Commodity information display system for online store

Abstract

To provide a commodity information management system that enables easy updating of commodity information and inventory quantities, even when commodities are sold on multiple websites.SOLUTION: A commodity information management system includes: commodity information storage means for storing commodity information; commodity designation means; search means for searching the commodity information storage means to identify commodity information for commodities designated by the commodity designation means; information output means for acquiring the commodity information identified by the search means from the commodity information storage means and outputting the same; and commodity information change means for changing the commodity information stored in the commodity information storage means. Furthermore, the commodity information is stored in association with inventory quantity information, so that when the information output means acquires and outputs the commodity information, the corresponding inventory quantity information can also be acquired and output.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a product information management system that facilitates product information management when selling products on the web, even when there are multiple websites. [Background technology]

[0002] Providing product information and selling products online through online stores has become a common practice. However, product inventory is not always publicly available at online stores. Even when it is possible for customers to view the inventory, it can be inconvenient, requiring users to perform operations to display the inventory.

[0003] Meanwhile, from the perspective of online store operators, there is a need to streamline product information management and reduce the workload. Managing product information can be particularly complex when a single store sells a large number of products or when a single company operates multiple websites. Changing product descriptions or inventory quantities requires rewriting the information individually, which is a significant workload.

[0004] Patent Document 1 discloses an inventory adjustment system that connects to multiple site servers and controls the inventory quantity displayed on each site server. However, this system adjusts the inventory quantity and sales conditions for each site at a timing according to trigger conditions, and is not intended to uniformly update information on each site. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6206821 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] When a company sells the same product on multiple websites, the company's inventory quantity can be considered the sum of all stores' total inventory. In this case, when an order is placed on one site, the inventory quantity on the other sites also decreases. However, updating the inventory quantity displayed on each site individually is a cumbersome and labor-intensive process. The conventional method is to synchronize information by sending inventory quantity information from the site where the order was placed to an inventory management server, which then sends the information to the other sites. However, this method can result in delays in information synchronization on some sites depending on the server load.

[0007] The present invention aims to provide a product information management system that makes it possible to easily update product information and inventory quantities even when products are sold on multiple websites. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In one embodiment of the present invention, a product information storage means for storing product information; A product designation means; a search means for searching the product information storage means to identify product information of the product designated by the product designation means; an information output means for acquiring the product information identified by the search means from the product information storage means and outputting the information; The present invention provides a product information management system including a product information changing means for changing the product information stored in the product information storage means.

[0009] In a further embodiment of the present invention, The product information storage means stores product information and inventory quantity information in association with each other, A product information management system is provided that, when an information output means acquires and outputs product information, can also acquire and output corresponding stock quantity information.

[0010] In another further embodiment of the present invention, Further comprising an order processing means, A product information management system is provided in which, when an order processing means performs processing in response to a change in stock quantity, the stock quantity stored in a product information storage means is updated. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] According to the present invention, even when multiple websites are operated, information can be updated collectively. In addition, the latest inventory quantities can be displayed without increasing the operational burden of the online store, allowing customers to make purchasing decisions without worrying about out-of-stock items. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram showing a product information management system of the present invention; [Figure 2] 1 is a block diagram showing an exemplary hardware configuration of an information processing device used in the present invention; [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the process of transmitting, receiving, and processing information in the product information management system of the present invention. [Figure 4] 10 is an exemplary screen displayed on a user terminal in the product information management system of the present invention. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the process of transmitting, receiving, and processing information in the product information management system of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the process of transmitting, receiving, and processing information in a conventional product information management system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings, however, the present invention is defined by the claims and the embodiments described herein are not intended to unduly limit the present invention.

[0014] <System configuration> FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a product information management system of the present invention. Product information and inventory quantity information can be stored in an information database 101. Product information includes, for example, the product name, selling price, features, and descriptions thereof. Inventory quantity information is the quantity of the product that can be sold. In other words, it may be the number of items currently stored under management, or, if desired, it may be a quantity that takes into account recent deliveries or production.

[0015] The information providing database 101 is connected to the information providing server 102, and is capable of sending and receiving information. The connection may be via wired or wireless communication such as the Internet or an intranet, or the information providing server 102 may have a database function and may have the information providing database 101 all or partly built in.

[0016] The information providing server 102 searches for and generates product information about the specified product in response to a product designation instruction from the user terminal 103, and provides the generated information. The information providing server 102 and the user terminal 103 can send and receive information as needed via the Internet. The user terminal 103 refers to, for example, a communication device such as a PC (personal computer), smartphone, or tablet owned by an individual or corporation that may be a purchaser.

[0017] The information providing server 102 executes a computer program to transmit and receive information between the information providing database 101 and the user terminal 103, and processes the information required for this. This program includes a search means 104, an information output means 105, and a product information change means 106. This program may further include an order processing means 107.

[0018] The search means 104 is a means for searching the information providing database 101 to identify requested information. The information output means 105 is a means for obtaining information from the information providing database 101, converting it as necessary, and outputting it to the user terminal 103. If the information providing database 101 stores stock quantity information associated with product information, the information output means 105 can also output the stock quantity information. The product information change means 106 is a means for changing the content of the product information stored in the information providing database 101.

[0019] The order processing means 107 is a means for recording information required for business purposes, generating information, changing information, etc. when an order for a product is received or placed. Preferably, when processing in response to a change in the inventory quantity of a product, the order processing means 107 updates the inventory quantity information stored in the information provision database 101.

[0020] 2 shows an exemplary hardware configuration of an information processing device that can be used as the information providing server 102 or the user terminal 103. The information processing device includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 201, an input device 202, a main memory device 203, an output device 204, an auxiliary memory device 205, a clock device 206, and a communication device 209.

[0021] The CPU 201 is also called a central processing unit, and includes a control unit 207 that sends instructions to each device in the system and controls their operation, and an arithmetic unit 208 that performs arithmetic processing of digital data.

[0022] The CPU 201 functions as each means of the present invention in cooperation with a program stored in the main storage device 203 or the auxiliary storage device 205. Furthermore, the CPU 201 functions as a storage means for storing information in the main storage device 203 or the auxiliary storage device 205, and an update means for updating the information stored therein.

[0023] The control device 207 reads data input from the input device 202 or procedures (e.g., programs or software) previously stored in the main memory device 203, according to the timing of the clock generated by the clock device 206. The input data and the read contents are transmitted to internal devices such as the main memory device 203, the output device 204, and the auxiliary memory device 205, as well as to external devices, under the control of the arithmetic device 208.

[0024] The input device 202 is a device for inputting various data, and examples thereof include a keyboard, a mouse, a pointing device, a touch panel, a mouse pad, a CCD camera, and a reader for various storage media.

[0025] The main memory device 203 is a device generally called a memory, and refers to the addressable storage space used to execute instructions in the processing unit and internal storage device. The main memory device 203 is mainly composed of semiconductor memory elements, and stores and holds input programs and data. In addition, this stored and held data is read, for example, into a register, according to instructions from the control unit 207. Examples of semiconductor memory elements that make up the main memory device 203 include RAM (Random Access Memory) and ROM (Read Only Memory).

[0026] The output device 204 is a device for outputting the calculation results of the calculation device 208, and corresponds to, for example, a display device for a PC, a display screen provided on a smartphone or tablet, a printing device such as a printer, an audio output device, etc.

[0027] The auxiliary storage device 205 is a device for supplementing the storage capacity of the main storage device 203, and corresponds to, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, MO, etc., which are made up of a magnetic disk device, an optical disk device, a semiconductor disk device, etc. The auxiliary storage device 205 functions as a storage means for storing data for constructing various databases.

[0028] The communication device 209 is a device for communicating with external devices, and performs appropriate data transmission and reception, digital-to-analog conversion, etc. depending on the network to which it is connected. Here, the above devices are interconnected by an address bus or a data bus.

[0029] <Information processing process for outputting product information> The process of transmitting, receiving, and processing information in the product information management system of the present invention is shown in Figure 3. In step 301, the user terminal 103 transmits a product designation instruction to the information providing server 102. This step is executed, for example, by the purchaser accessing a predetermined web page using the user terminal 103.

[0030] In step 302, the information providing server 102 searches the information providing database 101 using the search means 104 to identify product information for the specified product. In step 303, the information providing server 102 obtains the product information for the product identified by the search means 104 using the information output means 105, and constructs a product information screen. At this time, if stock quantity information is stored in the information providing database 101, the information providing server 102 can obtain the corresponding product information together with the stock quantity information and display them on the product information screen.

[0031] In step 304, the information providing server 102 further outputs the constructed product information screen to the user terminal 103 by the information output means 105. An example of the product information screen displayed on the user terminal 103 is shown in Figure 4. In this example, the inventory quantity 401 is displayed together with the product information of the specified product.

[0032] In step 305, when the user terminal 103 completes the purchase procedure for the specified product, product purchase information is transmitted from the user terminal 103 to the information providing server 102. In response, in step 306, the information providing server 102 transmits inventory quantity change information to the information providing database 101 via the order processing means 107. The information providing database 101 updates the stored inventory quantity information based on this inventory quantity change information. In steps 305 and 306, the inventory quantity information in the information providing database 101 is updated to the latest status promptly after a change.

[0033] The order processing means 107 transmits inventory quantity fluctuation information to the information database 101 when a purchase procedure is carried out, when a product is manufactured, when a product is delivered, etc.

[0034] An example of a case where multiple online stores are operated using the product information management system of the present invention is shown in Figure 5. Store 511 and store 512 are online store servers provided within information providing server 102. The online store server is a server that processes information for displaying online stores on user terminal 103, and stores data such as HTML data that constitutes a website, images, information to be written on each product page, and operator information.

[0035] Steps 501 to 506 are equivalent to steps 301 to 306, respectively. That is, step 501 is a step in which the user terminal 103 transmits a product specification instruction to the store 511 (information providing server 102). Step 502 is a step in which the store 511 searches the information providing database 101 using the search means 104 to identify product information for the specified product. Step 503 is a step in which the store 511 acquires product information and stock quantity information using the information output means 105 and configures a product information screen. Step 504 is a step in which the product information screen configured in step 503 is output to the user terminal 103. Step 505 is a step in which the user terminal 103 performs a product purchase procedure and transmits product purchase information from the user terminal 103 to the store 511. Step 506 is a step in which the store 511 transmits stock quantity change information to the information providing database 101 using the order processing means 107.

[0036] It should be noted that at this point, no information is being sent or received at store 512, which was not involved in the sale. Also, for store 511 accessed by user terminal 103, product information and stock quantity information have been acquired in step 503. In other words, product information and stock quantity information have not been stored in the server of store 511 prior to that time.

[0037] For comparison, the information transmission, reception, and processing process in the prior art is shown in Figure 6. In step 601, the user terminal 103 sends a product specification instruction to the store 611 (information providing server 102). In step 602, the store 611 creates a product information screen using product information and stock quantity information stored in the online store server. In step 603, the product information screen created in step 602 is output to the user terminal 103. In step 604, the user terminal 103 performs a product purchase procedure, and the product purchase information is sent from the user terminal 103 to the store 611. In response, the store 611 updates the stock quantity information. In step 605, the store 611 sends stock quantity change information to the inventory management server 613. In step 606, the inventory management server 613 sends the stock quantity change information to the store 612. In response, the store 612 updates the stock quantity information.

[0038] Note that after step 604 and before step 606, the inventory quantity at store 612 does not reflect the inventory quantity change due to step 604.

[0039] <Other embodiments> Needless to say, the object of the present invention can also be achieved by providing a storage medium (or recording medium) on which software program code that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is recorded to a system or device, and having a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or device read the program code stored in the storage medium. In this case, the program code read from the storage medium itself realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the storage medium on which the program code is stored constitutes the present invention. Needless to say, this also includes cases where the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized not only by a computer executing the read program code, but also by an operating system (OS) running on the computer performing some or all of the actual processing based on the instructions of the program code, thereby realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments.

[0040] Furthermore, it goes without saying that this also includes cases where the program code read from the storage medium is written into the memory of a function expansion card inserted into a computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, and then the CPU or the like of the function expansion card or function expansion unit performs some or all of the actual processing based on the instructions of the program code, and the functions of the above-mentioned embodiments are realized through this processing.

[0041] When the present invention is applied to the above storage medium, the storage medium will store program code for executing the processes shown in Figures 3 and 5 described above, as well as program code for creating the data for the screen shown in Figure 4.

[0042] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made based on the spirit of the present invention, and these modifications are not excluded from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. a product information storage means for storing product information; A product designation means; a search means for searching the product information storage means to identify product information of the product designated by the product designation means; an information output means for acquiring the product information identified by the search means from the product information storage means and outputting the information; a product information changing means for changing the product information stored in the product information storage means.

2. 2. The product information management system according to claim 1, the product information storage means stores product information and inventory quantity information in association with each other; A product information management system in which, when the information output means acquires and outputs product information, it is also possible to acquire and output corresponding stock quantity information.

3. Further comprising an order processing means, 3. The product information management system according to claim 2, wherein when said order processing means performs processing in response to a change in inventory quantity, the inventory quantity stored in said product information storage means is updated.

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