Application management system, application management device, application management method and program

Abstract

To provide an application management system improving convenience for users by arranging a plurality of mini-application icons at positions suitable for the users.SOLUTION: An application management system includes: a first device for acquiring, for each of a plurality of mini-applications, first information representing total sales of products or services and second information representing the number of times the mini-applications have been selected by users, and generating ranking information representing rankings of the plurality of mini-applications on the basis of the first information and the second information; a second device for acquiring icon images of each of the plurality of mini-applications that are ranked high based on the ranking information; and a third device for instructing a user terminal device to display the icon images according to the ranking information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an application management device, an application management system, an application management method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, there has been known a mini-application that is installed in a user terminal device used by a user and is activated in response to the user's operation. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes a user terminal device that displays icons of a plurality of mini-applications on a display unit.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, in the user terminal device described in Patent Document 1, since the positions of the icons of a plurality of mini-applications cannot be changed according to the usage status of the user's mini-applications, it may be inconvenient for the user.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and one of the objectives is to provide an application management system, an application management device, an application management method, and a program that can improve the convenience for the user by arranging the icons of a plurality of mini-applications at positions suitable for the user.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] One aspect of the present invention is an application management system that can communicate with a user terminal device on which a plurality of mini-applications are installed and used by a user. For each of the plurality of mini-applications, first information indicating the total sales amount of a product or service and second information indicating the number of times selected by the user are acquired, and ranking information indicating the ranking of the plurality of mini-applications is generated based on the first information and the second information. A first device, a second device that acquires an icon image of each of the plurality of mini-applications ranked at the top based on the ranking information, and a third device that instructs the user terminal device to display the icon image according to the ranking information. It is an application management system provided with.

Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an application management system, an application management device, an application management method, and a program that can improve the convenience for the user by arranging the icons of a plurality of mini-applications at positions suitable for the user.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008]

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Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, embodiments of the application management system, application management apparatus, application management method, and program of the present invention will be described. Various apparatuses such as "servers" that appear hereinafter for providing services to users or performing internal analysis may be realized by a decentralized group of apparatuses, and the operators of each apparatus may be different. Also, the holder of the hardware of the apparatus (provider of the cloud server) and the operator who actually operates may be different. The electronic payment service is a service that supports payment related to the purchase of goods and services in a store. The store is, for example, a physical store (actual store) existing in the real space, but may include a virtual store for e-commerce. The virtual store may include those provided by a subject different from the operator of the electronic payment service. In that case, at the time of payment for shopping in the virtual store, it is controlled to transition to the interface screen of the electronic payment service. In the electronic payment service, the store is, for example, treated as belonging to a franchise (brand), and processing such as payment when a purchase action is performed in the store is mainly performed between the user and the franchise. Instead of this, processing such as payment may be performed between the user and the store.

[0010] <First Embodiment> [Electronic Payment Service] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration for realizing an electronic payment service. The electronic payment service is realized centering around a payment server 100. The payment server 100 communicates with each of, for example, one or more user terminal devices 200, one or more first store terminal devices 50, and one or more second store terminal devices 70 via a network NW. The network NW includes, for example, the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), a wireless base station, a provider device, and the like.

[0011] The user terminal device 200 is a portable terminal device such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal, for example. The user terminal device 200 is a computer device having at least an optical reading function, a communication function, a display function, an input reception function, and a program execution function. In the following description, the configurations for realizing these functions are respectively referred to as a camera, a communication device, a touch panel, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), etc. In the user terminal device 200, the settlement application (hereinafter referred to as the settlement app) 20 is executed by a processor such as a CPU, and operates to provide an electronic payment service to the user in cooperation with the settlement server 100. The settlement app 20 is installed in the user terminal device 200 from an application store, for example, and controls a camera, a communication device, a touch panel, etc.

[0012] The first store terminal device 50 is installed in a store, for example. The first store terminal device 50 is a computer device having at least a product price acquisition function, an optical reading function, a program execution function, and a communication function. The first store terminal device 50 includes a so-called POS (Point of Sale) device, and the product price acquisition function and the optical reading function may be realized by the POS device. The store code image 60 is placed in the store and is a code image such as a QR code (registered trademark) printed on a paper or plastic medium. Note that the store code image 60 may be displayed by a display placed in the store (which may be a display of a terminal device such as a smartphone).

[0013] The second store terminal device 70 is used by the operator of the franchise store. The second store terminal device 70 is a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a personal computer, or the like. In the second store terminal device 70, an interface 72 for franchise stores operates. The interface 72 for franchise stores may be a franchise store app or a browser. The interface 72 for franchise stores accepts settings of coupons and the like by the operator of the franchise store and transmits them to the payment server 100. The second store terminal device 70 which is a smartphone has functions of displaying a code image corresponding to a store code image or reading a code image displayed by the user terminal device 200 by executing the franchise store app.

[0014] The payment server 100 realizes electronic payment based on the payment information received from the user terminal device 200 or the first store terminal device 50. The first store terminal device 50 may include a POS device and a franchise store server. In that case, the payment information is transmitted from the POS device to the payment server 100 via the franchise store server. In the following description, without particularly distinguishing this, it is assumed that the payment information is transmitted from the first store terminal device 50.

[0015] The first device 300-1, the second device 300-2, and the third device 300-3 are computers that respectively constitute an application management system and communicate with other devices via the network NW. Details of the first device 300-1, the second device 300-2, and the third device 300-3 will be described later.

[0016] FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 are sequence diagrams illustrating a rough flow of electronic payment. There may be two patterns, pattern 1 and pattern 2, in electronic payment.

[0017] In the case of Pattern 1 shown in FIG. 2 (hereinafter referred to as user scan), the user terminal device 200 in the state where the settlement application 20 is started decodes the store code image 60 by means of an optical reading function (S1). The store code image 60 contains information on the store URL (Uniform Resource Locator). This store URL is obtained by adding information capable of identifying the store to the domain of the electronic payment service, and is associated with a franchise store ID, a store ID, etc. in the payment server 100 (described later). The settlement application 20 transmits first settlement information including the store URL and the account ID to the settlement server 100 (S2). The settlement server 100 searches for store information (described later) from the franchise store ID and the store ID corresponding to the store URL, acquires information on the franchise store name and the store name (S3), and transmits it to the settlement application 20 (S4). The user inputs the settlement amount into the user terminal device 200 on the screen where the franchise store name and the store name are displayed (S5). Then, the user terminal device 200 generates second settlement information including at least the settlement amount, and transmits it to the settlement server 100 (S6). The settlement server 100 performs an electronic settlement based on the received second settlement information (S7). Then, the settlement server 100 transmits a settlement completion notification (information for displaying a settlement completion screen) to the settlement application 20 (S8), and the settlement application 20 displays a settlement completion screen (S9). When the store code image 60 is displayed by a display placed in the store, the store code image 60 may contain not only the store URL but also settlement amount information. In this case, the procedure for the user to input the settlement amount is omitted, and the settlement amount information is included in the first settlement information and transmitted to the settlement server 100. Information on the franchise store name and the store name may be included and displayed on the settlement completion screen.

[0018] In the case of pattern 2 shown in FIG. 3 (hereinafter referred to as store scan), when the payment application 20 is launched, when a payment operation is performed in the payment application 20, when it reaches the automatic update timing (for example, every minute), and at other timings, the payment application 20 sends a request for issuing a one-time code to the payment server 100 (S11). The payment server 100 generates a one-time code (S12) and sends it to the payment application 20 (S13). The payment application 20 displays a code image such as a QR code or a barcode generated based on the one-time code (S14). The user shields (presents) the display surface of the user terminal device 200 against the first store terminal device 50. The first store terminal device 50 decodes the code image by means of an optical reading function and acquires a one-time code or the like (S15). Then, the first store terminal device 50 generates payment information including a one-time code, a payment amount, a franchise store ID, a store ID, etc., and sends it to the payment server 100 (S16). The information on the payment amount has been acquired in advance by barcode reading, manual input, or the like. The payment server 100 identifies the user corresponding to the one-time code based on the received information and performs an electronic payment (S17). Then, the payment server 100 sends a payment completion notification to the payment application 20 (S18), and the payment application 20 displays a payment completion screen (S19).

[0019] Note that the electronic payment may be performed in only one of the above patterns. Also, the "account ID" described in FIG. 2 may be other information (for example, a telephone number) that can be used as identification information of the user. Also, in the store scan, the issuance of the one-time code may be omitted, and the payment application 20 may display a code image generated based on the user's account ID. In that case, instead of identifying the user corresponding to the one-time code, the payment server 100 identifies the user corresponding to the account ID.

[0020] [Payment Server] FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of the settlement server 100 according to the first embodiment. The settlement server 100 includes, for example, a communication unit 110, a settlement content providing unit 120, a settlement processing unit 130, an information management unit 140, and a storage unit 170. Components other than the communication unit 110 and the storage unit 170 are realized, for example, by a hardware processor such as a CPU executing a program (software). Some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including a circuit unit; circuitry) such as LSI (Large Scale Integration), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or may be realized by the cooperation of software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device (a storage device including a non-transitory storage medium) such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or a flash memory, or may be stored in a removable storage medium (a non-transitory storage medium) such as a DVD or a CD-ROM, and may be installed in the storage device when the storage medium is mounted on a drive device.

[0021] The storage unit 170 is an HDD, a flash memory, a RAM (Random Access Memory), or the like. The storage unit 170 may be a NAS (Network Attached Storage) device accessible by the settlement server 100 via a network. Information such as user information 172, settlement content information 174, and franchise / store information 176 is stored in the storage unit 170.

[0022] The communication unit 110 is a communication interface for connecting to the network NW. The communication unit 110 is, for example, a network interface card.

[0023] The settlement content providing unit 120 has, for example, the function of a web server and provides information (content) for displaying various screens of the electronic payment service to the user terminal device 200. The settlement content providing unit 120 appropriately reads necessary content from the settlement content information 174 and provides it to the user terminal device 200. The user terminal device 200 accepts various inputs by the user in a state where the content is reproduced by the payment application 20 and transmits the above-described payment information and the like to the payment server 100.

[0024] The settlement processing unit 130 performs settlement processing based on the settlement information transmitted by the user terminal device 200 or the first store terminal device 50. The settlement processing unit 130 performs settlement processing while referring to the user information 172.

[0025] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the content of the user information 172. The user information 172 is an example of the user's registration information. The user information 172 includes, for example, a user URL, an account ID, a phone number, a password, as well as an email address, a user ID, name, address, gender, date of birth, registration date, charge balance, post-payment setting, post-payment limit, post-payment usage amount, post-payment available amount, payment method setting, bank account, credit card number, charge history information, settlement history information, and other information that are associated with each other. The user URL is used for money transfer processing between users. When newly registering for the electronic payment service, registration of a phone number and a password is required. The account ID is issued to the user by the payment server 100, and the user ID is an ID that the user can optionally set (not necessarily set). Similarly, the email address, and the name, address, and date of birth are also information that the user can optionally set (not necessarily set). The registration date is the date when the user registered for the electronic payment service (the date when the account was created). Hereinafter, an instance (electronic payment account) of the user in which these pieces of information are associated with each other is referred to as an account.

[0026] The remaining balance of the charge indicates the information of the remaining balance of the electronic money set by the user by remitting money to the account in advance. As means of remittance, there are remittances from the ATM (Automatic Teller Machine) of a designated business operator (bank), remittances from a registered bank account, etc. The post-payment setting is information indicating whether or not the setting for enabling electronic payment by post-payment has been completed, and is set to either "completed" or "not completed". The post-payment limit is the limit amount of post-payment available per month, the post-payment usage amount is the amount of post-payment already used in the current month, and the available post-payment amount is the amount of post-payment available in the current month obtained by subtracting the post-payment usage amount from the post-payment limit. Although only one post-payment limit is shown in the figure, in reality, there are further upper limits per day, etc., and the lower of them may be set as the post-payment limit. Further details of the post-payment will be described later. The payment method setting is setting information indicating whether the user makes an electronic payment using the remaining balance of the charge or makes a payment by post-payment at that time. Each of the bank account and the credit card number is information (account number, card number) of a bank account or a credit card number that can receive deposits for the electronic payment service. The charge history information is the history of the user increasing the remaining balance of the charge by remitting money to the electronic payment service in advance. The settlement history information is information showing the breakdown of the settlements made by the user (date and time, store ID of the store where the purchase action was performed, settlement amount, settlement method, etc.) for each settlement.

[0027] Figure 6 is a diagram showing an example of the content of the affiliated store / store information 176. The affiliated store / store information 176 includes, for example, a first table 176A in which an affiliated store ID and a store ID are associated with a store URL, a second table 176B in which an affiliated store name and sales amount are associated with the affiliated store ID, and a third table 176C in which a store name is associated with the store ID. In addition to these information, the affiliated store / store information 176 may include information such as the category of the affiliated store or store, the location of the store, and the settlement pattern.

[0028] The information management department 140 manages user information 172 and franchise / store information 176 based on the information acquired from the user terminal device 200 and the second store terminal device 70. The information management department 140 adds, edits, deletes, etc. new records for the user information 172 and the franchise / store information 176.

[0029] [Electronic payment] When the settlement processing department 130 acquires settlement information from the user terminal device 200 or the first store terminal device 50, it refers to the user information 172 to obtain the "settlement method setting" of the user. For users whose "settlement method setting" is set to "charge balance", the settlement processing department 130 performs electronic payment as follows. The settlement processing department 130 performs electronic payment, for example, by reducing the charge balance managed in association with the user ID and increasing the item value of the sales amount of the franchise. The item value of the sales amount of the franchise is not, for example, itself used as electronic money, and the amount corresponding to the item value of the sales amount is remitted to the bank account in a cycle according to the agreement between the franchise and the electronic payment service.

[0030] For users whose "setting information" is set to "post-payment", the settlement processing department 130 performs electronic payment as follows. Post-payment is set separately from "credit payment" through cooperation with a credit card company, which is a separate entity from the operator of the electronic payment service. The operator of the electronic payment service acts as the creditor and allows electronic payment that does not depend on the charge balance within the range of the post-payment limit. In order to receive the post-payment service, it may be required to obtain a credit card provided by the operator of the electronic payment service. The amount used for post-payment is settled in one month's total on the payment date of the following month, for example, by direct debit from the bank account. In this case, the settlement processing department 130 performs a provisional settlement by adding the settlement amount to the post-payment usage amount and subtracting the same amount from the available post-payment amount, and performs processing to debit the settlement for the current month on the payment date of the following month as described above at the closing date, or requests the operator of the credit card company to perform the processing. If the settlement amount exceeds the available post-payment amount at the time of the provisional settlement, an error notification is returned to the settlement application 20.

[0031] [Home Screen] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the home screen of the payment application 20. As shown in FIG. 7, the home screen of the payment application 20 includes an area A1, an area A2, and an area A3. In the area A1, code images such as barcodes and QR codes (registered trademarks) used for smartphone payment are displayed. In the area A2, icons for instructing main operations in smartphone payment such as charging and scanning are displayed. In the area A3, various icons for launching various mini-applications (hereinafter referred to as mini-apps) executable by the payment application 20 are displayed.

[0032] Specifically, twelve icons IC1 to IC12 are displayed in the area A3. The icons IC1 to IC10 are icons for launching mini-apps. When the user selects (taps) any one of the icons IC1 to IC10, the payment application 20 launches the mini-app corresponding to the selected icon. The icon IC11 is a favorite icon. When the user selects (taps) the icon IC11, the payment application 20 causes the display unit of the user terminal device 200 to display a favorite screen for displaying a list of favorite mini-apps preset by the user. The icon IC12 is a function list icon. When the user selects (taps) the icon IC12, the payment application 20 causes the display unit of the user terminal device 200 to display a function list screen for displaying a list of all mini-apps.

[0033] Note that the icons IC1 to IC10 displayed in the area A3 are sorted based on the ranking information generated for each user. The details of the ranking information will be described later. The icon image of the mini - app ranked first is displayed as icon IC1, the icon image of the mini - app ranked second is displayed as icon IC2, ···, and the icon image of the mini - app ranked tenth is displayed as icon IC10. In this way, the icons IC1 to IC10 are sorted so that the icon images of the mini - apps with higher rankings are preferentially displayed. Note that although the icons of the mini - apps ranked 11th and below are not displayed in the area A3, they are displayed on the function list screen that is displayed when the user taps icon IC12.

[0034] [Operation of the Application Management System] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the application management system. The application management system of the present embodiment includes a first device 300 - 1, a second device 300 - 2, a third device 300 - 3, a payment app 20, a database DB1, a database DB2, a database DB3, and a database DB4.

[0035] The databases DB1 and DB2 are storage devices equipped with HDDs, flash memories, etc. The databases DB1 and DB2 may be incorporated into the first device 300 - 1 or provided as a device separate from the first device 300 - 1. The database DB1 stores the total sales amount information 81 (first information), and the database DB2 stores the selection count information 82 (second information).

[0036] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of total sales information 81. The total sales information 81 is information indicating the total sales of products or services for each of a plurality of mini-apps. As shown in FIG. 9, the total sales information 81 includes an app ID, an app name, and total sales. The app ID is identification information for identifying a mini-app. The app name is information indicating the name of the mini-app. The total sales is information indicating the total sales of the mini-app. The total sales may be, for example, GMV (Gross Merchandise Value). The total sales information 81 may be information stored in advance in a database DB1 by the operating company of the mini-app.

[0037] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of selection count information 82. The selection count information 82 is information indicating the number of times (taps or clicks) selected by a user for each of a plurality of mini-apps. As shown in FIG. 10, the selection count information 82 includes a user ID, an app ID, and a selection count. The user ID is identification information for identifying a user. The app ID is identification information for identifying a mini-app, similar to FIG. 9. The selection count is information indicating the number of times the mini-app has been selected from the payment app 20.

[0038] The selection count information 82 may be updated by the database DB2. For example, when a user selects any mini-app from the home screen of the payment app 20, as shown in FIG. 8, the user terminal device 200 may transmit selection information to the database DB2. The selection information is information including the user ID of the user who selected the mini-app and the app ID of the selected mini-app. The database DB2 may update the selection count information 82 based on the selection information received from the user terminal device 200. For example, when the database DB2 receives the selection information from the user terminal device 200, it may add 1 to the selection count associated with the user ID and app ID included in the selection information.

[0039] The first device 300-1 acquires the total sales information 81 from the database DB1 and acquires the selection count information 82 from the database DB2. Further, the first device 300-1 generates ranking information 83 indicating the rankings of a plurality of mini-apps based on the total sales information 81 and the database DB2. For example, the first device 300-1 may generate the ranking information 83 every predetermined period (e.g., one month).

[0040] Note that the first device 300-1 generates the ranking information 83 such that the higher the total sales of the mini-app, the higher the ranking, and the higher the selection count of the mini-app, the higher the ranking. For example, for each mini-app, the first device 300-1 calculates a first score that becomes a larger value as the total sales are higher, and a second score that becomes a larger value as the selection count is higher, and may generate a ranking of the mini-apps such that the higher the total value of the first score and the second score, the higher the ranking.

[0041] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the ranking information 83. The ranking information 83 is information indicating the rankings of a plurality of mini-apps. As shown in FIG. 11, the ranking information 83 includes a rank, an app ID, and an app name. The rank is information indicating the rank of the mini-app. The app ID is identification information for identifying the mini-app, similar to FIGS. 9 and 10. The app name is information indicating the name of the mini-app, similar to FIG. 9.

[0042] In the example shown in FIG. 11, the ranking information 83 includes the mini-apps from the 1st to the 10th place, but does not include the mini-apps after the 11th place. However, it is not limited to this. The ranking information 83 may include information on the mini-apps equal to or more than the number of mini-app icons that can be displayed on the home screen (FIG. 7) of the payment app 20.

[0043] Returning to the description of FIG. 8, the first device 300-1 stores the generated ranking information 83 in the database DB3. The database DB3 is a storage device including an HDD, a flash memory, or the like. The database DB3 may be incorporated into the first device 300-1 or may be provided as a device separate from the first device 300-1.

[0044] Note that the first device 300-1 generates ranking information 83 for each user. Therefore, the ranking information 83 is stored in the database DB3 (the first storage device) in a state associated with the user ID.

[0045] On the other hand, when the user activates the payment application 20 using the user terminal device 200, the payment application 20 causes the home screen shown in FIG. 7 to be displayed on the display unit of the user terminal device 200. At this time, the payment application 20 transmits an icon request for requesting icons of mini-apps to be displayed on the home screen to the third device 300-3. The icon request includes the user ID of the user using the user terminal device 200.

[0046] When the third device 300-3 receives the icon request from the user terminal device 200, the third device 300-3 transmits the icon request to the second device 300-2. In response to receiving the icon request from the third device 300-3, the second device 300-2 acquires icon images of a plurality of mini-apps ranked at the top based on the ranking information 83.

[0047] Specifically, the second device 300-2 acquires the ranking information 83 corresponding to the user ID included in the icon request received from the third device 300-3 from the database DB3. Further, the second device 300-2 acquires icon images corresponding to the app IDs of the top 1 to 10 mini-apps included in the acquired ranking information 83 from the database DB4 (the second storage device).

[0048] The database DB4 is a storage device equipped with a hard disk drive (HDD), a flash memory, or the like. The database DB4 may be incorporated into the second device 300-2 or provided as a device separate from the second device 300-2. The database DB4 stores the icon information 84.

[0049] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the icon information 84. The icon information 84 is information indicating icon images of a plurality of mini-apps. As shown in FIG. 12, the icon information 84 includes an app ID and an icon image. The app ID is identification information for identifying a mini-app, similar to FIGS. 9 to 11. The icon image is information indicating an image of the icon of the mini-app. For example, the icon image may be an address where the icon image is stored.

[0050] Returning to the description of FIG. 8, the second device 300-2 acquires, from the database DB4, icon images corresponding to the app IDs of the top 1 to 10 mini-apps included in the ranking information 83 acquired from the third device 300-3. For example, the second device 300-2 transmits the app IDs of the top 1 to 10 mini-apps in the ranking to the database DB4, and the database DB4 acquires, based on the icon information 84, the icon images corresponding to the app IDs received from the second device 300-2, and transmits the acquired icon images to the second device 300-2.

[0051] Next, the second device 300-2 transmits the ranking information 83 acquired from the database DB3 and the icon images acquired from the database DB4 to the third device 300-3. Further, the third device 300-3 instructs the user terminal device 200 to display the icon images according to the ranking information 83. Specifically, the third device 300-3 transmits the ranking information 83 and the icon images received from the second device 300-2 to the user terminal device 200.

[0052] The user terminal device 200 displays the home screen (Fig. 7) of the payment app 20 based on the ranking information 83 and the icon images received from the third device 300-3. Specifically, the icon image of the mini app ranked first is displayed as icon IC1, the icon image of the mini app ranked second is displayed as icon IC2, ···, and the icon image of the mini app ranked tenth is displayed as icon IC10. As a result, the icon images of the mini apps with higher rankings are preferentially displayed on the home screen of the payment app 20.

[0053] In this way, the application management system of the present embodiment can improve the convenience for the user by arranging the icons of multiple mini apps at positions suitable for the user.

[0054] [Operation when error E1 occurs] Fig. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the application management system when error E1 occurs. In the example shown in Fig. 13, it is shown that due to the occurrence of error E1 such as a communication error, the second device 300-2 was unable to obtain the ranking information 83 from the database DB3. When the second device 300-2 is unable to obtain the ranking information 83 from the database DB3, it will not be able to obtain the icon image based on the ranking from the database DB4. In this case, the user terminal device 200 will not be able to obtain the icon image based on the ranking and will not be able to display the icon image of the mini app on the home screen of the payment app 20.

[0055] To avoid such problems, the database DB4 stores default ranking information 85 in advance. For example, the default ranking information 85 may be generated based on the customer lifetime value (LTV) per mini-app, the number of unique users (UU), the conversion rate (CVR), the profit amount, etc. Note that the default ranking information 85 has the same data structure as the ranking information 83.

[0056] The second device 300-2 sends a ranking request to obtain the ranking information 83 from the database DB3. The ranking request includes the user ID of the user who uses the user terminal device 200. If the second device 300-2 cannot obtain the ranking information 83 even after a predetermined time has elapsed since sending the ranking request to the database DB3, it determines that an error E1 has occurred. In this case, the second device 300-2 obtains the default ranking information 85 from the database DB4 instead of the ranking information 83.

[0057] The second device 300-2 obtains the icon images corresponding to the app IDs of the top 10 mini-apps included in the default ranking information 85 obtained from the database DB4 from the database DB4. For example, the second device 300-2 sends the app IDs of the top 10 mini-apps in the ranking to the database DB4, and the database DB4 obtains the icon images corresponding to the app IDs received from the second device 300-2 based on the icon information 84 and sends the obtained icon images to the second device 300-2.

[0058] Next, the second device 300-2 transmits the default ranking information 85 and the icon images acquired from the database DB4 to the third device 300-3. Also, the third device 300-3 instructs the user terminal device 200 to display the icon images according to the default ranking information 85. Specifically, the third device 300-3 transmits the default ranking information 85 and the icon images received from the second device 300-2 to the user terminal device 200.

[0059] The user terminal device 200 displays the home screen (Fig. 7) of the payment app 20 based on the default ranking information 85 and the icon images received from the third device 300-3.

[0060] In this way, the database DB4 stores the default ranking information 85. When the second device 300-2 cannot acquire the ranking information 83 from the database DB3, the second device 300-2 acquires the default ranking information 85 from the database DB4. The third device 300-3 instructs the user terminal device 200 to display the icon images according to the default ranking information 85. Thereby, even when the second device 300-2 cannot acquire the ranking information 83 from the database DB3 due to the occurrence of the error E1, the application management system of the present embodiment can display the icons of a plurality of mini-apps on the home screen of the payment app 20.

[0061] [Operations at the time of occurrence of error E2] FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of the application management system when error E2 occurs. In the example shown in FIG. 14, it is shown that due to the occurrence of error E2 such as a communication error, the third device 300-3 was unable to obtain the ranking information 83 and the icon image from the second device 300-2. When the third device 300-3 is unable to obtain the ranking information 83 and the icon image from the second device 300-2, the user terminal device 200 cannot obtain the icon image based on the ranking, and cannot display the icon image of the mini application on the home screen of the payment application 20.

[0062] To avoid such problems, the third device 300-3 is provided with a storage unit 310. The storage unit 310 is an HDD, a flash memory, a RAM, or the like. In the storage unit 310 of the third device 300-3, default icon information 86 and default ranking information 87 are stored in advance. For example, the default ranking information 87 may be generated based on the customer lifetime value (LTV) per mini application, the number of unique users (UU), the conversion rate (CVR), and the profit amount (Profit). Note that the default icon information 86 has the same data structure as the icon information 84, and the default ranking information 87 has the same data structure as the ranking information 83.

[0063] When the third device 300-3 determines that error E2 has occurred if it is unable to obtain the ranking information 83 and the icon image even after a predetermined time has elapsed since sending an icon request to the second device 300-2. In this case, the third device 300-3 obtains the default ranking information 87 from the storage unit 310 instead of the ranking information 83.

[0064] The third device 300-3 acquires the icon images corresponding to the app IDs of the top 10 mini-apps included in the default ranking information 87 acquired from the storage unit 310 from the storage unit 310. For example, the second device 300-2 may acquire the icon images corresponding to the app IDs of the mini-apps ranked 1st to 10th based on the default icon information 86.

[0065] Next, the third device 300-3 instructs the user terminal device 200 to display the icon images according to the default ranking information 87. Specifically, the third device 300-3 transmits the default ranking information 87 and the icon images acquired from the storage unit 310 to the user terminal device 200.

[0066] The user terminal device 200 displays the home screen (FIG. 7) of the payment app 20 based on the default ranking information 85 and the icon images received from the third device 300-3.

[0067] In this way, the third device 300-3 stores the default ranking information 87 and the default icon information 86 (including icon images). When the third device 300-3 fails to acquire the ranking information 83 and the icon images from the second device 300-2, the third device 300-3 acquires the default ranking information 87 and the default icon images stored by itself. Further, the third device 300-3 instructs the user terminal device 200 to display the default icon images according to the default ranking information 87. Thereby, even when the third device 300-3 fails to acquire the ranking information 83 and the icon images from the second device 300-2 due to the occurrence of the error E2, the application management system of the present embodiment can display the icons of a plurality of mini-apps on the home screen of the payment app 20.

[0068] As described above, the application management system of the present embodiment is a system capable of communicating with a user terminal device 200 in which a plurality of mini-applications are installed and used by a user, and includes a first device 300-1, a second device 300-2, and a third device 300-3. For each of the plurality of mini-applications, the first device 300-1 acquires total sales information 81 indicating the total sales amount of a product or service and selection count information 82 indicating the number of times selected by the user, and generates ranking information 83 indicating the ranking of the plurality of mini-applications based on the total sales information 81 and the selection count information 82. Based on the ranking information 83, the second device 300-2 acquires the icon image of each of the plurality of mini-applications ranked higher. The third device 300-3 instructs the user terminal device 200 to display the icon image according to the ranking information 83. Thereby, the application management system of the present embodiment can improve the convenience for the user by arranging the icons of the plurality of mini-applications at positions suitable for the user.

[0069] Further, the application management system of the present embodiment further includes a settlement application 20 installed in the user terminal device 200 for performing electronic settlement. The settlement application 20 causes the display unit of the user terminal device 200 to display the icon image of each of the plurality of mini-applications according to the ranking information 83. Thereby, the application management system of the present embodiment can display the icons of the plurality of mini-applications at positions suitable for the user.

[0070] <Second Embodiment> Next, the second embodiment will be described. In the above-described first embodiment, an application management system including a first device 300-1, a second device 300-2, and a third device 300-3 has been described. In contrast, in the second embodiment, it is assumed that an application management device having the functions of the first device 300-1, the functions of the second device 300-2, and the functions of the third device 300-3 is provided. Hereinafter, the details of the second embodiment will be described.

[0071] FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration for realizing an electronic payment service according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 15, parts corresponding to the respective parts of FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted. The application management device 400 is a computer capable of communicating with the user terminal device 200 via the network NW.

[0072] When the user activates the payment application 20 using the user terminal device 200, the payment application 20 transmits an icon request for requesting icons of mini-applications to be displayed on the home screen to the application management device 400. The icon request includes the user ID of the user who uses the user terminal device 200.

[0073] FIG. 16 is a configuration diagram of the application management device 400 according to the second embodiment. The application management device 400 includes, for example, a communication unit 410, a first acquisition unit 420, a generation unit 430, a second acquisition unit 440, an instruction unit 450, and a storage unit 470. Components other than the communication unit 410 and the storage unit 470 are realized, for example, by a hardware processor such as a CPU executing a program (software). Some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including a circuit unit; circuitry) such as an LSI, an ASIC, an FPGA, or a GPU, or may be realized by cooperation between software and hardware. The program may be stored in advance in a storage device (a storage device including a non-transitory storage medium) such as an HDD or a flash memory, or may be stored in a removable storage medium (a non-transitory storage medium) such as a DVD or a CD-ROM, and may be installed in the storage device by mounting the storage medium on a drive device.

[0074] The storage unit 470 is an HDD, a flash memory, a RAM, or the like. The storage unit 470 may be a NAS device accessible by the application management device 400 via a network. Information such as total sales amount information 81, selection count information 82, ranking information 83, and icon information 84 is stored in the storage unit 470. The total sales amount information 81, the selection count information 82, the ranking information 83, and the icon information 84 are the same as the information shown in FIGS. 9 to 12, respectively.

[0075] The communication unit 410 is a communication interface for connecting to the network NW. The communication unit 410 is, for example, a network interface card.

[0076] [Flowchart] FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing executed by the application management device 400. This flowchart is executed by the processor of the application management device 400 reading a program stored in the storage unit 470.

[0077] First, the first acquisition unit 420 acquires, from the storage unit 470, total sales amount information 81 indicating the total sales amount of a product or service and selection count information 82 indicating the number of times selected by the user for each of the plurality of mini-apps (step S101).

[0078] The generation unit 430 generates ranking information 83 indicating the rankings of the plurality of mini-apps based on the total sales amount information 81 and the selection count information 82 (step S102). Here, the generation unit 430 generates the ranking information 83 such that the higher the total sales amount of the mini-app, the higher the ranking, and the higher the selection count of the mini-app, the higher the ranking.

[0079] Note that since mini-apps with high total sales are considered useful apps that are used by many users, when generating the ranking information 83, not only the selection count information 82 but also the total sales information 81 is used. In this way, the generation unit 430 can generate ranking information 83 that is useful to users by using both the total sales information 81 and the selection count information 82.

[0080] Next, when the settlement app 20 is launched in the user terminal device 200, the user terminal device 200 transmits an icon request via the network NW. At this time, the communication unit 410 of the application management device 400 receives the icon request from the user terminal device 200 (step S103).

[0081] The second acquisition unit 440 acquires the icon images of a plurality of mini-apps ranked at the top based on the ranking information 83 generated by the generation unit 430 (step S104). Specifically, the second acquisition unit 440 reads out the ranking information 83 corresponding to the user ID included in the icon request from the storage unit 470. Further, the second acquisition unit 440 acquires the icon images of a plurality of mini-apps ranked at the top based on the ranking information 83. Specifically, the second acquisition unit 440 acquires the icon images corresponding to the app IDs of the mini-apps ranked 1st to 10th included in the ranking information 83 read out from the storage unit 470 based on the icon information 84.

[0082] The instruction unit 450 instructs the user terminal device 200 to display the icon images according to the ranking information 83 (step S105). Specifically, the instruction unit 450 controls the communication unit 410 to transmit the ranking information 83 and the icon images acquired from the storage unit 470 to the user terminal device 200.

[0083] The user terminal device 200 displays the home screen (Fig. 7) of the payment app 20 based on the ranking information 83 and the icon images received from the application management device 400. Specifically, the icon image of the mini-application ranked first is displayed as icon IC1, the icon image of the mini-application ranked second is displayed as icon IC2, ···, and the icon image of the mini-application ranked tenth is displayed as icon IC10. As a result, the icon images of the mini-applications with higher rankings are preferentially displayed on the home screen of the payment app 20.

[0084] As described above, the application management device 400 of the present embodiment is a device capable of communicating with a user terminal device 200 in which a plurality of mini-applications are installed and used by a user, and includes a first acquisition unit 420, a generation unit 430, a second acquisition unit 440, and an instruction unit 450. The first acquisition unit 420 acquires, for each of the plurality of mini-applications, total sales amount information 81 indicating the total sales amount of products or services and selection count information 82 indicating the number of times selected by the user. The generation unit 430 generates ranking information 83 indicating the rankings of the plurality of mini-applications based on the total sales amount information 81 and the selection count information 82. The second acquisition unit 440 acquires the icon images of the plurality of mini-applications with higher rankings based on the ranking information 83. The instruction unit 450 instructs the user terminal device 200 to display the icon images according to the ranking information 83. Thereby, the application management device 400 of the present embodiment can improve the convenience for the user by arranging the icons of the plurality of mini-applications at positions suitable for the user.

[0085] As described above, the embodiments for implementing the present invention have been described using the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments, and various modifications and substitutions can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0086] 20 Payment Application 100 Payment Server 200 User Terminal Device 300-1 First Device 300-2 Second Device 300-3 Third Device 310 Memory Unit 400 Application Management Device 410 Communication Unit 420 First Acquisition Unit 430 Generation Unit 440 Second Acquisition Unit 450 Instruction Unit 470 Memory Unit DB1 Database DB2 Database DB3 Database DB4 Database

Claims

1. An application management system capable of communicating with a user terminal device on which a plurality of mini-applications are installed and used by a user, comprising: a first device that acquires, for each of the plurality of mini-applications, first information indicating total sales of a product or service and second information indicating the number of times the mini-applications have been selected by the user, and generates ranking information indicating a ranking of the plurality of mini-applications based on the first information and the second information; a second device that acquires icon images of the plurality of mini-applications that are ranked high based on the ranking information; a third device that instructs the user terminal device to display the icon image in accordance with the ranking information; An application management system comprising:

2. a first storage device that stores the ranking information generated by the first device; a second storage device that stores the icon image of each of the plurality of mini-applications; the second device acquires the ranking information from the first storage device and acquires the icon image from the second storage device; 2. The application management system of claim 1.

3. The second storage device stores default ranking information; If the second device cannot acquire the ranking information from the first storage device, the second device acquires the default ranking information from the second storage device; the third device instructs the user terminal device to display the icon image according to the default ranking information; 3. The application management system of claim 2.

4. the third device stores default ranking information and default icon images; When the third device cannot acquire the ranking information and the icon image from the second device, the third device acquires the default ranking information and the default icon image stored in the third device; the third device instructs the user terminal device to display the default icon image according to the default ranking information; 3. The application management system of claim 2.

5. When the third device receives an icon request from the user terminal device, the third device transmits the icon request to the second device; the second device acquires the ranking information and the icon image in response to receiving the icon request from the third device; 2. The application management system of claim 1.

6. The system further includes a payment application installed on the user terminal device for performing electronic payment, the payment application causes the icon image of each of the plurality of mini-applications to be displayed on a display unit of the user terminal device in accordance with the ranking information; 2. The application management system of claim 1.

7. An application management device capable of communicating with a user terminal device on which a plurality of mini-applications are installed and used by a user, comprising: a first acquisition unit that acquires, for each of the plurality of mini-applications, first information indicating a total sales amount of a product or service and second information indicating a number of times the mini-application has been selected by the user; a generating unit that generates ranking information indicating a ranking of the plurality of mini-applications based on the first information and the second information; a second acquisition unit that acquires an icon image of each of the plurality of mini-applications that are ranked high based on the ranking information; an instruction unit that instructs the user terminal device to display the icon image in accordance with the ranking information; An application management device comprising:

8. An application management device capable of communicating with a user terminal device on which a plurality of mini-applications are installed and used by a user, obtaining, for each of the plurality of mini-applications, first information indicating a total sales amount of a product or service and second information indicating a number of times the mini-application has been selected by the user; generating ranking information indicating a ranking of the plurality of mini-applications based on the first information and the second information; acquiring icon images of each of the plurality of mini-applications ranked highly based on the ranking information; instructing the user terminal device to display the icon image in accordance with the ranking information; Application management methods.

9. An application management device capable of communicating with a user terminal device installed with a plurality of mini-applications and used by a user, A process of acquiring, for each of the plurality of mini-applications, first information indicating total sales of a product or service and second information indicating the number of times the mini-application has been selected by the user; generating ranking information indicating a ranking of the plurality of mini-applications based on the first information and the second information; A process of acquiring icon images of each of the plurality of mini-applications ranked high based on the ranking information; a process of instructing the user terminal device to display the icon image in accordance with the ranking information; A program that executes the following.

Images