

[0033] As described above, at each stage, the terminal 10 detects the expiration date information of the product and transmits it to the information processing device 20. The terminal 10 that detects the expiration date information at the product stocking stage, the terminal 10 that detects the expiration date information at the product restocking stage, and the terminal 10 that detects the expiration date information at the payment stage may be referred to as the "terminal 10 at the product stocking stage," the "terminal 10 at the product restocking stage," and the "terminal 10 at the payment stage," respectively.

[0034] The information processing device 20, which has acquired the expiration date information of the products detected at each stage, manages the expiration date information of the products in the warehouse and the expiration date information of the products on the display shelves for each product. For example, the information processing device 20 manages the products in the warehouse by expiration date. For example, it manages how many products with expiration dates remain in the warehouse. Also, the information processing device 20 manages the products displayed on the display shelves by expiration date. For example, it manages how many products with expiration dates are displayed on the display shelves.

[0035] <Example of notification information> Next, an example of a format of the notification information transmitted from the terminal 10 to the information processing device 20 will be described.

[0036] Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a first example of the format of the notification information in the present embodiment. The format shown in Fig. 2 includes a "terminal ID" field, an "identification information" field, a "product ID" field, a "best before information" field, and a "quantity information" field.

[0037] The terminal ID (identification) field includes identification information (hereinafter, terminal ID) for identifying the terminal 10. The terminal ID may identify whether the terminal 10 that transmitted the notification information is a terminal 10 used by a customer or a terminal 10 used by a store clerk. In other words, the terminal ID at least indicates whether the terminal 10 that transmitted the notification information is a terminal 10 used by a customer or a terminal 10 used by a store clerk. The terminal ID may also indicate whether the terminal 10 that transmitted the notification information is a terminal 10 at the product storage stage, a terminal 10 at the product replenishment stage, or a terminal 10 that detected expiration date information at the payment stage.

[0038] The identification information field includes information indicating whether or not another field (e.g., an expiration date information field or a product ID field) follows the field. For example, if there is no other field following the field, the identification information field is set to "00", if a product ID field follows the field, the identification information field is set to "10", and if a expiration date information field follows the field, the identification information field is set to "11".

[0039] The expiration date information field and the quantity information field are in one-to-one correspondence with each other. The expiration date information field and the quantity information field in one-to-one correspondence with each other are collectively referred to as an expiration date information field group.

[0040] One or more expiration date information field groups may be associated with one product ID field. One product ID field and one or more expiration date information field groups associated with one product ID field are collectively referred to as a product ID field group. The number of expiration date information field groups included in one product ID field group corresponds to the number of expiration date patterns of the product indicated by the product ID field of the product ID field group. For example, if the expiration date of a certain product A notified by notification information has three patterns of July 1, July 15, and July 29, the number of expiration date information field groups of the product ID field group of product A may be three.

[0041] When expiration date information for multiple products is transmitted, the notification information includes a number of product ID field groups corresponding to the number of products.

[0042] The product ID field includes identification information for identifying a product (hereinafter, product ID).

[0043] The expiration date information field includes information (e.g., date) indicating the expiration date of the product indicated by the product ID field associated with the expiration date information field. Note that if there are multiple expiration dates for a product indicated by one product ID field, multiple expiration date information fields are included in one product ID field group.

[0044] The quantity information field includes the number of products whose expiration date is indicated by the expiration date information field associated with the quantity information field.

[0045] The stage at which the expiration date information included in the notification information was detected may be specified by the terminal ID. For example, notification information including a terminal ID indicating the terminal 10 used by a customer includes expiration date information of a product purchased by the customer. Notification information including a terminal ID indicating the terminal 10 used by a store clerk includes expiration date information of a product to be restocked on a shelf or expiration date information of a product stored in a warehouse.

[0046] The notification information including the terminal ID indicating the terminal 10 in the product receiving stage includes expiration date information of the product received in the warehouse. The notification information including the terminal ID indicating the terminal 10 in the product restocking stage includes expiration date information of the product to be restocked on the display shelf. The notification information including the terminal ID indicating the terminal 10 in the payment stage includes expiration date information of the product to be purchased.

[0047] The terminal 10 acquires a product image, analyzes the product image, and identifies the product included in the product image. The terminal 10 detects expiration date information of the product included in the product image by OCR processing of the product image. The terminal 10 generates notification information including a product ID corresponding to the identified product and the detected expiration date information based on the format shown in FIG. 2, and transmits the notification information to the information processing device 20.

[0048] For example, when α units of product A with a best-before date of July 1st are stored, the terminal 10 in the product storage stage identifies the product included in the product image of the product as product A, and detects expiration date information indicating that the expiration date of each of the Y units of product A included in the product image is July 1st. Then, the terminal 10 transmits notification information including information indicating that there are α units of product A with a best-before date of July 1st to the information processing device 20. Note that the notification information including information indicating that there are α units of product A with a best-before date of July 1st includes a product ID field in which an ID indicating that it is product A is set, a best-before date information field in which information indicating that the best-before date is July 1st is set, and a quantity information field in which information indicating that there are α units is set, all of which are associated with each other.

[0049] For example, when β units of product A with a best-before date of July 1 are replenished, the terminal 10 in the product replenishment stage identifies the product included in the product image of the product as product A, and detects expiration date information indicating that the expiration date of each of the β units of product A included in the product image is July 1. Then, the terminal 10 transmits notification information to the information processing device 20, the notification information including a product ID indicating that the product is product A, expiration date information indicating that the expiration date is July 1, and quantity information indicating that there are β units of product A with a best-before date of July 1.

[0050] For example, when γ units of product A with a best-before date of July 1st are purchased, the terminal 10 in the payment stage identifies the product included in the product image of the product as product A, and detects expiration date information indicating that the expiration date of each of the γ units of product A included in the product image is July 1st. Then, the terminal 10 transmits notification information to the information processing device 20, including a product ID indicating that the product is product A, expiration date information indicating that the expiration date is July 1st, and quantity information indicating that there are γ units of product A with a best-before date of July 1st.

[0051] The information processing device 20 manages the expiration date information of products in the warehouse separately from the expiration date information of products on the display shelves based on the expiration date information included in the notification information acquired from the terminal 10. Next, an example of expiration date information managed in the information processing device 20 will be described. Note that the expiration date information managed in the information processing device 20 may be managed in the form of a database. Hereinafter, the expiration date information managed in the information processing device 20 will be referred to as "expiration date information database." Note that the management of information may be replaced with terms such as accumulation, retention, storage, and collection of information.

[0052] <Example of expiration date information management> Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a product expiration date information database. Fig. 3 shows a database (DB) of expiration date information for product A. In Fig. 3, the number of products is managed for each product and expiration date. The number may be 0 or more.

[0053] In the example shown in FIG. 3, for each product's expiration date, the number of products stored in the warehouse (hereafter referred to as the number stored in the warehouse), the number of products displayed (hereafter referred to as the number displayed), the number of products purchased (hereafter referred to as the number sold), the number of products currently stored in the warehouse (hereafter referred to as the number of products in the warehouse), and the number of products currently stored on the display shelves (hereafter referred to as the number of products on the display shelves) are shown. Note that the number stored in the warehouse, the number sold, and the number displayed are cumulative numbers. For example, if the same product with the same expiration date is displayed three times, the number displayed is the total number of the three times.

[0054] In the example shown in Figure 3, product A, whose expiration date is July 1, in Pieces are stocked, L out Displayed individually, L sell In the example shown in Figure 3, product A, whose expiration date is July 1, was sold in L keep It is stored in a separate warehouse, and on It is indicated that the item is stored on a shelf. keep L keep =L in -L out and L on L on =L out -L sell This is expressed as:

[0055] The information processing device 20 manages a DB as shown in FIG. 3, and updates the DB based on notification information acquired from the terminal 10.

[0056] For example, when the information processing device 20 acquires notification information including information indicating that the number of products A whose expiration date is July 1 is α from the terminal 10 in the product storage stage, in FIG. 3, the information processing device 20 calculates the number of products A whose expiration date is July 1 as follows: in Pieces to L in +α units. With this update, the number of units of product A with a best-before date of July 1 in the warehouse increases by α units. On the other hand, the number of units of product A with a best-before date of July 1 on the shelves remains unchanged.

[0057] For example, when the information processing device 20 acquires notification information including information indicating that there are β pieces of product A whose expiration date is July 1st from the terminal 10 in the product replenishment stage, in FIG. 3, the information processing device 20 calculates the number of displayed products A whose expiration date is July 1st as L out Pieces to L out +β units. This update reduces the number of units of product A in the warehouse that have a best-before date of July 1 by β units. This update also increases the number of units of product A on the shelves that have a best-before date of July 1 by β units.

[0058] For example, when the information processing device 20 acquires notification information including information indicating that there are γ pieces of product A whose expiration date is July 1st from the terminal 10 at the payment stage, in FIG. 3, the information processing device 20 calculates the sales number of product A whose expiration date is July 1st as L sell Pieces to L sell +γ units. This update reduces the number of units of product A on the shelves with a best-before date of July 1 by γ units. On the other hand, the number of units of product A in the warehouse with a best-before date of July 1 remains unchanged.

[0059] 3 includes the number of items in stock, the number of items sold, and the number of items on display, but at least one of the number of items in stock, the number of items sold, and the number of items on display need not be included in the DB. Instead of including the number of items in stock, the number of items sold, and the number of items on display, it is sufficient that the number of items stored in the warehouse (number of items in the warehouse) and the number of items stored on the display shelves (number of items on the display shelves) are updated and managed based on notification information.

[0060] The DB in Fig. 3 may also include the number of discarded products. For example, when products in a warehouse are discarded, the number of products in the warehouse is updated by subtracting the number of discarded products from the number of products in the warehouse. Also, for example, when products on a display shelf are discarded, the number of products in the warehouse is updated by subtracting the number of discarded products from the number of products on the display shelf.

[0061] As described above, the information processing device 20, as in the example shown in FIG. 3, manages the number of products stored in the warehouse (number of products in the warehouse) and the number of products stored on the display shelves (number of products on the display shelves) for each product's expiration date, distinguishing between them. This makes it possible to manage how many products with which expiration date are stored in the warehouse and how many products with which expiration date are stored on the display shelves, and therefore allows for appropriate management of product expiration dates. In addition, because product expiration dates can be appropriately managed, the workload of store clerks who manage the expiration dates of products in the store can be reduced. For example, it is possible to avoid having store clerks manually input information on product expiration dates, and therefore the number of steps in the store clerk's work can be reduced.

[0062] Since it is possible to manage how many products with which expiration dates are stored in a warehouse and how many products with which expiration dates are stored on display shelves, inventory can be appropriately managed, the amount of products discarded due to expiration or the like can be reduced, and product waste can be eliminated.

[0063] Note that, depending on the product, a use-by date may be set instead of a best-before date. In the above example, the best-before date may be replaced with a use-by date depending on the product. Also, the best-before date and the use-by date may be mixed. Below, as a variation, an example in which the best-before date and the use-by date are mixed will be described.

[0064] <Variation: Best before date and expiry date mixed> In a variation of this embodiment, an example will be described in which best-before dates and expiration dates may be mixed.

[0065] <Example of variation notification information> An example of the format of notification information transmitted from the terminal 10 of the above-mentioned variation to the information processing device 20 will be described.

[0066] Fig. 4 is a diagram showing a second example of the format of the notification information in this embodiment. The format shown in Fig. 4 is a format in which the "Best before information" field of the format shown in Fig. 2 is replaced with a "Consumption / Best before information" field. In Fig. 4, the description of the same fields as in Fig. 2 is omitted.

[0067] The consumption / best before information field contains information (e.g., date) indicating the use-by date or best-before date of the product indicated by the product ID field associated with the consumption / best before information field. For example, the most significant bit of the consumption / best before information field indicates whether the information in that field is use-by date information or best-before date information. The remaining bits indicate the date that the use-by date or best-before date will be. Note that if a product indicated by one product ID field has multiple best-before dates, multiple best-before date information fields will be included in one product ID field group.

[0068] <Example of managing consumption / best before date information> 5 is a diagram showing an example of a product consumption / best before date information database. In FIG. 5, a database of best before date information of product A and a database of best before date information of product B are shown.

[0069] The database of expiration date information for product A in Fig. 5 is similar to the database of expiration date information for product A in Fig. 3, so a description thereof will be omitted. Also, the database of expiration date information for product B is similar to the database of expiration date information for product A, except that the expiration date in the database of expiration date information for product A is replaced with a best-before date, so a description thereof will be omitted.

[0070] Although FIG. 5 shows the number of items in stock, the number of items sold, and the number of items on display, the number of items in stock, the number of items sold, and the number of items on display do not necessarily have to be included in the list.

[0071] As shown in the example of FIG. 5, the information processing device 20 manages the number of products stored in the warehouse (the number of products in the warehouse) and the number of products stored on the display shelves (the number of products on the display shelves) separately for each expiration date of the product and for each expiration date of the product. This allows management of how many products with which expiration date are stored in the warehouse and on the display shelves, and how many products with which expiration date are stored in the warehouse and on the display shelves, so that product expiration dates can be managed appropriately. In addition, since product expiration dates can be managed appropriately, the workload of store clerks who manage the expiration dates of products in the store can be reduced. For example, it is possible to avoid the store clerk having to manually input information on product expiration dates, so that the number of steps in the store clerk's work can be reduced.

[0072] Since it is possible to manage how many products with which expiration dates are stored in a warehouse and how many products with which expiration dates are stored on display shelves, inventory can be appropriately managed, the amount of products discarded due to expiration or the like can be reduced, and product waste can be eliminated.

[0073] <Example of instructions from the information processing device 20> The information processing device 20 may instruct the store clerk on the management of the product based on the expiration date information that it manages. Three cases in which instructions are given will be described below. In this disclosure, instructions based on the expiration date information are not limited to the following three cases.

[0074] <Case 1> For example, when a store clerk is replenishing products, if the product with the oldest expiration date among the products in the warehouse is not to be replenishing, the information processing device 20 may instruct the store clerk to replenish the oldest product. A specific example of such a case is when a product that is not the oldest product among the products in the warehouse is to be replenishing.

[0075] For example, the information processing device 20 acquires the expiration date information of the product A to be replenished from the notification information sent by the terminal 10 in the replenishment stage. The information processing device 20 updates the expiration date information database of the product A based on the acquired expiration date information. Then, the information processing device 20 determines the oldest expiration date among the expiration dates of the product A indicated in the expiration date information of the product A in the warehouse after the update, and if the determined expiration date is older than the expiration date of the product A indicated in the expiration date information acquired from the notification information, it determines that the product A with the oldest expiration date has not been replenished. In this case, the information processing device 20 instructs the store clerk to replenish the oldest product A. In this case, since the replenishment is redone, the update of the expiration date information database of the product A based on the acquired expiration date information of the product A may be undone.

[0076] <Case 2> For example, when a store clerk is replenishing products, if the products in the warehouse have not been replenishing products in order of the oldest expiration date, the information processing device 20 may instruct the store clerk to replenish products in order of the oldest expiration date. A specific example of such a case is a case where products with an older expiration date than the expiration date of the product to be replenished are stored in the warehouse and remain.

[0077] For example, the information processing device 20 acquires the expiration date information of the product A to be replenished from the notification information transmitted by the terminal 10 in the replenishment stage. The information processing device 20 updates the expiration date information database of the product A based on the acquired expiration date information. If the expiration date of the product A indicated by the expiration date information acquired from the notification information is newer than the expiration date of the product A indicated by the expiration date information of the product A in the warehouse after updating, the information processing device 20 determines that the product A has not been replenished in order of the oldest expiration date because an older expiration date than the product A to be replenished remains in the warehouse. In this case, the information processing device 20 instructs the store clerk to change the product to be replenished. In this case, since the replenishment is to be redone, the update of the expiration date information database of the product A based on the acquired expiration date information of the product A may be undone.

[0078] <Case 3> For example, when payment for a product is made, if a product is purchased that is not the product with the longest expiration date among the products in the store (e.g., products available for sale), the information processing device 20 may instruct the store clerk to check the display of the product with the longest expiration date.

[0079] For example, the information processing device 20 acquires expiration date information of the product A to be purchased from the notification information sent by the terminal 10 at the payment stage. The information processing device 20 updates the expiration date information database of the product A based on the acquired expiration date information. Then, the information processing device 20 determines the oldest expiration date among the expiration dates of the product A in the store indicated by the updated expiration date information of the product A. If the determined expiration date is older than the expiration date of the product A indicated by the expiration date information acquired from the notification information, the information processing device 20 determines that a product other than the product with the oldest expiration date has been purchased. In this case, the information processing device 20 may instruct the store clerk to check the display of the product with the oldest expiration date.

[0080] For example, when a product that is not the product with the oldest expiration date among the products in the store is purchased at the stage of payment for the product, the information processing device 20 may instruct the store clerk to return the product that is not the product with the oldest expiration date to the warehouse. The information processing device 20 may also instruct the store clerk to adjust the position of the product so that the product with the oldest expiration date is placed at the front of the shelf. The information processing device 20 may select an instruction to the store clerk based on a predetermined method. For example, when the number of the corresponding products stored on the display shelf is equal to or greater than a predetermined number, the information processing device 20 instructs the store clerk to return at least a part of the products that are not the product with the oldest expiration date to the warehouse, and when the number of the corresponding products stored on the display shelf is less than the predetermined number, the information processing device 20 instructs the store clerk to adjust the position of the products so that the product with the oldest expiration date is placed at the front of the shelf. The information processing device 20 may also notify the store clerk that a product that is not the product with the oldest expiration date has been purchased, and allow the store clerk to decide how to handle the corresponding product.

[0081] For example, the information processing device 20 acquires expiration date information of the product A to be purchased from the notification information sent by the terminal 10 at the payment stage. The information processing device 20 updates the expiration date information database of the product A based on the acquired expiration date information. Then, the information processing device 20 determines the oldest expiration date among the expiration dates of the product A in the store indicated by the updated expiration date information of the product A. If the determined expiration date is older than the expiration date of the product A indicated by the expiration date information acquired from the notification information, the information processing device 20 determines that a product other than the product with the oldest expiration date has been purchased. In this case, the information processing device 20 may instruct the store clerk to return the product other than the product with the oldest expiration date to the warehouse.

[0082] <Example of instruction information transmitted by information processing device 20> An example of the format of instruction information that the information processing device 20 transmits to the terminal 10 of the store clerk when giving instructions to the store clerk will be described.

[0083] Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the format of instruction information in this embodiment. The format shown in Fig. 6 includes a "Terminal ID" field, an "Identification information" field, a "Product ID" field, and a "Store clerk instruction" field.

[0084] The terminal ID field includes a terminal ID for identifying the instruction target terminal 10. The terminal 10 that receives the instruction information is the terminal 10 used by the store clerk.

[0085] The identification information field includes information indicating whether or not another field (e.g., a product ID field) follows the field. For example, if there is no other field following the field, the identification information field is set to "0," and if there is a product ID field following the field, the identification information field is set to "1."

[0086] One sales clerk instruction field corresponds to one product ID field. One sales clerk instruction field and one product ID field corresponding to one sales clerk instruction field are collectively referred to as an instruction field group. The number of instruction field groups corresponds to the number of instructions.

[0087] The product ID field includes identification information for identifying a product (hereinafter, product ID).

[0088] The salesclerk instruction field includes instructions to the salesclerk related to the product indicated by the product ID field associated with the salesclerk instruction field. The product indicated by the product ID field associated with the salesclerk instruction field is described as an instruction target product.

[0089] For example, the store clerk instruction field may include information instructing the display of the instructed product with the oldest expiration date, information instructing the checking of the display of the instructed product, information instructing the return of instructed products with expiration dates other than the oldest to the warehouse, etc.

[0090] The information processing device 20 updates the product expiration date information database based on the expiration date information acquired from the terminal 10, compares the expiration dates indicated by the updated expiration date information of the products in the store with the expiration dates indicated by the expiration date information acquired from the notification information, and determines instructions to the store clerk. Then, the information processing device 20 transmits instruction information including the determined instructions to the store clerk's terminal 10.

[0091] The terminal 10 that has received the instruction information performs display based on the instruction information. In the following, an example of display when the terminal 10 displays a message based on the instruction information will be described.

[0092] <Display example of terminal 10 that received instruction information> Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a display on the terminal 10 that has received instruction information. Fig. 7 shows display patterns for three instruction patterns.

[0093] Display pattern 1 is an example in which, when product A with the oldest expiration date (product A with an expiration date of July 1) has not been replenished, an instruction to replenish product A with the oldest expiration date is displayed.

[0094] Display pattern 2 is an example in which, when a product A that does not have the oldest expiration date is sold, an instruction to check the display of the product A with the oldest expiration date is displayed.

[0095] Display pattern 3 is an example in which, when a product A with a best-before date other than the oldest is sold, an instruction to return the product A with a best-before date other than the oldest to the warehouse is displayed. Display pattern 3 is used when the products A are displayed in order of their best-before dates, but a product A with a best-before date other than the oldest is sold.

[0096] <Variations of Terminal 10> The terminal 10 in the payment stage, the terminal 10 in the product replenishment stage, and the terminal 10 in the product storage stage may be distinguished from one another. In this case, for example, the terminal 10 in the product replenishment stage does not perform operations in the product storage stage and the payment stage. Also, the terminal 10 in the payment stage does not perform operations in the product replenishment stage and the product storage stage. Note that the operations in each stage include, for example, the detection of expiration date information in each stage and the transmission of notification information including the expiration date information.

[0097] Furthermore, at least two of the terminals 10 in the payment stage, the terminals 10 in the product replenishment stage, and the product stocking stage may be shared by each other. For example, the terminal 10 may have at least two modes, a mode for performing an operation in the payment stage (hereinafter, payment mode), a mode for performing an operation in the product replenishment stage (hereinafter, product replenishment mode), and a mode for performing an operation in the product stocking stage (hereinafter, product stocking mode), and the mode may be switched on the terminal 10. Note that the switching of the mode may be described as selecting a mode or setting a mode.

[0098] The mode may be switched by a store clerk using the terminal 10. For example, when the terminal 10 is started up, the display unit of the terminal 10 may display a selection screen for selecting which of the three modes the terminal 10 will operate in. The store clerk may select the mode of the terminal 10 on the displayed selection screen.

[0099] Furthermore, when a store clerk requests to switch the mode of terminal 10, the display unit of terminal 10 may display a selection screen for selecting which of the three modes to operate in response to the request. For example, when the store clerk's work is changed from replenishing merchandise to working on settlement at the register, the store clerk operates terminal 10 to select the merchandise replenishing mode.

[0100] For example, terminal 10 may have a product replenishment mode and a product storage mode, and when a store clerk is performing a product replenishment task, the store clerk may set the mode of terminal 10 to the product replenishment mode, and when the store clerk is performing a task for storing products (for example, moving products to a warehouse), the store clerk may set the mode of terminal 10 to the product storage mode.

[0101] By having multiple modes and being able to switch between them, the store clerk who owns the terminal 10 can smoothly switch between tasks. Also, since there is no need to prepare separate terminals for each mode, the cost of capital investment for product management tasks can be reduced.

[0102] <Example of Notification Information for Terminal 10 Having Multiple Modes> An example of the format of notification information transmitted to the information processing device 20 by the terminal 10, which has the above-mentioned multiple modes and in which the mode can be switched, will be described.

[0103] Fig. 8 is a diagram showing a third example of the format of the notification information in the present embodiment. In the format shown in Fig. 8, a "mode information" field and a "storage location information" field are added to the format shown in Fig. 2. In Fig. 8, the description of the same fields as in Fig. 2 is omitted.

[0104] The mode information field includes information indicating the mode of the terminal 10. For example, when the terminal 10 is in the payment mode, the mode information field is set to "01", when the terminal 10 is in the product replenishment mode, the mode information field is set to "10", and when the terminal 10 is in the product storage mode, the mode information field is set to "11".

[0105] The storage location information field includes information indicating whether the location where the product with the product ID included in the notification information is stored is a warehouse or a display shelf. For example, if the product is stored in a warehouse, the storage location information field is set to "0," and if the product is stored in a display shelf, the storage location information field is set to "1."

[0106] <Other variations> At the checkout stage, if the register is busy, the terminal 10 may not need to detect the expiration date information. For example, for a product that requires multiple sides to be photographed, it may take time for the terminal 10 to photograph, which may result in a long time for the payment. Therefore, if the register is busy, the terminal 10 may not need to detect the expiration date information. Note that examples of products that require multiple sides to be photographed include products in which the expiration date is written on a side that has relatively few image features, products in which the package shape and color features are few, products in which the expiration date is difficult to read, and the like.

[0107] In the above-described embodiment, the terminal 10 detects the expiration date information, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. For example, the terminal 10 may transmit a product image to the information processing device 20, and the information processing device 20 may detect the expiration date information based on the product image. In addition, the terminal 10 may transmit a product image to an external device different from the information processing device 20, and the external device that receives the product image may detect the expiration date information based on the product image, and the information processing device 20 may obtain the detected expiration date information from the external device.

[0108] In the above-described embodiment, an example in which at least one of the expiration date information and the expiry date information is notified has been shown, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The date of manufacture (or the date and time of manufacture) of the product may be notified. For example, the number of bits in the expiration date information field shown in FIG. 4 may be extended by one bit, and the expiration date information, the expiry date information, and the date of manufacture information may be classified and notified. For example, when the upper two bits of the expiration date information field are set to "00", the third bit and subsequent bits indicate the expiration date. When the upper two bits of the expiration date information field are set to "01", the third bit and subsequent bits of the expiration date information field indicate the expiry date. When the upper two bits of the expiration date information field are set to "10", the third bit and subsequent bits of the expiration date information field indicate the date of manufacture. Note that both the date of manufacture information and the expiration date information or the expiry date information may be notified. In this case, a field including the date of manufacture information may be added to the format shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 4. In addition to food products, stores may also sell products with expiration dates, such as medicines. In this case, the expiration date may be notified instead of the best-before / expiration date information. In this case, the setting value of the upper two bits of the best-before / expiration date information field may be selected as appropriate depending on the properties of the product. For example, in the case of medicines, there is a concern that side effects may occur if medicines that have passed their expiration date are used, so they may be set to "01", the same value as the expiration date.

[0109] Among products, there are some that have a different method of describing the expiration date, best before date, manufacturing date, etc., from other products. For example, the order of describing the "year," "month," and "day," the number of digits in the "year," etc., of a product manufactured overseas and imported may differ from the method of describing a product manufactured domestically. In such a case, the terminal 10 (or the information processing device 20) may store the method for each product in association with it. In this case, the terminal 10 identifies the product by image recognition processing of the product image, and detects the expiration date information, best before date information, manufacturing date information, etc., based on the description method associated with the identified product and the result of performing OCR processing on the product image.

[0110] The information processing device 20 determines instructions to the store clerk based on the relative relationship between the expiration date information and the number of days remaining until the expiration date indicated by the expiration date information. For example, the information processing device 20 determines that when the number of days remaining until the expiration date falls below a predetermined number of days, the information processing device 20 instructs the store clerk to lower the price of the product (for example, attaching a sticker indicating that the product will be discounted, or displaying on an electronic shelf label or the like that the product will be discounted). The timing of the instruction to lower the price of the product may be adjusted according to the situation of the store. For example, when the store is crowded and a lot of products are sold, the instruction to lower the price of the product may be suspended. For example, when the product is a food product, food products are sold in large quantities during meal times, so the instruction to lower the price of the food product may be given at a time other than meal times.

[0111] When the terminal 10 fails to detect the expiration date information, the terminal 10 may output an alarm indicating that the terminal 10 was unable to detect the expiration date information. For example, the alarm is output by at least one of displaying a warning message and outputting a warning sound. Furthermore, when the information processing device 20 is not notified of notification information including the expiration date information, the information processing device 20 may transmit a response signal that causes the terminal 10 to output an alarm. Furthermore, the terminal 10 may output an alarm during the product replenishment stage (and / or product storage stage) but not during the payment stage. By not outputting an alarm during the payment stage, the time required for payment can be reduced and inconvenience to the customer can be avoided.

[0112] In the above embodiment, the information processing device 20 performs each process (e.g., instructions to a store clerk) by focusing on the oldest expiration date among the expiration dates of a certain product, but the present disclosure is not limited to this. For example, each process may be performed based on other information related to expiration dates, such as the second or subsequent oldest expiration date of a certain product, the average expiration date, etc. In addition, the type of information related to expiration dates to be used may be changeable depending on the work situation of the store clerk and / or instructions from the manager. For example, if only one product has an exceptionally old expiration date among many products displayed on a display shelf, focusing on the longest expiration date will instruct the store clerk to replace the product, etc. In this case, however, most of the products displayed on the display shelf, except for the product with the exceptionally old expiration date, have relatively new expiration dates, so there is no impact on the overall situation even if the product is not replaced, etc. Therefore, if the information processing device 20 instructs the store clerk to replace the product, etc. based on a judgment based on the oldest expiration date, the amount of work for the store clerk will be excessive. In such a case, it is expected that the operation of the entire store can be made more efficient by switching the judgment method to use other information related to the expiration date instead of using the oldest expiration date. For the sake of simplicity, an example focusing on the oldest expiration date will be described in the process flow described below, but other information related to the expiration date may also be used.

[0113] <Processing flow> Next, an example of the process flow of each of the terminal 10 and the information processing device 20 will be described. Note that the process flow below is an example, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Some processes in the process flow described below may not be executed, processes not included in the process flow described below may be added, and the order of the processes may be different from the description below.

[0114] Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the process flow of the terminal 10 according to this embodiment. The flowchart shown in Fig. 9 shows the process flow of the terminal 10 used by a store clerk. For example, the flowchart shown in Fig. 9 may be started when the power of the terminal 10 is turned on, and may be ended when the power of the terminal 10 is turned off. Alternatively, the flowchart shown in Fig. 12 may be started when the store clerk who owns the terminal 10 inputs into the terminal 10 that he or she is about to start work, and may be ended when the store clerk inputs into the terminal 10 that he or she is about to end work.

[0115] The terminal 10 determines whether or not instruction information has been received from the information processing device 20 (S101).

[0116] If the instruction information has not been received (NO in S101), the flow proceeds to S103.

[0117] When instruction information has been received (YES in S101), the terminal 10 displays information indicating instructions to the store clerk (S102).

[0118] The terminal 10 determines whether the mode of the terminal 10 is a product replenishment mode or a product storage mode (S103). For example, the terminal 10 makes this determination based on the mode set by an operation by a store clerk.

[0119] If the terminal 10 is not in the product replenishment mode or product stocking mode (NO in S103), for example, if the terminal 10 is in a mode for an operation other than the product replenishment stage or the product stocking stage performed by a store clerk, the flow returns to S101.

[0120] If the terminal 10 is in a product replenishment mode or a product storage mode (YES in S103), the terminal 10 acquires a product image, performs image recognition, and identifies the product in the product image (S104). If there are multiple products, image recognition is performed for each product.

[0121] The terminal 10 performs OCR processing on the product image to detect the expiration date information (S105). If there are multiple products, the expiration date information of each product is detected.

[0122] The terminal 10 generates notification information to be sent to the information processing device 20, and sends the notification information to the information processing device 20 (S106). The notification information includes a product ID indicating the identified product and expiration date information indicating the expiration date of the product. Then, the flow returns to S101.

[0123] FIG. 9 shows an example in which the terminal 10 is in the product replenishment mode or the product storage mode. However, if the terminal 10 is in the payment mode, steps S101 to S103 in FIG. 9 may be omitted, and steps S104 to S107 may be performed.

[0124] Fig. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing of information processing device 20 according to this embodiment. The flowchart shown in Fig. 10 may be started, for example, when information processing device 20 is powered on, and ended when the power is turned off. Alternatively, the flowchart shown in Fig. 10 may be started, for example, when terminal 10 is powered on, and ended when terminal 10 is powered off. Alternatively, the flowchart shown in Fig. 10 may be started, for example, when a store clerk who owns terminal 10 inputs into terminal 10 that he or she is about to start work, and ended when the store clerk inputs into terminal 10 that he or she is about to end work.

[0125] The information processing device 20 determines whether or not notification information has been received from the terminal 10 (S201).

[0126] If no notification information has been received from the terminal 10 (NO in S201), the flow returns to S201.

[0127] When notification information has been received from terminal 10 (YES in S201), information processing device 20 determines whether or not the mode of terminal 10 that has transmitted the notification information is the payment mode (S202).

[0128] If terminal 10 is in the payment mode (YES in S202), information processing device 20 updates the information on the products on the display shelves (for example, information on the number of products on the display shelves in the database) based on the expiration date information included in the notification information (S203).

[0129] The information processing device 20 determines whether the product with the oldest expiration date has been sold (S204).

[0130] If the product with the oldest expiration date has been sold (YES in S204), the flow returns to S201. Here, the case where the product with the oldest expiration date has been sold may be a case where there is no product in the warehouse or on the display shelf with an expiration date older than the expiration date indicated by the expiration date information included in the notification information.

[0131] If the product with the oldest expiration date is not on sale (NO in S204), the information processing device 20 generates instruction information instructing the operation to be performed when the product with the oldest expiration date is not on sale, and transmits it to the terminal 10 (S205). Then, the flow returns to S201. Here, the case where the product with the oldest expiration date is not on sale may mean that a product with an expiration date older than the expiration date indicated by the expiration date information included in the notification information is present in the warehouse and / or on the display shelf. Here, the operation to be performed when the product with the oldest expiration date is not on sale may be, for example, the operation of checking the display order of the product and / or the operation of rearranging the display order of the product in order of oldest expiration date. Alternatively, it may be the operation of returning the products other than the one with the oldest expiration date to the warehouse.

[0132] If the mode of the terminal 10 is not the payment mode (NO in S202), the information processing device 20 determines whether the mode of the terminal 10 that is the sender of the notification information is the product storage mode (S206).

[0133] If the terminal 10 is in the product storage mode (YES in S206), the information processing device 20 updates the information on the products in the warehouse (for example, the information on the number of warehouses in the database) based on the expiration date information included in the notification information (S207). Then, the flow returns to S201.

[0134] If the terminal 10 is not in the product storage mode (NO in S206), for example, if the terminal 10 is in the product replenishment mode, the information processing device 20 determines whether or not to replenish the product with the oldest expiration date (S208).

[0135] If the product with the oldest expiration date is to be replenished (YES in S208), the information processing device 20 updates the product information on the shelves (e.g., information on the number of products) and the product information in the warehouse (e.g., information on the number of warehouses) based on the expiration date information included in the notification information (S209). Then, the flow returns to S201. Here, the case where the product with the oldest expiration date is to be replenished may be when there is no product in the warehouse with an expiration date older than the expiration date indicated by the expiration date information included in the notification information.

[0136] If the product with the oldest expiration date is not replenished (NO in S208), the information processing device 20 generates instruction information instructing the operation to be performed when the product with the oldest expiration date is not replenished, and transmits it to the terminal 10 (S210). Then, the flow returns to S201. Here, the case where the product with the oldest expiration date is not replenished may be a case where a product with an older expiration date than the expiration date indicated by the expiration date information included in the notification information is present in the warehouse for a certain product. Here, the operation to be performed when the product with the oldest expiration date is not replenished may be, for example, a task of changing the product to be replenished to the product with the oldest expiration date. Then, the flow returns to S201.

[0137] <Example of device configuration> Next, an example of the device configuration of each of the terminal 10 and the information processing device 20 will be described. Note that the following device configuration is an example, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Some of the configurations of the device configurations described below may be omitted, and configurations not included in the device configurations described below may be added.

[0138] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the terminal 10 according to the present embodiment. The terminal 10 shown in FIG. 11 has a storage unit 101, an image analysis unit 102, an expiration date information detection unit 103, a notification information generation unit 104, a transmission unit 105, a reception unit 106, an instruction information analysis unit 107, a display control unit 108, and a display unit 109. One or more of the image analysis unit 102, the expiration date information detection unit 103, the notification information generation unit 104, the instruction information analysis unit 107, and the display control unit 108 may be collectively referred to as a control unit or a processing unit. Furthermore, the transmission unit 105 and the reception unit 106 may be collectively referred to as a communication unit. Furthermore, the terminal 10 may be referred to as an information processing device.

[0139] Information about products sold in the store is pre-stored in the storage unit 101. The information about the product includes an image of the product, the product ID of the product, the price of the product, the display location of the product, and information about the location on the package of the product where the expiration date is indicated. Products sold in the store and whose information is pre-stored in the storage unit 101 are hereinafter referred to as registered products.

[0140] The image analysis unit 102 acquires the captured product image. The product image is acquired, for example, from a camera (not shown in FIG. 11) mounted on the terminal 10, or a camera (not shown in FIG. 11) connected to the terminal 10 by wire or wirelessly. The product photographed here is a product that the store clerk who owns the terminal 10 wishes to display, or a product that the customer using the terminal 10 wishes to purchase. The product photographed here is referred to as a product to be analyzed.

[0141] The image analysis unit 102 calculates the similarity between the product image of the analysis target product and the image of the registered product based on the captured product image of the analysis target product and the image of the registered product stored in the memory unit 101. The image analysis unit 102 compares the similarity of each of the registered products for one analysis target product and determines the registered product corresponding to the highest similarity. If the highest similarity is equal to or greater than a threshold, it determines that the analysis target product corresponds to the registered product corresponding to the highest similarity. If the highest similarity is not equal to or greater than the threshold, the image analysis unit 102 outputs an error. If an error is output, an error message and / or a message requesting that the analysis target product be photographed again is displayed on the display unit 106 of the terminal 10.

[0142] The expiration date information detection unit 103 detects the expiration date information of the analysis target product from the captured image of the analysis target product. The expiration date information detection unit 103 reads information on the location of the expiration date on the package of the registered product corresponding to the analysis target product from the memory unit 101. Then, the expiration date information detection unit 103 detects the expiration date information indicated on the package by OCR.

[0143] The notification information generating unit 104 generates notification information including the product ID of the product to be analyzed and the detected expiration date information in accordance with the notification information format described above.

[0144] The transmitting unit 105 transmits the notification information to the information processing device 20. For example, the transmitting unit 105 generates a transmission signal including the notification information, and transmits the transmission signal to the information processing device 20.

[0145] The receiving unit 106 receives the instruction information from the information processing device 20. For example, the receiving unit 106 receives a reception signal including the instruction information.

[0146] The instruction information analysis unit 107 analyzes the content of the work instructed to the store clerk from the instruction information.

[0147] Based on the analysis result, the display control unit 108 controls the display on the display unit 109. For example, the display control unit 108 causes the display unit 109 to display a message indicating that the instruction information is an instruction to a store clerk.

[0148] The display unit 109 displays information to the store clerk under the control of the display control unit 108.

[0149] Fig. 12 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the information processing device 20 according to the present embodiment. The information processing device 20 shown in Fig. 12 has a receiving unit 201, a notification information analysis unit 202, a terminal mode extraction unit 203, a shelf life determination unit 204, a DB update unit 205, an instruction information generation unit 206, and a transmission unit 207. One or more of the notification information analysis unit 202, the terminal mode extraction unit 203, the shelf life determination unit 204, the DB update unit 205, and the instruction information generation unit 206 may be collectively referred to as a control unit or a processing unit. In addition, the receiving unit 201 and the transmission unit 207 may be collectively referred to as a communication unit.

[0150] The receiving unit 201 receives a signal including notification information from the terminal 10.

[0151] The notification information analysis unit 202 extracts the expiration date information of the product and the mode information of the terminal 10 from the notification information.

[0152] The terminal mode extraction unit 203 determines the terminal mode based on the extracted mode information.

[0153] The expiration date determination unit 204 determines instructions to the store clerk based on at least one piece of information in the expiration date information database. For example, the expiration date determination unit 204 determines whether instructions to the store clerk are necessary based on at least one piece of information in the expiration date information database, the extracted expiration date information, and the terminal mode. When giving instructions to the store clerk, the expiration date determination unit 204 determines the content of the instructions. When giving instructions to the store clerk, the expiration date determination unit 204 outputs the content of the instructions to the instruction information generation unit 206.

[0154] The DB update unit 205 has an expiration date information database. The DB update unit 205 updates the expiration date information database based on the extracted expiration date information and the terminal mode. For example, the DB update unit 205 manages the expiration date information of products in the warehouse and the expiration date information of products on the shelves separately in the expiration date information database.

[0155] The instruction information generating unit 206 generates instruction information including the instruction content determined by the expiration date determining unit 204 .

[0156] The transmitting unit 207 transmits the instruction information to the terminal 10. For example, the transmitting unit 207 generates a transmission signal including the instruction information, and transmits the transmission signal to the terminal 10.

[0157] In the information processing device 20 described above, the receiving unit 201 acquires expiration date information (an example of expiration date information) set for products in the store. The DB updating unit 205 (an example of a control unit) manages the expiration dates of products on display shelves (an example of products stored in a first state in which the products are available for purchase by customers in the store) separately from the expiration dates of products in the warehouse (an example of products stored in a second state in which the products are not available for purchase by customers in the store) based on the expiration date information.

[0158] In addition, in the information processing device 20, the receiving unit 201 acquires expiration date information at the product inventory stage (an example of a stage when the product state changes to a first state), the product replenishment stage (an example of a stage when the product state changes from a second state to the first state), and the payment stage (an example of a stage when the product is removed from the store).

[0159] In addition, in the information processing device 20, the transmission unit 207 transmits instruction information indicating instructions to the store clerk to the terminal 10. The expiration date determination unit 204 (an example of a control unit) determines instructions to the store clerk based on at least one of the expiration dates of the products on the display shelves and the expiration dates of the products in the warehouse.

[0160] In addition, in the information processing device 20, if the expiration date of the product indicated by the expiration date information acquired at the product replenishment stage is newer than the expiration date of the product in the warehouse, the expiration date determination unit 204 instructs the store clerk to change the product to be replenished (an example of a product to be put into the first state).

[0161] In addition, in the information processing device 20, if the expiration date of a product indicated by the expiration date information obtained at the time the product was purchased is newer than the expiration date of products in the store (an example of a product stored in the first state or the second state), the expiration date determination unit 204 instructs a store clerk to check the arrangement of products on the shelves.

[0162] In addition, in the information processing device 20, if the expiration date of the product indicated by the expiration date information obtained at the time the product was purchased is newer than the expiration date of the product in the store, the expiration date determination unit 204 instructs the store clerk to move the product on the display shelf to the warehouse (an example of changing to a second state).

[0163] In the information processing device 20, the receiving unit 201 receives from the terminal 10 owned by the store clerk information indicating that the mode of the terminal 10 is either a product storage mode (an example of a first mode in which the state of the product becomes the first state) or a product replenishment mode (an example of a second mode in which the state of the product is changed from the second state to the first state), and the expiration date information. The expiration date determination unit 204 and / or the DB update unit 205 (an example of a control unit) switch the processing of the expiration date information depending on the mode.

[0164] It should be noted that the "... section" in the above embodiments may be a "... circuit", a "... device", a "... unit", or a "... module".

[0165] The present disclosure can be realized in software, hardware, or software in conjunction with hardware.

[0166] Each functional block used in the description of the above embodiments may be partially or entirely realized as an LSI, which is an integrated circuit, and each process described in the above embodiments may be partially or entirely controlled by one LSI or a combination of LSIs. The LSI may be composed of individual chips, or may be composed of one chip that includes some or all of the functional blocks. The LSI may have data input and output. Depending on the degree of integration, the LSI may be called an IC, a system LSI, a super LSI, or an ultra LSI.

[0167] The method of integration is not limited to LSI, and may be realized by a dedicated circuit, a general-purpose processor, or a dedicated processor. Also, after LSI manufacturing, a programmable FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) or a reconfigurable processor that can reconfigure the connections and settings of circuit cells inside the LSI may be used. The present disclosure may be realized as digital processing or analog processing.

[0168] Furthermore, if a new integrated circuit technology that can replace LSI appears due to the progress of semiconductor technology or a derivative technology, it is possible to integrate the functional blocks using that technology. The application of biotechnology is also a possibility.

[0169] The present disclosure may be implemented in any type of apparatus, device, or system with communications capabilities (collectively, communications apparatus), including, but not limited to, telephones (e.g., cell phones, smartphones, etc.), tablets, personal computers (PCs) (e.g., laptops, desktops, notebooks, etc.), cameras (e.g., digital still / video cameras), digital players (e.g., digital audio / video players), wearable devices (e.g., wearable cameras, smart watches, tracking devices, etc.), game consoles, digital book readers, telehealth / telemedicine devices, communications-enabled vehicles or mobile conveyances (e.g., cars, planes, ships, etc.), and combinations of the above-mentioned devices.

[0170] Communications Equipment includes, but is not limited to portable or mobile equipment, non-portable or fixed equipment, devices and systems of any kind, such as smart home devices (appliances, lighting equipment, smart meters or metering devices, control panels, etc.), vending machines and any other "Things" that may exist on an Internet of Things (IoT) network.

[0171] Communications include data communications via cellular systems, wireless LAN systems, communications satellite systems, etc., as well as data communications via combinations of these.

[0172] A communications apparatus also includes devices, such as controllers and sensors, connected or coupled to a communications device that performs the communications functions described in this disclosure, such as controllers and sensors that generate control and data signals used by the communications device to perform the communications functions of the communications apparatus.

[0173] The communication apparatus also includes infrastructure facilities, such as base stations, access points, and any other apparatus, device, or system that communicates with or controls the various apparatuses listed above, but are not limited to these.

[0174] Although various embodiments have been described above with reference to the drawings, it goes without saying that the present disclosure is not limited to such examples. It is clear that a person skilled in the art can come up with various modified or amended examples within the scope of the claims, and it is understood that these also naturally belong to the technical scope of the present disclosure. In addition, the components in the above-mentioned embodiments may be arbitrarily combined within the scope of the disclosure.

[0175] Although specific examples of the present disclosure have been described in detail above, these are merely examples and do not limit the scope of the claims. The technology described in the claims includes various modifications and alterations of the specific examples exemplified above. [Industrial Applicability]

[0176] The present disclosure is suitable for a wireless communication system. [Explanation of symbols]

[0177] 10 Terminal 20 Information processing device 101 Storage section 102 Image Analysis Department 103 Expiration date information detection unit 104 Notification information generation unit 105, 207 Transmitter 106, 201 Receiver 107 Instruction information analysis department 108 Display control unit 109 Display section 202 Notification Information Analysis Department 203 Terminal Mode Extraction Unit 204 Expiration Date Determination Department 205 DB update section 206 Instruction information generation unit

Claims

1. A receiving unit that acquires expiration information regarding an expiration date set for an item in a store; a control unit that manages, based on the expiration date information, the expiration date of a product stored in the store in a first state that is available for purchase by a customer and the expiration date of a product stored in the store in a second state that is not available for purchase by the customer, by distinguishing between the expiration date of the product stored in the store in a first state that is available for purchase by a customer and the expiration date of the product stored in the store in a second state that is not available for purchase by the customer; An information processing device comprising:

2. the receiving unit acquires the expiration date information at a stage when the state of the product becomes the first state, at a stage when the state of the product becomes the first state from the second state, and at a stage when the product is lost from the store. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

3. a transmission unit that transmits instruction information indicating instructions to a store clerk at the store to a terminal carried by the store clerk; The control unit determines the instruction to the store clerk based on at least one of the expiration date of the product stored in the first state and the expiration date of the product stored in the second state. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

4. When the expiration date of the product indicated by the expiration date information acquired at the stage where the store clerk changes the state of the product from the second state to the first state is newer than the expiration date of the product stored in the second state, the control unit instructs the store clerk to change the product to the first state. The information processing device according to claim 3 .

5. When the expiration date of the product indicated by the expiration date information acquired at the stage when the product was purchased is newer than the expiration date of the product stored in the first state or the second state, the control unit instructs the store clerk to check the arrangement of the products in the first state. The information processing device according to claim 3 .

6. When the expiration date of the product indicated by the expiration date information acquired at the stage when the product was purchased is newer than the expiration date of the product stored in the first state or the second state, the control unit instructs the store clerk to change the product in the first state to the second state. The information processing device according to claim 3 .

7. the receiving unit acquires, from a terminal owned by a clerk of the store, information indicating that the mode of the terminal is either a first mode in which the state of the product becomes the first state, or a second mode in which the product is changed from the second state to the first state, and the deadline information; The control unit switches processing of the deadline information depending on the mode. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

8. An information processing device, Obtain expiration information regarding the expiration date set for products in the store, Based on the expiration date information, the expiration date of a product stored in the store in a first state where the product can be purchased by a customer is managed separately from the expiration date of a product stored in the store in a second state where the product cannot be purchased by the customer. Information processing methods.

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