Information processing apparatus

Abstract

To provide an apparatus that can appropriately determine a price cut range of a commodity.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus determines a price cut range of a commodity at the present time on the basis of at least information on a schedule for price cut of the commodity later than the present time.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] Retail stores that sell food and other products discard products that have reached their expiration date or best-before date. In order to reduce losses due to product disposal, products with a short remaining time until their expiration date or best-before date are sometimes sold at a discount. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2023-123315 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a device that can appropriately determine the amount of price reduction for a product. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] An information processing device according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes at least one memory and at least one processor, and the at least one processor determines the amount of price reduction of a product at the current time based at least on information regarding planned price reductions of the product after the current time. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0006] [Figure 1] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a price reduction strategy. [Figure 2] 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a sales support system. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of a price determination device. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of product information. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of sales information. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a price reduction process. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a first example of a display screen. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a setting screen. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a second example of a display screen. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of an evaluation process. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a first example of an evaluation screen. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a second example of an evaluation screen. [Figure 13] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a computer. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0007] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this specification and drawings, components having substantially the same functional configurations are designated by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

[0008] [Embodiment] One embodiment of the present disclosure is a sales support system that supports product sales in a retail store. The sales support system in this embodiment has a function of determining the amount of price reduction when conducting a price reduction sale. In this disclosure, the term "price reduction" may be appropriately interpreted as "discount" depending on the context, and may conceptually include "discount."

[0009] In retail stores selling food products and the like, products that have reached their respective expiration dates or best-before dates are discarded. In particular, some products, such as boxed lunches or prepared meals, have expiration dates set in units of hours. Hereinafter, the time at which products that have reached their expiration dates or best-before dates are discarded will also be referred to as the "disposal time." Disposal work is carried out at any time based on a predetermined manual or the judgment of store employees. In general, disposal work is preferably carried out during times when there are fewer customers, and is often carried out after the store has closed.

[0010] In order to reduce losses due to product disposal, products with a short remaining period until their expiration date or best-before date are sometimes sold at a discount. When selling at a discount, it is important to determine the appropriate amount of the discount for each product. For example, for products that can be sold out before the disposal time without a significant price reduction, if the discount is too large, the loss due to the price reduction will be greater than necessary. Also, for products that cannot be sold out by the disposal time without a significant price reduction, if the discount is too small, many products will remain unsold, and the loss due to disposal will be greater. Therefore, when selling at a discount, it is necessary to determine the amount of the price reduction for each product while considering the balance between the loss due to the price reduction and the loss due to disposal.

[0011] In a price reduction sale, the price may be reduced multiple times before the disposal time. When multiple price reductions are carried out, the amount of the price reduction is increased stepwise at multiple predetermined (scheduled) price reduction times. For example, a price reduction sale may start with a small amount of reduction at a certain price reduction time, and if there are still unsold products as the disposal time approaches, the amount of reduction may be changed to a larger amount at the next price reduction time. By reducing the price multiple times, the amount of reduction can be determined depending on the sales of the products, making it possible to reduce losses caused by price reduction sales.

[0012] The amount of price reduction is often determined based on a pre-defined manual or the experience of store employees. Since losses resulting from discounted sales are influenced by various factors, it is difficult to determine an appropriate amount of price reduction using a standard manual. Furthermore, if a personal approach based on the experience of store employees is used, only experienced store employees can determine an appropriate amount of price reduction. In particular, when multiple price reductions are made, it is extremely difficult to determine an appropriate amount of price reduction at the current time, taking into account the timing of subsequent price reductions.

[0013] <Price reduction strategy> In this embodiment, information that determines the amount of price reduction for multiple price reduction timings in price reduction sales is called a "price reduction strategy." The price reduction strategy in this embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 1. Figure 1 is a diagram showing an example of a price reduction strategy.

[0014] Figure 1 shows, as an example, a price reduction strategy for a store that closes at 10 p.m. In this store, price reductions are carried out at 6:30 p.m., 8 p.m., and 9 p.m., and products are discarded after closing at 10 p.m. Products A, B, and C, each with a use-by date of the same day, are displayed on the sales floor. Therefore, if products A, B, and C remain unsold by closing time, they will be discarded.

[0015] At 6:30 PM, the first price reduction, all products A, B, and C are reduced by a small amount (10%). After the first price reduction, product A is selling well, so no further price reduction is made until closing time. However, sales of products B and C are not increasing sufficiently, so at 8 PM, the second price reduction is made by a larger amount (20%). Furthermore, after the second price reduction, product B is expected to sell out by closing time, so no further price reduction is made until closing time. However, product C is not expected to sell out by closing time, so at 9 PM, the third price reduction is made by an even larger amount (30%).

[0016] As shown in Figure 1, when multiple price reductions are considered, it is possible to determine whether to implement additional price reductions depending on sales at the time of the price reduction. Therefore, by considering multiple price reductions, it is possible to appropriately determine the amount of price reduction at each price reduction.

[0017] In this embodiment, the inventory quantity of each product at a predetermined price reduction timing is predicted, and the price reduction amount for each product at each price reduction timing is determined based on the prediction result. In one aspect, according to this embodiment, the price reduction amount is determined taking into account multiple price reductions, so the price reduction amount for each product at each price reduction timing can be appropriately determined. In another aspect, according to this embodiment, price reduction sales are conducted at a price reduction amount that minimizes losses, so profits from product sales can be maximized.

[0018] <Overall configuration of the sales support system> The overall configuration of the sales support system in this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of the sales support system.

[0019] 2, the sales support system 1000 includes a price determination device 10, a display device 20, and an evaluation device 30. The price determination device 10, the display device 20, and the evaluation device 30 may be connected to each other so as to be able to communicate data with each other via a communication network N such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet.

[0020] The price determination device 10 is an example of an information processing device, such as a personal computer, workstation, or server, that determines the selling price of a product. The price determination device 10 may determine a price reduction strategy for all products at a predetermined time. The price determination device 10 may also determine a price reduction strategy for a specific product in response to a request from the display device 20. The price reduction strategy may be information indicating the amount of price reduction for each product at a predetermined price reduction timing. For example, the price reduction strategy may be determined only once before the start of a price reduction sale, or may be determined each time immediately before each price reduction timing.

[0021] The price reduction amount may be, for example, a price reduction amount or a price reduction percentage. For example, the price reduction amount may be selected from a plurality of discrete options. For example, the price reduction amount options may be set at predetermined intervals such as 10%, 20%, 30%, etc.

[0022] The display device 20 is an example of an information processing terminal, such as a personal computer, smartphone, or tablet terminal, that displays the price reduction amount determined by the price determination device 10. For example, the display device 20 may be a portable terminal, such as a handheld terminal, specialized for store management. The display device 20 may read identification information attached to a product and display the price reduction amount for the product corresponding to the identification information. For example, the identification information attached to the product may be a one-dimensional code (such as a barcode) or a two-dimensional code (such as a QR code (registered trademark)) printed on a price tag, or an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) attached to the product.

[0023] The store employee reduces the prices of the products displayed in the sales area while checking the amount of the price reduction on the display device 20. The price reduction may be, for example, the act of attaching a sticker or the like showing the reduced price to the price tag of the product. For example, the display device 20 may have a function to print a sticker showing the reduced price and a one-dimensional code corresponding to that price.

[0024] The evaluation device 30 is an example of an information processing device such as a personal computer, workstation, or server that evaluates the price reduction strategy determined by the price determination device 10. The evaluation device 30 may display losses due to price reductions during an evaluation period designated by a user. The evaluation device 30 may also process and display losses due to price reductions to make it easier for the user to evaluate. For example, the evaluation device 30 may display the distribution of losses due to price reductions over a predetermined time period, or may display the distributions of losses based on multiple price reduction strategies in a comparable manner.

[0025] The user of the evaluation device 30 may be a store manager or other store manager, or may be a supervisor or other administrator who oversees a chain of stores including multiple stores. The user of the evaluation device 30 can utilize the evaluation results obtained by the evaluation device 30 in store management.

[0026] The overall configuration of the sales support system 1000 shown in FIG. 2 is an example, and various system configuration examples are possible depending on the application and purpose. The sales support system 1000 may be configured with one or more devices. The devices included in the sales support system 1000 may be a system configured with multiple devices. Each function included in the sales support system 1000 may be realized by any device that makes up the system. Each component included in the sales support system 1000 may be included in any device that makes up the system.

[0027] The sales support system 1000 may include multiple units of one or more of the price determination device 10, the display device 20, and the evaluation device 30. The price determination device 10 may be realized as a system including multiple computers, or may be realized as a cloud computing service. Two or more of the price determination device 10, the display device 20, and the evaluation device 30 may be realized by standalone computers. The division of devices such as the price determination device 10, the display device 20, and the evaluation device 30 shown in FIG. 2 is an example.

[0028] <Functional configuration of the price determination device> The functional configuration of the price determination device 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the price determination device.

[0029] 3, the price determination device 10 includes a product setting unit 101, a product information storage unit 102, a sales forecasting unit 103, a price optimization unit 104, a price information output unit 105, a sales information acquisition unit 106, and an evaluation information output unit 107. The price determination device 10 functions as the product setting unit 101, the product information storage unit 102, the sales forecasting unit 103, the price optimization unit 104, the price information output unit 105, the sales information acquisition unit 106, and the evaluation information output unit 107 by executing a price determination program that is pre-installed.

[0030] The product setting unit 101 sets product information related to a product. The product information may include, for example, identification information for identifying the product, information indicating the product, information indicating the type of the product, or information indicating the classification of the product.

[0031] Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of product information. As shown in Fig. 4, the product information may include, as data items, identification information, product name, type, and featured product.

[0032] The identification information is an example of identification information that identifies a product. One example of the identification information may be a JAN (Japanese Article Number) code. The product name is an example of information that indicates a product name. The type is an example of information that indicates a product type. One example of the product type may be a product category with a short expiration date, such as bento, fried food, sushi, or salad. Another example of the type may be a product category with a relatively long expiration date, such as meat, fish, sweets, or milk.

[0033] A priority product is an example of information indicating a product classification. Product classification may, for example, be based on the degree of focus of the product. The degree of focus is an indicator of the degree to which the store wants to actively sell the product. The degree of focus may, for example, be defined by a target sell-out time. The target sell-out time is the time by which the store wants the product to be sold out. Conversely, the target sell-out time is the time by which the store wants the product to remain in the sales area as part of its inventory. Classification based on the target sell-out time may, for example, include "products to keep until 60 minutes before closing" and "products to keep until 30 minutes before closing."

[0034] By classifying products based on their importance, it becomes possible to determine a price reduction strategy that takes the importance of the products into account. For example, in a store, if there are few products on display in the sales floor, it can discourage customers from purchasing and lead to a drop in sales. Therefore, in order to maintain the product lineup in the sales floor, it is sometimes desirable to leave key products that the store wants to actively sell on the sales floor until close of business. By classifying products based on their importance, it becomes possible to determine a price reduction strategy that, for example, reduces the amount of price reduction for key products more than for other products.

[0035] The product information storage unit 102 stores the product information set by the product setting unit 101. The product information stored in the product information storage unit 102 may be updated in response to an operation by a user of the sales support system 1000.

[0036] The sales forecasting unit 103 predicts the inventory quantity of the product at a price reduction timing after the current time based at least on the information on the planned price reduction. The price reduction timing may be predetermined for each store, or may be determined based on information indicating the number of price reductions. The information indicating the number of price reductions may be stored in a storage device such as a memory, for example. The information on the price reduction timing or the number of price reductions is an example of information on the planned price reduction.

[0037] The number of price reductions is the number of times a price reduction operation is performed between a reference time and a specified time. The reference time may be, for example, the opening time of the store, the current time, or a time specified by the user. The specified time may be, for example, the closing time of the store, the time when the product is disposed of, or a time specified by the user. The reference time and the specified time may be on the same day or on different days.

[0038] The information indicating the number of price reductions may be, for example, a rule for determining the timing of price reductions. The rule for determining the timing of price reductions may be a rule that predetermines the time at which the price reduction will be performed for each number of price reductions. For example, the rule for determining the timing of price reductions may be such that if the number of price reductions is three, the timings for price reductions are 5:00 PM, 7:00 PM, and 9:00 PM, and if the number of price reductions is five, the timings for price reductions are 5:00 PM, 6:30 PM, 7:30 PM, 8:30 PM, and 9:00 PM.

[0039] The sales forecasting unit 103 predicts the inventory quantity at each price reduction timing for each product included in the product information, for a combination of the current inventory quantity, each price reduction timing, and each price reduction amount. Predicting the inventory quantity may mean predicting inventory quantity data that directly or indirectly indicates the inventory quantity, and may conceptually include predicting the probability distribution of the inventory quantity and predicting a single definitive inventory quantity itself. A prediction model may be used to predict the inventory quantity. The sales forecasting unit 103 may tentatively determine the current inventory quantity and predict the inventory quantity at each price reduction timing based on the tentatively determined current inventory quantity, or may predict the inventory quantity for multiple cases where the current inventory quantity is different by changing the tentatively determined inventory quantity.

[0040] The prediction model may be, for example, a mathematical model that uses the current inventory of a product, the timing of a price reduction, the amount of the price reduction, the number of customers visiting the store, etc. as explanatory variables, and the data on the inventory quantity at the time of the price reduction as the objective variable. The "current time" may be any time point, and for example, if the current time is the time of a price reduction, the prediction model may predict the inventory quantity at the time of the next price reduction. The prediction model may be multiple models trained for each product, or it may be a single model that includes information indicating the product as an explanatory variable. For example, the number of customers visiting the store may be predicted based on a mathematical model that uses the time of day, day of the week, weather, event information, etc. as explanatory variables, and the number of customers visiting the store per unit time (e.g., one hour) as the objective variable.

[0041] The price optimization unit 104 determines the current price reduction amount for products based on the inventory quantity prediction result by the sales prediction unit 103. Since the sales prediction unit 103 predicts the inventory quantity based at least on information about planned price reductions, it can be said that the price optimization unit 104 determines the current price reduction amount for products based at least on information about planned price reductions. For example, the price optimization unit 104 may optimize the price reduction amount for each price reduction timing based on a predetermined optimization method. For example, the optimization method may be a method of searching for a price reduction amount that minimizes a predetermined cost function. For example, the optimization method may be dynamic programming.

[0042] As an example, the cost function may be the expected value E of the sum of the price reduction loss and the value obtained by multiplying the waste loss by a predetermined coefficient k, as shown below. If the predicted result of the inventory quantity is a probability distribution of the inventory quantity at the time of the price reduction, the expected value E shown below may be calculated according to that probability distribution. If the predicted result of the inventory quantity is one decisive inventory quantity at the time of the price reduction, the expected value E shown below may be calculated by setting the probability of that one inventory quantity to 1 and the probabilities of other inventory quantities to 0.

[0043] E [Price reduction loss + k * Disposal loss] (1)

[0044] However, the price reduction loss is the loss that occurs when the product is sold at that price reduction amount. For example, the price reduction loss may be the total price reduction amount of the product sold at the price reduction. The price reduction loss is an example of a loss due to a price reduction.

[0045] Disposal loss is a loss that occurs when unsold goods are discarded when sold at a discounted price. For example, disposal loss may be the total standard price of the discarded goods or the total purchase price of the discarded goods. Disposal loss is an example of loss due to disposal.

[0046] k is a penalty for adjusting losses due to waste. k may be determined based on information indicating the product classification included in the product information. The larger the value of k, the greater the waste loss, and therefore the greater the price reduction. Therefore, the higher the level of focus on a product, the smaller the value of k may be set. As an example, the value of k may be set to 3.0 for regular products, 1.0 for products that remain until 30 minutes before closing, 1.5 for products that remain until 60 minutes before closing, and 5.0 for products that need to be sold out quickly.

[0047] While the sales forecasting unit 103 described above predicts the inventory quantity at each price reduction timing using a prediction model, sales volume data may be predicted using a prediction model in which the timing of price reduction, the amount of price reduction, the number of customers visiting the store, etc. are used as explanatory variables, and data on the sales volume of products sold between each price reduction timing (the sales volume itself or a probability distribution of the sales volume) is used as the objective variable. The price optimization unit 104 may provisionally determine the current inventory quantity, and search for the amount of price reduction that minimizes the above cost function based on the provisionally determined inventory quantity and the predicted sales volume.

[0048] As described above, the sales forecasting unit 103 and the price optimization unit 104 may cooperate to determine the current price reduction amount for a product based at least on the current inventory quantity of the product and the price reduction information for the product. Also, the sales forecasting unit 103 and the price optimization unit 104 may determine the current price reduction amount for a product based at least on the current inventory quantity of the product and the price reduction information for the product by a procedure different from the procedure described above.

[0049] The sales forecasting unit 103 and the price optimization unit 104 may provisionally determine the current inventory quantity of the product and determine the optimal current price reduction amount for the provisionally determined inventory quantity. At this time, the provisionally determined inventory quantity may be changed within a predetermined range (e.g., 0 to 99 units) and the optimal price reduction amount for each inventory quantity may be estimated, thereby obtaining the range of the current inventory quantity for which each price reduction amount should be applied. The inventory quantity ranges obtained in this way and the corresponding price reduction amounts may be displayed on the display screen 600 shown in FIGS. 7 and 9.

[0050] The price information output unit 105 outputs price information indicating the price reduction amount determined by the price optimization unit 104. For example, the price information may be information indicating the relationship between the price reduction amount options and the range of stock quantities. The price information output unit 105 may transmit the price information to the display device 20 in response to a request from the display device 20.

[0051] The sales information acquisition unit 106 acquires sales information for the period during which the price reduction sale was carried out. For example, the sales information acquisition unit 106 may acquire sales information from an external information processing device or information processing system, such as a POS (Point of Sales) system installed in the store. Note that "external" means that it is not included in the sales support system 1000.

[0052] The sales information may include, for example, the sales amount of the products sold at the discount, the discount amount of the products sold at the discount, the inventory quantity of each product at the time the discount sale started, and the number of customers who visited the store after the discount sale started. The time the discount sale started may be, for example, the timing of the first price reduction. The sales information may include, for example, the date the discount sale was made, the day of the week on which the discount sale was made, and the number of price reductions.

[0053] Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of sales information. As shown in Fig. 5, the sales information may include, as data items, the date, type, product, discount amount, sales, remaining quantity, and number of customers. The sales information may also include the day of the week and the number of discounts.

[0054] The date is the date the product was sold. The type is the type of product sold. The product is the name of the product sold. The price reduction amount is the total price reduction amount for products sold at the price reduction sale. The sales amount is the total sales price of products sold at the price reduction sale. The remaining quantity is the number of products in stock at the time the price reduction sale began. The number of customers visiting the store is the number of customers who visited the store after the price reduction sale began.

[0055] The evaluation information output unit 107 outputs evaluation information for evaluating a price reduction strategy based on the sales information acquired by the sales information acquisition unit 106. The evaluation information output unit 107 may generate evaluation information by processing the sales information. The evaluation information output unit 107 may generate evaluation information for each product or each type of product. For example, the evaluation information output unit 107 may generate part of the information to be included in the evaluation information by performing regression analysis based on the sales information.

[0056] The evaluation information may be, for example, information indicating the distribution of actual losses due to price reductions. The evaluation information may also be information indicating the relationship between the actual losses due to price reductions and the amount of merchandise supplied per customer. The evaluation information may also include, for example, information on a regression line obtained by linear regression using the actual losses due to price reductions as the objective variable and the amount of merchandise supplied per customer as the explanatory variable. The evaluation information may also be information indicating the relationship between the actual losses due to price reductions, the amount of merchandise supplied per customer, and other feature quantities (for example, the day of the week on which the price reductions were performed and the number of times the price reductions were performed). The evaluation information may also include, for example, information on a regression line obtained by linear regression using the actual losses due to price reductions as the objective variable and the amount of merchandise supplied per customer and other feature quantities as explanatory variables. The evaluation information may also be information indicating the relationship between the actual losses due to price reductions and the amount of merchandise supplied per customer for each predetermined time unit. The predetermined time unit may, for example, be one day, one week, one month, a specific day of the week, etc. The predetermined time unit may also be specified by the user.

[0057] The actual loss due to a markdown is the loss actually incurred due to the markdown sale. For example, the actual loss due to a markdown may be the total markdown amount of the products sold at the markdown divided by the sales amount of the products sold at the markdown. For example, the actual loss due to a markdown may be expressed as a percentage.

[0058] The quantity of merchandise supplied per customer is the quantity of merchandise that could have been sold at the discount, normalized by the number of customers. For example, the quantity of merchandise supplied per customer may be the quantity of merchandise in stock at the time the discount sale began divided by the number of customers after the discount sale began.

[0059] <Sales support method flow> The sales support method executed by the sales support system 1000 will be described with reference to Figures 6 to 12. The sales support method includes a price reduction process (see Figure 6) and an evaluation process (see Figure 10).

[0060] <Price reduction processing> 6 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a price reduction process, which is a process for determining a price reduction strategy and outputting a price reduction amount in accordance with the price reduction strategy.

[0061] In step S1, the product setting unit 101 of the price determination device 10 accepts input of product information. Next, the product setting unit 101 stores the accepted product information in the product information storage unit 102. For example, the product information may be input in the display device 20 or the evaluation device 30, or in an external terminal different from the display device 20 or the evaluation device 30.

[0062] In step S2, the display device 20 reads the identification information attached to the product in response to an operation by a store employee. Next, the display device 20 transmits a request for obtaining price information to the price determination device 10. The request for obtaining price information includes the read identification information.

[0063] In step S3, the sales forecasting unit 103 of the price determination device 10 receives a request to acquire price information from the display device 20. Next, the sales forecasting unit 103 reads out, based on the identification information included in the acquisition request, product information related to the product identified by the identification information from the product information storage unit 102.

[0064] Next, the sales forecasting unit 103 determines the timing of price reductions based on information indicating the number of price reductions. The sales forecasting unit 103 also predicts the number of customers who will visit the store at each price reduction timing. Next, the sales forecasting unit 103 predicts the current inventory quantity of products and the inventory quantity for each combination of price reduction timing and price reduction amount based on the prediction model. The sales forecasting unit 103 sends the inventory quantity prediction results to the price optimization unit 104.

[0065] In step S4, the price optimization unit 104 of the price determination device 10 receives the inventory quantity prediction result from the sales prediction unit 103. Next, the price optimization unit 104 determines the penalty k based on the information indicating the product classification included in the product information. Subsequently, the price optimization unit 104 determines the price reduction amount that minimizes the cost function E based on the inventory quantity prediction result. The price optimization unit 104 generates a price reduction strategy based on the price reduction amount determined for each price reduction timing and each price reduction amount. The price optimization unit 104 sends the generated price reduction strategy to the price information output unit 105.

[0066] In step S5, the price information output unit 105 of the price determination device 10 receives the price reduction strategy from the price optimization unit 104. Next, the price information output unit 105 generates price information indicating the amount of price reduction at the next price reduction timing based on the price reduction strategy. The price information output unit 105 transmits the generated price information to the display device 20.

[0067] In step S6, the display device 20 receives price information from the price determination device 10. Next, the display device 20 displays the received price information. The price information indicates the relationship between the range of stock quantities and the options for price reduction amounts. The display device 20 may display the relationship between the range of stock quantities and the options for price reduction amounts based on reading the identification information of the product (step S2) without receiving input of the stock quantities of the product subject to price reduction from the store employee.

[0068] The store employee may reduce the price of the product while referring to the price information displayed on the display device 20. Specifically, the store employee may check the number of products in stock on the sales floor. Next, the store employee may specify the amount of reduction in price corresponding to the number of products in stock based on the price information displayed on the display device 20. The store employee may then reduce the price of the product by the specified amount. For example, the store employee may use the display device 20 to print a sticker showing the reduced price and affix the sticker to the price tag of the product.

[0069] (Display device user interface) The user interface of the display device 20 will be described with reference to Fig. 7 to Fig. 9. Fig. 7 is a diagram showing a first example of a display screen. The display screen is a screen for reading identification information of a product and displaying price information of the product.

[0070] As shown in FIG. 7, the display screen 600 may have a price reduction interval display field 601, an identification information input field 602, a product name display field 603, a product type display field 604, a stock quantity display field 605, and a price reduction amount display field 606.

[0071] The price reduction interval display field 601 displays information indicating the number of price reductions. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the price reduction interval display field 601 indicates that the price reduction interval is 7 times. When the user performs an operation (e.g., click or tap) on the price reduction interval display field 601, a setting screen for changing the price reduction interval is launched. The price reduction interval display field 601 may display information indicating the timing of the price reduction, and may display, for example, one or more times at which the price reduction will occur (e.g., 16:30, 18:00, 19:00, 20:00, 20:30, 21:00, 21:20).

[0072] The identification information input field 602 accepts input of identification information of a product. As one example, the identification information input field 602 may accept identification information recognized by an imaging device such as a scanner provided in the display device 20. As another example, the identification information input field 602 may accept identification information entered by a user using a numeric keypad or the like.

[0073] The product name display field 603 displays the product name of the product specified by the identification information received in the identification information input field 602. The product type display field 604 displays the type of the product displayed in the product name display field 603.

[0074] The stock quantity display field 605 displays a list of stock quantity ranges. The stock quantity range is information indicating the upper and lower limit values of stock quantities determined for the same price reduction amount. The upper limit value of the stock quantity may be set to the maximum possible stock quantity of that product, which is 99 units in the example shown in FIG. 7. The price reduction amount display field 606 displays the price reduction amount corresponding to the stock quantity range displayed in the stock quantity display field 605. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the price reduction amount display field 606 indicates that if the current stock quantity of "12 rolls of kanpyo" is between 0 and 15 units, the price reduction amount is 0% (i.e., no price reduction), if it is between 16 and 23 units, the price reduction amount is 10%, and if it is between 24 and 99 units, the price reduction amount is 20%.

[0075] As an example, the range of inventory quantities corresponding to the amount of price reduction may be determined as follows. First, the current inventory quantity of the product is provisionally determined, and the optimal current price reduction amount for the provisionally determined inventory quantity is determined. At this time, the provisionally determined inventory quantity is changed within a predetermined range (for example, 0 to 99 units), and the optimal price reduction amount for each inventory quantity is estimated. Then, the upper and lower limit values of the inventory quantity that result in the same price reduction amount are determined. This makes it possible to determine the range of inventory quantities corresponding to each price reduction amount.

[0076] 8 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen. As shown in Fig. 8, a setting screen 610 may have a price reduction interval selection field 611, a notice display field 612, a change reason input field 613, an OK button 614, and a cancel button 615.

[0077] The price reduction interval selection field 611 displays a selectable range of price reduction intervals. The price reduction interval selection field 611 displays three, four, five, six, and seven as examples of price reduction interval options. Each option also indicates a predetermined price reduction timing. While FIG. 8 shows an example of the price reduction interval selection field 611 displaying the price reduction interval options using radio buttons, any selectable display format may be used.

[0078] The caution display field 612 displays cautions regarding the operation of the setting screen 610. As an example, Fig. 8 shows the caution display field 612 indicating that only authorized administrators can change the price reduction interval once a day.

[0079] The reason for change input field 613 accepts input of the reason for changing the price reduction interval. Since the price reduction interval is a setting item that has a large impact on the price reduction strategy, by recording the reason when changing the price reduction interval, it becomes possible to verify whether the price reduction interval has been changed appropriately.

[0080] When the user presses the OK button 614, the change to the price reduction interval selected in the price reduction interval selection field 611 is confirmed. Specifically, the information indicating the number of price reductions stored in a storage device such as a memory is updated based on the selected price reduction interval.

[0081] When the user presses the cancel button 615, the setting screen 610 closes and the screen returns to the display screen 600. In this case, the operation performed on the setting screen 610 is discarded and the price reduction interval is not changed.

[0082] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a second example of a display screen. FIG. 9 shows an example of a display screen 600 after the price reduction interval has been changed on the setting screen 610. To obtain the contents of the display screen 600 (FIG. 9) after the setting change, the processing flow of FIG. 6 may be executed again, or the results of the processing flow of FIG. 6 executed to obtain the contents of the display screen 600 (FIG. 7) before the setting change may be reused. The price reduction interval display field 601 shown in FIG. 9 indicates, as an example, that the price reduction interval has been changed to three times. Furthermore, the price reduction amount display field 606 shown in FIG. 9 indicates, as an example, that the price reduction amount when the current inventory quantity is 24 to 99 units has been changed to 30%. The contents of the inventory quantity display field 605 may be changed according to the processing flow of FIG. 6.

[0083] <Evaluation process> 10 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the evaluation process, which is a process for evaluating a price reduction strategy based on the results of a sale at a price reduction.

[0084] In step S11, the evaluation device 30 accepts input of the evaluation target. The evaluation target may include a period to be evaluated (hereinafter also referred to as the "evaluation target period"), a store to be evaluated (hereinafter also referred to as the "evaluation target store"), and a product to be evaluated (hereinafter also referred to as the "evaluation target product"). The evaluation target product may also be a type of product. The evaluation device 30 transmits a request to acquire evaluation information to the price determination device 10. The request to acquire evaluation information includes information indicating the evaluation target.

[0085] In step S12, the sales information acquisition unit 106 of the price determination device 10 receives a request to acquire evaluation information. Next, the sales information acquisition unit 106 acquires sales information regarding the evaluation target included in the acquisition request. Specifically, the sales information acquisition unit 106 acquires sales information regarding the evaluation target product sold at the evaluation target store during the evaluation target period. The sales information acquisition unit 106 sends the acquired sales information to the evaluation information output unit 107.

[0086] In step S13, the evaluation information output unit 107 of the price determination device 10 receives the sales information from the sales information acquisition unit 106. Next, the evaluation information output unit 107 generates evaluation information based on the received sales information. The evaluation information output unit 107 transmits the generated evaluation information to the evaluation device 30.

[0087] In step S14, the evaluation device 30 receives the evaluation information from the price determination device 10. Next, the evaluation device 30 displays the received evaluation information.

[0088] (User interface of the evaluation device) The user interface of the evaluation device 30 will be described with reference to Figures 11 and 12. Figure 11 is a diagram showing a first example of an evaluation screen. The evaluation screen is a screen for evaluating a price reduction strategy.

[0089] As shown in FIG. 11, the evaluation screen 700 may have a store display field 701 , a product display field 702 , a period display field 703 , and a graph display field 704 .

[0090] The store display field 701 displays the store to be evaluated. The product display field 702 displays the product to be evaluated. The period display field 703 displays the start and end dates of the evaluation period.

[0091] The graph display field 704 displays a graph that visualizes the evaluation information. The graph display field 704 may display a graph with the product supply volume per customer on the first axis and the loss incurred due to discount sales on the second axis. As an example, the graph display field 704 displays the price reduction loss rate on the vertical axis and the number of remaining items per customer on the horizontal axis, plots for each business day included in the evaluation period, and a regression line 705 based on the plots for each business day. The regression line 705 may be obtained by simple regression with the price reduction loss rate as the objective variable and the number of remaining items per customer as the explanatory variable, or may be obtained by multiple regression with other features (such as the day of the week or the number of price reductions) added as explanatory variables.

[0092] The markdown loss rate is calculated by dividing the total markdown amount of products sold at the markdown by the sales amount of the products sold at the markdown, and multiplying this by 100. The remaining number of units per customer is calculated by dividing the number of products in stock at the time the markdown sale began by the number of customers who visited the store after the markdown sale began. Note that although the graph shown in FIG. 11 is plotted by business day, it may also be plotted by any time unit, such as by week, month, or day of the week.

[0093] The inventors discovered that when performing regression assuming a linear correlation between the markdown loss rate and the number of remaining items per customer, the correlation coefficient between the markdown loss rate and the number of remaining items per customer is high. A system including a price determination device 10 and an evaluation device 30 is configured based on this finding, executes the evaluation process illustrated in FIG. 10, and displays evaluation information such as that shown in FIG. 11. For example, a plot that deviates significantly from the regression line 705 is an outlier, and it can be evaluated that the markdown sales in the time unit corresponding to that plot (e.g., business day, week, month, day of the week, etc.) were different from those in the other plots. This can be used as a trigger to prompt the user of the evaluation device 30 to consider the factors behind the difference.

[0094] The evaluation screen 700 may display the distribution of price reduction loss rates based on multiple price reduction strategies in a comparable manner. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a second example of the evaluation screen. The graph display field 704 shown in FIG. 12 displays a price reduction loss rate (AI) based on a price reduction strategy determined by the price determination device 10 (artificial intelligence: AI) and a price reduction loss rate (human) based on a price reduction strategy determined based on the experience of a store employee (human) in a comparable manner. As shown in FIG. 12, the graph display field 704 may distinguishably display plots showing the performance based on the AI and human price reduction strategies, and may distinguishably display a regression line 706 for the AI price reduction strategy and a regression line 707 for the human price reduction strategy. As shown in FIG. 12, the graph display field 704 may, for example, display the plots and regression lines of price reduction loss rates based on multiple price reduction strategies in different colors.

[0095] A user of the evaluation device 30 can consider a more appropriate price reduction strategy by comparing the price reduction loss rates based on multiple price reduction strategies. The user of the evaluation device 30 may, for example, relatively evaluate the price reduction strategies by comparing the respective regression lines for multiple price reduction strategies. As an example, in FIG. 12 , the regression line 706 is located to the lower right of the regression line 707, i.e., the price reduction loss rate according to the AI price reduction strategy when the remaining number of items per customer is the same is lower than that according to the human price reduction strategy. Therefore, the AI price reduction strategy may be evaluated as being better than the human price reduction strategy. The relative evaluation method is not limited to this, and other methods may also be used.

[0096] In the example shown in Figure 12, the subjects of comparison are the entities (AI and humans) that decide on price reduction strategies, but the perspective of comparison can be selected arbitrarily. For example, the distribution of price reduction loss rates for each store may be displayed for comparison. Also, for example, the distribution of price reduction loss rates for each product or product type may be displayed for comparison.

[0097] [Other embodiments] In the above embodiment, the price determination device 10 and the display device 20 are different devices, and the display device 20 displays the price reduction amount determined by the price determination device 10. However, the display device 20 may be configured to execute all steps of the price reduction process.

[0098] In this case, the display device 20 may include a product setting unit 101, a product information storage unit 102, a sales forecasting unit 103, a price optimization unit 104, and a price information output unit 105. However, the price information output unit 105 may output price information to the display screen of the display device 20.

[0099] Similarly, in the above embodiment, the price determination device 10 and the evaluation device 30 are different devices, and the evaluation device 30 displays the evaluation information generated by the price determination device 10. Here, the evaluation device 30 may execute all steps of the evaluation process.

[0100] In this case, the evaluation device 30 may include a sales information acquisition unit 106 and an evaluation information output unit 107. However, the evaluation information output unit 107 may output the evaluation information to an evaluation screen of the evaluation device 30.

[0101] <Summary> As is clear from the above description, the price determination device 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure determines the amount of a current price reduction for a product based at least on information about future planned price reductions for the product. The planned information may include information about the timing or number of price reductions for the product. The planned information may also be information about planned price reductions for the product from the present time until a predetermined time.

[0102] The price determination device 10 may determine the current price reduction amount of the product based at least on the current inventory quantity of the product and the planned information. The price determination device 10 may calculate a price reduction loss based at least on the current inventory quantity of the product and the planned information, and determine the current price reduction amount of the product based at least on the price reduction loss. The current inventory quantity may be tentatively determined.

[0103] The price determination device 10 may predict the inventory quantity of the product at each of a plurality of points in time between the present time and a predetermined point in time, and determine the amount of price reduction for the product at the present time based on the predicted inventory quantity at each of the plurality of points in time. The predetermined point in time may be the closing time of the store, the time when the product is disposed of, or a time specified by the user. The price determination device 10 may determine the plurality of points in time according to rules specified by the user. The rules may include the number of times the price can be reduced by the predetermined point in time.

[0104] The price determination device 10 may determine a price reduction amount that minimizes loss at a given time. The loss may be the sum of loss due to price reduction and loss due to waste. The price determination device 10 may adjust loss due to waste depending on the classification of the product. The classification of the product may be set based on the target time for selling out of the product.

[0105] The price determination device 10 may display the distribution of losses incurred by selling products at a price reduction amount. The price determination device 10 may display the relationship between the product supply amount normalized by the number of customers visiting the store and the losses. The price determination device 10 may display the relationship between the product supply amount and the losses as a graph with the product supply amount normalized by the number of customers visiting the store as the first axis and the losses as the second axis. The product supply amount may be the amount obtained by dividing the inventory quantity when the product is reduced in price by the price reduction amount by the number of customers visiting the store. The price determination device 10 may display multiple distributions so that they can be compared.

[0106] The display device 20 may read the identification information attached to the product, obtain the price reduction amount for the product based on the identification information without the user having to input the number of products in stock, and display the obtained price reduction amount for the product. The display device 20 may display a range of the number of products in stock and a price reduction amount corresponding to the range. The display device 20 may display multiple ranges that do not overlap with each other and multiple price reduction amounts corresponding to each of the multiple ranges.

[0107] The display device 20 may predict the inventory quantity of the product at each of a plurality of points in time from the present time to a predetermined point in time, and determine the amount of price reduction for the product at the present time based on the predicted inventory quantity at each of the plurality of points in time. The display device 20 may also obtain the amount of price reduction from the price determination device 10. The price determination device 10 may predict the inventory quantity of the product at each of a plurality of points in time from the present time to a predetermined point in time, and determine the amount of price reduction for the product at the present time based on the predicted inventory quantity at each of the plurality of points in time.

[0108] As a result, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a device that can appropriately determine the amount of price reduction for a product. In one aspect, according to one embodiment, the amount of price reduction for a product is determined taking into account multiple price reductions, so that the amount of price reduction for a product can be appropriately determined. In another aspect, according to one embodiment, a price reduction sale is conducted with a price reduction amount that minimizes losses, so that profits from product sales can be maximized.

[0109] [Hardware configuration of information processing device] Some or all of the devices (price determination device 10, display device 20, and evaluation device 30) in the above-described embodiments may be configured as hardware, or may be configured as software (program) information processing executed by a CPU (Central Processing Unit), GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or the like. When configured as software information processing, software that realizes at least some of the functions of each device in the above-described embodiments may be stored on a non-transitory storage medium (non-transitory computer-readable medium) such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory) or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, and the software information processing may be executed by loading the software into a computer. The software may also be downloaded via a communication network. Furthermore, all or part of the software processing may be implemented in a circuit such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), thereby allowing the software information processing to be executed by hardware.

[0110] The storage medium that stores the software may be a removable medium such as an optical disk, or a fixed medium such as a hard disk, memory, etc. The storage medium may be provided inside the computer (main storage device, auxiliary storage device, etc.) or outside the computer.

[0111] 13 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of each device (price determination device 10, display device 20, and evaluation device 30) in the above-described embodiment. Each device may be realized as a computer 7 including, for example, a processor 71, a main storage device 72 (memory), an auxiliary storage device 73 (memory), a network interface 74, and a device interface 75, which are connected via a bus 76.

[0112] Although the computer 7 in FIG. 13 includes one of each component, it may also include multiple of the same component. Also, while FIG. 13 shows a single computer 7, the software may be installed on multiple computers, each of which executes the same or different parts of the software. In this case, a distributed computing configuration may be used in which each computer communicates with the other computers via a network interface 74 or the like to execute the processing. In other words, each device in the above-described embodiment (price determination device 10, display device 20, and evaluation device 30) may be configured as a system in which one or more computers execute instructions stored in one or more storage devices to realize its functions. Furthermore, information transmitted from a terminal may be processed by one or more computers on a cloud, and the processing results may be transmitted to the terminal.

[0113] The various calculations of each device (price determination device 10, display device 20, and evaluation device 30) in the above-described embodiments may be executed in parallel using one or more processors, or using multiple computers via a network. Furthermore, the various calculations may be distributed to multiple processing cores within a processor and executed in parallel. Furthermore, some or all of the processes, means, etc. of the present disclosure may be realized by at least one of a processor and a storage device provided on a cloud that can communicate with computer 7 via a network. Thus, each device in the above-described embodiments may be implemented in the form of parallel computing using one or more computers.

[0114] The processor 71 may be an electronic circuit (processing circuit, processing circuitry, CPU, GPU, FPGA, ASIC, etc.) that at least controls a computer or performs calculations. The processor 71 may be a general-purpose processor, a dedicated processing circuit designed to perform a specific calculation, or a semiconductor device that includes both a general-purpose processor and a dedicated processing circuit. The processor 71 may also include an optical circuit or a calculation function based on quantum computing.

[0115] The processor 71 may perform arithmetic processing based on data or software input from each device or the like configured inside the computer 7, and may output the calculation results or control signals to each device or the like. The processor 71 may control each component constituting the computer 7 by executing the OS (Operating System) of the computer 7, applications, etc.

[0116] Each device in the above-described embodiment (price determination device 10, display device 20, and evaluation device 30) may be realized by one or more processors 71. Here, processor 71 may refer to one or more electronic circuits arranged on one chip, or may refer to one or more electronic circuits arranged on two or more chips or two or more devices. When multiple electronic circuits are used, the electronic circuits may communicate with each other via wire or wirelessly.

[0117] The main memory device 72 may store instructions executed by the processor 71, various data, etc., and information stored in the main memory device 72 may be read by the processor 71. The auxiliary memory device 73 is a memory device other than the main memory device 72. Note that these memory devices refer to any electronic component capable of storing electronic information, and may be semiconductor memory. The semiconductor memory may be either volatile memory or non-volatile memory. The memory devices for saving various data, etc. in each device (price determination device 10 and display device 20) in the above-described embodiments may be realized by the main memory device 72 or the auxiliary memory device 73, or may be realized by internal memory built into the processor 71. For example, each memory unit in the above-described embodiments may be realized by the main memory device 72 or the auxiliary memory device 73.

[0118] When each device (price determination device 10, display device 20, and evaluation device 30) in the above-described embodiment is configured with at least one storage device (memory) and at least one processor connected (coupled) to this at least one storage device, at least one processor may be connected to one storage device. Also, at least one storage device may be connected to one processor. Also, a configuration in which at least one processor out of multiple processors is connected to at least one storage device out of multiple storage devices may be included. Also, this configuration may be realized by storage devices and processors included in multiple computers. Furthermore, a configuration in which a storage device is integrated with a processor (for example, a cache memory including an L1 cache and an L2 cache) may be included.

[0119] The network interface 74 is an interface for connecting to the communication network 8 wirelessly or via a wire. The network interface 74 may be an appropriate interface, such as one that conforms to an existing communication standard. Information may be exchanged with an external device 9A connected via the communication network 8 via the network interface 74. The communication network 8 may be any one of a WAN (Wide Area Network), a LAN (Local Area Network), a PAN (Personal Area Network), etc., or a combination thereof, as long as information is exchanged between the computer 7 and the external device 9A. An example of a WAN is the Internet, an example of a LAN is IEEE802.11 or Ethernet (registered trademark), and an example of a PAN is Bluetooth (registered trademark) or NFC (Near Field Communication), etc.

[0120] The device interface 75 is an interface such as a USB that directly connects to the external device 9B.

[0121] The external device 9A is a device connected to the computer 7 via a network. The external device 9B is a device connected directly to the computer 7.

[0122] For example, the external device 9A or the external device 9B may be an input device. The input device may be a device such as a camera, a microphone, a motion capture device, various sensors, a keyboard, a mouse, or a touch panel, and provides acquired information to the computer 7. Alternatively, the external device 9A or the external device 9B may be a device equipped with an input unit, a memory, and a processor, such as a personal computer, a tablet terminal, or a smartphone.

[0123] Furthermore, the external device 9A or the external device 9B may be, for example, an output device. The output device may be, for example, a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) panel, or a speaker that outputs sound or the like. Alternatively, the output device may be a device including an output unit, a memory, and a processor, such as a personal computer, a tablet terminal, or a smartphone.

[0124] Furthermore, the external device 9A or the external device 9B may be a storage device (memory). For example, the external device 9A may be a network storage or the like, and the external device 9B may be a storage such as an HDD.

[0125] Furthermore, the external device 9A or the external device 9B may be a device having some of the functions of the components of each device (price determination device 10, display device 20, and evaluation device 30) in the above-described embodiments. In other words, the computer 7 may transmit some or all of the processing results to the external device 9A or the external device 9B, or may receive some or all of the processing results from the external device 9A or the external device 9B.

[0126] In this specification (including the claims), when the expression "at least one of a, b, and c" or "at least one of a, b, or c" (including similar expressions) is used, it includes any of a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc. It may also include multiple instances of any element, such as aa, abb, aabbcc, etc. Furthermore, it also includes the addition of elements other than the enumerated elements (a, b, and c), such as having d, as in abcd.

[0127] In this specification (including claims), when expressions such as "using data as input / based on / according to / in response to data" (including similar expressions) are used, unless otherwise specified, this includes cases where the data itself is used, or where data that has been processed in some way (e.g., data with noise added, normalized data, features extracted from data, intermediate representations of data, etc.) is used. Furthermore, when a statement is made that a result is obtained "using data as input / based on / according to / in response to data" (including similar expressions), this includes cases where the result is obtained based solely on the data, or where the result is influenced by other data, factors, conditions, and / or states other than the data itself, unless otherwise specified. Furthermore, when a statement is made that "data is output" (including similar expressions), this includes cases where the data itself is used as output, or where data that has been processed in some way (e.g., data with noise added, normalized data, features extracted from data, intermediate representations of various data, etc.) is used as output, unless otherwise specified.

[0128] When the terms "connected" and "coupled" are used in this specification (including the claims), they are intended as open-ended terms that encompass any of direct connection / coupling, indirect connection / coupling, electrically connection / coupling, communicatively connection / coupling, functionally connection / coupling, and physically connection / coupling. These terms should be interpreted appropriately according to the context in which they are used, but any form of connection / coupling that is not intentionally or naturally excluded should be interpreted as being included in these terms without limitation.

[0129] In this specification (including the claims), the expression "A configured to B" may include the physical structure of element A having a configuration capable of performing operation B, and the permanent or temporary setting / configuration of element A being configured / set to actually perform operation B. For example, if element A is a general-purpose processor, it is sufficient that the processor has a hardware configuration capable of performing operation B, and is configured to actually perform operation B by setting a permanent or temporary program (instruction). Also, if element A is a dedicated processor, dedicated arithmetic circuit, etc., it is sufficient that the circuit structure, etc. of the processor is implemented to actually perform operation B, regardless of whether control instructions and data are actually attached.

[0130] Whenever words implying containing or possessing (e.g., "comprising / including," "having," etc.) are used in this specification (including the claims), they are intended to be open-ended terms that include the inclusion or possession of things other than the object designated by the object of the term. When the object of such words implying containing or possessing does not specify a quantity or suggests a singular number (e.g., expressions using the articles "a" or "an"), the expression should be construed as not being limited to a specific number.

[0131] In this specification (including the claims), even if expressions such as "one or more" and "at least one" are used in some places and expressions that do not specify a quantity or that imply a singular number (expressions using the articles "a" or "an") are used in other places, the latter expressions are not intended to mean "one." In general, expressions that do not specify a quantity or that imply a singular number (expressions using the articles "a" or "an") should be interpreted as not necessarily being limited to a specific number.

[0132] In this specification, when a particular advantage / result is described as being obtained with respect to a particular configuration of an embodiment, it should be understood that the same advantage / result can also be obtained with one or more other embodiments having the same configuration, unless otherwise stated. However, it should be understood that the presence or absence of the effect generally depends on various factors, conditions, and / or circumstances, and that the effect is not necessarily obtained with the configuration. The effect is merely obtained by the configuration described in the embodiment when various factors, conditions, and / or circumstances are satisfied, and the effect does not necessarily occur in a claimed invention that defines the same or a similar configuration.

[0133] In this specification (including claims), when multiple pieces of hardware perform a predetermined process, the pieces of hardware may cooperate to perform the predetermined process, or some of the hardware may perform all of the predetermined process. Furthermore, some of the hardware may perform part of the predetermined process, and other hardware may perform the rest of the predetermined process. In this specification (including claims), when an expression such as "one or more pieces of hardware perform a first process, and the one or more pieces of hardware perform a second process" (including similar expressions) is used, the hardware performing the first process and the hardware performing the second process may be the same or different. In other words, it is sufficient that the hardware performing the first process and the hardware performing the second process are included in the one or more pieces of hardware. Note that hardware may include electronic circuits, devices including electronic circuits, etc.

[0134] In this specification (including the claims), when multiple storage devices (memories) store data, each of the multiple storage devices may store only a portion of the data, or may store the entire data. Also, a configuration in which only some of the multiple storage devices store data may be included.

[0135] In this specification (including the claims), terms such as "first," "second," etc. are used merely as a way of distinguishing between two or more elements, and are not necessarily intended to impose technical meanings such as temporal aspect, spatial aspect, sequence, quantity, etc. Thus, for example, a reference to a first element and a second element does not necessarily mean that only two elements can be employed therein, that the first element must precede the second element, that the first element must be present in order for the second element to be present, etc.

[0136] Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail above, the present disclosure is not limited to the individual embodiments described above. Various additions, modifications, substitutions, partial deletions, etc. are possible within the scope of the conceptual idea and spirit of the present invention, which is derived from the content defined in the claims and their equivalents. For example, when numerical values or formulas are used in the above-described embodiments, they are shown for illustrative purposes and do not limit the scope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the order of each operation shown in the embodiments is also illustrative and does not limit the scope of the present disclosure.

[0137] The disclosed technology may take the following forms as described below.

[0138] (Appendix 1) At least one memory; at least one processor; The at least one processor: determining a current price reduction amount for the product based at least on information about a future price reduction plan for the product; Information processing device.

[0139] (Appendix 2) The schedule information includes information regarding the timing or frequency of price reductions for the products. Attachment 1: An information processing device.

[0140] (Appendix 3) The at least one processor: determining a current price reduction amount for the product based at least on the current inventory quantity of the product and the scheduled information; 3. The information processing device according to claim 1 or 2.

[0141] (Appendix 4) The at least one processor: Calculating a price reduction loss based at least on the current inventory quantity of the product and the information on the schedule; determining a current price reduction amount for the product based at least on the price reduction loss; 4. An information processing device according to any one of appendices 1 to 3.

[0142] (Appendix 5) The current inventory quantity is tentatively determined. 5. The information processing device according to claim 3 or 4.

[0143] (Appendix 6) The schedule information is information about a schedule of price reductions for the product from the present time until a predetermined time. 6. An information processing device according to any one of appendices 1 to 5.

[0144] (Appendix 7) The at least one processor: Predict the inventory quantity of the product at each of a plurality of points in time from the present time to a predetermined point in time, determining a current price reduction amount for the product based on the predicted inventory quantity at each of the plurality of points in time; 7. An information processing device according to any one of appendices 1 to 6.

[0145] (Appendix 8) The predetermined time is a store closing time, a time to dispose of the product, or a time designated by a user. 8. The information processing device according to claim 7.

[0146] (Appendix 9) The at least one processor: determining the plurality of time points according to rules specified by a user; 9. The information processing device according to claim 7 or 8.

[0147] (Appendix 10) The rules include the number of times the price can be reduced by the predetermined time. 10. The information processing device according to claim 9.

[0148] (Appendix 11) The at least one processor: determining the price reduction amount that minimizes the loss at the predetermined time; 11. An information processing device according to any one of appendices 7 to 10.

[0149] (Appendix 12) The loss is the sum of the loss due to markdowns and the loss due to waste. 12. The information processing device according to claim 11.

[0150] (Appendix 13) The at least one processor: adjusting the loss due to waste according to the classification of the goods; 13. The information processing device according to claim 12.

[0151] (Appendix 14) The classification is set based on a target time for selling out of the product. 14. The information processing device according to claim 13.

[0152] (Appendix 15) The at least one processor: Displaying the distribution of losses incurred by selling the product at the price reduction amount; 15. An information processing device according to any one of appendices 1 to 14.

[0153] (Appendix 16) The at least one processor: Displaying the relationship between the product supply amount normalized by the number of customers and the loss. 16. The information processing device according to claim 15.

[0154] (Appendix 17) The at least one processor: The relationship is displayed on a graph with the product supply amount normalized by the number of customers on the first axis and the loss on the second axis. 17. The information processing device according to claim 16.

[0155] (Appendix 18) The amount of product supply is the amount obtained by dividing the number of products in stock when the price of the product is reduced by the amount of price reduction by the number of customers visiting the store. 18. The information processing device according to claim 16 or 17.

[0156] (Appendix 19) The at least one processor: Displaying a plurality of said distributions in a comparable manner; 19. An information processing device according to any one of appendices 15 to 18.

[0157] (Appendix 20) at least one memory; at least one processor; The at least one processor: Read the identification information attached to the product, Based on the identification information, a price reduction amount for the product is obtained without the user having to input the number of products in stock; Display the price reduction amount of the acquired product; Information processing device.

[0158] (Appendix 21) The at least one processor: Displaying the range of stock quantity of the product and the discount amount corresponding to the range; 21. The information processing device according to claim 20.

[0159] (Appendix 22) The at least one processor: displaying a plurality of ranges that do not overlap with each other and a plurality of price reduction amounts corresponding to each of the plurality of ranges; 22. The information processing device according to claim 21.

[0160] (Appendix 23) The at least one processor: Predict the inventory quantity of the product at each of a plurality of points in time from the present time to a predetermined point in time, determining a current price reduction amount for the product based on the predicted inventory quantity at each of the plurality of points in time; 23. An information processing device according to any one of appendices 20 to 22.

[0161] (Appendix 24) The at least one processor: acquiring the price reduction amount from another information processing device; The other information processing device is Predict the inventory quantity of the product at each of a plurality of points in time from the present time to a predetermined point in time, determining a current price reduction amount for the product based on the predicted inventory quantity at each of the plurality of points in time; 23. An information processing device according to any one of appendices 20 to 22. [Explanation of symbols]

[0162] 10: Pricing device 20:Display device 30: Evaluation device 101: Product Setting Department 102:Product information storage section 103: Sales Forecasting Department 104: Price Optimization Department 105: Price information output section 106: Sales Information Acquisition Department 107: Evaluation information output unit 1000: Sales support system

Claims

1. at least one memory; at least one processor; The at least one processor determining a current price reduction amount for the product based at least on information about a future price reduction plan for the product; Information processing device.

2. The schedule information includes information regarding the timing or frequency of price reductions for the products. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

3. The at least one processor determining a current price reduction amount for the product based at least on the current inventory quantity of the product and the scheduled information; The information processing device according to claim 1 .

4. The at least one processor Calculating a loss due to a price reduction based at least on the current inventory quantity of the product and the information on the schedule; determining a current price reduction amount for the product based at least on the loss due to the price reduction; The information processing device according to claim 1 .

5. The current inventory quantity is tentatively determined. The information processing device according to claim 3 .

6. The schedule information is information about a schedule of price reductions for the product from the present time until a predetermined time. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

7. The at least one processor Predict the number of products in stock at each of a plurality of points in time from the present time to a predetermined point in time; determining a current price reduction amount for the product based on the predicted inventory quantity at each of the plurality of points in time; The information processing device according to claim 1 .

8. The predetermined time is a store closing time, a time to dispose of the product, or a time designated by a user. The information processing device according to claim 7 .

9. The at least one processor determining the plurality of time points according to rules specified by a user; 9. The information processing device according to claim 7 or 8.

10. The rules include the number of times the price can be reduced by the predetermined time. The information processing device according to claim 9 .

11. The at least one processor determining the price reduction amount that minimizes the loss at the predetermined time; The information processing device according to claim 7 .

12. The loss is the sum of the loss due to markdowns and the loss due to waste. The information processing device according to claim 11.

13. The at least one processor adjusting the loss due to waste according to the classification of the goods; The information processing device according to claim 12.

14. The classification is set based on a target time for selling out of the product. The information processing device according to claim 13.

15. The at least one processor Displaying the distribution of losses incurred by selling the product at the price reduction amount; The information processing device according to claim 1 .

16. The at least one processor Displaying the relationship between the product supply amount normalized by the number of customers and the loss. The information processing device according to claim 15.

17. The at least one processor The relationship is displayed in a graph with the product supply amount normalized by the number of customers as the first axis and the loss as the second axis. The information processing device according to claim 16.

18. The amount of product supply is the amount obtained by dividing the number of products in stock when the price of the product is reduced by the amount of price reduction by the number of customers visiting the store. The information processing device according to claim 16.

19. The at least one processor Displaying a plurality of said distributions in a comparable manner; 19. The information processing device according to claim 15.

20. at least one memory; at least one processor; The at least one processor Read the identification information attached to the product, Based on the identification information, a price reduction amount for the product is obtained without the user having to input the number of products in stock; Display the price reduction amount of the acquired product; Information processing device.

21. The at least one processor Displaying the range of stock quantity of the product and the discount amount corresponding to the range; The information processing device according to claim 20.

22. The at least one processor displaying a plurality of ranges that do not overlap with each other and a plurality of price reduction amounts corresponding to each of the plurality of ranges; The information processing device according to claim 21.

23. The at least one processor Predict the number of products in stock at each of a plurality of points in time from the present time to a predetermined point in time; determining a current price reduction amount for the product based on the predicted inventory quantity at each of the plurality of points in time; 23. The information processing device according to claim 20.

24. The at least one processor acquiring the price reduction amount from another information processing device; The other information processing device is Predict the number of products in stock at each of a plurality of points in time from the present time to a predetermined point in time; determining a current price reduction amount for the product based on the predicted inventory quantity at each of the plurality of points in time; 23. The information processing device according to claim 20.

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