Information processing apparatus, information processing method and information processing program

Abstract

To enable participants in a meeting of a plurality of persons to select and order their favorite food and drink from a menu to a restaurant through an information communication network even when the participants increase in number, and to easily liven up the opportunity to gather and have a meal.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus comprises: a restaurant information acquisition part which acquires restaurant information including a menu, for each restaurant; an event information acquisition part which acquires information on an event scheduled to be held as event information; a selected restaurant information acquisition part which allows a user to select a restaurant to serve food and drink to participants in the event out of a plurality of restaurants as a selected restaurant based upon the restaurant information, and acquires information on the selected restaurant including a menu as selected restaurant information; and an event information disclosure part which discloses the selected restaurant information and the event information to persons who consider participating in the event.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing device, an information processing method, and an information processing program, and more particularly to an information processing device, an information processing method, and an information processing program that mediate orders to restaurants placed via an information communication network. [Background technology]

[0002] BACKGROUND ART With the spread of information and communication networks and recent advances in IT (Information Technology), it has become possible to place orders with restaurants via information and communication networks (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] Furthermore, food and drink may be provided to participants at gatherings of multiple people, such as events, activities, projects, and events (hereinafter referred to as events, etc.). There are many event management services that create, attract, and manage events, as well as food delivery services. However, services that combine these services are not widespread, and even when these services can be used in combination, they have the following issues: When the number of participants in an event increases, in order to reduce the workload of those running, managing, and hosting the event, food and drink items are decided in advance regardless of the participants' preferences, making it difficult for participants to choose what they like from the menu. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2021-140414 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Therefore, the present invention aims to provide an information processing device, an information processing method, and an information processing program that enable participants to select their favorite food and drink from a menu and order it from a restaurant via an information and communication network, even when the number of participants in a gathering of multiple people increases, thereby making it easier to liven up an occasion for people to gather and eat. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In other words, the information processing device of the first aspect is an information processing device that acts as an intermediary between event participants and restaurants that provide food and drink to the participants and accepts orders from the participants to the restaurants, and is characterized by comprising: a restaurant information acquisition unit that acquires information about restaurants, including menu lists, for each restaurant as restaurant information; an event information acquisition unit that acquires information including the date, time, and location at which food and drink will be provided to participants of a planned event as event information through input from a user of the information processing device; a selected store information acquisition unit that allows the user to select a restaurant from one or more restaurants to provide food and drink to event participants as a selected store based on the restaurant information, and acquires information including the menu list for the selected store as selected store information; and an event information disclosure unit that discloses the selected store information and event information to those considering participating in the event.

[0007] The information processing method of the second aspect is an information processing method used by an information processing device that acts as an intermediary between event participants and restaurants that provide food and drink to the participants and accepts orders from the participants to the restaurants, and is characterized by the information processing device executing the following steps: a restaurant information acquisition step that acquires information about the restaurant, including a menu list, for each restaurant as restaurant information; an event information acquisition step that acquires information including the date, time, and location at which food and drink will be provided to participants of a planned event as event information through input from a user of the information processing device; a selected store information acquisition step that allows the user to select a restaurant from one or more restaurants to provide food and drink to event participants as a selected store based on the restaurant information, and acquires information including a menu list for the selected store as selected store information; and an event information disclosure step that discloses the selected store information and event information to those considering participating in the event.

[0008] The information processing program of the third aspect is an information processing program used in an information processing device that acts as an intermediary between event participants and restaurants that will provide food and drink to the participants and accepts orders from the participants to the restaurants, and is characterized by causing the information processing device to perform the following functions: a restaurant information acquisition function that acquires information about the restaurant, including a menu list, for each restaurant as restaurant information; an event information acquisition function that acquires, through input from a user of the information processing device, information including the date, time, and location at which food and drink will be provided to participants of a planned event as event information; a selected store information acquisition function that allows the user to select a restaurant from one or more restaurants to provide food and drink to event participants based on the restaurant information, and acquire information including a menu list for the selected store as selected store information; and an event information disclosure function that discloses the selected store information and event information to those considering participating in the event. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] The information processing device etc. of the present invention is an information processing device that acts as an intermediary between event participants and restaurants that provide food and drink to the participants and accepts orders from the participants to the restaurants, and is characterized by comprising: a restaurant information acquisition unit that acquires information about the restaurants, including menus, for each restaurant as restaurant information; an event information acquisition unit that acquires information including the date, time, and location at which food and drink will be provided to participants of a planned event as event information through input from the user of the information processing device; a selected store information acquisition unit that allows the user to select a restaurant from among a plurality of restaurants to provide food and drink to event participants as a selected store based on the restaurant information and acquires information including menus for the selected store as selected store information; and an event information disclosure unit that discloses the selected store information and event information to those considering attending the event.Therefore, even if the number of participants in a gathering of multiple people increases, participants can select their favorite food and drink from the menu and order from the restaurant via an information and communication network, making it easier to liven up an occasion for people to gather and eat. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration including an information processing device according to this embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the information processing device according to this embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the information processing device according to this embodiment. [Figure 4A] FIG. 4A is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the restaurant terminal and the user terminal when registering information about the restaurant and the user according to this embodiment. [Figure 4B] FIG. 4B is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the restaurant terminal and the user terminal when registering information about the restaurant and the user according to this embodiment. [Figure 5]FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the user terminal according to this embodiment in registering event information. [Figure 6A] FIG. 6A is a flowchart for explaining the operation of a participant terminal according to this embodiment. [Figure 6B] FIG. 6B is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the participant terminal according to this embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an example of an event list displayed on the display unit of the participant terminal according to this embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an example in which one of the event summaries included in the event list displayed on the display unit of the participant terminal according to this embodiment is selected and displayed in an enlarged scale. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an example of a display screen displayed on the display unit of the participant terminal according to this embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an example of a menu table displayed on the display unit of the participant terminal according to this embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example of a list of restaurants displayed on the display unit of a user terminal according to this embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining an example of a list of restaurants displayed on the display unit of the user terminal according to this embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an example of an input page for event information displayed on the display unit of the user terminal according to this embodiment. [Figure 14] FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining an example of a display screen displayed on the display unit of the participant terminal according to this embodiment. [Figure 15] FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining an example of a flowchart of the information processing program according to this embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] (System configuration including information processing device 10) An embodiment of an information processing device 10 according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to Fig. 1 to Fig. 13. First, an example of a system configuration including the information processing device 10 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1.

[0012] The information processing device 10 of this embodiment is a so-called computer that acts as an intermediary between event participants and restaurants that provide food and drink to the participants and accepts orders from participants to the restaurants, and may be a server, a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as PC), a notebook PC, a tablet PC, or a smartphone, etc.

[0013] An event is a gathering in which multiple people participate, and includes various parties such as functions, projects, activities, gatherings, dinner parties, training sessions, networking events, social gatherings, drinking parties, lunch parties, children's parties, girls' parties, boys' parties, celebration parties, pep rallies, birthday parties, meetings, meetups, conferences, seminars, meetings, banquets, dinner parties, breakfast parties, lunch parties, dinner parties, tea parties, get-togethers, group dates, city-wide matchmaking events, offline get-togethers, welcome parties, year-end parties, New Year's parties, farewell parties, etc. Events may be held regularly or irregularly. Eating and drinking refers to the ingestion of both food and drink, but may also include the ingestion of only one of the two. An order to a restaurant may be for food delivery, take-out, or eat-in.

[0014] Food delivery is a service that delivers food and drinks to a location designated by the customer. Ordering food from a restaurant means ordering products from the restaurant and asking the restaurant to deliver them to the designated location. Takeout refers to a customer taking food from a restaurant and eating it outside the restaurant, and when ordering takeout, the customer requests that the restaurant hold the food until the customer goes to pick up the food. Eating in means eating or drinking food or drinks purchased or ordered in a restaurant at a seat inside the restaurant, and ordering from a restaurant in an eat-in setting means that a customer eats or drinks the ordered product at a seat inside the restaurant. A service that creates, attracts customers to, manages, etc. an existing event (hereinafter referred to as an event management service) sets the event date and time, the event location, and the event content in advance, and publishes this set information to manage the event, such as attracting customers. In addition to this information, an event handled by the information processing device 10 of the present disclosure may also be managed to attract customers by adding information on a list of restaurants from which participants can order food and drink. In this case, participants can select one or more restaurants from the list and order food and drink.

[0015] The information processing device 10 is connected to an information communication network 28 and is capable of communicating with other devices. The other devices include a user terminal 29, a participant terminal 30, and a restaurant terminal 40. The user terminal 29 is an information processing device used by a user of the information processing device 10, and may be a server, a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC), a notebook PC, a tablet PC, or a smartphone. A user is a person who uses the information processing device 10, such as a person who recruits participants for an event, a person who promotes, advertises, and publicizes the event, a person involved in planning and managing the event, or a person who operates the information processing device 10 on behalf of these people. A user also refers to a person who uses the information processing device 10 and is involved in managing an event. Specifically, a user is a person who recruits participants for an event, a person who promotes, advertises, and publicizes the event, a person involved in planning, managing, operating, and supervising the event, or a person who operates the information processing device 10 on behalf of these people. Furthermore, a user may also include a person involved in hosting an event, such as an event organizer. For example, a user may be an event organizer, organizer, caretaker, promoter, promoter, or initiator, or a person involved in hosting an event. The user may also be a person involved in tasks resulting from the holding of an event, such as event organizer, operator, or manager. Events may include those whose implementation has already been confirmed, and those whose implementation has not yet been confirmed but are being considered. While one user terminal 29 is shown in FIG. 1, multiple user terminals 29 may be connected to the information processing device 10 via the information and communication network 28, and information about a single event may be exchanged between the information processing device 10 and the user terminals 29. The information communication network 28 is a communication line used for transmitting and receiving data for the information processing device 10 and the like, and refers to any network used for transmitting and receiving data, such as the Internet and an intranet used within a limited range.

[0016] A participant may include a person who is considering participating in an event, a participant of the event, and a person who plans to participate in the event. A participant who simply participates in an event is distinguished from a user because they cannot be a person involved in the operation of the event by using the information processing device 10, but a user may participate in the event and therefore can be a participant of the event. The participant terminal 30 is an information processing device used by a person considering participating in an event, a participant of the event, or a person planning to participate in the event, and may be a server, a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC), a notebook PC, a tablet PC, or a smartphone. For convenience, three participant terminals 30 (participant terminal 30a, participant terminal 30b, and participant terminal 30c) are shown in FIG. 1, but this is not limited thereto. Two or fewer or four or more participant terminals 30 may be connected to the information processing device 10 via the information communication network 28 to exchange information about one event with the information processing device 10.

[0017] Restaurant terminal 40 is an information processing device used in a restaurant that provides food and drink to event participants, and may be a server, a personal computer (hereinafter, PC), a notebook PC, a tablet PC, or a smartphone. For convenience, three restaurant terminals 40 (restaurant terminal 40a, restaurant terminal 40b, and restaurant terminal 40c) are shown in Fig. 1, but this is not limited to this. Two or fewer or four or more restaurant terminals 40 may be connected to information processing device 10 via information communication network 28, and information related to one event may be exchanged between information processing device 10.

[0018] (Hardware configuration of information processing device 10) The hardware configuration of the information processing device 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a block diagram for explaining an example of the hardware configuration of the information processing device 10. The information processing device 10 includes a communication interface 10a, a read only memory (ROM) 10b, a random access memory (RAM) 10c, a storage unit 10d, a central processing unit (CPU) 10e, and an input / output interface 10f.

[0019] The communication interface 10a has a function of transmitting and receiving data to and from other devices via the information communication network . The memory unit 10d can be used as a recording device, and stores the information processing program described below, the OS (Operating System) required for the operation of the information processing device 10, various applications, and various data used by the applications.

[0020] The information processing device 10 stores an information processing program in the storage unit 10d and loads the information processing program into a main memory configured by the RAM 10c etc. The CPU 10e accesses the main memory into which the information processing program has been loaded and executes the information processing program. The input / output interface 10f transmits and receives data to and from devices external to the information processing device 10. The external devices are an input device 10g and an output device 10h that input and output data to and from the information processing device 10. The input device 10g is a keyboard, a mouse, etc., and the output device 10h is an external monitor, a printer, an external speaker, etc.

[0021] (Functional configuration of information processing device 10) Next, the functional configuration of the information processing device 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a block diagram for explaining an example of the functional configuration of the information processing device 10. By executing the information processing program described below, the information processing device 10 has functional units such as a restaurant information acquisition unit 11, an event information acquisition unit 12, a selected store information acquisition unit 13, an event information notification unit 14, an order information acquisition unit 15, an event information disclosure unit 16, a participant profile reception unit 17, a display control unit 18, an order reception unit 19, a message notification unit 20, a payment option reception unit 21, a memory control unit 22, a payment processing unit 23, a judgment unit 24, a communication promotion unit 25, a treat reception unit 26, and a treat target reception unit 27 in the CPU 10e.

[0022] The restaurant information acquisition unit 11 acquires information about the restaurant, including a menu, from each restaurant as restaurant information. The restaurant information acquisition unit 11 acquires information about restaurants, including menus, as restaurant information, and the restaurant information is stored in the storage unit 10d of the information processing device 10. The restaurant that provided the restaurant information is registered as a candidate that can be selected by the user to provide food and drink to event participants.

[0023] Restaurant information is information about the business operations of a restaurant, and is information aimed at users who intend to use a restaurant (i.e., event participants), and includes information about how the restaurant can be used for food delivery, eat-in, and take-out.

[0024] Some restaurants may accommodate all types of customers, including food delivery, eat-in, and take-out. In such cases, the restaurant information includes information necessary for customers to use food delivery, eat-in, and take-out services. In addition, depending on the restaurant, two of food delivery, eat-in, and take-out may be available to users, and the other may not be available to users. In such cases, the restaurant information may include information about the two usage modes available to users and not include information about the other usage mode that is not available to users, or the restaurant information may include information about the usage mode that is not available to users. In addition, depending on the restaurant, one of food delivery, eat-in, and take-out may be available to the user, but the other two may not be available to the user. In such cases, the restaurant information may include information about one of the usage modes available to the user and not include information about the other two usage modes that are not available to the user, or the restaurant information may include information about the two usage modes that are not available to the user.

[0025] The restaurant information may include one or more of the restaurant's business hours, menu, order deadline for each restaurant, or the upper or lower limit of the number of orders or total order amount that can be handled for the event. The restaurant information may also include at least one of the restaurant's opening hours, menu, order deadline for each restaurant, and the upper or lower limit of the number of orders or total order amount that can be handled for the event. The business hours of a restaurant may vary depending on the day of the week. Furthermore, the business hours of a restaurant may be set for each of the modes of use, namely, food delivery, eat-in, and take-out. A menu is a list of food items that can be ordered. It is also called a menu or a list of dishes. Some restaurants post the names, photos, and descriptions of the dishes along with their prices. Note that the dishes also include drinks. The menu list may be set with different contents for each mode of use, such as food delivery, eat-in, and take-out, and the prices of the products may also be set for each mode of use. The order deadline for each restaurant is the last time that customers can place an order at the restaurant, and in principle, customers cannot order products from the restaurant after this order deadline has passed. For example, the order deadline may be set to a predetermined time before the date and time that food and drink are to be served to event participants (e.g., midnight on the day), or may be set to a predetermined time before the date and time that food and drink are to be served to participants (e.g., 12 hours before). The order deadline may be set by those involved in the event. The order deadline set by those involved in the event is set to a time earlier than the order deadline set by the restaurant. In principle, no orders for any products will be accepted after the order deadline set by those involved in the event has passed. The order deadline is set by those involved in the event when they want to quickly determine the number of event participants, when they want to quickly determine the products to be ordered by the participants, or when they want to quickly determine the restaurants that will provide food and drink to the event participants. "Parties involved in the holding of the event" refers to people involved in the holding of the event, including not only the organizers and co-organizers of the event, but also sponsors, backers, supporters, collaborators of the event, or managers of selected stores. Furthermore, the order deadline for each restaurant may be set for each item on the menu of the restaurant.

[0026] The upper or lower limit of the number of orders that can be handled for an event refers to the maximum or minimum number of orders that a restaurant can handle from customers for an event. The upper limit of the number of orders that can be handled for an event may be, for example, a maximum of 10 orders for an event. The upper limit of the number of orders that can be handled for an event is set so that the selected restaurant does not receive orders that exceed its processing capacity. The lower limit of the number of orders that can be handled for an event may be, for example, a minimum of 10 orders for an event. This is to prevent the selected restaurant from receiving orders that are not profitable and do not generate a profit. Furthermore, the upper or lower limit of the total order amount that can be handled for an event refers to the upper or lower limit of the total order amount that a restaurant can handle for customers' orders for an event. The upper limit of the total order amount that can be handled for an event may, for example, mean that orders up to a total amount of 100,000 yen can be accepted for an event. The upper limit of the order amount is set to prevent the selected restaurant from accepting orders that exceed its processing capacity, just as when a limit on the number of orders is set. The lower limit of the total order amount that can be handled for an event may, for example, mean that orders with a minimum total amount of 10,000 yen can be accepted for an event. This is done to prevent the selected restaurant from accepting orders that are not profitable and will not generate a profit, just like when a minimum limit on the number of orders is set. The upper or lower limit of the number of orders or total order amount that can be handled for an event may refer to the maximum or minimum number of orders or total order amount that a restaurant can provide to event participants at a specified location and date / time in its food and beverage service. The restaurant's required ability to deliver the ordered number of items to a specified location and date / time is known only to the restaurant itself, and is therefore included in the restaurant information. Furthermore, the upper or lower limit of the number of orders or total order amount that can be handled for an event may refer to, for example, the maximum or minimum number of orders or total order amount that can be provided to participants in a service that provides food and drink to participants in a single event. In the case of an event that is held multiple times, it may also refer to the maximum or minimum number of orders or total order amount for one of the events. Furthermore, the upper or lower limit of the number of orders or total order amount that can be handled for an event may refer to, for example, the maximum number of orders or total order amount that can be provided to participants in a service that provides food and drink to participants at a single dining opportunity during an event, or the minimum number of orders or total order amount that can be provided to participants. Furthermore, the upper or lower limit of the number of orders or total order amount that can be handled for an event may refer to, for example, the maximum number of orders or total order amount for products in a food and drink supply business that provides food and drink to participants for one day during the event, or the minimum number of orders or total order amount.

[0027] The restaurant information may include information about a plurality of restaurants. When an event has a large number of participants and orders from the participants of the event cannot be handled by a single restaurant, orders from the participants of the event are handled by multiple restaurants.

[0028] The restaurant information may include the restaurant's seating capacity. The capacity of a restaurant is the maximum number of customers that the restaurant can accommodate at one time for eat-in use, and is the maximum number of participants when an event is held at the restaurant. If the event uses the selected store as an eat-in type, the event information includes information that the event will be held at the selected store that is selected to provide food and drink to event participants.

[0029] The restaurant information may include the minimum order quantity or minimum order total for delivery from the restaurant, and the delivery area. If the event uses the selected store in a food delivery service, the event information includes the location where the food and drink will be delivered. The minimum order quantity for restaurant delivery is the minimum number of orders that a restaurant must place in order to accommodate a customer's use of the food delivery service. By placing an order of more than this minimum quantity with the restaurant, a customer can have the ordered items delivered to a specified location. The minimum order total for restaurant delivery is the minimum order total that a restaurant must meet in order to accommodate a customer's use of its food delivery service. By placing an order with the restaurant totaling more than this minimum amount, a customer can have the ordered items delivered to a specified location. In the case of restaurant delivery, the delivery area refers to the area where the restaurant can deliver products. The restaurant may deliver products to customers using its own delivery service or may use an external delivery company to deliver products to customers. The minimum order quantity and the minimum order total may be set according to the delivery distance to the delivery location. Specifically, the minimum order quantity and the minimum order total increase as the delivery distance increases. For example, the minimum order quantity is set to three units for delivery distances up to three kilometers, five units for delivery distances up to five kilometers, and ten units for delivery distances up to ten kilometers. The minimum order total is set to 1,500 yen for delivery distances up to three kilometers, 2,500 yen for delivery distances up to five kilometers, and 5,000 yen for delivery distances up to ten kilometers.

[0030] The restaurant information may include a statement that the restaurant may refuse to provide services if the minimum number of orders or total order amount that can be handled for the event is not met, or that the restaurant will accept services on the condition that a specified percentage of the shortfall is compensated by those involved in organizing the event if the minimum number of orders or total order amount that can be handled for the event is not met.

[0031] If a restaurant does not meet the minimum order quantity or total order amount that it can handle for an event, for example, if the minimum order quantity is set at 10 and there are only 6 orders, it will refuse to provide food and drink to event participants, stating that it will be difficult to secure a profit. Furthermore, if a restaurant does not meet the minimum order quantity or total order amount that it can accommodate for an event, for example, if the minimum order total is set at 2,000 yen and the total order amount is 1,000 yen, it will accept the provision of services on the condition that the event organizers will compensate it with 500 yen, which is 50% of the shortfall of 1,000 yen. This allows the event organizers to hold the event as planned, prevents the restaurant from being unable to make a profit due to unprofitability, and allows event participants to participate in the event as planned.

[0032] The event information acquisition unit 12 acquires, via input by the user of the information processing device 10, information including the date, time, and location at which food and drink will be provided to participants of a planned event as event information. The date and time when food and drink will be provided to participants of a planned event refers to the date and time when food and drink will be provided to participants during the event. The location where food and drink are provided to participants of a planned event refers to the location where food and drink are delivered if the event uses the selected store for food delivery, the location of the selected store if the event uses the selected store for eat-in, and the location where food and drink taken out from the selected store are provided to event participants if the event uses the selected store for take-out. The event information acquisition unit 12 stores the acquired event information in the storage unit 10d of the information processing device 10. In addition, the event information acquisition unit 12 may acquire, via input from the user of the information processing device 10, information including the expected number of participants in the event to be held, as well as the date, time, and location at which food and drink will be provided to the participants, as event information.

[0033] The selected store information acquisition unit 13 allows the user to select a restaurant from one or more restaurants as the selected store to provide food and drink to event participants based on the restaurant information, and acquires information including a menu list for the selected store as the selected store information. The user may refer to the restaurant information and select one or more selected restaurants to provide food and drink to event participants. If the number of expected participants in an event is large, the user can select multiple selected stores to accommodate orders from the participants. If there are few restaurants near the location of the event the user is planning to hold and there is only one restaurant that can provide food and drink to event participants, the user will select that one restaurant as their preferred restaurant. The selected store information is the restaurant information of the selected store selected from among the restaurants. The selected store information acquisition unit 13 stores the acquired selected store information in the storage unit 10d of the information processing device 10.

[0034] The event information notification unit 14 notifies the selected store corresponding to the selected store information of the event information. The event information notification unit 14 notifies the selected store corresponding to the selected store information acquired by the selected store information acquisition unit 13 of the event information acquired by the event information acquisition unit 12. The notification method may be an email sent to the restaurant terminal 40 used by the selected store, or a push notification. A push notification is a notification that is controlled and processed by an application, that is, a notification that is controlled by an information processing program in this embodiment, which will be described later, and is processed within the information processing program.

[0035] The acceptance information acquisition unit 15 acquires information from the selected store that has been notified of the event information, regarding whether or not the store is willing to accept an order to provide food and drink to participants of the event that corresponds to the event information of the selected store. The information regarding the availability of the order is information regarding the response to the service provided by the selected store using the eating and drinking establishment terminal 40. Specifically, the information regarding the availability of the order refers to a response indicating whether the service can be provided or not, a reason why the service cannot be provided, a response indicating that the service can be provided if the content of the event information is changed, and a response indicating that the service can be provided if certain conditions are met.

[0036] Reasons for not being able to accept an order include, for example, the expected number of event participants being too large or too small, not being able to accept an order because there are not enough employees on the date and time when food and drink is to be served, not being able to accept an order because the restaurant will be temporarily closed on the date and time when food and drink is to be served, not being able to accept an order because the delivery vehicle is out of order, not being able to accept an order for eat-in service because construction work is being carried out inside the restaurant, etc.

[0037] Examples of responses indicating that the order can be accepted depending on changes to the event information include a response that the order can be accepted if the food delivery service is changed to takeout or eat-in, a response that the order can be accepted if the number of event participants is above or below a certain number, a response that the order can be accepted if the date and time for providing food and drink is changed to another date and time (for example, between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. on the same day, or the same time the following day), a response that the order can be accepted if the ingredients for a particular product are in short supply and the product is changed to another product, or a response that the order can be accepted if the food and drink provision work for another event is canceled.

[0038] A response that the order can be accepted if certain conditions are met means a response that the selected store can accept the order if the user agrees to certain conditions added to the event information.For example, a response that the order can be accepted if all participants order more than 1,000 yen, a response that the order can be accepted if the food delivery service involves delivery of the products in the parking lot, a response that the order can be accepted if all participants arrive at the store by a specified time, or a response that the order can be accepted if all participants leave the store by a specified time.

[0039] The selected store uses the restaurant terminal 40 to respond to the information processing device 10 as to whether or not it can provide food and drink to the participants of the event corresponding to the acquired event information. The selected store determines whether or not it can accommodate the request by taking into consideration the details of the event information, such as the expected number of event participants and the date and time for providing food and drink to the participants.

[0040] The event information disclosure unit 16 discloses the selected store information and the event information to those who are considering participating in the event. The published selected store information and event information are displayed on the display screen of a terminal used by a person considering participating in the event, and the person considering the event applies to participate in the event by selecting and ordering products from a menu table 70 displayed together with the event information. A person considering participating in an event applies to participate in the event by selecting and ordering the items to eat and drink while participating in the event from the menu displayed on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30. When an event participant orders an item and the payment for the order is made before the event begins by the payment processing unit 23 described below, the user does not need to collect the cost of the items on the day of the event or make payments to the restaurant, thereby reducing the user's burden as the event organizer and organizer. When a user selects multiple selected stores, if the event information disclosure unit 16 receives responses from all selected stores indicating that they are able to undertake the provision of the service, the event information disclosure unit 16 discloses the selected store information and the event information. By receiving a response from the selected store that the service can be provided, the event information disclosure unit 16 determines that the event planned by the user can be held, and discloses the selected store information and the event information.

[0041] The event information publishing unit 16 publishes the selected store information and event information on the information and communication network 28 in order to recruit participants for the event. The event information publishing unit may publish the selected store information and the event information on a pre-designated social networking service (SNS: an online service that provides a place for social interaction). After the event information disclosure unit 16 receives a response from the selected store that the provision service is available, the user and participants of the information processing device 10 can post and publish the selected store information and event information for the event on SNS using their own account. The user of the information processing device 10 may apply an SNS posting discount to participants who post and publish selected store information and event information on an SNS using their own account. The SNS posting discount refers to a discount on part or all of the price incurred by a participant's order, provided that the participant posts the selected store information and event information on an SNS. When applying the SNS posting discount, a link to an ID (Identification) that identifies the participant can be included in the SNS post, making it possible to identify who posted the post.

[0042] By publishing the selected store information on the information and communication network 28, restaurant information of the restaurants that will provide food and drink to event participants, such as the opening hours of the selected store, menu list, order deadline for each restaurant, and the upper or lower limit of the number of orders or total order amount that can be handled for the event, is made public. By publishing the event information on the information and communication network 28, information including the expected number of participants in the event that the user is planning to hold and the date and time when food and drink will be provided to the participants is made public. Participants considering attending an event refer to the event information published on the information and communication network 28 to consider whether or not to attend the event.

[0043] The message notification unit 20 notifies the user of a message. The message notification unit 20 notifies the user terminal 29 used by the user of the message by e-mail, push notification, or the like.

[0044] The message notification unit 20 may notify the user of the need for compensation if the number of orders or the total order amount does not exceed the lower limit of the number of orders or the total order amount set by the restaurant after the order deadline for all products accepted by the order acceptance unit 19 has passed. When the user receives a notification from the message notification unit 20 that compensation is required, the restaurant will accept the order by paying a predetermined amount of compensation.

[0045] The participant profile receiving unit 17 receives information relating to the profiles of participants in an event as profile information. Profile information refers to information that can identify an individual, such as the participant's name, date of birth, address, photo, icon, etc., as well as contact information such as phone number, email address, SNS (Social Networking Service) account, etc. The profile information may also include the ID and password, which are account information used for the participant's login (S132: FIG. 6A).

[0046] The display control unit 18 controls the display of information about the menu of the selected store on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 used by the participant of the event. The participant looks at the menu displayed on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 and selects the items to order from the menu. The display control unit 18 controls the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 to display information on a menu table with the number of items set in accordance with the expected number of people. The more expected participants there are for an event, the fewer items are listed on the menu to reduce the workload of the selected restaurant. Specifically, if the expected number of participants is 100 or more, the number of items listed on the menu is limited to 30, and event participants can select and order from the items listed on the menu. If the expected number of participants is 50 or less, the number of items listed on the menu is limited to 50, and event participants can select and order from the items listed on the menu.

[0047] The order receiving unit 19 receives orders for products that are ordered by event participants using the participant terminals 30. The orders of the event participants received by the order receiving unit 19 are stored in the storage unit 10d of the information processing device 10. The display control unit 18 controls the display of information about the product ordered by the participant, which has been accepted by the order accepting unit 19, on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 used by the other participants in the event. The event information notification unit 14 notifies the selected store of the number of items ordered by the participants on the way up to the order deadline for the items accepted by the order acceptance unit 19. The selected store can predict the number of orders for each product before the order deadline for that product, and can prepare the ordered products in advance, thereby reducing the operational burden on the selected store.

[0048] The storage control unit 22 stores the items ordered by the participants in association with the event information. The display control unit 18 controls the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 to display the products that the participant and other participants have previously ordered, which are stored in the storage control unit 22. The storage control unit 22 stores the profile information received by the participant profile receiving unit 17 . The storage control unit 22 stores the acquired profile information in the storage unit 10d of the information processing device 10. The order receiving unit 19 may be configured not to receive orders from participants whose profile information is not stored in the storage control unit 22. In addition, the display control unit 18 may display a participant order list 42 on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30, which shows the product names 80 of the products ordered by the event participants, as well as the names 84 and icons 39 of the event participants, listed for each event participant, together with the selected store information and event information (see Figure 14). As shown in FIG. 14, the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 displays the event summary 34b, the menu table 70, and the participant order list 42. This allows people who are considering participating in the event, participants in the event, and those who plan to participate in the event to simultaneously view the participant order list 42 and the menu table 70, and therefore know who is ordering which items. In addition, people who are considering participating in the event, participants in the event, and people who plan to participate in the event can simultaneously view the list of participants' orders 42 and the event information, making it easier to imagine the situation on the day of the event, such as who is eating what, and reducing anxiety about participating in the event. In addition, people who are considering participating in an event, participants in the event, and people who plan to participate in the event can easily understand what participants in the event they are planning to attend have ordered by looking at participant order list 42.

[0049] The payment processing unit 23 processes payments for products ordered by event participants. The payment processing unit 23 processes the payment of the participant and receives payment for the products ordered by the participant. The price of the products ordered by the participant is temporarily reserved by the operator of the information processing device 10, and then paid by the operator to the selected store. The payment processing unit 23 uses an online payment platform that provides an external online payment agency service. Examples of online payment platforms include PayPal (registered trademark), Pay.JP, Stripe Payment Links (registered trademark), and SELECTTYPE (registered trademark). Participants pay for the ordered products using credit cards, debit cards, electronic money, etc. The payment processing unit 23 accepts cancellation of payment by a participant before the order deadline for the product corresponding to the payment. In addition, an event participant can change the product they ordered to another product before the order deadline for the product they ordered.

[0050] The payment option receiving unit 21 receives the selection of a payment option from a participant, which is set in advance by a person involved in organizing the event, allowing the person involved in organizing the event to pay all or part of the amount of money generated by an order from the participant on behalf of the participant. Payment options are set by event organizers when entertaining event participants by paying for their food and drinks. Payment options are also set by companies, for example, when gathering people inside or outside the company and providing food and drinks for the gathered people. Payment options are also set by educational institutions, such as schools, when gathering students and providing food and drinks for the gathered students. Payment options are also set by food and beverage manufacturers when providing free food and drinks to participants at a tasting event they are hosting.

[0051] When a participant selects a payment option, or when the payment processing unit 23 receives an instruction from an event organizer that the event organizer will make payment on behalf of the participant, the payment processing unit 23 may reduce all or part of the payment amount incurred by the participant's order by having the event organizer bear all or part of the payment amount. If a participant selects the payment option, the display control unit 18 may control the display of the menu on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 to display only items for which the event organizers will pay. In addition, when a participant selects a payment option, the display control unit 18 may, when controlling the display of the menu on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30, attach a tag or other marking to the items on the menu to distinguish between items for which the participant pays and items for which parties involved in organizing the event pay. In addition, if a participant selects a payment option, the payment processing unit 23 may deduct a specified amount to be borne by those involved in hosting the event from the payment for the products generated by the participant's order when the participant makes the payment. In addition, even if a participant does not select a payment option, if the event organizers instruct the event organizers to make payment on behalf of the participant, the event organizers may reduce the participant's payment by covering all or part of the amount incurred by the participant's order.

[0052] The display control unit 18 controls the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 used by the participant of the event to display an order confirmation button that is operated by the participant when finalizing the product to be ordered. The settlement processing unit 23 executes the settlement process for the participant when the participant operates the order confirmation button. Here, operating a button refers to pressing the button with a mouse or by touch operation. Touch operation refers to operating by touching the screen of display unit 31 with a finger when display unit 31 is a touch panel. Operating a button displayed on display unit 29a of user terminal 29 and the display unit of restaurant terminal 40 also refers to pressing the button with a mouse or by touch operation.

[0053] The determination unit 24 determines whether the participant and other participants have similar preferences for either food or events, or both, based on information about products previously ordered by the participant and other participants stored in association with event information stored in the memory control unit 22.

[0054] The communication promotion unit 25 mediates communication between an event participant who is determined to have similar preferences to the event participant based on the profile information of the other participants stored in the memory control unit 22 and the other participants.

[0055] The determination unit 24 determines that the participant and the other participant have similar event preferences when the participant and the other participant have participated in the same event a predetermined number of times in the past. Having similar event preferences means that the types, characteristics, and trends of events that you like to attend are similar. For example, the determination unit 24 determines that another participant who has participated in the same event as the participant who has previously participated three or more times has a preference for events that matches that of the participant. Furthermore, the determining unit 24 determines that the type of product previously ordered by a participant matches the food preferences of other participants who have previously ordered the same type of product a predetermined number of times or more. For example, if a participant has previously ordered ramen, curry rice, yakiniku, sushi, and Italian food, another participant who has previously ordered Italian food, sushi, and ramen will be determined to have similar food preferences because they have ordered the same types of products three or more times in the past. Product types refer to the genre of cuisine, such as Japanese cuisine, seafood, soba (buckwheat noodles), udon, eel, yakitori, tonkatsu, kushiage (deep-fried skewers), tempura, okonomiyaki, monjayaki, shabu-shabu, Okinawan cuisine, Western cuisine, French cuisine, Spanish cuisine, pasta, pizza, steak, hamburger steak, Chinese cuisine, Korean cuisine, Thai cuisine, curry, horumon (offal), hot pot, buffet, bread, and sweets.

[0056] The communication is carried out by using text chat between the participant and other participants, but is not limited to this, and may also be carried out by using voice chat or video chat. Chat is a service that allows real-time communication via the information and communication network 28. Text chat is chat that uses characters to communicate, voice chat is chat that uses sound to communicate, and video chat is chat that uses video information to communicate, allowing you to talk while seeing the other person's face.

[0057] The communication promotion unit 25 transmits information about the text chat of the participant to the participant terminals 30 used by the other participants. The display control unit 18 controls the display of text chat information received from other participants on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 used by the participant.

[0058] Based on information on products previously ordered by the participant and other participants stored in association with the event information stored in the storage control unit 22, the event information notification unit 14 notifies the selected store of the event the participant is planning to attend as order count information, which is information on the number of times other participants who participated in the same event as the participant's past event have previously ordered from the selected store of the event the participant is planning to attend. The event information notification unit 14 notifies the restaurant terminal 40 of the selected restaurant of the number of orders that the other participants have made to the selected restaurant in the past as order count information. For example, if the other participants have never ordered from the selected restaurant in the past, the event information notification unit 14 notifies the restaurant terminal 40 of the selected restaurant of the order count information indicating that the other participants are new customers. This allows the selected restaurant to reliably provide services to new customers. Furthermore, if the other participant has ordered from the selected restaurant five times in the past, the event information notification unit 14 can notify the restaurant terminal 40 of the selected restaurant of order count information indicating that the other participant has ordered five times in the past. This allows the selected restaurant to reliably provide the same service to a customer who has ordered five times in the past as it would to a regular customer. That is, the event information notification unit 14 notifies the restaurant terminal 40 of the selected restaurant of the number of orders that other participants have made to the selected restaurant in the past as order count information, so that the selected restaurant, upon receiving the order count information of other participants, can provide services according to the number of orders that the other participants have made in the past.

[0059] When other participants who have participated in the same event as the participant's past event have not placed an order with the selected store of the event the participant is planning to attend, a communication promotion unit 25 transmits information to the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 used by the other participants who have participated in the same event as the participant's past event that the participant has placed an order with the selected store of the event. When another participant who has participated in the same event as the participant's past participation event has not placed an order with the selected store of the event the participant is planning to participate in, information that the participant has placed an order with the selected store of the event is transmitted to a display unit 31 of a participant terminal 30 used by the other participant for the purpose of encouraging and inviting the other participant to participate in the event the participant is planning to participate in. In addition, when another participant who is determined by the determination unit 24 to have similar tastes to the event participant applies to participate in the event, the communication promotion unit 25 may notify the event participant that the other participant has applied to participate in the event.

[0060] The treat receiving unit 26 receives from a participant an offer to treat another participant to settle all or part of the amount incurred by the other participant's order on behalf of the other participant. That is, a participant (treating person) of an event can treat another participant (treating person) by paying all or part of the meal expenses, and the treat receiving unit 26 accepts the offer from the participant (treating person).

[0061] The treat recipient receiving unit 27 receives the designation of another participant who is the recipient of a treat from a participant. That is, the treat target receiving unit 27 receives another participant (person being treated) who is designated by the participant (person treating) as a target for a treat. The other participant (the person being treated) may have already paid for the meal. If the other participant (the person being treated) has already paid, the payment for the other participant (the person being treated) will be canceled and the other participant will be refunded.

[0062] A participant (treating person) can issue a discount coupon themselves and send the URL for using the discount coupon to other participants (treating people) by email, etc. The amount of the discount coupon can be set by the participant (treating person), for example, it can be a 1000 yen discount coupon or a 500 yen discount coupon. Participants (those paying) can also post the URL of the discount coupon on social media. In this case, participants can set the amount and number of people they will treat, such as treating the first five people up to 300 yen per person. The discount coupon is assumed to be linked to the event, and other participants (those being treated) must also attend the event. The treat accepting unit 26 issues a discount coupon itself and accepts an offer from a participant who has sent a URL for using the discount coupon to other participants by e-mail or the like. The treat recipient acceptance unit 27 accepts the other participant (person being treated) who has received the discount coupon, based on the participant's (person treating) designation.

[0063] Participants (those paying) may purchase gift cards and give them to other participants (those being treated). The amount of the gift card can be freely set by the participant (treating person). The URL required to use the gift card can be sent to other participants (treating people) via email or other means.

[0064] Other participants (those being treated) can ask a specific person to treat them. The person being asked is a participant who has already ordered a product and is planning to attend the event. The person making the request adds food to their cart and waits for a response from the participant (the person treating), such as "I'll pay for the whole thing" or "I'll pay for half the price." Other participants (those being treated) can participate in the event by being treated by one of the event participants. The treat recipient acceptance unit 27 accepts the other participant (the person being treated) who has received the gift card, based on the participant's (the person giving the treat) designation.

[0065] Other participants (those being treated) can ask anyone to treat them. They add items to their cart and wait for someone to pay for them. Once someone pays, the other participants can join the event.

[0066] A participant (treating person) may purchase items for himself / herself and items for other participants (treating people) in advance and invite unspecified people to the event. When other participants (treating people) show up in response to the invitation, the treat recipient accepting unit 27 will accept the designation of the other participants from the participant. Participants (those paying for the meal) can set the conditions for the people they invite, specifying factors such as age, gender, and occupation.

[0067] The oldest participant in the event may be designated as the participant (the one paying), and the youngest person in the same community may be designated as another participant (the one being treated).

[0068] The settlement processing unit 23 processes the settlement of all or part of the amount incurred by the order of another participant when an agreement is reached between the participant and another participant regarding a treat, or when the treat receiving unit receives an offer from the participant to pay all or part of the amount incurred by the order of the other participant on behalf of the other participant. When another participant uses a discount coupon or a gift card, the settlement processing unit 23 assumes that an agreement has been reached between the participant and the other participant regarding the treat, and processes the settlement of the used discount coupon or gift card.

[0069] (Regarding processing performed via information processing device 10) 4A, 4B to 6A and 6B, the processing between user terminal 29, participant terminal 30, and restaurant terminal 40 performed via information processing device 10 will be described. Figures 4A and 4B are flowcharts illustrating the operation of restaurant terminal 40 and user terminal 29 when registering information about restaurants and users, Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of user terminal 29, and Figures 6A and 6B are flowcharts illustrating the operation of participant terminal 30.

[0070] (Regarding restaurant information registration: S100~S105) First, referring to FIG. 4A, the process of restaurant terminal 40 in registering information about a restaurant will be described.

[0071] S100: LP access of restaurant terminal 40 The restaurant uses restaurant terminal 40 to access a restaurant LP (landing page) of information processing device 10 (S100). The restaurant LP is a landing page provided by information processing device 10 for access by restaurant terminal 40, and the landing page is the page that a visitor to the website accesses first.

[0072] S101: Restaurant shop registration Next, the restaurant is guided to the LP and registers restaurant information, which is information about the restaurant, using restaurant terminal 40 (S101). The restaurant information is acquired by restaurant information acquisition unit 11 of information processing device 10 and registered.

[0073] S102: Restaurant menu registration After registering the restaurant information, the restaurant terminal 40 is used to register products to be listed on the menu (S102). The products to be listed on the menu are included in the restaurant information and are acquired and registered by the restaurant information acquisition unit 11 of the information processing device 10 together with information about other restaurants.

[0074] S103: Registering postal codes for restaurants The restaurant registers its postal code so that users and participants of the information processing device 10 can search for the restaurant by using the postal code as a keyword (S103). Postal codes are associated with latitude and longitude, and registering the postal code of the restaurant registers the latitude and longitude of the restaurant.

[0075] S104: Optional registration of restaurants Restaurants can set options as services that event participants can add when ordering food, and register the options using restaurant terminal 40 (S104). Examples of services that can be added include providing cutlery or chopsticks with food, providing a large portion of rice, or providing a large portion of side dishes.

[0076] S105: Restaurant store disclosure request Once the restaurant has completed registering restaurant information including the restaurant's business hours, menu, order deadline for each restaurant, and the upper limit of the number of orders that can be handled for the event, the restaurant requests information processing device 10 to publish the restaurant information on information and communication network 28 (S105). In response to the request, information processing device 10 publishes the registered restaurant information on information and communication network 28.

[0077] (Regarding user information registration: S110 to S112) Next, with reference to FIG. 4B, the process of user terminal 29 in registering information about a user will be described.

[0078] S110: LP access of user terminal 29 The user accesses a user LP (landing page) of the information processing device 10 using the user terminal 29 (S110). The user LP is a landing page provided by the information processing device 10 for the user terminal 29 to access.

[0079] S111: User account registration The user is guided to a user LP and registers a user account (S111). Registering an account means registering personal information required to use the services provided by the information processing device 10. When registering an account, an ID and a password are set.

[0080] S112: User community registration If the planned event is aimed at people who belong to a specific community, the user uses user terminal 29 to register the name of the community, an icon representing the community, and a cover image (not shown) (S112). A cover image is a large image placed at the top of a page introducing the community, and is a photograph, illustration, or the like that symbolizes or evokes the community.

[0081] (Regarding user information registration: S115 to S122) Next, the operation of user terminal 29 when registering user event information will be described with reference to Fig. 5. Here, a user who is planning to host an event registers event information and selects a restaurant.

[0082] S115: Store search by user The user searches for a restaurant to select from among the restaurants registered in the information processing device 10 (S115). The user selects a restaurant to select from among the registered restaurants using the postal code of the location where the event will be held as a clue.

[0083] S116: Register user event information The user uses the user terminal 29 to register event details 37 (see FIG. 8) in the information processing device 10. The event information acquisition unit 12 of the information processing device 10 acquires the event information registered by the user. To register the event information, the user performs postal search, store designation, date and time designation, image registration, document creation, and COVID-19 countermeasures (S116). Postal search refers to registering the postal code of the event location so that participants can search for the event using the postal code as a clue. "Store designation" refers to designating and registering a restaurant that will provide food and drink to event participants. The selected store information acquisition unit 13 of the information processing device 10 sets the restaurant selected by the user as the selected store, and acquires information about the selected store as selected store information. The date and time specification refers to specifying and registering the date and time when food and drink will be provided to event participants. The date and time specification may also be the date and time of the event. Image registration refers to registering a cover image 41 (see FIG. 8) that symbolizes or represents the event. Document creation refers to creating and registering a document that explains the outline of the event. Coronavirus countermeasures refer to registering an explanation of the coronavirus countermeasures that will be implemented at the event.

[0084] S117: Notify restaurants of event information The event information registered by the user terminal 29 is notified to the restaurant terminal 40 of the selected store by the event information notification unit 14 of the information processing device 10 (S117). The event information notification unit 14 notifies the restaurant terminal 40 of the selected store of the event details 37 by email, but is not limited to this, and the notification may also be by push notification processed in an information processing program described below.

[0085] S118: Check restaurant event information When the restaurant is selected by the user and becomes a selected restaurant for the event, the restaurant can confirm the event information registered by the user in S116 using restaurant terminal 40 (S118). Information processing device 10 acquires information about the selected restaurant selected by the user of information processing device 10 via selected restaurant information acquisition unit 13, and notifies the selected restaurant of the event information created by the user via event information notification unit 14.

[0086] S119: Consideration of restaurant acceptance The restaurant responds with information regarding whether or not it will accept the contract to provide food and drink to participants of the event corresponding to the acquired event information (S119). If the restaurant declines the contract to provide the food and drink (S119: NO), the process proceeds to S120 in user terminal 29. If the restaurant accepts the contract to provide the food and drink (S119: YES), the process proceeds to S121 in user terminal 29.

[0087] S120: Restaurant event denial confirmation If the response of the selected restaurant acquired by the acceptance information acquisition unit 15 of the information processing device 10 indicates that the restaurant refuses to provide food and drink to event participants (S119: NO), the user terminal 29 is notified of this, and the user confirms the selected restaurant's refusal to provide food and drink to event participants (S120). The user returns to S116, changes the event information or the selected restaurant (selected restaurant), and re-registers the event information (S116). The event information re-registered in S116 is again notified to the selected restaurant (S117). The user changes the event information or the selected restaurant (selected restaurant) and re-registers the event information until the selected restaurant agrees to provide food and drink to event participants.

[0088] S121: Restaurant event acceptance confirmation If the response of the selected store acquired by the acceptance information acquisition unit 15 of the information processing device 10 is to the effect that the store will accept the task of providing food and drink to event participants (S119: YES), the user terminal 29 is notified of this, and the user confirms that the selected store has accepted the task of providing food and drink to event participants (S121).

[0089] S122: Restaurant event information disclosure The event information registered by the user terminal 29 is published on the information communication network 28 by the event information publishing unit 16 of the information processing device 10 (S122).

[0090] (Operation of participant terminals: S125~S152) Next, with reference to Figures 6A and 6B, we will explain the operation of the participant terminal 30. Here, after a participant selects an event in which they wish to participate, they select a product and make payment for the selected product.

[0091] S125: Access to LP of participant terminal 30 The participant uses the participant terminal 30 to access the participant LP (landing page) of the information processing device 10 (S125). The participant LP is a landing page provided by the information processing device 10 for the participant terminal 30 to access.

[0092] S126: Event List The display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 displays a list of events currently recruiting participants as the top page 32 (see FIG. 7) of the participant LP (S126). The event list is a table that compiles event summaries (34a to 34f: see FIG. 7) created for each event currently recruiting participants.

[0093] S127: Event page The participant selects the event summary (34a to 34f) of the event that the participant wishes to participate in from the event list, and displays the event page of the event on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 (S127). By viewing the event page, the participant can learn more detailed event information.

[0094] S128: Have you registered your account? The information processing device 10 determines whether the participant has already acquired an account (S128). If the participant has not yet registered an account (S128: NO), the process proceeds to account registration (S129). If the participant has already registered an account (S128: YES), the process proceeds to login (S132).

[0095] S129:Account registration If the participant has not yet completed account registration, the participant registers the account by registering an ID and a password (S129). The participant profile accepting unit 17 of the information processing device 10 accepts information related to the participant's profile as profile information. The profile information includes an ID, a password, etc., which are required for identity verification in order for the participant to receive services provided by the information processing device 10.

[0096] S130: Community Registration If a participant belongs to a community, they can register the community (S130). Using the participant terminal 30, participants can register the community name, community description, icon, cover photo, member list, event list, etc. A community is a gathering or place of interaction for people who share a region or a topic, etc. It is a basic society formed by local ties or spontaneous connections, and has common social concepts, lifestyles, traditions, etc. A community can also be used as a place for communication on an equal footing about a specific purpose or theme via the Internet, etc.

[0097] S131: Community Management Participation If a participant is in a position to act as an administrator in the community to which he or she belongs, and manages other members of the community, the participant can register as such (S131). An administrator is a person who, for example, sends invitation emails to new members, collects items ordered on behalf of the community in the case of takeout, and acts as a contact point for inquiries from selected stores.

[0098] S132:Login The participant uses the participant terminal 30 to verify his / her identity using an ID and password in order to receive the services provided by the information processing device 10 (S132).

[0099] S133: Add to Cart The participant adds the selected products to the cart using the participant terminal 30 (S133). The cart is a virtual space that temporarily stores products before payment, and by adding products to the cart, the participant can specify the number of products, the location where the products will be received, the delivery date and time, the payment method, and the selection of options.

[0100] S134: Multiple Carts If multiple selected stores are set, a cart is prepared for each selected store (S134), and the participant adds products from the selected store to the cart corresponding to the selected store.

[0101] S135: Option selection Participants may select options for the product (S135), such as requesting that cutlery or chopsticks be provided with the product, or requesting that the selected store provide a larger portion of some food item in the product (e.g., rice).

[0102] S136: Payment (Credit Ensuring) The participant pays for the items added to the cart by pressing the order confirmation button (not shown) displayed on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 (S136). Payment includes securing credit. When the participant presses the order confirmation button (not shown), the order receiving unit 19 notifies the restaurant terminal 40 of the selected store that the participant has placed an order for the items accepted by the order receiving unit 19, and notifies the selected store that a tentative order has been added (S139). A tentative order is an order that may be subject to cancellation. When the participant operates the order confirmation button, the storage control unit 22 stores the product ordered by the participant in the storage unit 10d in association with the event information. Payment (credit assurance) (S136) is made for each order, and if an order includes multiple items, the total price for those items is processed in one payment. In addition, even after payment (S136) is completed, participants can place an order to add items that have not yet reached the order cut-off time, and can make separate payments for those orders.

[0103] S137: Order completed The participant completes the payment for the items added to the cart (S136), and the participant's order is completed (S137). Participants can participate in the event by completing an order. In conventional event management services, participants apply to participate in an event by obtaining a free or paid ticket, but in events handled by the information processing device 10, participants apply to participate in the event by completing an order for a product. In other words, event participants can participate in the event by ordering items selected from the menu and completing payment in advance, which saves the user the trouble of collecting payment from the event participants on the day of the event. Furthermore, even if a participant cancels without notice, such as a last-minute cancellation or no-show, the user can eliminate the financial risk of not being able to collect payment from the participant.

[0104] S138: Order Information Disclosure The communication promotion unit 25 notifies the participant terminals 30 of the other participants of the products for which payment has been processed by the participant operating the order confirmation button, and the products ordered by the participant are made public to the other participants (S138).

[0105] S139: Add temporary order When the participant operates the order confirmation button (not shown) displayed on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30, the payment processing unit 23 of the information processing device 10 processes the payment for the item ordered by the participant (S136). After the payment for the item is processed, the display control unit 18 notifies the restaurant terminal 40 of the selected restaurant that the participant has placed an order for the item accepted by the order acceptance unit 19, and notifies the selected restaurant that a provisional order has been placed (S139). Until the order cut-off time set for each restaurant has elapsed, the participant is free to cancel the order or change the item, so the order at S139 is provisional and unconfirmed.

[0106] S140: Whether or not participants have cancelled A participant can cancel or change the product to another product until the order cut-off time set for the product has passed. If a request to cancel payment is received from the participant terminal 30 (S140: YES), the payment processing unit 23 of the information processing device 10 proceeds to S141, and if a request to cancel payment is not received from the participant terminal 30 (S140: NO), the payment processing unit 23 proceeds to S144. If an order contains multiple items, payment can be cancelled for each item. In this case, only the payment for the cancelled item will be refunded to the Participant. In other words, each participant in the event can cancel their participation in the event and change the products they have ordered themselves using the information processing device 10, so the user does not need to handle the cancellations of participants' participation and changes to the products they have ordered and contact the restaurant, thereby reducing the burden on the user.

[0107] S141: Order cut-off time? When a participant requests cancellation of a payment (S136) (S140: YES), the payment processing unit 23 of the information processing device 10 determines whether the order deadline for the product corresponding to the payment for which cancellation has been requested has passed (S141). If the order deadline has not passed (S141: NO), the process proceeds to canceling the payment (S142), and if the order deadline has passed (S141: YES), the process proceeds to not allowing cancellation (S143).

[0108] S142: Payment Cancellation If the participant requests cancellation of the payment before the order deadline for the product corresponding to the payment has elapsed, the payment processing unit 23 accepts the cancellation of the payment from the participant (S142). In this case, the price of the product corresponding to the canceled payment is refunded, and the participant's participation in the event whose cancellation was accepted is also canceled. In other words, before the deadline for ordering paid items has passed, event participants can cancel their participation in the event and change the items they have ordered themselves using the information processing device 10, so the user does not need to handle matters such as coordinating participants' cancellations of participation and changes to ordered items and contacting the restaurant, thereby reducing the burden on the user.

[0109] S143:Cancellation not allowed If the participant requests cancellation of payment after the order deadline for the product corresponding to the payment has passed, the payment processing unit 23 rejects the participant's request to cancel the payment (S143), the payment is confirmed (S145), the participant's participation in the event is confirmed (S147), and an order email is sent to the selected store informing them that the participant's order has been confirmed (S149).

[0110] S144: Check deadline? If there is no request to cancel the payment (S136) from the participant (S140: NO), the payment processing unit 23 determines whether the order cut-off time for the product corresponding to the payment has passed (S144). Each restaurant can set its own cancellation policy. For example, the cancellation policy can be set so that the cancellation fee is 0% of the price up to three days before the order deadline, 50% of the price two days before the order deadline, 75% of the price the day before the order deadline, and 100% of the price after the order deadline. Event participants will perform cancellation processing (cancellation of participant payment) on the information processing device 10 in accordance with the restaurant's cancellation policy, so the user will no longer need to deal with the cancellation processing, thereby reducing the user's workload. If the participant has not requested cancellation of the payment (S136) (S140: NO) but the order deadline for the product corresponding to the payment has passed (S144: YES), the process proceeds to payment confirmation (S145), the payment is confirmed, the participant's participation in the event is confirmed (S147), and an order email is sent to the selected store informing them that the participant's order has been confirmed (S149).

[0111] S145: Payment confirmed After the order cut-off time set for the product has passed (S141, S144: YES), the payment for the product is confirmed (S145) and, in principle, the product cannot be canceled or changed to another product. However, the selected store may exceptionally accept cancellation of the product for which payment has been confirmed or change to another product at its discretion. An event participant requests cancellation directly to the restaurant via information processing device 10, rather than to the user. The restaurant determines whether to accept the cancellation request from the event participant on an individual basis. If the restaurant accepts the cancellation request, the event participant's cancellation is confirmed, and the participant's payment is refunded. Once the payment is confirmed (S145), the participant can obtain (download) a receipt for the order they paid for from the information processing device 10. If the restaurant has registered a "qualified invoice registration number," the number will be printed on the receipt. This saves the user and restaurant the trouble of issuing a receipt to each participant, reducing the burden on the user and the restaurant.

[0112] S146: Participants can post on social media Participants can use their own SNS accounts to post information about the selected store and event information on the SNS, and can recruit participants for the event (S146). The display control unit 18 of the information processing device 10 controls the display of an SNS posting button (not shown) on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30, and participants can post selected store information and event information by operating the SNS posting button. The SNS posting button is an X (formerly Twitter (registered trademark)) posting button, a Facebook (registered trademark) posting button, an Instagram (registered trademark) posting button, a Threads (registered trademark) posting button, etc., and participants can post selected store information and event information to the SNS corresponding to the button by operating these posting buttons.

[0113] S147: Participant participation confirmed When the information processing device 10 determines that the order deadline for the product accepted by the order acceptance unit 19 has passed (S141, S144: YES), a message is displayed on the user terminal 29 indicating that the participant's participation in the event has been confirmed (S147).

[0114] S148: User can post to SNS The user can use his / her SNS account to post the selected store information and event information to the SNS, and can recruit participants for the event (S148). The display control unit 18 of the information processing device 10, like the participant terminal 30, controls the display of an SNS posting button (not shown) on the display unit 29a of the user terminal 29, and the user can post selected store information and event information by operating the SNS posting button.

[0115] S149: Order email When it is determined that the order deadline for the product accepted by order acceptance unit 19 of information processing device 10 has passed (S141, S144: YES), restaurant terminal 40 of the selected store receives an order email from information processing device 10 notifying that the order for the product that was provisionally ordered has been confirmed (S149). Note that an order email is sent to restaurant terminal 40 of the selected store for each order, and when one order includes multiple products, the order email is sent when it is determined that all of the order deadlines set for each restaurant have passed.

[0116] Furthermore, an order email may be sent for each item. That is, when a single order includes multiple items, the order emails are sent to the restaurant terminal 40 of the selected restaurant in the order of the items whose order deadline has passed. In this case, the selected restaurant can start cooking the items in order of the items for which the order emails have been received, thereby reducing the burden on the selected restaurant.

[0117] S150: Order confirmation button The selected restaurant notifies information processing device 10 that it has confirmed the confirmed order of the participant by operating an order confirmation button (not shown) displayed on the display unit of eating and drinking establishment terminal 40 (S150). The display unit of eating and drinking establishment terminal 40 refers to the monitor of eating and drinking establishment terminal 40.

[0118] S151: Cooking and Delivery After the participant operates the order confirmation button, the selected store begins preparing the items included in the participant's confirmed order (S151). If the participant's order is for food delivery, the selected store delivers the items to the specified location (S151). Since it is desirable to complete delivery to one location in one go, if there are multiple orders to be delivered to the delivery location, delivery will be made after preparation of all items for the multiple orders is complete.

[0119] S152: Delivery completion notification button In the food delivery usage mode, when the selected store has completed delivery of the product, it notifies the information processing device 10 that delivery of the product has been completed by operating a delivery completion notification button (not shown) displayed on the display unit of the restaurant terminal 40 (S152).

[0120] (Display on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30) The display on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 will be described with reference to Figures 7 to 10 and 14. Figures 7 and 8 are diagrams for explaining an example of an event list displayed on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30. Figures 9, 10 and 14 are diagrams for explaining an example of a display screen displayed on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30.

[0121] The display control unit 18 may display a list of the event information acquired by the event information acquisition unit 12 on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30. The display control unit 18 may also display the search results for event information based on input from the event participants on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30. In this case, the communication promotion unit 25 displays the search results on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30. 7, a list of events currently recruiting participants is displayed as a top page 32 of the participant LP on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30. The cover image 33 is a photograph, illustration, or the like that symbolizes or conveys the image of the service provided by the information processing device 10. The event list includes event summaries (34a to 34f) of the events currently recruiting participants. The top page 32 of the participant LP may display a list of events that involve eating and drinking. The events displayed on the top page 32 of the participant LP will be events that involve eating and drinking (dinner parties, lunch parties, drinking parties, etc.). The organizer of the event can select to set the event on the top page 32 as either "public" or "private (URL-only)." Anyone can freely participate in an event that is public on the top page 32. On the other hand, only those who are notified of the URL of an event set as private (URL-only) can participate, for example, via a messaging app. Participants can use the participant terminal 30 to search for event information that matches their own "event theme, interests, hobbies and preferences" and display it on the display unit 31, or can receive notification of the event information by email or the like to the participant terminal 30. Receiving such notification stimulates participants' desire to participate in the event. Furthermore, participants can use the participant terminal 30 to search for information about events that other participants with similar food preferences have signed up to attend, and display it on the display unit 31, or receive notification of the information via email or the like to the participant terminal 30. Receiving such notifications stimulates participants' desire to participate in the event. Furthermore, by registering a "favorite restaurant," participants can use the participant terminal 30 to search for information about events held at the registered "favorite restaurant" and display it on the display unit 31, and can also receive notifications of the information via email or the like to the participant terminal 30. Receiving such notifications stimulates participants' desire to participate in the event. Furthermore, by registering their current address, participants can use the participant terminal 30 to search for information about events being held in "nearby areas" and display it on the display unit 31, and can also receive notifications of the information via email or the like to the participant terminal 30. Receiving such notifications stimulates participants' desire to participate in the event. Furthermore, by registering their own age, participants can use the participant terminal 30 to search for information about events of "people of a similar generation" and display it on the display unit 31, or can receive notification of the information by email or the like to the participant terminal 30. Receiving such notifications stimulates participants' desire to participate in the event. Furthermore, by registering events that participants have participated in, participants can use the participant terminal 30 to search for information about events that "people who have participated together in the past (friends and acquaintances) will be attending" and display it on the display unit 31, or can receive notification of this information by email or the like to the participant terminal 30. Receiving such notification stimulates participants' desire to participate in the event. Furthermore, participants can search for event information by "date and time" using the participant terminal 30 and display it on the display unit 31, or can receive notification of the information by email or the like to the participant terminal 30. Receiving such notification stimulates participants' desire to participate in the event.

[0122] The display control unit 18 displays, on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30, a list of names or icons of participants of the event for which the order receiving unit 19 has received an order, as a participant list. Furthermore, the display control unit 18 may display, on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30, all of the names or icons of the participants of the event for which the order receiving unit 19 has accepted an order, as a participant list, or may display, up to a preset upper limit, as many names or icons of the participants of the event for which the order receiving unit 19 has accepted an order. For example, if the upper limit is set to 10, then even if the number of participants in the event exceeds 10, only 10 names or icons will be displayed in the participant list. The names or icons 39 of the event participants may refer to the names or icons of the participants included in the profile information received by the participant profile receiving unit 17. Also, a facial photo included in the profile information may be used as the icon 39, or any characters, images, etc. that identify the individual event participant may be used as the icon 39 of the event participant. The participant list displays a list of names or icons 39 of the event participants, and is displayed together with the event summary 34 or menu table 70 to provide an overview of the participants in the event so that the participants' faces, lineup, or content of the event can be seen at a glance. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of an enlarged display of one of the event summaries (34a to 34f) selected from the event list displayed on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30. As shown in FIG. 8, the event summary 34b includes a cover image 41, an event title 35, a description of the event 36, event details 37, the number of expected participants 38, and participant icons 39. The cover image 41 is a large image placed at the top of the event summary 34b, and refers to a photograph, illustration, or the like that symbolizes or evokes the image of the event. Event details 37 include the organizer, order deadline, event date and time, venue, store name, and maximum capacity. The expected number of participants, 38, is the number of participants in the event at this time. Participant icons 39 are icons that indicate participants in the event. The participant's icon 39 is provided with a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) or a hyperlink associated with the participant's profile information stored by the storage control unit 22.

[0123] The display screens displayed on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 9, the display screen of the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 simultaneously displays an event summary 34b, a menu table 70, the number of expected participants 38, and participant icons 39. The event summary 34b includes a cover image 41, an event title 35, a description of the event 36, and event details 37. A person considering participating in the event can obtain information about the content of the event by looking at the event summary 34b. The number of people expected to attend 38 indicates the number of people who plan to attend the event displayed in the event summary 34b. Participant icons 39 are symbols that distinguish participants from others, and are icons of people who plan to attend the event displayed in the event summary 34b. By looking at the participant icons 39, people considering attending the event can determine whether they know anyone among those who plan to attend the event displayed in the event summary 34b. In addition, people considering attending the event can view the profile information of participants associated by URL or hyperlink by using a mouse or touching one of the participant icons 39 in the participant list. In addition, participants in the event can view the profile information of other participants by using a mouse or touching one of the icons 39 of other participants in the event. Prospective event attendees and event attendees can call, message, etc., based on contact information contained in the profile information of other event attendees.

[0124] Furthermore, the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 may display a participant order list 42 together with the icons 39 of the participants who plan to attend the event. The participant order list 42 may include, for each participant icon 39, the name 84 of the participant, the product name 80 of the product ordered by the participant, and the product price 82 (see FIG. 14). In this case, a photo of the product may be displayed together with or instead of the product name 82. Furthermore, displaying the product price 82 is not required and does not have to be displayed. By displaying the participant order list 42 on the display 31 of the participant terminal 30 as described above, event participants can be informed of what items other participants are ordering, which can provide a topic of conversation between participants on the day of the event. It can also inform those considering attending the event of which items participants are choosing. Furthermore, by displaying the participant order list 42 and the menu 70 side by side, participants' preferences can be more specifically understood, which can stimulate participants' imaginations about the atmosphere on the day of the event and provide participants with a topic of conversation on the day of the event. Furthermore, the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 may display the user's name 44 together with the list of orders 42 of the participants. FIG. 14 may display "host's name (eg, ZYX)" as an example of a user's name 44 along with a list 42 of orders from participants. The display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 may also display a contact button 45 for the user together with the user's name 44 . When the contact user button 45 is pressed with a mouse cursor or the like, email software such as a mailer installed on the participant terminal 30 is launched with the user's email address entered in the input field for the recipient's email address. FIG. 14 shows an example of the contact user button 45, in which a "Contact Organizer" button is displayed with the user being the organizer. When the "Contact Organizer" button is pressed with a mouse cursor or the like, email software such as a mailer installed on the participant terminal 30 is launched with the organizer's email address entered in the input field for the recipient's email address.

[0125] The menu table 70 is a table that summarizes the product summaries (71 to 76) of the selected store. Fig. 10 is an enlarged view of the product summary 71 included in the menu table 70. As shown in Fig. 10, the product summary 71 includes a cover image 79, a product name 80, a product summary 81, a price 82, and a product selection button 83. The cover image 79 is placed above the product summary 71 and is a photo or illustration of the product. The product selection button 83 is operated when a participant selects a product described in the product summary 71 . Those considering participating in the event can simultaneously see the event outline 34b, menu 70, and prospective participants by looking at the display screen of the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 shown in Figure 9, and can easily imagine that by participating in the event, they will be able to enjoy interacting with others while eating their favorite food. Furthermore, a person considering attending the event can order a product by touching a product selection button 83 displayed on the menu table 70 in the display screen shown in Fig. 9. A person considering attending the event can apply to participate in the event displayed in the event summary 34b by selecting a product from the menu table 70 and operating the product selection button 83 with a mouse or by touching it. Therefore, a person considering attending the event does not need to go through procedures such as arranging tickets to participate in the event, and furthermore, because food and drink orders for the event can be placed by operating the product selection button 83 with a mouse or by touching it, the hassle of using a separate food delivery service can be eliminated. The mouse operation means clicking the product selection button 83 using the mouse.

[0126] (Display on display unit 29a of user terminal 29) The display on the display unit 29a of the user terminal 29 will be described with reference to Fig. 11 to Fig. 13. Fig. 11 and Fig. 12 are diagrams for explaining an example of a restaurant list 50 displayed on the display unit 29a of the user terminal 29. Fig. 13 is a diagram for explaining an example of an event information input page 29b displayed on the display unit 29a of the user terminal 29.

[0127] 11 and 12, the restaurant list 50 displayed on the display unit 29a of the user terminal 29 will be described. The restaurant list 50 is a table that compiles restaurant summaries (51 to 55) created for each restaurant registered in the information processing device 10. FIG. 13 is an enlarged view of a restaurant summary 52 included in the restaurant list 50. As shown in FIG. 13, the restaurant summary 52 includes a cover image 57, a restaurant name 58, a restaurant summary 59, business days 60, business hours 61, and a selection button 62.

[0128] The cover image 57 is a large image placed above the restaurant overview 52, and is an image or illustration introducing the restaurant. The select button 62 is operated when the user selects a restaurant described in the restaurant overview 52 as the selected restaurant. The information about the restaurant for which the user has operated the selection button 62 is acquired by the selected restaurant information acquisition unit 13 of the information processing device 10.

[0129] With reference to FIG. 13, an event information input page 29b displayed on the display unit 29a of the user terminal 29 will be described. On input page 29b, the user inputs detailed event information 29c, which will become the event information. The event information input on input page 29b is acquired by event information acquisition unit 12 of information processing device 10. The event detailed information 29c includes an event title, a detailed description of the event, a delivery postal code, a delivery address, the date and time of the event, an order deadline, a minimum number of participants, and a maximum number of participants. The event title is the name of the event. The event detailed description is a detailed description of the event. The delivery postal code is the postal code of the destination where the item ordered by the participant will be delivered. The delivery address is the address to which the product ordered by the participant will be delivered. The date and time of the event is the date and time of the event that is scheduled to be held. The order deadline is the time when participants are allowed to order products. The minimum number of participants is the minimum number of participants required for the event to take place. Maximum capacity is the maximum number of participants that an event can accommodate.

[0130] (Regarding treating event participants) An event participant may have another person pay for all or part of the cost of ordering a product. In other words, an event participant may have another person pay for all or part of the cost of ordering a product. The other people may include the user of the information processing device who is the organizer of the event, people involved in organizing the event, and other participants in the event. Treating someone is synonymous with paying for something, and refers to the person paying for someone else paying for all or part of the cost of the item.

[0131] There are various patterns of indulgence, some of which are listed below. (First pattern) The person paying is the event organizer (hereinafter simply referred to as the organizer), that is, the user of the information processing device, and the person being treated is a participant of the event (hereinafter simply referred to as the participant), and the person paying is the full amount. Specifically, the organizer will cover the full cost of the participants' products (hereinafter simply referred to as meal costs). Participants can select and pre-order products (hereinafter simply referred to as food) without paying in advance. The operator will issue an invoice to the organizer, who will then transfer the amount listed on the invoice to their bank account. Alternatively, the organizer can make a deposit in advance by paying the amount of the treat using a credit card or other means. The organizer is a person who acts as an intermediary between event participants and restaurants that provide food and drink to the participants.

[0132] (Second pattern) The person paying is the event organizer, the person being treated is a participant, and the organizer will pay the amount specified by the organizer. Specifically, the organizer will cover the amount of the participants' meal costs that they specify. For example, if the organizer specifies that each participant will be responsible for 1,000 yen, then participants will pay 500 yen out of the 1,500 yen meal cost, and there will be no out-of-pocket expenses for the 1,000 yen meal cost, and no out-of-pocket expenses for the 800 yen meal cost. If participants have to pay for expenses, they can pay the amount by credit card. The operator will issue an invoice to the organizer, who will then transfer the amount stated on the invoice to their bank account. Alternatively, the organizer can make a deposit in advance by credit card or other method.

[0133] (Third pattern) The person paying is the organizer, and the person being treated is the participant, and the organizer will pay the percentage they specify. Specifically, if the organizer specifies that each participant will pay 50% of the cost, then for a 1,500 yen meal, participants will pay 750 yen, for a 1,000 yen meal, participants will pay 500 yen, and for an 800 yen meal, participants will pay 400 yen. If participants have to pay for expenses, they can pay the amount by credit card. The operator will issue an invoice to the organizer, who will then transfer the amount stated on the invoice to their bank account. Alternatively, the organizer can make a deposit in advance by credit card or other method.

[0134] (Fourth pattern) The person paying is the organizer, and the person being treated is the participant, and the organizer may limit the menu items that the participants can order. Only menu items priced between 1,000 and 1,500 yen may be displayed on the participant terminal 30 of the participant being treated, or the menu items that the participants can order may be limited to three.

[0135] (5th pattern) The person treating is the organizer, and the person being treated is the participant, and the organizer may choose to hide the amount of the treat. Specifically, the fifth pattern of treating is used when the organizer assumes that they are treating the participants, but they want to hide the amount. The participant being treated is notified, for example, "Please choose one and participate," so that they can order whatever they like without hesitation.

[0136] (Sixth pattern) The person paying is the organizer, and the person being treated is the participant. The organizer may hide the amount paid and include it in the membership fee paid by the participant as the event participation fee. The membership fee is set as a flat rate for all event participants. Specifically, the cost of the meal may be included in the paid ticket (membership fee) issued by the organizer. The sixth pattern is used when you want participants to choose their favorite menu, but require a separate membership fee. The event membership fee is a flat rate regardless of which menu the participant chooses. For example, the event membership fee is 5,000 yen, and participants are asked to choose one food item from the menu. In this case, the menu prices are not displayed, and the menu may say, "Drinks are included separately."

[0137] (7th pattern) The person treating is the organizer, and the person being treated is a participant, and the number of participants who arrive first may be set by the organizer. Specifically, the number of people who are treated may be set to "the first 10 people," and the first 10 people may be given the full cost of the meal, or a 1,000 yen discount, or a 50% discount.

[0138] (8th pattern) The person paying is the organizer, and the person being treated is the participant, and a maximum amount that the person paying can be set. Specifically, the organizer's maximum budget for paying can be set at, for example, 30,000 yen. Then, the organizer can pay the full amount of the participant's fee until the budget reaches 30,000 yen, or the participant's fee can be discounted by 1,000 yen until the budget reaches 30,000 yen, or the participant's fee can be discounted by 50% until the budget reaches 30,000 yen.

[0139] (9th pattern) The person paying is the organizer, and the person being treated is a guest at the event, and the organizer can treat "specific participants" such as guest speakers. Once an order is placed, the order is changed so that the organizer is responsible for the payment. The guest who paid is refunded. Alternatively, a credit is secured and payment is made when the order is confirmed. If the guest is treated, the credit security is canceled. Credit security refers to the process of checking whether the user's credit card can be used without any problems.

[0140] (10th pattern) The person paying is the organizer, and the person being treated is a member of the organizer's team. Specifically, the organizer can pay for the bills of members of the organizer's team, which the organizer manages. In other words, the bills of members of the organizer's team can be paid on the organizer's invoice.

[0141] (11th pattern) The person who treats is the organizer, and the person who is treated is the administrator. Specifically, the organizer can treat the administrator or people who belong to the team that supports the administrator.

[0142] (12th pattern) The person treating is the organizer, and the person being treated is a participant, and this method involves issuing a coupon (community coupon) to treat participants. Specifically, the organizer issues a community coupon. The community coupon can only be used within that community. A URL that allows specific participants to obtain the community coupon is sent, and the specific participants use that community coupon to make payments. The organizer can pre-pay for the community coupon using a credit card. A 1,500 yen community coupon can be used to make payments up to 1,500 yen, and the remaining amount of the community coupon is refunded to the organizer. For example, if 1,000 yen of a 1,500 yen community coupon is used to make a payment, the remaining 500 yen will be refunded to the organizer.

[0143] (13th pattern) The person treating is the organizer, and the person being treated is the participant, and the amount of the treat varies depending on whether the participant draws the roulette or fortune slip. Specifically, if a participant wins the roulette or fortune slip, the organizer will treat them. For example, a great fortune is a 1,000 yen discount, a medium fortune is a 500 yen discount, and a small fortune is a 100 yen discount.

[0144] (14th pattern) The person treating is the organizer, and the person being treated is the participant, and if a participant wins the roulette or fortune-telling lottery, they will be issued a community coupon. Specifically, if a participant wins the roulette or fortune-telling lottery, the organizer will issue them with a community coupon that can be used at the next event they attend. For example, if they win a Daikichi, they will receive a community coupon for a 1,000 yen discount, if they win a Chukichi, they will receive a community coupon for a 500 yen discount, and if they win a Kokichi, they will receive a community coupon for a 100 yen discount. These community coupons can only be used within that community.

[0145] (15th pattern) The person treating is the organizer, and the person being treated is a participant, and participants can be treated by fulfilling certain responsibilities or conditions. Specifically, participants can be treated by fulfilling specific responsibilities or conditions. Specifically, they must fulfill responsibilities or conditions such as "helping with event management," "writing a report on note," or "posting on X (formerly Twitter (registered trademark) or Instagram (registered trademark)." The responsibilities or conditions may be displayed to participants using a drop-down menu or the like, and can be selected by the participants. It may also be possible to place a limit on the number of people who can fulfill a "responsibility."

[0146] (16th pattern) The person treating is the organizer, and the person being treated is the participant, and participants can beg the organizer. Specifically, participants can "beg" the organizer by saying "treat me!" Whether or not to accept "begs" can be set for each event. When a participant "begs," the organizer can decide at their discretion whether to "treat" or "reject."

[0147] (17th pattern) The person paying is the organizer, and the person being treated is the participant, and if the participant is a student, they may be able to receive a student discount. Specifically, participants may be able to receive a student discount by proving in advance that they are a student using a student ID or other means.

[0148] (18th pattern) The person paying is the organizer, and the person being treated is the participant, and a gender-based discount may be applied if the participant is male or female. Specifically, by having participants declare their gender in advance, the organizer can treat participants of a specific gender. For example, this can be used for group dates, town parties, etc., with a 1,000 yen discount for female participants, or a 50% discount for women.

[0149] (19th pattern) The person paying is the organizer, and the person being treated is the participant, and a discount may be offered to participants of a certain age. Specifically, the organizer can require participants to declare their age in advance, and the organizer can offer a discount to participants of a certain age. For example, a 1,000 yen discount can be offered to participants in their 20s, or a 50% discount can be offered to participants 60 years of age or older.

[0150] (20th pattern) The person treating is the organizer, and the person being treated is a participant, and can treat participants such as specific guests or customers. Specifically, the organizer can treat pre-determined participants such as external guests or customers. In this case, the organizer cannot treat those involved in the operation and hosting of the event. For example, the organizer can cover the full cost or offer a 1,000 yen discount to external guests or customers.

[0151] (21st pattern) The person treating is the organizer, and the person being treated is the participant, and the organizer may treat a participant who is joining the community for the first time. Specifically, the organizer may treat a participant who is joining the community for the first time, for example, by offering a 1,000 yen discount on the meal fee to a participant who is joining the community for the first time, or a 500 yen discount to a participant who is joining the community for the first time.

[0152] (22nd pattern) The person treating may be the organizer, and the person being treated may be a participant, with the organizer treating the other participant if they have collected stamps on their stamp card. Specifically, participants earn stamps each time they participate in an event in the community, and the number of times they participate in the community is counted as the number of stamps. Specifically, the discount amount may be determined according to the number of times they participate, such as a 500 yen discount on the meal fee for the fifth time they participate and a 1000 yen discount on the meal fee for the tenth time they participate. Furthermore, participants may earn 500 points on their fifth time participating and 1000 points on their tenth time participating, or they may earn points that can be used for future participations. Note that these points may only be redeemable within that community.

[0153] (23rd pattern) The person treating is the organizer, and the person being treated is a participant. The organizer may treat both the participant who invited other participants and the other participants. Specifically, the organizer may treat both the "inviter" and the "invited." For example, the organizer may give a 300 yen discount on the meal cost for both the inviter, Mr. A, and the invited person, Mr. B. An invitation link may be issued to participants, who then send the invitation link to the person inviting them to join the community. The invited person can then order food via the invitation link, creating the fact that "that person (participant) invited them." The organizer may discount the meal cost, refund, or issue a coupon of the equivalent amount to the inviter and the invited person. The invitation link may be implemented, for example, in a form similar to an affiliate URL link.

[0154] (24th pattern) The person treating is the organizer, and the person being treated is a participant, and the discount on the meal cost for a participant who invites other participants may be determined according to the number of people invited. Specifically, the organizer provides discounts on the meal cost for both the "inviter" and the "invited." The "inviter" receives a different discount depending on the number of people invited. For example, if one person is invited, the inviter may receive a 300 yen discount on the meal cost, and if three people are invited, the discount may be 900 yen. The total number of people invited may be set for each event, in which case the organizer may not be required to treat any guests exceeding the total number of people invited.

[0155] (25th pattern) The person treating is the organizer, and the person being treated is the participant, and the meal cost of the participant may be discounted according to the participant's birthday or birth month. Specifically, a discount is applied to participants whose "birthday" or "birth month" falls on that day. For example, if the event is held in May, the organizer may offer a 500 yen discount on the meal cost for participants born in May, and if the event is held on May 1st, the organizer may offer a full discount on the meal cost for participants born on May 1st. The organizer can make the participant's birthday one of the contents of the dinner party.

[0156] (26th pattern) The person paying is the organizer, and the person being treated is the participant, and the organizer may pay for the meal for participants who have a specific tag attached. Specifically, the organizer may offer a discount on the meal for participants who have an occupation tag such as "entrepreneur," "engineer," "freelance," or "human resources" set in their profile. For example, the organizer may offer a 500 yen discount on the meal for participants who have an occupation tag of "entrepreneur." A tag is a word or short phrase used to classify or organize information and represents its attributes or characteristics. Occupation tags are assigned to participants' information according to their occupation.

[0157] (27th pattern) The person treating is the organizer, and the person being treated is the participant. When a predetermined number of participants with the same attributes gather, the meal costs for all participants are discounted. Specifically, for example, if four participants with the same attributes gather, the meal costs for these four participants may be discounted by 300 yen per person. For example, pattern 27 is used when you want to increase the participation of entrepreneurs.

[0158] (28th pattern) The person paying is the organizer, and the person being treated is the participant, and the organizer may treat participants from afar. Specifically, the organizer may encourage participants to register their addresses in advance, and offer a discount on the meal cost to participants attending from afar. For example, participants attending from outside Tokyo may be set to receive a 1,000 yen discount on the meal cost. This allows the organizer to reduce the burden of participants' transportation costs.

[0159] (29th pattern) The person paying is the host, and the person being treated is the participant. If a participant adds an option to a food item, the host may discount the price of the option. Specifically, the host pays for the option on the menu. For example, the host may pay for options such as "large portion" or "cheese topping." The host may use pattern 29 if he or she wants the participants to eat a lot.

[0160] (30th pattern) The person paying for the meal is the event sponsor (hereinafter simply referred to as the sponsor), and the person being treated is a participant, and the sponsor may cover the cost of the meals for all participants. Specifically, the sponsor may pay for all meals at the event.

[0161] (Pattern 31) The person paying is the sponsor, and the person being treated is the participant, and the sponsor may pay for the meal of a limited number of participants on a first-come, first-served basis when they arrive at the event. Specifically, the sponsor may set a limit on the number of participants who can arrive on a first-come, first-served basis, and pay for the meal of the first participants until the limit is reached. For example, the first 20 people may receive free meals, the first 20 people may receive a 500 yen discount on the meal, or the first 20 people may receive a 1000 yen discount on the meal.

[0162] (32nd pattern) The person paying for the meal is the sponsor, and the person being treated is the participant, and the sponsor may pay for the meal for participants on a first-come, first-served basis until the total amount paid by the sponsor reaches a maximum amount. Specifically, the sponsor may pay for the meal for participants with a maximum amount. For example, the sponsor may set a budget of 30,000 yen for paying for the meal for participants, and provide free meals for participants until the budget is reached.

[0163] (33rd pattern) The person paying for the meal is a sponsor, and the person being treated is a specific participant. For example, a sponsor may apply a discount on the meal cost to students. Specifically, a sponsor may determine a specific attribute and pay for the meal of participants who have that attribute. For example, a sponsor may pay the full meal cost for student participants, or the sponsor may give a 1,000 yen discount on the meal cost for student participants.

[0164] (34th pattern) The person paying for the meal is a sponsor, and the person being treated is a specific participant. For example, the sponsor may apply a discount on the meal cost to women. Specifically, the sponsor may determine a specific attribute and pay for the meal of participants who have that attribute. For example, the sponsor may pay for the entire meal cost of a female participant, or the sponsor may give a 1,000 yen discount on the meal cost of a female participant.

[0165] (35th pattern) The person paying for the meal is the sponsor, and the person being treated is a specific participant. For example, the sponsor may apply a discount on the meal cost to elderly people. Specifically, the sponsor may determine a specific attribute and pay for the meal of participants who have that attribute. For example, the sponsor may pay the full meal cost for participants who are 60 years old or older, or the sponsor may give a 1,000 yen discount on the meal cost for participants who are 60 years old or older.

[0166] (36th pattern) The person who pays for the meal is a sponsor, and the organizer may be able to request a company, individual, etc. to be a sponsor. Specifically, the organizer may set conditions for becoming a sponsor and request a company or individual to become a sponsor. If a company or individual who has received a request to become a sponsor agrees to become a sponsor, they will respond by saying "I agree to become a sponsor." If they "accept the sponsorship," they may pay for the meal for the participants in accordance with the set conditions.

[0167] (37th pattern) The person who pays for the event is a sponsor, and the organizer may recruit people to become sponsors. Specifically, the organizer may set conditions for becoming a sponsor and recruit people to become sponsors. People who apply to become sponsors apply by pressing the "Become a sponsor" button displayed on the device they use. The organizer decides whether or not to approve the applicant who pressed the "Become a sponsor" button to become a sponsor, and if approved, presses the "Approve sponsor" button. Whether or not to recruit sponsors is set for each event.

[0168] (38th pattern) The person who pays the bill is a sponsor, and may be able to become a sponsor without the approval of the organizer. Whether or not a person can become a sponsor without the approval of the organizer can be determined at the organizer's discretion.

[0169] (39th pattern) The person who pays for the meal is a sponsor, and can become a sponsor after the event has started (hereafter referred to as a retroactive sponsor). If a retroactive sponsor appears, the meal fee already paid by the participant will be refunded. For example, the refund may be accompanied by an announcement such as, "Mr. / Ms. XX has become a sponsor, so the meal fee will be refunded."

[0170] (Pattern 40) The person who treats is a participant, and the person being treated is also a participant, and participants issue coupons to treat other participants. Specifically, participants can issue discount coupons. For example, they can issue a 500 yen discount coupon or a 1000 yen discount coupon to treat other participants. When the coupon is used, payment is made to the participant who issued the coupon.

[0171] (Pattern 41) The person treating is a participant, and the person being treated is also a participant, and gift cards can be used to treat other participants to meals. Specifically, participants can purchase gift cards and give them to other participants. The amount of the gift card can be set freely. It may also be possible to send a URL or similar to give it to the person being treated. Payment is made to the purchaser at the time the gift card is purchased. If the gift card is not used, it becomes sales profit for the organizer.

[0172] (Pattern 42) The person treating is a participant, and the person being treated is also a participant, and participants can treat specific other participants without their permission. Specifically, participants can treat specific other participants without their permission. Participants normally pay in advance for things like lunch boxes with their credit card. When a participant "treats" someone, they can overwrite that (cancel the previous action and rewrite it as a new action), and the person being treated will receive a refund for the amount they already paid. The organizer can choose whether or not to allow "treats" without their permission. The organizer can set whether "treats" are only available to participants of the event, or whether they are available even for non-participants. Users can decide whether or not they are allowed to "treat" someone without their permission. Users can set the scope of "treats" that are available to "friends," "people who have attended the same dinner party before," or "strangers."

[0173] (Pattern 43) The person treating the person is a participant, and the person being treated is also a participant, and they can post the coupon on SNS (Social Networking Service). Specifically, they can post the coupon URL on SNS along with the message "I'll treat you to 300 yen!". The amount and number of people can be set, such as "300 yen per person, up to the first 5 people." The coupon must be linked to the event. Coupons can be purchased in advance. Alternatively, payment can be made when used or at the event order deadline.

[0174] (44th pattern) The person treating the meal is a participant, and the person being treated is also a participant, and they may be able to ask other participants for favors. Specifically, this means asking a specific person to treat them, and they can "beg" a "participant" who has already placed an order. The person making the request may add food to their cart and send a message saying, "Take me a meal, Mr. / Ms. X!" The participant who is asked receives a message such as "We have received a request from Mr. / Ms. XX" and can respond to the request by saying, "I'll pay for the whole meal" or "I'll pay for half the price."

[0175] (45th pattern) The person treating the customer is also a participant, and the person being treated is also a participant, and they may be able to ask unspecified participants and wait for someone to treat them. Specifically, they ask unspecified people for a treat. The person asking may put food in their cart and set a "waiting for a treat" flag, and once someone pays, they may be able to participate in the event.

[0176] (46th pattern) The person treating is a participant, and the person being treated is also a participant. They can invite unspecified people to an event by posting a message saying "Come on over." Specifically, the person treating purchases food in advance for "themselves" as well as food for unspecified people. The person who will receive the food purchased in advance for unspecified people can specify "age," "gender," "occupation," etc.

[0177] (47th pattern) The person treating is a participant, and the person being treated is also a participant, and the treating may be done in the same way as in the New Year's gift system. Specifically, the oldest participant may treat the youngest participant. The participants may be divided in half, and those older than the median age may treat those younger than them.

[0178] (48th pattern) The person treating someone is a participant, and the person being treated is also a participant, and treating can be done by tipping. Specifically, a participant can purchase a "bento" (lunch box) for 1,000 yen and tip it to someone of their choice. Participants can also give "tips" to other participants. The person receiving the tip receives a message, for example, "X has sent you three bento boxes." This means that they can participate in the event three times.

[0179] (49th pattern) The person treating is a participant, and the person being treated is a member of the community, and the treating can be done by tipping. Specifically, users can give "tips" to the community. The community can hold a dinner party based on the "tips." Participants can eat for free until the tips are used up. For example, tips can be given to a student group community, an NPO community, or a disaster area.

[0180] (50th pattern) The person treating is the organizer, and the person being treated is the participant, and treating can be done by a step-by-step method. Specifically, participants can earn 100 points by setting up their personal page, 100 points by setting up an SNS account, 100 points by participating in an event, and so on. 1 point is worth 1 yen, and participants can use the points to participate in a dinner party.

[0181] (51st pattern) The person treating is the organizer, and the person being treated is a participant, and the treating may be done by issuing a coupon. Specifically, the organizer may be able to issue coupons. Coupons with specific character strings such as "SHOKUJII_SPRING_2024" may be issued, and the coupon may be limited to one use per person.

[0182] (52nd pattern) The person treating is the operator, and the person being treated is a participant ambassador, and the treating may be done using an ambassador coupon or a monthly coupon. Specifically, coupons can be automatically issued to specific users such as ambassadors every month. For example, a coupon worth 3,000 yen can be issued every month. The operator can set whether the illuminated coupon can be carried over to the next month or not. An ambassador is someone who is employed or paid by a company or organization to play a leading role in raising awareness of the company's products or services.

[0183] (53rd pattern) The person treating is the organizer, and the person being treated is a participant, and they can treat by issuing a premium membership coupon. Specifically, if you become a premium member with a monthly fee (for example, around 1,000 yen), you can receive 1,000 points. 1,000 points can be used as 1,000 yen, and can be used as a coupon when paying to participate in an event. Participants can become premium members for essentially free.

[0184] (54th pattern) The person treating is the administrator, and the person being treated is a participant, and the treatment can be done through a login bonus. Specifically, a user can receive a login bonus once a day. Each time they log in, they can receive 10 points, etc. 10 points equals 10 yen, and can be used as a coupon when paying for participation in an event.

[0185] (55th pattern) The person treating is the administrator, and the person being treated is a participant, and the treatment can be done through a login gacha. Specifically, users can receive a login bonus once a day. Each time they log in, they can draw gacha and receive "1 point," "10 points," "50 points," etc. 10 points equal 10 yen, and can be used as a coupon when paying for participation in an event. Gacha is a system in which prizes cannot be chosen by the user, and are purchased or acquired through a lottery, such as a game-like lottery.

[0186] (56th pattern) The person treating is the organizer, and the person being treated is a participant, and the treating can be done by way of a participation bonus. Specifically, users can receive stamps every time they participate in an event. Then, when they collect 5, 10, etc. stamps, they can receive points such as "100 points." 10 points equal 10 yen, and can be used as a coupon when paying for participation in an event.

[0187] (57th pattern) The person treating is the organizer, and the person being treated is a participant, and treating can be done through a participation gacha method. Specifically, users can receive stamps every time they participate in an event. When they collect 5, 10, etc. stamps, they can draw a gacha. By drawing a gacha, they can receive "1 point," "10 points," "50 points," etc. 10 points equal 10 yen and can be used as a coupon when paying for participation in an event.

[0188] (58th pattern) The person paying may be a restaurant, and the person being treated may be a participant, and the payment may be made by using an option discount. Specifically, the restaurant may cover the cost of options such as extra food, cheese topping, or extra sauce.

[0189] (59th pattern) The person treating the party may be the restaurant, and the person being treated may be a participant, and the treat may be a large-volume discount. Specifically, a customer at a restaurant may treat the participants with a message such as "A big discount if we reach XX people!", along with "If we reach XX people, the option fee will be free for everyone," "If we reach XX people, everyone will get a 100 yen discount," or "If we reach XX people, we will give you a 100 yen coupon that can be used at this restaurant next time."

[0190] (60th pattern) The person treating the customer may be a restaurant, the person being treated may be a participant, and there may be a 1 in 5 probability that the person will treat the customer. Specifically, there may be a 1 in 5 probability that if two items are ordered, one item will be free. Alternatively, there may be a fixed menu that participants can order, and if one of the 5 people orders this menu item, the item will be free.

[0191] (61st pattern) The person treating the meal can be a restaurant, and the person being treated can be a participant, and the two can be treated using a random allocation method. Specifically, the person being treated can be selected at random, and one in every x people can get a free meal. Or, the person being treated can be selected at random, and one in every x people can get a "500 yen discount."

[0192] (62nd pattern) The person treating the customer can be a restaurant, and the person being treated can be a participant, and the treat can be made using an eat-in coupon. Specifically, the restaurant can issue a coupon to the user that can be used at the restaurant. This can encourage customers to visit the restaurant, or it can attract group customers to the restaurant. For example, a coupon for one free drink that can be used at a restaurant, or a coupon for 1,000 yen off an all-you-can-drink option can be used as an eat-in coupon.

[0193] (63rd pattern) The payer is the participant, and the payee is the organizer, and the payment can be made using the paid ticket function. Specifically, the organizer may want to collect venue fees, drink fees, or seminar fees separately, and can set up and sell paid tickets in addition to the food fee. Multiple types of tickets can be created and participants can choose from them. For example, paid tickets can be "plus 2,000 yen" for general participants, "plus 1,000 yen" for student participants, and "plus 500 yen" for ambassador participants.

[0194] (64th pattern) The person paying is the participant, and the person to whom payment is made is the organizer, and the payment can be made using the inclusion function. Specifically, the organizer may want to include the cost of food and venue fees in the participation fee (they may not want to inform the participants of the details of the food and venue fees). Specifically, the participation fee may be set at 3,000 yen, including the cost of food. In this case, the participation fee amount will be the same regardless of the food selected. Participants will receive an announcement such as, "You are welcome to choose any menu item."

[0195] Payment by invoice is a payment method in which the price of a product or service is paid in a lump sum at a later date. Specifically, it is a system in which an invoice is issued after a transaction occurs and payment is made by a specified date. The advance purchase method and deposit method refer to the temporary deposit of a "security deposit" or "deposit" when using a product or service. This is done to ensure that the service is used properly and that no damage or non-payment occurs. The gift card system is a system in which the person treating the guest purchases a gift card in advance and gives it to the person being treated. Once purchased, the gift card price is non-refundable, whether or not it is used. Credit card credit assurance is a process used to prevent fraudulent use of a card or exceeding the credit limit during credit card payments. Specifically, it is carried out to confirm that the credit card presented by the cardholder is valid and within the credit limit. This process is carried out by the card company checking the transaction details in advance and temporarily reserving the payment limit if there are no problems. This ensures the validity and available balance of the card before the cardholder actually makes the payment.

[0196] The organizer may use the "treat function" to make an extra payment to the operator, or may use the "ticket function" to collect sales revenue. The organizer will then pay the difference in monthly fees with the operator. The operator will then either pay or bill the organizer. The difference will be calculated.

[0197] (Information processing program and information processing method) Next, an information processing program according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described together with an information processing method with reference to Fig. 15. Fig. 15 is a flowchart of the information processing program according to the present embodiment. The information processing method is executed by the CPU 10e of the information processing device 10 based on the information processing program.

[0198] The information processing program includes a restaurant information acquisition step S11, an event information acquisition step S12, a selected store information acquisition step S13, an event information notification step S14, an order information acquisition step S15, an event information disclosure step S16, a participant profile reception step S17, a display control step S18, an order reception step S19, a message notification step S20, a payment option reception step S21, a memory control step S22, a payment processing step S23, a judgment step S24, a communication promotion step S25, a treat reception step S26, and a treat recipient reception step S27.

[0199] The information processing program causes the CPU 10e of the information processing device 10 to perform various functions, such as a restaurant information acquisition function, an event information acquisition function, a selected store information acquisition function, an event information notification function, a consignment information acquisition function, an event information disclosure function, a participant profile reception function, a display control function, an order reception function, a message notification function, a payment option reception function, a storage control function, a payment processing function, a determination function, and a communication promotion function. Note that the various functions overlap with the description of the various functional units of the information processing device 10 described above, and therefore detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0200] The restaurant information acquisition function acquires information about restaurants, including menus, from each restaurant as restaurant information (S11: restaurant information acquisition step).

[0201] The event information acquisition function acquires, via input by the user of the information processing device 10, information including the date, time, and location at which food and drink will be provided to participants of a scheduled event as event information (S12: event information acquisition step).

[0202] The selected store information acquisition function allows the user to select a restaurant from one or more restaurants as the selected store to provide food and drink to event participants based on the restaurant information, and acquires information including a menu list for the selected store as the selected store information (S13: selected store information acquisition step).

[0203] The event information notification function notifies the selected store selected by the user of the event information (S14: event information notification step).

[0204] The acceptance information acquisition function acquires information from the selected store notified of the event information regarding whether or not the store is willing to provide food and drink to participants of the event corresponding to the event information (S15: acceptance information acquisition step).

[0205] The event information disclosure function discloses the selected store information and event information to those who are considering participating in the event (S16: event information disclosure step).

[0206] The participant profile reception function receives information relating to the profiles of participants in the event as profile information (S17: participant profile reception step).

[0207] The display control function controls the display of information about the menu of the selected store on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 used by the participant of the event (S18: display control step).

[0208] The order receiving function receives products ordered by event participants using the participant terminals 30 (S19: order receiving step).

[0209] The message notification function notifies the user of a message (S20: message notification step).

[0210] The payment option reception function allows payment options to be set in advance by event organizers so that the event organizers can pay all or part of the amount incurred by the participant's order on behalf of the participant, and receives the participant's selection of the payment option (S21: payment option reception step).

[0211] The memory control function stores the items ordered by the participants in association with the event information (S22: memory control step).

[0212] The payment processing function processes payments for products accepted by the order acceptance unit 19 of the event participants (S23: payment processing step).

[0213] The judgment function judges whether the participant and other participants have similar preferences for either food or events, or both, based on information about products previously ordered by the participant and other participants stored in association with event information, which is stored by the memory control function (S24: judgment step).

[0214] The communication promotion function mediates communication between the event participants and other participants based on the profile information of the other participants stored in the memory control unit 22 (S25: communication promotion step).

[0215] The treat accepting function accepts an offer from a participant to pay for all or part of the amount incurred by an order from another participant on behalf of the other participant (S26: treat accepting step).

[0216] The treat recipient acceptance function accepts the designation of another participant who is the recipient of a treat from a participant (S27: treat recipient acceptance step).

[0217] According to the information processing device 10 of the above-described embodiment, when providing food and drink to event participants, participants can order their favorite items from the menu of a selected store, regardless of whether the food is delivered, taken out, or eaten in. This allows participants to enjoy the event more and helps to liven up the occasion where people gather to eat, and also allows participants to eat at the event without worrying about food allergies because they can freely select items from the menu.

[0218] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the above-described embodiment, participants can order food and drink from multiple restaurants selected by the user, allowing participants to order their favorite food and drink from a wider range of options, making it easier to liven up an occasion where people gather to eat. Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 according to the embodiment described above, participants can order their favorite food and drink, which increases their motivation to participate in the event and reduces cancellations of participation in the event.

[0219] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the above-described embodiment, the number of items on the menu is set according to the expected number of participants in the event, thereby reducing excessive workload on the selected store that provides food and drink to the participants.

[0220] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 according to the embodiment described above, participants in an event can know the products that other participants have ordered, which can promote communication between participants.

[0221] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the above-described embodiment, the selected store can know the order status, such as the number of items ordered, in advance even before the deadline for ordering the items, thereby reducing the workload of the selected store.

[0222] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the embodiment described above, the event information of the event that the participant and other participants participated in and the products ordered at the event are stored in association with each other, and are displayed on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30. This allows the participant to know the events that the participant and other participants have previously participated in and the products ordered at the events, and provides a topic of conversation with the other participants, thereby promoting communication between the participants.

[0223] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the above-described embodiment, participants can chat with other participants who are determined to have similar event or food preferences, thereby promoting communication between participants.

[0224] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the above-described embodiment, the event information notification unit 14 notifies the selected store of information regarding the number of times other participants who have participated in the same event as the participant's past event have placed orders with the selected store for the event the participant plans to attend, as order count information, based on information regarding products previously ordered by the participant and other participants stored in association with the event information stored in the storage control unit 22. Therefore, the selected store can know the number of orders placed in the past by other participants, and can determine whether the customer is a new customer or a repeat customer who has placed orders with the store several times in the past, and can provide customer service tailored to the customer.

[0225] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the above-described embodiment, if other participants who participated in the same event as the participant's past event have not placed an order with the selected store for the event that the participant plans to attend, the communication promotion unit 25 sends information to the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 used by the other participants who participated in the participant's past event that the participant has placed an order with the selected store for the event, thereby encouraging and inviting the other participants to participate in the event.

[0226] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the above-described embodiment, the order receiving unit 19 does not accept orders from participants whose profile information is not stored, so that products can be bought and sold safely with participants.

[0227] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the above-described embodiment, the ordered product is not canceled in principle after the order deadline has passed, so the selected store can produce the product with peace of mind. Conventionally, catering services have been used to provide food and drink at events. In the case of events using catering services, if the actual number of participants is lower than the predicted number of participants, ingredients that would have been used by the catering service may be left over, resulting in food waste. With the information processing device 10 according to the above-described embodiment, participants can each order their own food and drink, thereby ensuring that the amount of food and drink provided is neither too much nor too little, and reducing food waste. Furthermore, when using a catering service, the event organizer requests the catering service based on the predicted number of participants, so if the number of participants at the event exceeds the predicted number, there may be a shortage of food and drink to provide to the participants.However, with the information processing device 10 according to the above embodiment, each participant orders their own food and drink, so there is no shortage of food and drink to provide to the participants.

[0228] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the above-described embodiment, in the case of food delivery usage, the minimum order quantity is set according to the delivery distance to the delivery location, so that the selected store can receive food delivery orders with peace of mind since it will not accept orders that are not profitable.

[0229] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the above-described embodiment, users and participants of the information processing device 10 can post selected store information and event information to the SNS they use, making it easy to recruit participants for the event.

[0230] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the above-described embodiment, a payment option can be set that allows event organizers to pay all or part of the amount incurred by a participant's order on behalf of the participant, so participants who select this payment option can participate in the event with less financial burden.

[0231] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the above-described embodiment, if a user wants to sponsor an event and recruit personnel, the user can easily become a sponsor of the event and recruit personnel simply by setting the above-described payment option.

[0232] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the above-described embodiment, the restaurant can refuse to accept orders that do not meet the minimum number of orders or total order amount that can be handled for an event set by the restaurant, so the restaurant does not have to handle orders that are not profitable.

[0233] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the above-described embodiment, a restaurant can accept orders that do not meet the minimum limit of the number of orders or total order amount that can be handled for an event set by the restaurant, on the condition that the parties involved in organizing the event will financially cover all or part of the shortfall up to the minimum limit. This means that a restaurant does not have to handle orders that are not profitable, and the parties involved in organizing the event can hold the event even if the minimum limit of the number of orders or total order amount is not met, and participants who plan to participate can do so.

[0234] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the embodiment described above, once the order deadline for a product has passed, the product cannot be canceled or changed to another product, so the selected store can safely prepare the product for which the order deadline has passed, and food waste can be reduced because the ingredients for the product will not be wasted.

[0235] Furthermore, in conventional food delivery services, when an order includes items ordered by multiple people, the representative must collect the payment for all of the items, which places a heavy burden on the representative. However, with the information processing device 10 according to the above-described embodiment, payment for each item is made for each participant who has ordered it, so the representative does not need to collect the payment for the items, thereby reducing the burden on the representative.

[0236] Furthermore, in events where content is prepared to attract customers, the organizer of the event may have to prepare content such as pitch materials, guest speakers, workshops, or scripts, which places a burden on the organizer of the event. On the other hand, with the information processing device 10 according to the above-described embodiment, an event can be held with the purpose of "interaction through meals," in which case the food becomes the content of the event, and the organizer of the event only needs to decide on restaurants that will provide food and drink to the event participants. This reduces the burden on the organizer because the organizer does not have to prepare the content of the event, such as the pitch materials, by himself.

[0237] Furthermore, in conventional business-related events, event organizers prepare content such as pitch materials, guest speaker appearances, workshops, etc., resulting in one-way communication with participants, which can make it difficult for participants to communicate with each other in a beneficial manner. On the other hand, in a social event held over a meal using the information processing device 10 according to the above-described embodiment, participants can easily exchange words over the meal and communication between them can occur, making it an event that makes it easy to build personal connections and human capital.

[0238] Furthermore, conventional food delivery services have mainly been for individuals to place orders or for groups of two to four friends or family members. As a result, the total amount of items delivered at one time is limited, resulting in poor delivery efficiency. On the other hand, product delivery using the information processing device 10 according to the above-described embodiment is used for events such as social gatherings with approximately 10 to 30 participants, which can result in large orders and increase the total amount of items delivered at one time, thereby enabling highly profit-efficient delivery.

[0239] Furthermore, because conventional food delivery services are premised on continuous order acceptance and immediate delivery, advance preparations may not be possible depending on the scale of delivery. On the other hand, product delivery by the information processing device 10 according to the above-described embodiment requires advance reservations with restaurants that provide food and drink to event participants. By making reservations with restaurants a predetermined period of time in advance, depending on the scale of the event, such as two weeks before the product delivery date, the restaurant can make advance preparations such as purchasing, cooking, and delivery. Furthermore, by receiving reservation approval from the restaurant, event organizers and participants can avoid situations where the restaurant is unable to accept product orders from participants and is unable to arrange for the products.

[0240] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the above-described embodiment, event participants can attend the event, select the menu they want to eat, and place an order, thereby making a prepayment directly to the restaurant, so the user does not need to collect the payment or pay the restaurant.

[0241] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the above-described embodiment, participants in an event can cancel their participation in the event to the information processing device 10, and the user does not need to respond to the cancellation, thereby reducing the workload on the user.

[0242] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the above-described embodiment, after the payment is confirmed (S145), the event participants can download a receipt for the payment they made from the information processing device 10, thereby reducing the workload of users and restaurants.

[0243] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the above-described embodiment, event participants make payments to the restaurant before the event begins (prepayment), which reduces the workload required for the user to hold an event and also reduces the risk of event participants not receiving payment for food and drink, allowing the user to hold events sustainably.

[0244] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the above-described embodiment, event participants can order and prepay for items selected from the restaurant menu before the event starts, which saves the user the trouble of collecting payment from participants on the day of the event and also eliminates the risk of not being able to collect payment due to cancellations without notice (such as last-minute cancellations or no-shows).

[0245] Furthermore, the information processing device 10 according to the embodiment described above can provide the following effects from the viewpoint of the event organizer who is the user. Event participants can use the information processing device 10 to perform five tasks themselves: "management of event attendance," "arranging food and drink at the event," "paying for products to restaurants," "procedures to cancel products with restaurants," and "obtaining receipts from restaurants." The user is no longer required to manage the above five items. Conventionally, the user had to communicate with all participants regarding the above five items, but by introducing the information processing device 10, the workload of the user as the event organizer can be reduced. By introducing the information processing device 10, users can eliminate financial risks that arise due to last-minute cancellations, no-shows, and the like. By introducing the information processing device 10, users can reduce the costs and risks associated with holding an event, allowing them to hold events more easily.

[0246] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the above-described embodiment, from the perspective of food waste, food and drink selected by the event participants themselves are provided at the event, which creates a sense of "mottainai" (waste not want to happen) from the perspective of money and food and drink preferences, which increases the participation rate in the event and reduces "food waste."

[0247] Furthermore, from the viewpoint of restaurants, the information processing device 10 according to the embodiment described above can eliminate the risk of group customers and customers who have reserved the entire establishment canceling or not showing up at the last minute.

[0248] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the embodiment described above, event participants can apply to participate in the event by ordering products selected from a menu and paying in advance, which results in reducing the amount of work required for the user as an organizer, eliminating the risk of restaurants not collecting money, and reducing food waste.

[0249] Furthermore, when holding a dinner party (an event involving eating and drinking), the organizer, participants, and restaurant have faced various traditional challenges listed below, but these can be resolved by introducing the information processing device 10 according to the above-described embodiment. The organizer had a large amount of tasks to perform as a coordinator when hosting a dinner party, but by introducing the information processing device 10 on behalf of the organizer in the course of communicating with the participants, the amount of tasks to perform as a coordinator was reduced. Although there was a high financial risk for the organizer when holding a dinner party, because event participants can register to participate in the event by paying in advance for the products they order, the organizer will not be left without payment even if there are last-minute cancellations or no-shows. At dinner parties, event participants may have been served food or drinks that do not suit their "food preferences," "allergies," or "ideological or religious prohibitions." However, by introducing the information processing device 10, participants can choose their own dishes, so they will not be served food or drinks that do not suit them at events. When event participants are considering attending a dinner party, it may be difficult to make a decision about whether to attend because they do not know who will be attending. However, by introducing the information processing device 10, participants can know in advance who will be attending the event, making it easier for them to make a decision about whether to attend. When event participants order delivery, delivery costs are high when ordering for a small number of people, causing the order amount to skyrocket. However, by introducing the information processing device 10, delivery costs can be reduced, and the total amount paid by event participants can be reduced. Restaurants have had a high risk of cancellations or no-shows when making reservations for group or private dining. However, by introducing the information processing device 10, it is possible to prevent non-collection of product payments by event participants in advance.

[0250] In addition, in managing the attendance of event participants, the organizer had to contact each person individually to find out who would be attending, receive their responses individually, count the number of people, and notify the restaurant. However, by introducing the information processing device 10, the information processing device 10 can notify the restaurant of the number of participants attending the event, thereby reducing the organizer's administrative work.

[0251] Furthermore, when arranging food and drink for event participants, if the organizer wants to reflect the participants' food preferences, they must share restaurant menus with each participant, wait for the participants to make their selections, compile the participants' responses, and communicate this to the restaurants, which places a huge burden on the organizer. However, by introducing the information processing device 10, the items selected by the participants can be communicated to the restaurants via the information processing device 10, thereby reducing the workload of the event organizer.

[0252] Furthermore, if the event organizer does not take orders for food and drink from each participant, there is a risk that participants will be provided with food and drink that does not suit their "tastes," "allergies," or "ideological / religious prohibitions." However, with the information processing device 10 according to the above-described embodiment, event participants can select and order their favorite items from a menu, eliminating the above-described risk.

[0253] Additionally, the event organizer must collect payment from the participants on the day of the dinner party, consolidate the collected payment, and pay the restaurant, which requires communication with all participants, resulting in a huge workload for the organizer. However, by introducing the information processing device 10, participants can make advance payments for the products they have ordered with the information processing device 10, and the advance payment is communicated to the restaurant via the information processing device 10, reducing the workload of the event organizer on the day.

[0254] Furthermore, if an event participant requests a receipt, the organizer or restaurant must issue the receipt individually and provide it to each participant, which creates a huge workload. However, by introducing the information processing device 10, event participants can download receipts from the information processing device 10, reducing the workload for organizers and restaurants regarding receipts.

[0255] Furthermore, if a participant requests to cancel their participation before the day of the dinner party, the organizer must contact the restaurant again to inform them of the number of participants and the details of the order, which places a burden on the organizer's work. However, by introducing the information processing device 10, participants' requests to cancel their participation can be communicated to the restaurant via the information processing device 10, thereby reducing the organizer's workload.

[0256] Furthermore, in the event of an unauthorized cancellation (last-minute cancellation, no-show, etc.), the organizer is unable to collect the payment on the day of the dinner party and has had to collect the payment by requesting a bank transfer from the person who canceled, but if the payment cannot be collected, the organizer must cover the cost or split the cost among the other participants.By introducing the information processing device 10, requests for cancellation from participants can be communicated to the restaurant via the information processing device 10, thereby reducing the workload of the organizer. As described above, by introducing the information processing device 10, event participants can individually select a menu and make advance payments, allowing them to handle five tasks themselves: attendance management, food and drink arrangements, payment, cancellations, and receipts.

[0257] Furthermore, in conventional general "application-based" event announcement services, it is said that only about 70% of people actually attend after submitting a "participation application." Organizers of such events order food and drink in advance using catering services, but there is a discrepancy between the number of people who apply to attend the event and the actual number of attendees, and this discrepancy is a cause of food waste. Conversely, if too little food and drink is ordered, participant satisfaction will decrease. In contrast, by introducing information processing device 10, event participants can prepare food and drink for the event by paying in advance, so the percentage of people who actually attend after submitting a "participation application" is very high, and food waste can be reduced.

[0258] Furthermore, when ordering catering for a conventional event, food and drinks must be ordered in advance, requiring the organizer to manage the budget. Organizations and individuals with limited budgets find it difficult to host large-scale dinner parties that require high ordering costs. By contrast, by introducing the information processing device 10, event participants can pay in advance and the organizer does not need to manage payments, eliminating the need for financial management of budgets and the like.

[0259] Furthermore, with conventional food delivery, delivery costs per order are high, assuming that orders are placed by a small number of people. The total fee, including delivery costs, is 1.5 to 2 times the cost of the food and drink. In contrast, with the information processing device 10, food delivery can be ordered by a large group, reducing delivery costs and allowing orders to be placed at prices close to the retail price.

[0260] Furthermore, in conventional reservations for group or private reservations at restaurants, the restaurant is always exposed to the risk of cancellations or no-shows. In contrast, with information processing device 10, event participants individually make advance payments, eliminating the risk of non-collection for the event organizer / organizer and the risk of cancellations or no-shows for the restaurant.

[0261] Furthermore, in the past, when event participants considered attending a dinner party, they sometimes found it difficult to make a decision about attending because they were not informed or did not know "who will be attending." For example, if an event participant had to check with the organizer about the other attendees, it was a hassle for both the participant and the organizer. In contrast, the information processing device 10 allows participants to view a list of who will be attending (see FIG. 14). Participants can make a decision about attending with peace of mind because they can see the names, profiles, icons, information about SNS, and other information of the participants provided by the information processing device 10. Furthermore, the event organizer can also reduce their burden by not having to respond to inquiries from participants.

[0262] Conventionally, event organizers have created a LINE (registered trademark) group, a messenger app group, or the like, to establish a communication channel on a chat app in order to promote communication between participants. In contrast, according to the information processing device 10, the communication promotion unit 25 can mediate communication between event participants who are determined to have similar preferences based on the participant's profile information and other participants, thereby saving the organizer the trouble of having to create a communication channel.

[0263] Furthermore, conventionally, event organizers or event organizers and other event organizers have been forced to perform five tasks (jobs) for each event participant: attendance management, food and drink arrangements, payment receipts, attendance cancellations, and receipt issuance. Therefore, for an event with 30 participants, event organizers would be expected to be forced to perform at least 150 tasks (30 people x 5 tasks). However, with the information processing device 10 according to the above-described embodiment, all of these five tasks are processed between the information processing device 10, the participants, and the restaurant, thereby reducing the workload of event organizers.

[0264] In today's internet-based society, the number of people feeling lonely both in their personal lives and at work is on the rise. In companies, internal communication among non-regular employees and remote workers is weakening, making them more susceptible to loneliness. In terms of workstyle, the number of people working alone, such as freelancers and entrepreneurs, is on the rise, making them similarly more susceptible to feeling lonely. In local communities, the effects of depopulation and urbanization are resulting in a decrease in communities and events that people can easily participate in. In this situation, with the information processing device 10 according to this embodiment, participants can easily participate in "company dining events," "local communities," "communities with common interests and hobbies," or "events with participants who share similar food preferences."

[0265] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of this embodiment, by creating an event based on universal content such as "meals" that anyone can easily share and that is not selective about who participates, it becomes easier for more people to participate.

[0266] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of this embodiment, the daily activity of "eating," which involves monetary and time costs, can be transformed into a place for meeting and communication without increasing these costs.

[0267] Furthermore, with the information processing device 10 according to this embodiment, people who have previously been forced to order food and drink alone and eat alone, resulting in "eating alone" or "loneliness," can now easily participate in "gathering together" by ordering food and drink at an "event involving food" where other people are participating.

[0268] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the above embodiment, event participants can select and order the menu items they want to eat at the event they want to attend, thereby making advance payment to the restaurant and simultaneously applying to participate in the event.

[0269] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the above embodiment, event participants can cancel their participation in the event and process refunds through the information processing device 10, thereby eliminating the need to contact the event organizer or the restaurant to cancel or process refunds.

[0270] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the above embodiment, after payment is confirmed (S145), event participants can download a receipt for the payment they made through the information processing device 10, thereby saving them the trouble of requesting the organizer and the restaurant to issue a receipt.

[0271] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the above-described embodiment, event participants make payments to restaurants before the event begins (prepayment), which reduces the burden on event participants on the day of the event and also prevents event participants from not paying for food and drink.

[0272] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the embodiment described above, event participants can order and pay in advance for items selected from the restaurant menu before the event begins, thereby preventing non-payment of the order even if they are forced to cancel without notice (last-minute cancellation, no-show, etc.) due to an unforeseen accident or the like.

[0273] Furthermore, the information processing device 10 according to the embodiment described above can provide the following effects from the viewpoint of the event participants. Event participants can use the information processing device 10 to perform five tasks themselves: "management of event attendance," "arranging food and drink at the event," "paying for products to restaurants," "procedures to cancel products with restaurants," and "obtaining receipts from restaurants." In the "event attendance management" mode, event participants can simply cancel their participation in the event by completing the procedure for canceling their participation in the event on the information processing device 10, i.e., by canceling their product order, thereby eliminating the need to contact the event organizer and the restaurant to cancel their participation in the event. In "arranging food and drink at an event," event participants can simply place orders for products through the information processing device 10, eliminating the need to place orders with the event organizer and restaurants. In the "payment of product prices to a restaurant" mode, event participants make advance payments for the prices through the information processing device 10, thereby eliminating the need to pay the prices of the products to a restaurant. In the "procedure for canceling products with the restaurant," event participants can simply complete the procedure for canceling products with the information processing device 10, thereby eliminating the need to go through the trouble of completing the procedure for canceling products with the restaurant and event organizer. In "obtaining receipts from restaurants," event participants can download receipts from the information processing device 10, eliminating the need to go through the trouble of requesting receipts from the event organizer and the restaurant.

[0274] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the above-described embodiment, food and drink selected by the event participants themselves is provided at the event, which prevents food waste, such as food and drink being thrown away because it cannot be eaten.

[0275] Furthermore, according to the information processing device 10 of the above-described embodiment, event participants can apply to participate in the event by ordering items selected from a menu and paying in advance, which reduces the burden on participants on the day of the event, resolves unpaid bills to restaurants, and reduces food waste.

[0276] Furthermore, participants in a dinner party (an event involving eating and drinking) have traditionally had several problems, but these can be resolved by introducing the information processing device 10 according to the above embodiment. Attending a dinner party used to be a big burden for participants, but by introducing the information processing device 10, participants can apply to participate in the event by ordering food and drinks at the event in advance, and can also pay for the order in advance, which reduces the burden on participants when participating in the event. Although there was a high financial risk for participants in attending the dinner party, they could order items in advance, so they could order items that fit their financial situation. When making reservations for group or private dining, participants may find it complicated to pay at restaurants. However, by introducing the information processing device 10, participants can pay in advance, eliminating the hassle of paying at restaurants.

[0277] Furthermore, in managing the attendance of event participants, participants only need to complete the cancellation procedure through the information processing device 10, eliminating the need to contact restaurants or organizers directly.

[0278] Furthermore, when arranging food and drink for event participants, participants do not need to obtain a restaurant menu on the day of the event and inform the restaurant of the items they wish to order; they can place their orders in advance through the information processing device 10.

[0279] Furthermore, at events where the organizer decides what food and drink is served, such as "buffet-style catering" or "course meals at a restaurant," there is a risk that event participants will be served food and drink that does not suit their "food preferences," "allergies," or "ideological or religious prohibitions." However, with the information processing device 10 according to the above embodiment, participants can select and order their preferred items from a menu, eliminating these risks.

[0280] Additionally, event participants have to pay the restaurant on the day of the dinner party, which is a burden on the day of the dinner party. However, by introducing the information processing device 10, participants can make advance payments for the products they have ordered with the information processing device 10, reducing the burden on the day of the dinner party.

[0281] Furthermore, if an event participant desires a receipt, they would have to request the issue of a receipt from the organizer or restaurant, which was a hassle. However, by introducing the information processing device 10, event participants can download receipts from the information processing device 10, eliminating the need to go through the trouble of requesting the organizer or restaurant to issue a receipt.

[0282] Furthermore, if a participant requests to cancel their participation before the day of the dinner party, the participant must contact the organizer, or the organizer and restaurant, to cancel their participation, which places a burden on the participant. However, by introducing the information processing device 10, the participant's request to cancel their participation can be communicated to the organizer and restaurant via the information processing device 10, thereby reducing the burden on the participant.

[0283] Furthermore, if a participant cancels without notice (last-minute cancellation, no-show, etc.), the participant is unable to pay the bill on the day of the dinner party and has to request the restaurant to provide bank account information for bank transfer to pay the bill, but if the participant is unable to pay, the organizer has to cover the cost. By introducing the information processing device 10, the participant's request to cancel can be communicated to the restaurant via the information processing device 10, thereby reducing the burden on the participant. Furthermore, the participant's order will never go unpaid because it is prepaid. As described above, by introducing the information processing device 10, event participants can individually select a menu and make advance payments, allowing them to handle five tasks themselves: attendance management, food and drink arrangements, payment, cancellations, and receipts.

[0284] The present invention is not limited to the information processing device 10, the information processing method, and the information processing program according to the above-described embodiments, and can be embodied in various other modified examples or application examples without departing from the spirit of the present invention as set forth in the claims. Also, although the term "information" is used in the above-described embodiments, the term "information" can be replaced with "data," and the term "data" can be replaced with "information." [Explanation of symbols]

[0285] 10. Information processing equipment 10a Communication Interface 10b ROM (Read Only Memory) 10c RAM (Random Access Memory) 10d storage section 10e CPU(Central processing unit) 10f Input / Output Interface 10g input device 10h output device 11 Restaurant information acquisition department 12 Event information acquisition section 13 Selected store information acquisition unit 14 Event Information Notification Section 15 Contract information acquisition department 16 Event Information Disclosure Department 17 Participant Profile Reception 18 Display control unit 19 Order Reception Department 20 Message notification section 21 Payment Options Reception 22 Memory control unit 23 Payment processing section 24 Judgment section 25 Communication Promotion Department 26 Treat Reception 27 Treat Reception 28 Information and Communication Networks 29 User terminal 29a Display section 29b Input page 29c Event Details 30 participant terminals 30a Participant terminal 30b Participant terminal 30c Participant terminal 31 Display section 32 Top Page 33 Cover Images 34 Event Overview 34a Event Overview 34b Event Overview 34c Event Overview 34d Event Overview 34e Event Overview 34f Event Overview 35 Event Title 36 Event Description 37 Event Details 38 Expected number of participants 39 Participant Icons 40 Restaurant terminals 40a Restaurant terminal 40b Restaurant terminal 40c Restaurant Terminal 41 Cover Images 42 Participant Order List 43 User's name 44 Contact User Button 50 List of Restaurants 51 Restaurant Overview 52 Restaurant Overview 53 Restaurant Overview 54 Restaurant Overview 55 Restaurant Overview 56 Restaurant Overview 57 Cover Image 58 Store Name 59 Description 60 business days 61 Business hours 62 Select button 70 Menu 71 Product Overview 72 Product Overview 73 Product Overview 74 Product Overview 75 Product Overview 76 Product Overview 79 Cover Images 80 Product name 81 Product summary 82 Price 83 Product selection button 84 Participant's name

Claims

1. An information processing device that acts as an intermediary between event participants and restaurants that provide food and drink to the participants, and receives orders from the participants to the restaurants, a restaurant information acquisition unit that acquires information about the restaurants, including menus, from each of the restaurants as restaurant information; an event information acquisition unit that acquires, via input by a user of the information processing device, information including the date, time, and location at which food and drink will be provided to participants of a scheduled event as event information; a selected store information acquisition unit that allows a user to select a restaurant from one or more restaurants to provide food and drink to participants of the event as a selected store based on the restaurant information, and acquires information including a menu for the selected store as selected store information; an event information disclosure unit that discloses the selected store information and the event information to people who are considering participating in the event; An information processing device comprising:

2. The published selected store information and event information are displayed on a display screen of a terminal used by the person considering the selection, 2. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the person considering the event applies to participate in the event by selecting and ordering a product from the menu displayed together with the event information.

3. an event information notification unit that notifies the selected store selected by the user of the event information; an acceptance information acquisition unit that acquires, from the selected store to which the event information has been notified, information regarding whether the selected store is willing to accept an order to provide food and drink to participants of the event corresponding to the event information; 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

4. 2. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the restaurant information includes at least one of the restaurant's business hours, menu, order deadline for each restaurant, and an upper or lower limit of the number of orders or total order amount that can be handled for the event.

5. The information processing device according to claim 3, characterized in that the restaurant information includes either a statement that acceptance of the provision service may be refused if the minimum number of orders or total order amount that can be handled for the event is not met, or a statement that acceptance of the provision service will be on the condition that a specified percentage of the shortfall is compensated by those involved in organizing the event if the minimum number of orders or total order amount that can be handled for the event is not met.

6. a message notification unit that notifies the user of a message; an order receiving unit that receives orders for products from participants of the event using participant terminals; The information processing device according to claim 4, characterized in that the message notification unit notifies the user of the need for compensation to the selected store if the number of orders or the total order amount does not exceed the lower limit after the order deadline for all products accepted by the order acceptance unit has passed.

7. The restaurant information includes information about a plurality of the restaurants, The information processing device according to claim 1 , wherein the user refers to the restaurant information and selects one or more of the selected restaurants to provide food and drink to participants of the event.

8. a display control unit that controls display of information on the menu of the selected store on a display unit of a participant terminal used by a participant of the event; an order receiving unit that receives orders for products placed by participants of the event using participant terminals; Further provided with 5. The information processing device according to claim 4, wherein the display control unit displays a list of names or icons of participants of the event for which the order receiving unit has received an order as a participant list on the display unit of the participant terminal.

9. a payment option that allows the organizers of the event to settle all or part of the amount incurred by the orders of the participants on behalf of the participants, and a payment processing unit that processes payments for the products ordered by the participants of the event; The information processing device described in claim 8, characterized in that when the participant selects the payment option or when the payment processing unit receives an instruction from a person involved in organizing the event that the person involved in organizing the event will make the payment on behalf of the participant, the payment processing unit reduces all or part of the payment amount incurred by the participant's order by having the person involved in organizing the event bear all or part of the payment amount.

10. an event information notification unit that notifies the selected store selected by the user of the event information; Further provided with the display control unit controls the display of information about the product ordered by the participant, which information has been received by the order receiving unit, on a display unit of a participant terminal used by another participant of the event; 9. The information processing device according to claim 8, wherein the event information notification unit notifies the selected store of the number of orders of the products accepted by the order acceptance unit that have been placed by participants up until the order deadline.

11. a storage control unit that stores the items ordered by the participants in association with the event information; The information processing device according to claim 10, characterized in that the display control unit controls the display unit of the participant terminal to display products that have been ordered in the past by the participant and other participants, which are stored in the memory control unit.

12. a payment processing unit that processes payments for the products accepted by the order acceptance unit for the event participants; the display control unit controls to display an order confirmation button, which is operated when a participant confirms an order, on a display unit of a participant terminal used by the participant of the event; The information processing device according to claim 9 , wherein the settlement processing unit executes the settlement process for the participant when the participant operates the order confirmation button.

13. The information processing device according to claim 12, wherein the settlement processing unit accepts cancellation of the settlement by the participant if the order cut-off time for the product corresponding to the settlement has not yet elapsed.

14. a participant profile receiving unit that receives information about the profiles of participants in the event as profile information; the storage control unit stores the profile information received by the participant profile receiving unit; 12. The information processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the order receiving unit does not receive an order from a participant whose profile information is not stored in the storage control unit.

15. a determination unit that determines whether the participant and the other participants have similar preferences for either food or events, or both, based on information about products previously ordered by the participant and the other participants that is stored in association with the event information and that is stored in the storage control unit; 15. The information processing device according to claim 14, further comprising a communication promotion unit that mediates communication between the participant of the event and other participants who are determined to have similar preferences based on the profile information of the other participants stored in the memory control unit.

16. a treat accepting unit that accepts from the participant an offer to pay all or part of the amount generated by the order of the other participant on behalf of the other participant; A treat recipient receiving unit that receives designation of another participant who is a treat recipient of the participant; Further provided with The payment processing unit The information processing device described in claim 9, characterized in that when an agreement is reached between the participant and another participant regarding the treat, or when the treat receiving unit receives from the participant an offer to treat to pay all or part of the amount incurred by the order of the other participant on behalf of the other participant, the information processing device processes the payment of all or part of the amount incurred by the order of the other participant.

17. the communication utilizes text chat between the participant and other participants; the communication promotion unit transmits information about the participant's text chat to a participant terminal used by another participant; 16. The information processing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the display control unit controls displaying text chat information received from other participants on a display unit of a participant terminal used by the participant.

18. Based on information about products previously ordered by the participant and other participants stored in association with the event information, which is stored in the storage control unit, The information processing device according to claim 11, characterized in that the event information notification unit notifies the selected store of the event the participant is planning to attend as order count information, information regarding the number of times other participants who have attended the same event as the participant's past event have placed orders with the selected store of the event the participant is planning to attend.

19. If other participants who attended the same event as the participant's past event have not ordered from the selected store for the event the participant is planning to attend, The information processing device according to claim 15, characterized in that the communication promotion unit transmits information to participant terminals used by other participants who have participated in the same event as the participant's previous event that the participant has ordered from the selected store for the event.

20. a display control unit that controls display of information on the menu of the selected store on a display unit of a participant terminal used by a participant of the event; an order receiving unit that receives orders for products placed by participants of the event using participant terminals; Further provided with The information processing device described in claim 4, characterized in that the display control unit displays a list of participant orders on the display unit of the participant terminal, showing the product names of the products ordered by the participants of the event, as well as the names and icons of the participants of the event, listed for each participant of the event, together with the selected store information and the event information.

21. a determination unit that determines whether the participant and the other participants have similar preferences for either food or events, or both, based on information about products previously ordered by the participant and the other participants that is stored in association with the event information and that is stored in the storage control unit; a communication promotion unit that mediates communication between the participant of the event and other participants who are determined to have similar preferences based on the profile information of the other participants stored in the storage control unit; The information processing device according to claim 14, characterized in that the communication promotion unit notifies the participant of the event that another participant who is determined to have similar tastes to the participant of the event has applied to participate in the event when the other participant has applied to participate in the event.

22. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the display control unit displays a list of the event information acquired by the event information acquisition unit on a display unit of the participant terminal.

23. the display control unit displays the search results of the event information based on the input of the participants of the event on a display unit of the participant terminal; 16. The information processing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the communication promotion unit displays the search results on a display unit of the participant terminal.

24. An information processing method used in an information processing device that acts as an intermediary between event participants and restaurants that provide food and drink to the participants and accepts orders from the participants to the restaurants, comprising: The information processing device includes: a restaurant information acquisition step of acquiring information about the restaurants, including a menu, from each of the restaurants as restaurant information; an event information acquisition step of acquiring, as event information, information including the date, time, and location at which food and drink will be provided to participants of the event to be held, via an input by a user of the information processing device; a selected store information acquisition step in which a user selects, as a selected store, a restaurant to provide food and drink to participants of the event from one or more restaurants based on the restaurant information, and acquires information including a menu for the selected store as selected store information; an event information publishing step of publishing the selected store information and the event information to people who are considering participating in the event; An information processing method comprising:

25. An information processing program used in an information processing device that acts as an intermediary between event participants and restaurants that provide food and drink to the participants and receives orders from the participants to the restaurants, The information processing device includes: a restaurant information acquisition function that acquires information about the restaurant including a menu from each of the restaurants as restaurant information; an event information acquisition function that acquires, via input by a user of the information processing device, information including the date, time, and location at which food and drink will be provided to participants of a scheduled event as event information; a selected store information acquisition function that allows a user to select a restaurant from one or more restaurants based on the restaurant information to provide food and drink to participants of the event as a selected store, and acquire information including a menu for the selected store as selected store information; an event information disclosure function that discloses the selected store information and the event information to people who are considering participating in the event; An information processing program characterized by performing the above.

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