Store sales promotion apparatus, store sales system, and store sales promotion method

Abstract

To provide a store sales promotion apparatus, a store sales system, and a store sales promotion method configured to design a flow line that completes sales with commodities selected by a store on the assumption of considering the tastes of customers.SOLUTION: A method includes: setting priority of each commodity in accordance with the purpose of sales, such as stock clearance or pushing a new commodity; manage commodities or purchase history of a customer when connected to a user terminal of the customer; present a commodity group composed of commodities that match the taste of the customer in the store at a discounted price; and select, when the customer's intent to purchase is confirmed through the user terminal, one commodity in the commodity group, as a commodity for sale, on the basis of a prepared commodity selection rule.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a store sales promotion device, a store sales system, and a store sales promotion method.

Background Art

[0002] In stores and online sales, generally, a method of promoting the sale of products by implementing a time-limited discount campaign is adopted. Such a sales method can enhance the purchasing desire of customers who visit the store or the online sales site during the limited period.

[0003] Regarding the sales method that adopts price cuts for products, a purchase support has been proposed that enables customers to repurchase the products and services they purchased in the past at a discounted price (Patent Document 1). In addition, a proposal has also been made to recommend products to customers in consideration of the priority order of products that the store wants to sell preferentially in addition to the purchase history (Patent Document 2).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] In the cases of Patent Documents 1 and 2 described above, since the operation of selecting the products to be finally purchased is performed by the customers themselves, just recommending products may not result in the completion of sales of the products desired by the store side. That is, even if the products are discounted products recommended by the store, customers do not necessarily finally select them, and the flow from product recommendation to the completion of sales often breaks in the middle. As a result, there may be cases where specific products remain in stock for a long time or products with an approaching expiration date remain.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of such a background, and an object thereof is to provide a store sales promotion device, a store sales system, and a store sales promotion method capable of realizing a lead wire for completing sales with products selected by a store on the premise of considering customer preferences.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention is a store sales promotion device connected to a terminal having an operation and display function, and selling one or more products displayed in a store at a discounted price, the device including: a storage unit that stores, as data, a price, a flag according to a sales purpose, and a sales priority for each product, and stores data on a behavior history regarding purchases in association with customer information for identifying a customer; an authentication unit that identifies a customer who has visited the store through the terminal and acquires the identified customer information from the data stored in the storage unit; a product group configuration unit that configures a product group consisting of one or more products based on the data stored in the storage unit in association with the customer information acquired by the authentication unit; a price setting unit that sets a uniform discounted sales price according to a predetermined discount rule for the product group configured by the product group configuration unit; a display processing unit that forms display data based on the product group configured by the product group configuration unit and the discounted sales price set by the price setting unit, and outputs the display data to the terminal of the customer authenticated by the authentication unit; and a selection unit that, after the output to the terminal by the display processing unit, accepts an operation of the terminal and selects one product from the product group configured by the product group configuration unit as a product for sale based on a prepared product selection rule.

[0008] Also, another embodiment of the present invention is a store sales system for selling products displayed in a store, comprising: an input / output device installed in the store that accepts display and input operations; and a store sales promotion device that sells products displayed in the store at a discounted price. The store sales promotion device stores, as data, a price, a flag corresponding to the purpose of sales, and a sales priority in association with the products displayed in the store, and stores data on the behavior history regarding purchases in association with customer information for identifying customers. The store sales promotion device further includes: an authentication unit that identifies a customer who has come into the store through the input / output device and acquires the identified customer information from the data stored in the storage unit; a product group configuration unit that configures a product group consisting of one or more products based on the data stored in the storage unit in association with the customer information acquired by the authentication unit; a price setting unit that sets a uniform discounted sales price for the product group configured by the product group configuration unit according to a predetermined discount rule; a display processing unit that forms display data based on the product group configured by the product group configuration unit and the discounted sales price set by the price setting unit and outputs the display data to the input / output device; a selection unit that, after the output to the input / output device by the display processing unit, accepts an operation of the input / output device and selects one product from the product group configured by the product group configuration unit as a product for sale based on a pre-prepared product selection rule; and a settlement processing unit that executes a settlement procedure for the product for sale selected by the selection unit in association with the customer information acquired by the authentication unit.

[0009] Also, another embodiment of the present invention is a store sales promotion method for a device that is connected to a terminal having operation and display functions and sells one or more products displayed in a store at a discounted price. The device has a memory that stores, as data, the price, a flag according to the sales purpose, and the sales priority for each product, and stores data on the behavior history regarding purchases in association with customer information for identifying customers. A first step of identifying a customer who has visited the store through the terminal and acquiring the identified customer information from the data stored in the memory; a second step of constructing a product group consisting of one or more products based on the data stored in the memory in association with the customer information acquired in the first step; a third step of setting a uniform discounted sales price for the product group constructed in the second step according to a predetermined discount rule; a fourth step of forming display data based on the product group constructed in the second step and the discounted sales price set in the third step and outputting the display data to the terminal of the customer authenticated in the first step; and a fifth step of accepting an operation of the terminal after the output to the terminal in the fourth step and selecting one product from the product group constructed in the second step as a product for sale based on a pre-prepared product selection rule.

Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, it is possible to realize a lead wire for completing a sale with a product selected by a store on the premise of considering the preferences of customers.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0011]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0012] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the following description and drawings are merely examples for explaining the present invention, and for the sake of clarity of explanation, appropriate omissions and simplifications have been made. Also, the present invention can be implemented in various other forms. Also, unless otherwise specifically limited, each component may be singular or plural.

[0013] Hereinafter, embodiments suitable for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the following is merely an example of implementation, and the content of the invention is not limited to the following specific aspects. The present invention can of course be modified into various aspects including the following aspects.

[0014] First, this embodiment will be described. First, the entire system will be described using FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of the configuration of an unmanned store operation system according to this embodiment.

[0015] The unmanned store operation system 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a store sales promotion device 10, a product shelf 20 provided with a weight sensor 21 for arranging (disposing) one or more products and detecting changes in weight due to the customer taking in and out each product, a monitor 30, an input / output device 40 having a camera 41 and a touch panel 42, an optical radar 50, a settlement platform 60, an authentication platform 70, etc., and each is connected to a network 200 to communicate data, signals, etc. This network 200 is a communication network such as the Internet, a VPN (Virtual Private Network), or a wireless communication network on the premise of security.

[0016] In this unmanned store operation system 1, each component is connected to the network 200, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it may be configured as one device. Also, although the settlement platform 60 and the authentication platform 70 are configured to be included in the unmanned store operation system 1, since they are not components that need to be installed in the unmanned store, they may be connected via the network 200 as external devices without being included in the unmanned store operation system 1.

[0017] The store sales promotion device 10 is a computer that efficiently operates in the configuration of a gate-less unmanned store and executes, as a series of procedures, the flow of proposals, decisions, and settlements of products for sale to users, that is, customers, who are in the store. As shown in FIG. 1, this store sales promotion device 10 is further connected to a user terminal 90 such as a smartphone, which is an external terminal, via the network 200, and communicates data, signals, etc. with the user terminal 90 to achieve the promotion of product sales.

[0018] The input / output device 40 is a device installed in an entry area where an area is predefined within the space constituting the unmanned store. The camera 41 of the input / output device 40 is an imaging device that not only detects the entry and exit of customers who visit the entry area of the unmanned store, but also captures the biological parts of the customers, for example, the face, and acquires and generates face image data or its feature amount data of the customers.

[0019] In addition, the touch panel 42 of the input / output device 40 accepts the input of identification information (hereinafter referred to as "ID") for identifying the customer whose face image is to be captured by the above-described camera 41 from the customer.

[0020] It is assumed that customers in the unmanned store have each executed user registration processing in advance with the authentication infrastructure 70 via the store sales promotion device 10 (or the user terminal 90).

[0021] In this case, the store sales promotion device 10 captures the face image of the customer with the camera 41 and inputs the ID held in advance on the touch panel 42. The store sales promotion device 10 sets the face image data (or its feature quantity data) and the ID thus obtained and performs the user registration process on the authentication infrastructure 70. For such a user registration process that sets biometric information and the ID, existing methods may be appropriately adopted.

[0022] Therefore, customers for whom the above-described user registration has been completed proceed with the user authentication procedure on the authentication infrastructure 70 via the store sales promotion device 10 by performing face capture with the camera 41 and ID input with the touch panel 42 in front of the input / output device 40.

[0023] Note that the information defining the above-described entrance area includes the coordinate values of each vertex constituting the shape of the area. Also, the origin coordinates of the coordinate system including the coordinate values indicate a point at any location (prescribed in advance) in the space constituting the unmanned store.

[0024] Subsequently, the optical radar 50 is, for example, a 3D LiDAR, which is an optical sensor capable of irradiating infrared laser light in a three-dimensional manner and measuring the shape of the irradiation target area, the objects existing there, and the distance thereto.

[0025] The optical radar 50 in this embodiment is responsible for grasping the space constituting the unmanned store, the entry area and purchase area in the space, the location of customers, and the specific processing of the reachable position on the merchandise shelf (i.e., the merchandise located at that position). Observation values obtained by the optical radar 50 are distributed to the store sales promotion device 10 via the network 200.

[0026] In addition, the weight sensor 21 is installed for each merchandise storage position on the merchandise shelf 20, and its measurement results are distributed to the store sales promotion device 10 via the network 200. The store sales promotion device 10 holds and manages information regarding the weight of each merchandise stored or displayed in each section of the merchandise shelf 20 in a merchandise management database (not shown).

[0027] The monitor 30 is a display device installed around the above-described merchandise shelf 20, i.e., in the purchase area, and also includes a speaker. The monitor 30 outputs the information distributed from the store sales promotion device 10 on the screen or outputs it as audio.

[0028] Information output on the screen includes, in addition to advertisements for customers, the status of the purchase behavior (purchase action) of the customer (such as in the store, purchasing, in settlement, all settlements completed, etc.).

[0029] In addition, information output as audio includes a message for guiding actions that appropriates the actions of the customer according to the status of the purchase behavior classified by customer, the outstanding or success / failure of user authentication for the customer, and the merchandise taking-out operation of the customer.

[0030] The user terminal 90 is a terminal used by customers of the unmanned store when using the service. Specifically, it is a device such as a smartphone, tablet terminal, or personal computer. This user terminal 90 shows an example of one terminal, and customers visiting the unmanned store are authenticated by an ID assigned to themselves.

[0031] In addition, in this embodiment, the authentication infrastructure 70 is a device that authenticates the user by, for example, biometric authentication, and adopts authentication infrastructure technology that achieves both privacy protection and high security. The authentication infrastructure 70 receives a user authentication request from the store sales promotion device 10 through an API (Application Programming Interface) and responds with the authentication result.

[0032] Also, the payment infrastructure 60 is a platform that realizes cashless payments such as credit cards, debit cards, electronic money, and code payments. It receives a payment request from the store sales promotion device 10 (regarding the confirmation of the customer's purchase intention according to this embodiment and the goods taken out by the customer from the product shelf 20 and taken out of the purchase area) through an API (Application Programming Interface) and responds with the payment result. Of course, the store sales promotion device 10 may have a function equivalent to that of the payment infrastructure 60.

[0033] Next, the store sales promotion device 10 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 6. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the store sales promotion device 10 according to this embodiment, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the functions of the store sales promotion device 10 according to this embodiment, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of a customer table according to this embodiment, FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of an inventory table according to this embodiment, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of an action history table according to this embodiment.

[0034] First, the hardware configuration of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, for example, the store sales promotion device 10 includes a CPU 11 that controls the entire device, a memory 13 that stores a program 12 related to the processing of this embodiment for the CPU 11 to execute and stores various data during execution, an operation device 14 including a keyboard and a display device, an external storage device 15 that registers and stores various data in the form of a table or the like for storage management, a communication IF 16 connected to the network 200 to control communication with external terminals (each device such as the user terminal 90 shown in FIG. 1), a bus 17 connected to each unit within the device to control communication of data, signals, etc. within the device, and the like.

[0035] Next, the functions of the store sales promotion device 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 3, for example, the store sales promotion device 10 includes a communication control unit 101, an entry / exit determination unit 102, an operation input unit 103, a user recognition unit 104, a behavior determination unit 105, a data storage unit 106, a discounted price setting unit 108, a priority determination unit 109, a product group configuration unit 110, a product selection unit 111, a settlement processing unit 112, a display processing unit 113, and the like.

[0036] The communication control unit 101 is the function of the communication IF 16 that controls communication with each device in FIG. 1 connected to the network 200. The entry / exit determination unit 102 determines whether a customer has entered or exited the store based on the acquired data of the optical radar 50 when a person enters or exits the store. The user recognition unit 104 performs face recognition of the customer based on the photographed data of the camera 41 and acquires an ID from the operation of the touch panel 42 by the customer to recognize the user, that is, the customer. It is assumed that this user recognition unit 104 operates in cooperation with the authentication base 70. Needless to say, it is also possible to realize user authentication (recognition of the customer) only by the user recognition unit 104.

[0037] The action determination unit 105 determines the customer's movement route based on the acquired data of the optical radar 50, determines the removal of products from the product shelves and the return of products to the product shelves from the customer's position and actions within the store, and determines whether the product has not been purchased. Here, during the removal of the product, it is determined that the product is in an unpurchased state. To determine which product has been taken in and out, it is necessary to detect the weight change by the weight sensor 21 of the product shelf 20.

[0038] The data storage unit 106 is provided in the external storage device 15 and registers and manages, for example, the customer table 107A (Fig. 4), the inventory table 107B (Fig. 5), the action history table 107C (Fig. 6), etc.

[0039] As shown in Fig. 4, for example, the customer table 107A registers and stores, as the purchase history, the purchased products (for example, product ID and product name) and the products that have been reached for but not purchased (for example, product ID and product name) for each purchase date, linked to the customer information assigned at the time of registration for the customer, that is, the customer ID. The products that have been reached for but not purchased refer to the products that have been taken out of the product shelf 20 after entering the store but returned to the product shelf 20 before leaving the store. Here, the products that have been reached for refer to the products that the customer has taken out of the product shelf 20 and held in their hand.

[0040] For example, in the case of the customer ID "00030", on September 6, 2023, the purchased products are juice A and ice A, and the products that have not been purchased and returned to the product shelf 20 are biscuit A and gum B. For example, in the case of gum B and biscuit A, the product IDs are "6721" and "3357", respectively.

[0041] In addition, as shown in FIG. 5 for example, the inventory table 107B registers and stores, in association with the product ID pre-assigned to the product, the product name, the type indicating the category for identifying the product, the selling price (yen), the purchase date, the expiration date (it may also be the consumption deadline), a discount flag for identifying products subject to discount as information that can be arbitrarily set by the store side, a new product flag for managing products in inventory as new products for a certain period after a new arrival, an outreach flag for managing products that have a history of being taken out of the product shelf 20 at least once, the inventory quantity that is added at the time of receipt for inventory management and subtracted after sales (settlement), the priority of the product itself, and the like.

[0042] Each flag is set such that "1" is valid and "0" is invalid. The discount flag may be arbitrarily set by the store side, or may be randomly selected according to a predetermined algorithm. If the store side arbitrarily sets the period for registering a product as a new product for the new product flag, it becomes possible to automatically set the new product flag from the purchase date. The outreach flag can be set based on weight detection by the weight sensor 21 of the product shelf 20.

[0043] And the priority may be automatically set by an algorithm prepared in advance from the states of each flag and the expiration date, or of course, may be manually set by the store side from the operation input unit 103.

[0044] For example, when actively selling new products, a product group described later is configured by referring to the new product flag. At that time, a process of selecting products to form the product group described later is executed starting from the products with the highest priority shown in FIG. 5.

[0045] Also, when actively selling products with an approaching expiration date as inventory disposal, the current date and the expiration date are referred to, and a process of selecting products to form the product group described later is executed starting from the products with the highest priority. When the expiration date is about to expire in one month, for example, it may be determined that the expiration date is approaching and a high priority may be set.

[0046] Also, for products that do not sell as planned in the store within a specified period and whose inventory is not easily reduced, a process may be executed to select them as products constituting the product group to be disposed of in inventory as described below. In this case, the period may be arbitrarily divided, and the inventory reduction rate may be obtained from the relationship between the elapsed period and the change in inventory quantity, and products with a reduction rate below a certain level may be targeted for inventory disposal.

[0047] In FIG. 5, for the product with product ID "2136" and product name "Candy A", its type is "Candy", the selling price is 100 yen, the purchase date is December 15, 2022, and the expiration date is registered as December 15, 2023. Since the discount flag, new product flag, and reach-out flag of this Candy A are all zero, it is a product that is not subject to discount, not a new product, and has no reach-out history. In this case, the priority is set to "7" as being relatively low.

[0048] Also, for the product with product ID "3357" and product name "Biscuit A", its type is "Biscuit", the selling price is 100 yen, the purchase date is October 7, 2023, and the expiration date is registered as October 10, 2024. For this Biscuit A, the discount flag, new product flag, and reach-out flag are "1", "1", and "0" respectively, making it a product that is subject to discount, a new product, and has no reach-out history. In this case, the priority is set to "1" as being high.

[0049] Here, regarding the priority, there is a method of ranking all the products received by the store in terms of absolute value. Of course, ranking may also be done for each product type. In addition to this method, priorities may be set separately and ranked for products with a discount flag of "1", products with a new product flag of "1", products with a reach-out flag of "1", and products targeted for inventory disposal.

[0050] As shown in FIG. 6 for example, the action history table 107C registers and stores authentication result data, in-store location data, purchase action status, observation time data, unpurchased item data during the store visit, purchased item data during the store visit, etc. in association with a pre-registered customer ID. The authentication result data is registered in the state of "OK" when the user recognition unit 104 can authenticate the person at the time of entering the store, and in the state of "NG" otherwise.

[0051] The location data is coordinate data indicating the position of the customer in the store based on the acquired data of the optical radar 50 by the action determination unit 105. The observation time data indicates the time measured by the timer control of the CPU 11 for example.

[0052] The unpurchased item data during the store visit is configured by registering the item ID of the item taken out from the item shelf for purchase during the store visit, and the corresponding item ID is deleted when the registered unpurchased item is returned to the item shelf.

[0053] The purchased item data during the store visit is configured by registering the item ID of the item that has been purchased and settled during the store visit. This purchase during the store visit will be described later.

[0054] For example, for the customer with the customer ID "00030", as shown in FIG. 6, the authentication result is "OK" and the purchase action status is "in the store", indicating that the customer is still shopping. At 11:00 on October 10, 2023, the unpurchased item is bento A with the item ID "9001", and at this time, no purchased items have been registered yet.

[0055] In the case of a customer who has already left the store, like the customer with the customer ID "00101" shown in FIG. 6, the observation time is registered as 10:00 on October 10, 2023, the time when the customer left the store, and the purchase action status is registered as "all settlements completed". Of course, in the case of a customer who left the store without purchasing anything, a status such as leaving the store is registered, and if there was an attempt to reach for an item, the action history is registered in the customer table 107A shown in FIG. 4 and remains as a record.

[0056] Here, return to the description of FIG. 3. The discount price setting unit 108 previously sets a discount rate necessary for the discounted sale according to the present embodiment, and when presenting the price of a product to a customer, obtains a product price calculated by multiplying the selling price of the product subject to discount by the discount rate. In the present embodiment, a discount process based on a discount rate is applied as a discount rule.

[0057] The priority determination unit 109 selects one or a plurality of products constituting a product group based on the priority shown in FIG. 5 described above, the details of which will be described later. In this selection criterion, in addition to the priority, the price is also taken into consideration, and products of the same price are selected with reference to the selling price in the inventory table 107B shown in FIG. 5 to form a product group.

[0058] The product group configuration unit 110 configures a product group based on the selected one or a plurality of products. The discount price setting unit 108 multiplies the uniform selling price of the product group configured by the product group configuration unit 110 by the discount rate to obtain an actual selling price.

[0059] The display processing unit 113 obtains product group data from the product group configuration unit 110, further obtains the selling price after discount from the discount price setting unit 108, and forms display data for transmission to the user terminal 90 via the communication control unit 101.

[0060] After the display data is transmitted from the display processing unit 113 to the user terminal 90, when the operation input unit 103 receives an operation indicating the intention to purchase from the user terminal 90, the product selection unit 111 automatically selects, as a product for sale, the product with the highest priority in the product group instead of selecting a product based on the customer's operation. Of course, since the product group is already composed of products with high priority, even if a product is selected by a random number, it will not make a difference in promoting sales.

[0061] When a product is selected by the product selection unit 111, the settlement processing unit 112 executes settlement processing as a purchase procedure during the store visit. As a result, in the customer table 107A, chewing gum A with product ID "3357" is registered and stored as a purchased product (purchase history) in the state indicated by arrow AR1 in FIG. 4. At the same time, in the inventory table 107B, as shown by arrow AR2 in FIG. 5, the inventory quantity of chewing gum A is changed from 10 to 9. At the same time, in the action history table 107C, chewing gum A with product ID "3357" is registered and stored as a purchased product during the store visit in the state indicated by arrow AR3 in FIG. 6. Here, the state at 11:10 on October 10, 2023 is taken as an example.

[0062] When a customer leaves the store, the settlement processing unit 112 also executes a process of referring to the action history table 107C to obtain data on unpurchased products and collaborating with the settlement platform 60 to execute settlement for the unpurchased products. The trigger for executing the settlement occurs at the timing when the entry / exit determination unit 102 detects that the customer has left the store, that is, moved outside the store. In this embodiment, as an example, no gate for settlement is provided as a facility within the store. Therefore, when a customer who has completed user authentication leaves the store, there is no need to perform a settlement procedure at the gate, and it is possible to leave the store with unpurchased products.

[0063] Next, the operation of the store sales promotion device 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 11. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the operation according to this embodiment, FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the product group configuration process according to this embodiment, and FIGS. 9, 10, and 11 are explanatory diagrams for explaining an example of the screen transition according to this embodiment. Note that the operation is assumed to be executed by the program 12 in FIG. 2.

[0064] Regarding the customer's entry into the store, the store entry / exit determination unit 102 determines whether the customer has entered the store (step S401). If it is determined that the customer has entered the store, the user recognition unit 104 identifies the customer through user authentication from the authentication infrastructure 70 (step S402), and obtains a result that the user, i.e., the customer, has been recognized (step S403). Note that the determination as to whether the customer is a registered customer is made by checking against customer table 107A in which registered customers are registered in advance.

[0065] When the customer is recognized, analysis of the customer's movement within the store is started, and while the customer is moving within the store, the purchasing behavior status in the behavior history table 107C is set to "in the store" (step S404). As an example, the customer with customer ID "0030" is set to "in the store."

[0066] Next, the process enters an event acceptance state (step S405, NO route of step S406). The events include acceptance of a customer's login by the user terminal 90, detection of taking out or returning a product, detection of leaving the store, acceptance of an operation of the user terminal 90 indicating a purchase intention, acceptance of an operation of the user terminal 90 to check discounted products, etc.

[0067] When any of the above events is accepted (YES route in step S406), the type of the event is determined (step S407). When the login of the customer through the user terminal 90 is accepted, the process proceeds to step S408. When the taking out or returning of a product is detected, the process proceeds to step S410.

[0068] Furthermore, when it is detected that a customer who has entered the store and has been authenticated is leaving the store, the process proceeds to step S411. Furthermore, when an operation of the user terminal 90 indicating a purchase intention is accepted, the process proceeds to step S413. Furthermore, when an operation of checking discounted products is accepted, the process proceeds to step S415.

[0069] In step S408 of the login process, user authentication is performed through the user terminal 90, enabling subsequent communication with the user terminal 90. Subsequent communications include receiving operations indicating the intention to purchase a product group, receiving operations for checking discounted products, and receiving notifications of completed payment for purchased products. After the login process is completed, the present process returns to step S405.

[0070] In step S409 when the removal or return of a product is detected, the action history table 107C is updated as the customer's action history. For example, when a customer with customer ID "00030" takes out bento A from product shelf 20, the removal of bento A (product) is detected by the weight sensor 21, the product ID "9001" of that bento A is registered, and the registration information of customer ID "00030" is updated.

[0071] In addition, if a customer takes out a product from product shelf 20 and the removal state continues for a certain period of time (for example, 10 seconds) or more, the corresponding product shall be considered a purchase candidate and the removal of the product shall be determined.

[0072] As described above, it is difficult to make an instantaneous judgment as to whether a product has been removed. Therefore, since there are actions such as a customer just picking up a product, it is preferable to observe the passage of a certain amount of time in light of the principles of human behavior before making a judgment, which can reduce the processing load.

[0073] Similarly, since the weight sensor 21 detects the putting in and taking out of products placed on product shelf 20, when an unpurchased product is returned to product shelf 20, if the customer returns the product from product shelf 20 and the state continues for a certain period of time (for example, 10 seconds) or more, similar to the above removal case, the return of the corresponding product is determined, and the data of the returned unpurchased product is deleted from the action history table 107C. Observing the passage of a certain amount of time for this product return also leads to a reduction in the processing load.

[0074] In this way, when the update process of the action history in step S409 is completed, this process returns to step S405.

[0075] Also, in the settlement process of the un-purchased process when a customer's store exit is detected (step S410), first, the action history table 107C is referred to. For example, when a customer with customer ID "00030" exits the store, the presence or absence of un-purchased items is confirmed, and it is determined that the bento A with product ID "9001" is un-purchased. Therefore, the settlement process for product ID "9001" is executed for customer ID "00030".

[0076] After that, as the store exit process, the purchase action status of customer ID "00030" is updated to "all settlements completed", the inventory quantity associated with product ID "9001" in the inventory table 107B is decreased by one, and product ID "9001" is added to the purchased products of customer ID "00030" in the customer table 107A. At that time, if there is a product that is stretched out (taken out) but not returned for purchase, the corresponding product ID is added as a stretched-out product. In this way, when the store exit process is completed, this process for the customer ends.

[0077] Also, for customers whose login process in step S406 is completed and whose purchase action status is "in the store" (action history table 107C), it becomes possible to accept an operation for checking discounted products or an operation for the intention to purchase from the user terminal 90.

[0078] Regarding the check of discounted products, although not shown in the figure, it becomes possible to accept an operation from the customer by presenting a menu for checking discounted products to the user terminal 90 after login.

[0079] When an operation for checking discounted products is received from the user terminal 90, product group configuration processing is executed in step S412. As shown in FIG. 8, in this product group configuration processing, first, the pattern for how to configure the product group is determined in advance on the store side and stored as data in the external storage device 15. This pattern includes recommendations for new products, inventory disposal, the behavior history of third parties, etc., and the product group configuration unit 110 configures the product group according to the set pattern.

[0080] In the product group configuration processing, first, the pattern for configuring the product group is read out (step S501), and the pattern is judged (step S502). As a result, if the set pattern is a recommendation for a new product, the behavior history table 107C is referred to and the types of products associated with the customer's behavior history are extracted (step S503). Thereby, it is confirmed that the types of products that the customer was interested in in the past match the customer's preferences.

[0081] Next, the product IDs of new products with the same product price that can be discounted among the types extracted in step S503 are read out (step S504), and a product group of new products is configured based on the priority associated with the read product IDs (step S505).

[0082] Then, the discounted price of the product is calculated based on the discount rate determined in advance for the product price (step S506), display data based on the product group and the discounted price is formed, and is transmitted to the user terminal 90 (step S515).

[0083] FIG. 9 shows an example of a product group on the display screen 91 of the touch panel type on the user terminal 90. Here, as new products, four items, namely, biscuit A with a selling price (list price) of 100 yen, gum F, candy E, and biscuit D, are displayed as the product group. As an example, four products are displayed on one screen, but it is not limited to four and can be more or less than four.

[0084] As an example, assuming that the discount rate is set to 20% in advance, for this group of products, the fixed price of 100 yen has been made uniform at 80 yen after the discount. As a result, instead of the customer selecting any one product from the group of products displayed on the display screen 91 as the purchase target, the selection will be entrusted to the store side, that is, this device side. That is, the purchase button 92 displayed on the display screen 91 becomes the trigger for instructing this device of the purchase intention by operation. Also, on the display screen 91, a page switching button 93 is also displayed, and when there are five or more groups of new products prepared, it is possible to shift to the next page.

[0085] Here, for the group of products to be discounted, it is possible to set in advance, as a pattern, which of the conditions such as pushing new products, inventory disposal, expiration date, and reach-out products is to be prioritized on the store side.

[0086] Of course, an algorithm may be prepared to determine the priority order with a set pattern combining multiple conditions and configure the product group with a predetermined number of products. The important thing here is to configure the product group using the priority as an indicator for determining the sales priority order.

[0087] Next, when selling preferentially for the purpose of inventory disposal or expiration date, or when configuring and selling the product group by combining multiple conditions as described above to determine the priority order, the processing after step S507 is executed as the inventory disposal pattern.

[0088] That is, when the set pattern is inventory disposal, first, the action history table 107C is referred to and the types of products associated with the customer's action history are extracted (step S507). Thereby, the types of products that the customer has been interested in in the past are confirmed.

[0089] Next, among the types extracted in step S507, the product IDs of products with the same product price that can be discounted, and products that have been managed as inventory over a long period since purchase or products with a short expiration date are read (step S508), and a product group is configured based on the priority associated with the read product IDs (step S509).

[0090] Of course, products managed as inventory for a long time and products with a short expiration date may be processed separately as different patterns. Also, the setting of the period considered as long term and the period for inventory disposal from the expiration date may be arbitrary on the store side, or a calculation formula (logic) for determining inventory disposal may be provided.

[0091] Then, a pre-determined discount rate for the product price is used to calculate the discounted product price (step S510), display data is formed based on the product group and the discounted product price, and is transmitted to the user terminal 90 (step S515).

[0092] In the case of inventory disposal, as shown in FIG. 10, a process is executed to display a title as "Introduction of Discounted Products" on the display screen 91 while avoiding direct expression. Here, as products subject to inventory disposal, four items, namely chewing gum B, chewing gum S, candy G, and biscuit Z, with a selling price (list price) of 100 yen are displayed as a product group.

[0093] Also in this case, as an example, assuming that the discount rate is set in advance at 20%, for this product group, the list price of 100 yen is unified at 80 yen after the discount. As a result, instead of the customer selecting one of the products displayed in the product group on the display screen 91 as a purchase target, the selection is left to the store side, that is, this device side.

[0094] That is, the purchase button 92 displayed on the display screen 91 serves as a trigger for the apparatus to be instructed of the purchase intention by an operation. Also, a page switching button 93 is displayed on the display screen 91, and when five or more product groups of new products are prepared, it is possible to shift to the next page.

[0095] Furthermore, when giving priority to selling products that a third party (other customers) in the store is interested in, as shown in FIG. 11, a process of displaying a title as "Introduction of Products of High Interest to Everyone" on the display screen 91 is executed. Also in this case, since it is desirable that the products be those that the store side wishes to sell preferentially, it is desirable to select products in consideration of inventory disposal and expiration date conditions for the products that a third party has reached out and taken in hand.

[0096] That is, when giving priority to selling products that a third party (other customers) in the store is interested in, first, the action history table 107C is referred to and the product types associated with the customer's action history are extracted (step S511). Thereby, the product types that the customer was interested in in the past are confirmed.

[0097] Next, the product IDs of products that are of the same type as those extracted in step S511, can be discounted, have the same product price, and have a history of being reached out and taken in hand by a third party are read (step S5512), and a product group is configured based on the priority associated with the read product IDs (step S513). Of course, a process of taking into account products that have been managed as long-term inventory on the premise of further promoting sales on the store side and products with a near expiration date may be performed.

[0098] Then, a pre-determined discount rate with respect to the product price is used to calculate the discounted product price (step S514), display data based on the product group and the discounted product price is formed, and is transmitted to the user terminal 90 (step S515).

[0099] When giving priority to selling products that other customers in the store are interested in, as shown in Fig. 11, a process is executed to display a title "Introduction of Products of High Interest to Everyone" on the display screen 91. Here, as products for sale, four items, namely Gum R with a selling price (list price) of 100 yen, Gum Q, Candy B, and Biscuit Y, are displayed as a product group.

[0100] In this case too, as an example, assuming that a discount rate of 20 percent has been set in advance, for this product group, the list price of 100 yen has been made uniform at 80 yen after the discount. As a result, instead of the customer selecting one of the products from the product group displayed on the display screen 91 as the purchase target, the selection is left to the store side, that is, this device side. That is, the purchase button 92 displayed on the display screen 91 becomes the trigger for instructing this device of the purchase intention by operation. Also, on the display screen 91, a page switching button 93 is also displayed, and when there are five or more product groups of new products prepared, it is possible to shift to the next page.

[0101] As described above, the product group configuration process (Fig. 8) in step S412 is executed, and this process returns to the event reception process in step S406.

[0102] After this product group configuration process is executed, in the event reception in step S406, it becomes possible to receive an operation of the purchase intention for the product group from the user terminal 90. That is, in any of the cases in Figs. 9, 10, and 11, when the purchase button 92 on the display screen 91 is tapped by the customer, an operation indicating the determination of the purchase intention is received.

[0103] When an operation of the purchase intention is received, one product for sale is determined as the customer's purchased product by a predetermined product selection rule, that is, product selection based on priority (product selection based on random numbers by prior setting of the store may also be used) (step S413).

[0104] Here, for new products, like the state indicated by arrow AR11 in Fig. 9, for example, biscuit A is selected as the purchased product and displayed on the display screen 91. This display is achieved by the display processing unit 113 forming display data according to the instruction of the settlement processing unit 112 and sending it to the user terminal 90. Here, if the return button 94 is operated, the display screen 91 returns to the new product introduction page.

[0105] Also, for products for inventory disposal, like the state indicated by arrow AR12 in Fig. 10, for example, gum B is selected as the purchased product and displayed on the display screen 91. This display is also achieved by the display processing unit 113 forming display data according to the instruction of the settlement processing unit 112 and sending it to the user terminal 90. Here too, if the return button 94 is operated, the display screen 91 returns to the new product introduction page.

[0106] Furthermore, for products that a third party in the store is interested in, like the state indicated by arrow AR13 in Fig. 11, for example, candy B is selected as the purchased product and displayed on the display screen 91. This display is also achieved by the display processing unit 113 forming display data according to the instruction of the settlement processing unit 112 and sending it to the user terminal 90. Here too, if the return button 94 is operated, the display screen 91 returns to the new product introduction page.

[0107] As described above, according to this embodiment, first, by discounting the product price, the psychological hurdle for customers regarding the price can be lowered, and the purchasing desire can be improved. It becomes possible to consider the customer's purchase history and preferences based on the flow line within the store. Moreover, it is possible to realize the lead line until the sold product (the customer's purchased product) is selected from the product group composed of products that the store actively wants to sell and have a high priority, and the sale is completed.

[0108] In this way, proceeding with the sold product finally selected by the store side until settlement leads to the efficiency improvement of store operation in terms of purchasing.

[0109] For the store, the following additional merits can be obtained.

[0110] Especially in sales in small spaces, measures to increase the turnover of displayed products are directly linked to total sales and have a great promotional effect.

[0111] As a sales promotion method of adjusting the price of new products at a discounted price as a new product introduction, consumers, i.e., customers, can obtain an opportunity to experience new products from the release timing. By watching the subsequent sales performance, it is possible to identify best-selling products. Of course, the sales efficiency (optimization of the sales floor) can be improved, and products that become long-term inventory can be reduced.

[0112] By incorporating event elements such as campaigns on the premise of a certain discount, the opportunity for customers to visit the store can be increased. In addition, since the discount targets can be selected from the customers' preferences (purchase history, history of reaching out but not purchasing, etc.), it is possible to achieve efficient sales promotion that matches the customers' preferences from the perspective of purchase intention.

[0113] On the other hand, for customers, the following merits can be obtained.

[0114] If the product group that matches the customer's own preferences is discounted and the prices of each product within the product group are uniform, even if the store decides the purchased products, the psychological resistance will be reduced and the psychological hurdle for purchase will be lowered.

[0115] In addition, by including purchase history and behavior history in customer data, a product group is set with products that take into account the customer's preferences. Furthermore, since the presented products are at a discounted and uniform price, there is no variation in product prices, and it is possible to eliminate unnecessary judgment criteria due to price differences.

[0116] In particular, since the detection of the customer's reaching-out action is taken into account in the purchase behavior, it is possible to judge the customer's preferences from the behavior. In addition, since the preferences of other customers in the store when the customer visits the store can also be taken into account in real time for the product group, it is also possible to support the customer in making new discoveries about products.

[0117] In addition, since the product groups are configured in consideration of the inventory status of each product, the expiration date of each product (which may be the consumption period or a combination thereof), or the procurement time of each product, it is possible to take measures against leftovers, reduce the risk of product disposal in the case of products, or promote the sale of new products.

[0118] In addition, when the store side selects one product from the product groups by random numbers, all products are displayed for the customer in a form that already matches the customer's preferences, and a uniform price after discount is presented for all those products. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the customer's anxiety about product prices.

[0119] In addition, since each product is ranked according to the sales priority, it is possible for the store to present products to the customer starting from the products that are sold preferentially. In particular, since the final product groups are configured in consideration of the customer's preferences as well, it is possible to achieve sales promotion through the correlation and synergistic effect between the products the customer wants to purchase and the products the store wants to sell.

[0120] In the above-described embodiment, the purchase procedure including the display of product groups is performed on the screen of the user terminal 90 in cooperation with the user terminal 90 such as a smartphone held by the customer. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the same function may be realized by an input / output device in the store, a display device such as a monitor.

[0121] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the case of a physical store where the customer actually purchases in the store is taken as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it can also be applied to online sales via the Internet or the like. In this case, instead of the action history of detecting that the customer has reached for a product in the store, an operation cooperation history of accessing the product page on the screen and browsing the product overview is stored as the action history. And that action history is taken into account as an element for selecting products when configuring the product groups. In this way, it is possible to lead to the same sales promotion both in physical stores and online and realize omnichannelization. Of course, application and cooperation with Internet advertising are also possible.

[0122] In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the discount at the time of purchase was associated with a single purchasing desire. However, by providing more points than usual in this purchase to emphasize the customer's benefits, it becomes possible to take measures to further enhance the purchasing desire.

[0123] Also, in the above-described embodiment where an unmanned store was taken as an example, there is a method in which the customer takes out the purchased product from the product shelf by themselves. However, from the perspective of an unmanned store, a vending machine may be prepared, and discounted products may be stored in the vending machine, and the vending machine may be made to receive the display of the product group, the purchase operation, and the operation of delivering the purchased product.

[0124] Also, in the above-described embodiment, one store was taken as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and in order to apply it to chain stores, related stores, etc., it may be configured to assign an ID to each store and perform unified management.

[0125] Also, in the above-described embodiment, an example was shown in which a customer other than the person himself / herself (a third party) recommends a product that the third party is interested in. However, rather than the broad framework of a third party, the movement line analysis of the group may be limited to the customers who entered the store together, and a product that someone in the group picked up (a product that was reached for) may be recommended. If other customers in the group are registered users, it becomes easy to identify the users, but if they are not registered, the group may be tentatively determined from the movement line analysis or the camera image.

[0126] Also, in the above-described embodiment, a product group was composed of products with the same selling price. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and even if the selling prices of the products constituting the product group are different, a discount rule may be applied in which different discount rates are applied to the respective selling prices to adjust them to the same selling price. The process corresponding to this is the product group configuration process in step S412 (FIG. 7). In this case, it may be unified to the price after discount of the cheapest product. In this way, by composing a product group of products with different prices, it becomes possible to give the customer a sense of gain and improve the purchasing desire.

[0127] In the above-described embodiment, the discount of the selling price was calculated at a discount rate. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the amount to be discounted from the selling price may be determined in advance. Of course, since the selling price varies depending on the product, the amount to be discounted may be set according to the price range. As a discount rule, for example, a rule may be set such that when the selling price is 100 yen or more and less than 200 yen, 20 yen is discounted, or when the selling price is 200 yen or more and less than 300 yen, 30 yen is discounted. The process corresponding to this is the process of calculating the product price after the discount by steps S506, S510, and S514 (FIG. 8).

Explanation of Signs

[0128] 1 Unattended store operation system 10 Store sales promotion device 11 CPU 12 Program 13 Memory 14 Operation device 15 External storage device 16 Communication IF 17 Bus 20 Product shelf 21 Weight sensor 30 Monitor 40 Input / output device 41 Camera 42 Touch panel 50 Optical radar 60 Settlement infrastructure 70 Authentication infrastructure 90 User terminal 90A Display screen 101 Communication control unit 102 Entry / exit determination unit 103 Operation input unit 104 User recognition unit 105 Behavior determination unit 106 Data storage unit 107A Customer table 107B Inventory table 107C Behavior history table 108 Discount price setting unit 109 Priority determination unit 110 Product group composition unit 111 Product selection unit 112 Settlement processing unit 113 Display processing unit

Claims

1. A store sales promotion device that is connected to a terminal having operation and display functions and sells one or more products displayed in the store at a discounted price, a storage unit that stores, as data, the price, a flag according to the sales purpose, and the sales priority for each product, and stores data on the behavior history related to purchases in association with customer information for identifying customers; an authentication unit that identifies a customer who has visited the store through the terminal and acquires the identified customer information from the data stored in the storage unit; a product group configuration unit that configures a product group consisting of one or more products based on the data stored in the storage unit in association with the customer information acquired by the authentication unit; a price setting unit that sets a uniform discounted sales price for the product group configured by the product group configuration unit according to a predetermined discount rule; a display processing unit that forms display data based on the product group configured by the product group configuration unit and the discounted sales price set by the price setting unit and outputs the display data to the terminal of the customer authenticated by the authentication unit; a selection unit that, after the output to the terminal by the display processing unit, accepts an operation of the terminal and selects one product from the product group configured by the product group configuration unit as a product for sale based on a prepared product selection rule; A store sales promotion device characterized by comprising the above.

2. The store sales promotion device according to claim 1, further comprising a settlement processing unit that performs settlement on the product for sale selected by the selection unit.

3. The store sales promotion device according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit further stores, as data, the past purchase history in association with the customer information.

4. The store sales promotion device according to claim 1, further comprising an optical sensor for detecting the position of a customer in the store and a weight sensor for detecting a change in the weight of a product, and having an action determination unit that determines product removal and return as purchase actions based on the detection by the optical sensor and the weight sensor and in association with the customer information stored in the storage unit.

5. In the store sales promotion device according to claim 4, the action determination unit determines the entry and exit states of customers corresponding to the customer information stored in the storage unit based on the detection of the optical sensor, and the storage unit stores the state determined by the action determination unit as data in association with the customer information stored in the storage unit. A store sales promotion device characterized by this.

6. In the store sales promotion device according to claim 5, further, the action determination unit determines the purchase action in a state where a customer corresponding to the customer information stored in the storage unit has entered the store. A store sales promotion device characterized by this.

7. In the store sales promotion device according to claim 5, the product group configuration unit configures a product group in consideration of the purchase actions of other customers in the store determined by the action determination unit. A store sales promotion device characterized by this.

8. In the store sales promotion device according to claim 1, the data stored in the storage unit includes the purchase date of each product. A store sales promotion device characterized by this.

9. In the store sales promotion device according to claim 1, the data stored in the storage unit includes the expiration date of each product. A store sales promotion device characterized by this.

10. In the store sales promotion device according to claim 1, the product selection rule is a rule for selecting one product by a random number. A store sales promotion device characterized by this.

11. In the store sales promotion device according to claim 1, the discount rule is a rule for uniformly setting the selling price at a previously prepared discount rate when the products constituting the product group have the same selling price. A store sales promotion device characterized by this.

12. In the store sales promotion device according to claim 1, the discount rule is a rule for uniformly setting the selling price after discount when the products constituting the product group have different selling prices. A store sales promotion device characterized by this.

13. A store sales system for selling products displayed in a store, An input / output device installed in the store that accepts display and input operations, A store sales promotion device that sells products displayed in the store at a discounted price, Comprising, The store sales promotion device is, A storage unit that stores, as data, the price, a flag according to the sales purpose, and the sales priority in association with the products displayed in the store, and stores data on the action history regarding purchases in association with customer information for identifying customers. An authentication unit that identifies customers who have visited the store through the input / output device and acquires the identified customer information from the data stored in the storage unit; A product group configuration unit that configures a product group consisting of one or more products based on the data stored in the storage unit in association with the customer information acquired by the authentication unit; A price setting unit that sets a uniform discounted selling price for the product group configured by the product group configuration unit according to a predetermined discount rule; A display processing unit that forms display data based on the product group configured by the product group configuration unit and the discounted selling price set by the price setting unit and outputs the display data to the input / output device; A selection unit that, after the output to the input / output device by the display processing unit, accepts an operation of the input / output device and selects one product from the product group configured by the product group configuration unit as a product for sale based on a predetermined product selection rule; A settlement processing unit that executes a settlement procedure for the product for sale selected by the selection unit in association with the customer information acquired by the authentication unit; A store sales system characterized by comprising the above.

14. A store sales promotion method for a device that is connected to a terminal having operation and display functions and sells one or more products displayed in a store at a discounted price, wherein the device has a memory that stores, as data, the price, a flag according to the sales purpose, and the sales priority order associated with each product, and stores data on the behavior history regarding purchases in association with customer information for identifying customers; A first step of identifying customers who have visited the store through the terminal and acquiring the identified customer information from the data stored in the memory; A second step of configuring a product group consisting of one or more products based on the data stored in the memory in association with the customer information acquired in the first step; A third step of setting a uniform discounted selling price for the product group configured in the second step according to a predetermined discount rule; A fourth step of forming display data based on the product group configured in the second step and the discounted selling price set in the third step and outputting the display data to the terminal of the customer authenticated in the first step; A fifth step of, after the output to the terminal in the fourth step, accepting an operation of the terminal and selecting one product from the product group configured in the second step as a product for sale based on a predetermined product selection rule; A store sales promotion method characterized by including

15. In the store sales promotion method according to claim 14, further, the device is connected to a weight sensor that detects a change in weight of each product displayed in the store and an optical sensor that detects the position of a customer associated with the customer information obtained at the authentication unit in the store and each product arranged in the store, and determines the position of the customer associated with the customer information obtained in the first step and the taking in and out of products based on the detections of the weight sensor and the optical sensor, and stores the determination result as an action history in the memory. A store sales promotion method characterized by including a sixth step.

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