Information processing system, information processing method, and program

Abstract

To develop an online marketplace for locally produced agricultural, livestock, and marine products, increase earnings of producers, and provide fresh agricultural, livestock, and marine products to consumers, as well as contributing to the interests of the regions.SOLUTION: An information processing system includes a control unit. The control unit is configured to: receive, for agricultural, livestock, and marine products shipped from a plurality of producers of the agricultural, livestock, and marine products to a collection center of a market organizer and delivered directly from the collection center to consumers, commodity information of a plurality of agricultural, livestock, and marine products available for shipment by the date which is a first period before a scheduled delivery date from producer terminal of the producers; collectively transmit the received commodity information of the agricultural, livestock, and marine products to a consumer terminal; receive, from a consumer terminal of the consumer, orders for agricultural, livestock, and marine products corresponding to the commodity information; stop accepting orders when the time which is a second period before the scheduled delivery date arrives; and transmit order placement information on the ordered agricultural, livestock, and marine products to a producer terminal of a producer that has accepted the orders, out of the producer terminals of the producers, at least.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing system, an information processing method, and a program capable of processing information for electronic commerce (EC) of agricultural, livestock, and marine products. [Background technology]

[0002] The current main distribution channel for agricultural products involves consolidating produce from a wide area at a central market, determining the price of each product based on the total volume, and then delivering the produce to each region. This means that multiple transportation costs (expenses and labor) are incurred before the produce arrives in each region, and the produce loses its freshness accordingly. Furthermore, it is expected that this will be affected by the expected shortage of delivery workers in the future, so a review of agricultural product distribution is urgently needed.

[0003] Therefore, as a method to avoid the need to concentrate agricultural products in a central market, a system that directly matches agricultural producers with consumers who want to purchase those products is becoming popular.

[0004] For example, Patent Document 1 listed below discloses an electronic commerce method that acquires a plurality of pieces of sales information including variety information indicating the variety of agricultural products to be produced, quality information related to the quality of the agricultural products, harvest yield information indicating the harvest yield of the agricultural products, and desired selling price information for the agricultural products; acquires purchase offer information including item information indicating the type of agricultural product to be purchased, characteristic information related to the characteristics of the agricultural products, required quantity information indicating the required quantity of the agricultural products, and desired purchasing price information for the agricultural products; identifies one or more pieces of sales information that match the acquired purchase offer information from the acquired plurality of pieces of sales information; and provides the identified one or more pieces of sales information so that they can be viewed by the sender of the purchase offer information. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-56839 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, in conventional e-commerce systems such as the one described in Patent Document 1, consumers can purchase agricultural products from producers across the country, but the system still requires large transportation costs (expenses and labor), and has not yet significantly improved producers' profits. Furthermore, in the above system, consumers can order agricultural products at any time, so producers do not know when an order will be placed. If agricultural products are harvested in advance, they may lose their freshness and become unsellable, and if they are harvested after an order is placed, it will take time to ship them to consumers.

[0007] In addition to agricultural products (vegetables and fruits), similar issues exist for dairy products, livestock products such as meat and eggs, marine products such as fish and shellfish, processed products made from these products, food products such as bread and bento boxes, and fresh flowers.

[0008] In view of the above circumstances, the present invention aims to provide an information processing system, information processing method, and program that will build an online market for locally produced and locally consumed agricultural, livestock, and fishery products, thereby increasing producers' profits and providing consumers with fresh agricultural, livestock, and fishery products, thereby contributing to the local community. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] To achieve the above object, an information processing system according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a control unit that receives product information for a plurality of agricultural, livestock, and fishery product items available for shipment from producer terminals of a plurality of agricultural, livestock, and fishery product items shipped from the plurality of producers to a collection center of a market organizer and delivered directly from the collection center to consumers by a first period before a scheduled delivery date, compiles the received product information for the plurality of agricultural, livestock, and fishery product items and transmits it to the consumer terminal, accepts orders for the agricultural, livestock, and fishery product items corresponding to the product information from the consumer terminal of the consumer, closes the orders when a second period before the scheduled delivery date arrives, and transmits order information for the ordered agricultural, livestock, and fishery product items to at least the producer terminal of the producer that received the order among the plurality of producers.

[0010] With this configuration, the information processing system connects local producers and consumers with the market organizer as the base point, matching local supply and demand in real time, thereby creating an online market for locally produced agricultural, livestock, and fishery products and improving producer profits. Furthermore, transportation costs are minimized, maximizing producer profits and minimizing transportation time, allowing consumers to receive fresh agricultural, livestock, and fishery products. Ultimately, matching local producers and consumers contributes to the local community itself. Producers can sell agricultural, livestock, and fishery products to consumers in line with their usual shipments from collection centers, eliminating the need for additional shipping work. Here, market organizers can be, for example, direct sales outlets, agricultural cooperatives, producer associations, etc. Consumers can also be, for example, actual consumers such as restaurants, food processing plants, and school lunch centers, or general consumers, or companies, government agencies, schools, etc. The consumer is within a distance range from the collection point, for example, a radius of about 20 to 30 km, within which agricultural, livestock, and fishery products can be delivered directly by vehicle from the collection point, and may be located across prefectures or municipalities from the collection point. Furthermore, the first period before is, for example, a predetermined date and time two days before, and the second period before is, for example, a predetermined date and time the day before, but is not limited to these.

[0011] The order information may include quantity information indicating the quantity of the agricultural, livestock, or fishery product for which the order has been accepted. In this case, the control unit may cause the quantity information to include a total quantity of the same agricultural, livestock, or fishery product for which orders have been accepted from multiple consumer terminals.

[0012] This means that producers no longer need to prepare agricultural, livestock, and fishery products for shipment to multiple consumers; they can simply ship the total quantity together to a collection point and sell agricultural, livestock, and fishery products to multiple consumers via e-commerce, without having to be aware of each consumer.

[0013] The control unit may store delivery destination information of the consumer, and may transmit order information, which is the order information plus orderer information corresponding to the order information, to a collection point terminal at the collection point.

[0014] This allows the collection point to grasp the orderer information (at least the delivery destination information and consumer name information) and deliver agricultural, livestock, and fishery products based on that information, eliminating the need for producers to manage the orderer information for agricultural, livestock, and fishery products and the hassle of shipping them to each orderer.

[0015] The control unit may post the received product information for the multiple agricultural, livestock, and fishery products on a webpage, receive the product information from each of the multiple producer terminals, update the webpage each time the product information is received, and send the order information to the multiple producer terminals when the date and time before the second period arrives.

[0016] This allows order information for multiple consumers to be sent to multiple producers at once, allowing agricultural, livestock, and fishery products to be collected at a collection point all at once and delivered to each consumer individually.

[0017] The order deadline may be a predetermined date and time before the scheduled delivery date, and the control unit may transmit the order information to the producer terminal as the shipment for the scheduled delivery date.

[0018] This means that if the scheduled delivery date is the day before, the producer will always receive order information for the next day's shipment, reducing the producer's burden of managing shipping schedules.

[0019] The control unit may store consumer identification information that identifies the consumer terminal in association with consumer identification information that identifies a consumer belonging to the consumer, and set the delivery destination for agricultural, livestock, and fishery products ordered from consumer terminals corresponding to multiple consumer identification information linked to the same consumer identification information to the consumer corresponding to the consumer identification information.

[0020] This will realize a system that is not only BtoB but also BtoBtoC, and by setting the agricultural, livestock, and fishery products purchased by purchasers belonging to organizations (demandors) such as companies, government agencies, and schools as the delivery destination, the purchaser will be able to purchase and have the agricultural, livestock, and fishery products delivered without having to go out of their way to go shopping.Demanders can use the system as a welfare measure for their members, and can also contribute to the local community.

[0021] The control unit may collectively transmit a total of a plurality of agricultural, livestock, and fishery products ordered from a plurality of consumers belonging to the organization as an order from the organization to a terminal at the collection point.

[0022] This allows orders for agricultural, livestock, and fishery products from multiple users belonging to one organization to be treated as orders from a single organization, and collection points can handle B2B orders without distinguishing between orders from users and orders from organizations. Also, because producers receive B2B and B2B2C orders all at once, they can harvest and prepare for shipping all at once.

[0023] The product information may include information indicating the price set by the producer for the agricultural, livestock, or fishery product. In this case, the control unit may store information regarding an average price for each agricultural, livestock, or fishery product, and transmit alert information to the producer terminal when it determines that the difference between the price in the received product information and the average price is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold.

[0024] This allows producers to receive alert information when the available prices for agricultural, livestock, and fishery products deviate significantly from the average price, giving them an opportunity to correct pricing errors, etc., and preventing producers from suffering losses due to products being mistakenly sold at unreasonably low prices.

[0025] An information processing method according to another aspect of the present invention includes receiving product information for a plurality of agricultural, livestock, and fishery product products that are available for shipment from producer terminals of a plurality of agricultural, livestock, and fishery product producers to a collection point of a market organizer and then delivered directly to consumers from the collection point by a first period before the scheduled delivery date, transmitting the received product information for the plurality of agricultural, livestock, and fishery product products together to the consumer terminal, accepting orders for the agricultural, livestock, and fishery product products corresponding to the product information from the consumer terminal of the consumer, closing the orders when a date and time a second period before the scheduled delivery date arrives, and transmitting order information for the ordered agricultural, livestock, and fishery product products to the producer terminal of at least one of the producer terminals of the plurality of producers that received the order.

[0026] A program according to another aspect of the present invention causes an information processing device to execute the following steps: receiving product information for a plurality of agricultural, livestock, and fishery product products that are available for shipment from the producer terminals of a plurality of agricultural, livestock, and fishery product producers by a first period before the scheduled delivery date, for agricultural, livestock, and fishery product products that are shipped from the plurality of producers to a collection point of a market organizer and delivered directly from the collection point to consumers; sending the received product information for the plurality of agricultural, livestock, and fishery product products together to the consumer terminal, and accepting orders for the agricultural, livestock, and fishery product products corresponding to the product information from the consumer terminal of the consumer; and closing the order when a date and time a second period before the scheduled delivery date arrives, and sending order information for the ordered agricultural, livestock, and fishery product products to the producer terminal of at least one of the producer terminals of the plurality of producers that received the order.

[0027] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing system including a control unit that receives product information for a plurality of food products available for shipment from producer terminals of the plurality of food products to be shipped from the food producers to a market organizer and then directly delivered from the market organizer to consumers by a first period prior to a scheduled delivery date, compiles the received product information for the plurality of food products and transmits it to the consumer terminal, accepts orders for the food products corresponding to the product information from the consumer terminals of the consumers, closes the orders at a time and date that is a second period prior to the scheduled delivery date, and transmits order information for the ordered food products to at least the producer terminal of the producer that received the order among the producer terminals of the plurality of producers. [Effects of the Invention]

[0028] As described above, according to the present invention, an online marketplace for locally produced and locally consumed agricultural, livestock, and fishery products and food can be established, thereby improving producers' profits. Furthermore, transportation costs are minimized, maximizing producer profits, and transportation time is minimized, making it possible to provide consumers with fresh agricultural, livestock, and fishery products and food. Furthermore, by matching local producers and consumers, it is possible to contribute to the local area itself. However, these effects do not limit the present invention. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0029] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an agricultural product EC system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 1 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of an agricultural product EC server according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a database included in an agricultural product EC server according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of agricultural product EC processing by an agricultural product EC server according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen in a process for registering information on a planned harvest period for agricultural produce using a producer terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen in a process for registering information on a planned harvest period for agricultural produce using a producer terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen in a process for registering information on a planned harvest period for agricultural produce using a producer terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen in a process for registering information on a planned harvest period for agricultural produce using a producer terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen in the product information registration process for agricultural products by a producer terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] 1 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen in the product information registration process for agricultural products by a producer terminal according to the first embodiment of the invention. FIG. [Figure 11] 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of a catalog update process performed by an agricultural product EC server according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] A figure showing an example of a notification confirming whether or not an agricultural product can be shipped, which is sent to a producer terminal by an agricultural product EC server according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 13] 1 is a diagram showing an example of a web catalog of agricultural products posted by an agricultural product EC server according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 14] 1 is a diagram showing an example of agricultural product ordering information transmitted to a producer terminal by an agricultural product EC server according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 15] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the lead time from catalog update to agricultural product delivery in the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 16] 10 is a diagram showing an example of agricultural product ordering information transmitted to a producer terminal by an agricultural product EC server according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 17] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the lead time from catalog update to agricultural product delivery in the second embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0030] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0031] First Embodiment First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0032] [System Configuration] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an agricultural product EC system according to this embodiment.

[0033] As shown in the figure, this system includes an agricultural product EC server 100 on the Internet 50, a producer terminal 200 of an agricultural product producer (farmer), an MO terminal 400 of an agricultural product market organizer (hereinafter also referred to as a "market owner (MO)"), and a consumer terminal 300 of a consumer of agricultural products.

[0034] An MO is, for example, a local farmer's market, an agricultural cooperative, or a producers' association, and it hosts an agricultural market and also functions as a collection point for agricultural products. Although only one MO is shown in the figure, there can be multiple MOs. Agricultural products are shipped from producers to the MO as a collection point, and then delivered directly from the MO to consumers. Delivery can be made directly from the MO to consumers by vehicle, or consumers can come to the MO to pick up the products. Alternatively, the MO can outsource delivery to another business.

[0035] The consumers are actual users of agricultural products, such as restaurants, food processing plants, school lunch centers, etc. The consumers are located within a distance range from the MO, such as a radius of about 20 to 30 km, within which agricultural products can be directly delivered by vehicle from the MO, and may be located across prefectures or municipalities from the MO.

[0036] The agricultural product EC server 100 is a server that operates an EC site (agricultural product web catalog) that sells agricultural products (including processed products thereof) via the Internet 50. The agricultural product EC server 100 is connected to a plurality of producer terminals 200, MO terminals 400, and consumer terminals 300 via the Internet 50. Note that the EC site is an example of a web page and does not limit the present invention.

[0037] The agricultural product EC server 100 posts product information of agricultural products received from the producer terminal 200 on the web catalog on the EC site, accepts orders for agricultural products from the consumer terminal 300, and places an order for the ordered products with the producer terminal 200.

[0038] The agricultural product EC server 100 may send the product information of the agricultural product received from the producer terminal 200 to the consumer terminal 300 by including the URL of the product information in a message such as an email or SMS, or may send the product information to the consumer terminal 300 as printable information including a two-dimensional code. The consumer terminal 300 can receive each product information or a web catalog based on it from the agricultural product EC server 100 via the URL or two-dimensional code, and can send an order request for the agricultural product to the agricultural product EC server 100 in response to an operation by the consumer.

[0039] The producer terminal 200 is a terminal used by a producer of agricultural products, such as a smartphone, mobile phone, tablet PC, etc. An application for agricultural product e-commerce (hereinafter also referred to as an EC app) that is linked to the above-mentioned EC site is installed on the producer terminal 200, and the producer terminal 200 accesses the agricultural product EC server 100 via the EC app to upload product information, etc. and receive order information.

[0040] The consumer terminal 300 is a terminal owned by each consumer, and may be a tablet PC, notebook PC, desktop PC, or the like. The consumer terminal 300 accesses the EC site of the agricultural product EC server 100, receives the web pages that make up the web catalog, and displays them on a screen using a browser or the like. When a consumer places an order from the paper catalog, the consumer terminal 300 can perform the same process by accessing the web page. The consumer terminal 300 also selects agricultural products from the web catalog and performs the order (add to cart) process and payment process.

[0041] The MO terminal 400 is a terminal installed in each MO, and may be a tablet PC, notebook PC, desktop PC, or the like. The agricultural product EC server 100 provides a management screen for the web catalog for the MO, and the MO terminal 400 can access the management screen to edit and update product information, switch between displaying and not displaying, and print, etc. The MO terminal can print out a list of agricultural products scheduled for shipment received from the producer terminal 200, as well as receipt slips containing tally results and the like, and can print out a list of agricultural products to be delivered from the MO to consumers.

[0042] In hosting the agricultural produce market, the MO will have concluded a contract with the operator of the agricultural produce EC server 100 to pay a system usage fee and a specified percentage of agricultural product sales on the EC site.

[0043] [Hardware configuration of agricultural product e-commerce server] 2 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of the agricultural product EC server 100. As shown in the figure, the agricultural product EC server 100 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11 (server control unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, an input / output interface 15, and a bus 14 connecting these components to each other.

[0044] The CPU 11 accesses the RAM 13 and other memory as needed, and performs various arithmetic processing while controlling all blocks of the agricultural product EC server 100. The ROM 12 is a non-volatile memory that permanently stores firmware such as the OS, programs, and various parameters to be executed by the CPU 11. The RAM 13 is used as a working area for the CPU 11, and temporarily stores the OS, various applications currently being executed, and various data being processed.

[0045] The input / output interface 15 is connected to a display unit 16, an operation reception unit 17, a storage unit 18, a communication unit 19, and the like.

[0046] The display unit 16 is a display device that uses, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), an OLED (Organic ElectroLuminescence Display), a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), or the like.

[0047] The operation reception unit 17 is, for example, a pointing device such as a mouse, a keyboard, a touch panel, or other input device. When the operation reception unit 17 is a touch panel, the touch panel can be integrated with the display unit 16.

[0048] The storage unit 18 is a non-volatile memory such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a flash memory (solid state drive (SSD)), or other solid-state memory. The storage unit 18 stores the OS, various applications, and various data.

[0049] In particular, in this embodiment, the storage unit 18 stores data, applications, and other programs for the agricultural product EC server 100 to execute the agricultural product EC processing described below. As will be described later, the storage unit 18 has databases containing such data, including a producer information database, a consumer information database, an MO information database, a product information database, and an order information database.

[0050] The communication unit 19 is, for example, a NIC (Network Interface Card) for Ethernet or various modules for wireless communication such as wireless LAN, and is responsible for communication processing between the producer terminal 200, the consumer terminal 300, and the MO terminal 400.

[0051] [Database configuration of agricultural product EC server] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of a database included in the agricultural product EC server 100. As shown in FIG.

[0052] As shown in the figure, the agricultural product EC server 100 has a producer information database 31, a consumer information database 32, an MO information database 33, a product information database 34, and an order information database 35 in the memory unit 18.

[0053] The producer information database 31 stores information about agricultural producers who are members of the EC system hosted by the MO and who own the producer terminal 200. Specifically, the producer information database 31 stores information for each producer, such as the producer ID, password, name, display name in the web catalog, email address, telephone number, address, ID of the MO used, producer preferences, images of the producer or farm, and deposit account information.

[0054] The consumer information database 32 stores information about consumers of agricultural products (restaurants, food processing plants, school lunch centers, etc.) who are members of the EC site and own consumer terminals 300. Specifically, the consumer information database 32 stores information for each consumer, such as consumer ID, password, name (name), email address, telephone number, address, age (group), gender, and payment information (credit card information).

[0055] The MO information database 33 stores information about the MO that hosts the agricultural produce market, specifically, information such as the MO's ID, name, representative, email address, telephone number, address, fee payment information (credit card information), and agricultural product delivery schedule (delivery days and whether or not delivery is available each day).

[0056] The product information database 34 stores information about agricultural produce received from the producer terminal 200. Specifically, the product information database 34 stores information such as the name of the agricultural produce, the variety name, information about the planned harvest period, the MO of the shipping destination, the product name, the sales price, the sales unit (kg, piece, bundle, bag, case, box, pack, etc.), the packaging (partial or whole sale, presence or absence of leaves, presence or absence of mud, presence or absence of pre-processing, etc.), the daily shipping quantity, product description, product images, and information on whether the product can be shipped during the planned harvest period, all linked to the producer ID and the MO ID. Note that some of the sales units can also be treated as packaging types. For example, bundles, bags, cases, boxes, packs, etc. can be treated as both sales units and packaging types. In other words, in the present invention, the product database 34 may store a mixture of sales units and packaging types, or it may be configured to store only either sales units or packaging types.

[0057] The order information database 35 stores, for each product, the product information regarding agricultural products whose orders have been confirmed on the EC site, the number of orders, the amount, the order date and time, the order number, the customer information regarding the customer who placed the order, the shipping date and time, the delivery date and time, etc., as well as the cart information before the order was confirmed.

[0058] These databases are mutually referenced and used as needed in the agricultural product e-commerce processing by the agricultural product e-commerce server 100. The storage unit 18 also stores information necessary for generating the web catalog and paper pages, as well as settlement management information (payment and receipt details) for fees and the like.

[0059] [System Operation] Next, the operation of the system configured as described above (mainly the agricultural product EC server 100) will be described. The operation is performed by the cooperation of hardware such as the CPU 11 of the agricultural product EC server 100 and software stored in the storage unit 18. For convenience, in the following description, the CPU 11 is the subject of operation.

[0060] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of agricultural product EC processing by the agricultural product EC server 100.

[0061] The CPU 11 of the agricultural product EC server 100 first receives planned harvest period information (planting plan) for agricultural products from the producer terminal 200 (step 41), and then receives product information for agricultural products from the producer terminal 200 (step 42). Here, the planned harvest period information and the product information are described as separate processes, but they may be integrated.

[0062] The planned harvest period information and product information are input and transmitted on the EC application at the producer terminal 200. Figures 5 to 8 are diagrams showing examples of input screens for planned harvest period information on the EC application.

[0063] As shown in Figure 5, first, the producer terminal 200 selects the MO to which the farm product is to be shipped, for example, from a list of MOs in a pull-down MO selection field 51. If only one MO is linked to the producer information, that MO may or may not be displayed. Furthermore, selecting an MO is not required at this stage, and an MO can also be selected at the time of shipment.

[0064] On the initial screen of the input screen, a list of agricultural products is displayed as a plurality of round icons 52 each showing the name of the agricultural product, and the producer selects one of the icons 52 on the producer terminal 200 by operating the producer to select the agricultural product for which the planned harvest period is to be registered. The CPU 11 receives the selected information. The figure shows an example in which "tomato" has been selected. Note that the agricultural products displayed in the list may differ for each MO.

[0065] When an agricultural product is selected, a list of the selected agricultural product varieties is displayed as icons 54 on the input screen in the same manner as above, as shown in FIG. 6. The producer selects one of the icons 54 on the producer terminal 200 through operation by the producer, thereby selecting the variety of agricultural product for which the planned harvest period is to be registered. The CPU 11 receives the selected information. The figure shows an example in which "Momotaro" has been selected. With this selection, for example, the agricultural product information display field 53 displays the selected agricultural product name and variety name at the top of the input screen.

[0066] 7, the producer operates the producer terminal 200 to input the planned harvest period (planned shipping period) of the selected variety of agricultural produce into the planned harvest period input field 55. In the figure, March 13, 2024 to May 1, 2024 is input as the planned harvest period for the tomato (Momotaro).

[0067] When the planned harvest period is entered and, for example, the planned harvest period registration button 56 at the bottom of the input screen is pressed, the CPU 11 receives the planned harvest period information and, as shown in Figure 8, displays the planned harvest period information in the agricultural product information display field 53, as well as a dialog 58 that indicates that registration of the planned harvest period information has been completed and then displays a message encouraging the user to register product information.

[0068] Additionally, the producer terminal 200 can also additionally register planned harvest period information and product information for other agricultural products using the information registration button 69 at the bottom of the input screen. The process of registering planned harvest period information and product information for multiple agricultural products may be performed collectively, for example, once every six months or once a year, or may be performed each time.

[0069] 9 and 10 are diagrams showing examples of product information input screens of an EC application.

[0070] As shown in Figure 9, when a producer presses a product registration button 57 located, for example, at the bottom of the agricultural product information display field 53, a product information input field 59 is displayed on the input screen. The product information input field 59 includes input fields for the product name, sales price, sales unit (kg, piece, bundle, bag, case, box, pack, etc.), daily shipping volume, product description, and product image. Although not shown, it may also be possible to input the packaging style mentioned above.

[0071] When the producer operates the producer terminal 200 to input information into the product information input field 59, and for example presses the product registration confirmation button 60 located at the bottom of the input screen, the CPU 11 receives the product information and displays a dialog 61, as shown in Figure 10, indicating that the registration of the product information has been completed and that a confirmation notification will be sent regarding whether the product can be shipped or not during the planned harvest period (shipping period).

[0072] 4, the CPU 11 then determines whether or not a predetermined time has arrived on the day before the day included in the planned harvest period (planned shipping period) (step 43). The predetermined time is, for example, 5:00 PM, but is not limited to this.

[0073] If it is determined that the predetermined time of the previous day has arrived (Yes in step 43), the CPU 11 executes a process for updating the web catalog on the EC site (step 44).

[0074] FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the detailed flow of the web catalog update process.

[0075] As shown in the figure, first, the CPU 11 transmits to the producer terminal 200 a shipping (catalog listing) confirmation notice for the agricultural product for which the planned harvest period has been registered (step 71).

[0076] 12 is a diagram showing an example of the shipping availability confirmation notice displayed on the EC app. As shown in the figure, the shipping availability confirmation notice displays information about the publication date of the web catalog and the scheduled delivery date of the agricultural product, and also has a confirmation input field 62 including a shipping availability selection field 63 for selecting, for example, by radio button, whether or not the agricultural product can be shipped (whether or not it can be published).

[0077] The confirmation input field 62 also displays the sales price and available shipping quantity input when the product information was registered, and is also provided with a sales price input field 64 and an available shipping quantity input field 65 where these can be changed.

[0078] Whether or not shipping is possible is selected in the shipping possibility selection field 63, and the information in the sales price input field 64 or the shippable quantity input field 65 is optionally changed. When, for example, the reply send button 70 displayed at the bottom is pressed, reply information regarding whether or not shipping is possible, the sales price, and the shippable quantity is sent to the agricultural product EC server 100.

[0079] In this way, the agricultural product EC server 100 allows producers to input whether or not to ship multiple agricultural products on a single input screen, and receives these at once, and also allows producers to review the unit price and shipping volume of agricultural products that they have once set just before shipping.

[0080] The confirmation notification also has an MO selection field 51 that allows selection from a list of MOs using a pull-down menu, and the producer terminal 200 can select whether or not to ship for each MO and send shipping availability response information for multiple MOs at once.

[0081] Next, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the response information on whether or not the shipment (publication) is possible has been received from the producer terminal 200 (step 72).

[0082] When it is determined that the shipping (publication) possibility response information has been received (Yes in step 72), the CPU 11 updates the information in the product information database 34 with the response information (step 73), and then determines for each agricultural product whether "shippable" is selected in the response information (step 74). Note that only agricultural products for which "shippable" is selected in the shipping (publication) possibility response information may be stored in the product information database 34.

[0083] If "shippable" is selected (Yes in step 74), the CPU 11 updates the updated product information in the product information database 34 by posting it on the web catalog within the EC site (step 75). On the other hand, if "unshippable" is selected (No in step 74), the CPU 11 ends the process. The above process is repeated for each agricultural product every time response information is received from each producer terminal 200, thereby completing the web catalog update process.

[0084] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the web catalog.

[0085] As shown in the figure, the web catalog has product information display fields 66 for multiple agricultural products. Although not shown, when the consumer terminal 300 selects one of the product information display fields 66, an order (add to cart) button is displayed along with detailed information contained in the product information database 34 for the corresponding agricultural product.

[0086] Returning to FIG. 4, the CPU 11 then determines whether or not an order has been received from the consumer terminal 300 via the order button for the agricultural product in the updated web catalog (step 45).

[0087] If it is determined that the order has been accepted (Yes in step 45), the CPU 11 executes a cart addition process for the target agricultural product and updates the information in the order information database 35 (step 46).

[0088] Next, the CPU 11 determines whether a predetermined time has arrived on the day before the scheduled delivery (shipment) date of the ordered agricultural products (step 47). The predetermined time may be, for example, 4:00 PM, but is not limited to this.

[0089] If it is determined that the specified time on the day before the scheduled delivery date has arrived (Yes in step 47), the CPU 11 closes the acceptance of orders for agricultural products through the web catalog, confirms the orders for each agricultural product based on the order information entered in the cart, and updates the order information database 35 (step 48).

[0090] Then, the CPU 11 sends order confirmation information to the consumer terminal 300 that placed the order for the agricultural product, sends order information for the agricultural product to each producer terminal 200, and sends order information to the MO terminal 400 that includes the order information plus orderer information (orderer name and delivery address information) corresponding to the order information (step 49).

[0091] It is not necessary to send order confirmation information to the consumer terminal 300; it is sufficient if order information for the agricultural product (including when no order is placed) is sent to each producer terminal 200, and the order information is then sent to the MO terminal 400. Alternatively, the order information for the agricultural product may be sent only to each producer terminal 200 of the producer who has placed an order.

[0092] FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of the above-mentioned order information displayed on the EC application.

[0093] As shown in the figure, the order information has an order information display field 67 for each agricultural product and an order confirmation button 68. The order information display field 67 includes information on the MO of delivery destination of the ordered agricultural products, delivery date, product name, quantity, and total sales amount.

[0094] If there are multiple consumers ordering the same agricultural product, this quantity and total sales amount is the sum of all the orders and does not include information on which consumer the product should be delivered to; this information is managed by the MO terminal 400 that received the order information. Therefore, producers no longer need to prepare agricultural products for shipment for each of multiple consumers; they can sell agricultural products to multiple consumers via e-commerce by simply shipping the total quantity to the MO together, without having to worry about each consumer. In other words, agricultural products can be sold to consumers via e-commerce in conjunction with regular shipments to the MO, so there is no increase in the producer's shipping workload.

[0095] Furthermore, producers will always receive order information for the next day's shipment, which reduces the burden on producers of managing shipping schedules.

[0096] When the producer presses the order confirmation button 68, order confirmation information is sent to the agricultural product EC server 100. If the order confirmation information is not received within a predetermined period of time after the transmission of the order information, the CPU 11 may send an order confirmation notice to the producer terminal 200.

[0097] Figure 15 shows the lead time from catalog update to produce delivery.

[0098] As described above, a shipping confirmation notice is sent to the producer terminal 200 at, for example, 5 PM on the day before the scheduled delivery date, the web catalog is updated for agricultural products that have been confirmed as ready for shipping, orders are accepted from 7 PM on that day until, for example, 4 PM on the day before the scheduled delivery date, orders are closed at 4 PM, and order information is sent to the producer terminal 200. Then, at 9 AM on the following day, the producer ships the ordered agricultural products to the MO collection point, which divides them into loads for each consumer at the collection point and delivers them by vehicle to each consumer's address.

[0099] Producers always receive a confirmation notice two days before shipment and order information the day before shipment, allowing them to manage and understand their shipping schedules. Furthermore, by simply replying to the confirmation notice, producers can list their freshly harvested vegetables in a daily updated online catalog, freeing them from the hassle of listing their products.

[0100] [summary] As described above, according to this embodiment, the agricultural product EC server 100 connects local producers and consumers with the market organizer (MO) as the base point, and matches local supply and demand in real time, thereby building an online market for locally produced and locally consumed agricultural products, improving producers' profits, and providing consumers with fresh agricultural products, thereby contributing to the local area. If producers' profits can be improved, it may be possible to put a stop to the chronic withdrawal of farmers and further contribute to attracting new entrants into agriculture.

[0101] Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted or simplified.

[0102] FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the configuration of an agricultural product EC system according to this embodiment.

[0103] In the first embodiment described above, a BtoB business model was described in which producers sell agricultural products to actual users of the agricultural products, such as restaurants, food processing plants, and school lunch centers. In this embodiment, as shown in the figure, a BtoBtoC business model is realized in which the users of the agricultural products are employees of companies or staff of government ministries and schools, and the destinations of the agricultural products are organizations such as those companies and government ministries. In other words, users belonging to the same organization can purchase agricultural products through that organization, and the MO can deliver the agricultural products to that organization on behalf of each user. Note that users may be students or members of the same organization in addition to employees and staff.

[0104] The MO contracts with each organization, delivers agricultural products periodically (for example, twice a week), and charges each organization a service fee (for example, a monthly fee) in lieu of delivery costs in addition to sales of agricultural products. The service fee can be set according to the number of consumers belonging to the organization.

[0105] Each organization has an organization terminal 500, such as a smartphone, mobile phone, or tablet PC, which is connected to the agricultural product EC server 100 via the Internet 50. In addition to the databases shown in Fig. 3 above, the agricultural product EC server 100 stores information about each organization (organization ID, name, address, contact information, person in charge, number of consumers, etc.) linked to information about consumers (their employees and staff) (consumer ID).

[0106] When agricultural product orders are received from consumer terminals 300 corresponding to multiple consumer IDs linked to the same organization ID, the delivery destination of the agricultural product is set to the address of the organization corresponding to the organization ID. That is, the agricultural product EC server 100 compiles order information for multiple agricultural product orders received from multiple consumers linked to the same organization ID, including the total quantity of each agricultural product and the delivery destination information of the organization corresponding to the organization identification information, and transmits this information to the MO terminal 200 as an order from a single organization.

[0107] FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the lead time from catalog update to produce delivery in this embodiment.

[0108] As shown in the figure, in the lead time of the first embodiment shown in Figure 15 above, agricultural products are delivered every day, whereas in this embodiment, agricultural products are set to be delivered, for example, twice a week (for example, on Mondays and Thursdays).

[0109] Furthermore, whereas in the first embodiment, orders are closed the day before the scheduled delivery date, in this embodiment, orders are closed at a specified time two days before the scheduled delivery date (Saturday if delivery is on Monday), and order information is sent to producer terminal 200 for shipment on the day before the scheduled delivery date. This ensures that the day before the scheduled delivery date is available for dividing up the agricultural products for delivery to each organization.

[0110] As described above, this embodiment realizes a BtoBtoC system. By setting the organization as the delivery destination for agricultural produce purchased by a consumer belonging to an organization, such as a company, government agency, or school, the consumer can purchase agricultural produce without having to go shopping. The organization can provide system usage fees (e.g., shipping fees) as a benefit to the consumer. Furthermore, this system contributes to the local community by selling local agricultural produce to consumers living in the area. Furthermore, MOs can deliver products to the organization in bulk rather than individually, significantly reducing delivery costs. Furthermore, orders for agricultural produce from multiple consumers belonging to a single organization can be treated as a single organizational order, and MOs can handle BtoB orders without distinguishing between orders from consumers and organizations. Furthermore, because producers receive both BtoB and BtoBtoC orders simultaneously, they can harvest and prepare for shipment all at once.

[0111] [Variations] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

[0112] In the above-described embodiment, the producer terminal 200 inputs product information along with information on the planned harvest period and transmits it to the agricultural product EC server 100. However, the producer terminal 200 may first transmit only information on the planned harvest period to the agricultural product EC server 100, and input product information when it receives the above-described shipping availability confirmation notice. In this case, unlike the shipping availability confirmation notice shown in FIG. 12 above, the agricultural product EC server 100 generates a screen prompting the producer terminal 200 to input product information in addition to the shipping availability of the agricultural product, and transmits the screen to the producer terminal 200.

[0113] In the above-described embodiment, the agricultural product EC server 100 may store information regarding the average selling price for each agricultural product, and may transmit alert information to the producer terminal 200 when it determines that the difference between the selling price in the product information received from the producer terminal 200 and the average price is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold (for example, equal to or greater than twice the average price, or equal to or less than half the average price). In this way, by transmitting alert information to the producer when the available price of an agricultural product significantly deviates from the average price, it is possible to provide an opportunity to correct pricing errors, etc., and to prevent the producer from incurring damages due to the product being mistakenly sold at an unfairly low price.

[0114] The processing of the agricultural product EC server 100 in the above-described embodiment may be distributed and executed by multiple servers. For example, the above-described process of receiving the planned harvest period information and product information of agricultural products, and the subsequent process of updating the web catalog and the order acceptance process may be executed by separate servers.

[0115] In the above-described embodiment, an example is shown in which the present invention is applied to an online market for agricultural products, but the target products are not limited to agricultural products, and the present invention can also be applied to other products such as dairy products, livestock products such as meat and eggs, marine products such as fish and shellfish, processed products made from these products, food such as bread and bento boxes, and fresh flowers.

[0116] Producer terminals 200 of food producers such as bread and bento boxes can also use the same EC app as above to register food products and sell them via a web catalog. However, when targeting food products, planned harvest period information (crop planning) like that for agricultural products is not required, so the food producer only registers product information as part of the registration process.

[0117] Food market organizers (MOs) can be associations, organizations, companies, or even individuals. There does not need to be a physical collection point for food like a farmer's market; instead, the market organizer can use a mobile vehicle to visit local food producers (bakeries, lunch boxes, etc.) and collect the products shipped by each producer.

[0118] Basically, bread, bento boxes, etc. can be produced every day (every morning), and producers only need to know the number of shipments by that time, so the online catalogs on food e-commerce sites are updated every day, the day before the shipping date, and orders can be placed the day before.

[0119] In this way, by making food a target product in the online market, it becomes possible to sell bread produced by producers such as bakeries and bento shops in rural urban areas to consumers in villages away from urban areas where there are no food stores.

[0120] Among the inventions described in the claims of this application, the invention described as an "information processing method" is one in which each step is automatically performed by at least one device such as a computer through software-based information processing, and is not performed by a human using a device such as a computer. In other words, the "information processing method" is an information processing method using computer software, and is not a method in which a human operates a computing tool called a computer. [Explanation of symbols]

[0121] 11...CPU 12...ROM 13...RAM 14...Bus 15...Input / output interface 18...Storage section 19…Communications Department 31...Producer information database 32...Demand information database 33...MO information database 34...Product information database 35...Order information database 55...Planned harvest period input field 56...Register planned harvest period button 63...Shipping availability selection field 70...Reply send button 100...Agricultural product e-commerce server 200...Producer terminal 300...MO terminal 400...Demand terminal 500...Organization terminal

Claims

1. With regard to agricultural, livestock, and fishery products that are shipped from a plurality of agricultural, livestock, and fishery producers to a collection point of the market organizer and delivered directly to consumers from the collection point, product information of the plurality of agricultural, livestock, and fishery products that can be shipped is received from the producer terminals of the plurality of producers by a first period before the scheduled delivery date; collectively transmitting the received product information of the plurality of agricultural, livestock, and fishery products to the consumer terminal, and accepting an order for the agricultural, livestock, and fishery products corresponding to the product information from the consumer terminal of the consumer; a control unit that closes the order when a date and time that is a second period before the scheduled delivery date arrives, and transmits order information of the ordered agricultural, livestock, or fishery product to at least one of the producer terminals of the producers that received the order. An information processing system comprising:

2. 2. The information processing system according to claim 1, The order information includes quantity information indicating the quantity of the agricultural, livestock, or fishery product for which the order has been accepted, The control unit includes, as the quantity information, a total quantity of orders received from a plurality of the consumer terminals for the same agricultural, livestock, or fishery product. Information processing system.

3. 3. The information processing system according to claim 1, The control unit stores the delivery destination information of the demander, and transmits the order information, which is the order information plus the orderer information corresponding to the order information, to the collection point terminal of the collection point. Information processing system.

4. 3. The information processing system according to claim 1, The control unit Posting the received product information of the plurality of agricultural, livestock, and fishery products on a web page; receiving the product information from each of the plurality of producer terminals, updating the web page each time the product information is received, and transmitting the order information to the plurality of producer terminals when the date and time before the second period arrives; Information processing system.

5. 3. The information processing system according to claim 1, The order deadline is a predetermined date and time before the scheduled delivery date, The control unit transmits the order information to the producer terminal as the shipment for the scheduled delivery date. Information processing system.

6. 3. The information processing system according to claim 1, The control unit storing consumer identification information for identifying the consumer terminal and organization identification information for identifying the organization to which the consumer belongs in association with each other; Order information including the total quantity for each of the plurality of agricultural, livestock, and fishery products ordered from consumer terminals corresponding to the plurality of consumer identification information linked to the same organization identification information and delivery destination information of the organization corresponding to the organization identification information is transmitted to the collection point terminal of the collection point. Information processing system.

7. 3. The information processing system according to claim 1, The product information includes information indicating the price set by the producer for the agricultural, livestock, or fishery product, The control unit stores information about an average price for each of the agricultural, livestock, and fishery products, and transmits alert information to the producer terminal when it determines that the difference between the price in the received product information and the average price is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. Information processing system.

8. With regard to agricultural, livestock, and fishery products that are shipped from a plurality of agricultural, livestock, and fishery producers to a collection point of the market organizer and delivered directly to consumers from the collection point, product information of the plurality of agricultural, livestock, and fishery products that can be shipped is received from the producer terminals of the plurality of producers by a first period before the scheduled delivery date; collectively transmitting the received product information of the plurality of agricultural, livestock, and fishery products to the consumer terminal, and accepting an order for the agricultural, livestock, and fishery products corresponding to the product information from the consumer terminal of the consumer; When a date and time that is a second period before the scheduled delivery date arrives, the order is closed, and order information for the ordered agricultural, livestock, and fishery products is transmitted to at least the producer terminal of the producer that received the order, among the producer terminals of the plurality of producers. Information processing methods.

9. In the information processing device, receiving product information of a plurality of agricultural, livestock, and fishery products that can be shipped from a plurality of producers of agricultural, livestock, and fishery products to be shipped from the collection point of a market organizer to be directly delivered to consumers from the collection point by a first period before the scheduled delivery date from producer terminals of the plurality of producers; a step of transmitting the received product information of the plurality of agricultural, livestock, and fishery products together to the consumer terminal, and accepting an order for the agricultural, livestock, and fishery products corresponding to the product information from the consumer terminal of the consumer; When a date and time before a second period before the scheduled delivery date arrives, the order is closed and order information for the ordered agricultural, livestock, and fishery products is sent to at least one of the producer terminals of the plurality of producers that has received the order. A program that executes the following.

10. With regard to foods that are shipped from producers of a plurality of foods to a market organizer and delivered directly from the market organizer to consumers, product information of a plurality of foods that can be shipped is received from producer terminals of the plurality of producers by a first period before the scheduled delivery date; collectively transmit the received product information of the plurality of foods to the consumer terminal, and accept an order for the food corresponding to the product information from the consumer terminal of the consumer; a control unit that closes the order when a date and time before a second period before the scheduled delivery date arrives, and transmits order information for the ordered food to at least one of the producer terminals of the plurality of producers, the producer terminal of the producer that received the order. An information processing system comprising:

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