Commodity purchase support system, supported person terminal and control method thereof

Abstract

To support periodic commodity purchase of a supported person, typically an elderly person.SOLUTION: A commodity purchase support system includes a supported person terminal operated by a supported person and a supporter terminal operated by a supporter. The supporter terminal is used, and information on one or more commodities to be periodically purchased and the number, and a periodic purchase term etc. for each commodity are inputted. The inputted periodic purchase term etc. is transmitted from the supporter terminal to the supported person terminal, and registered with a commodity purchase master database 18A. Items of the commodity which corresponds to the term according to the periodic purchase term and the quantities are read, and read ordering data of the item of the commodity and the number are transmitted to an EC server.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a product purchase support system, and also to a support recipient terminal constituting the product purchase support system and a control method thereof. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a shopping support device for the elderly that provides functions for creating a shopping list, displaying the created shopping list, and displaying the shopping list after purchase.

[0003] In the support device described in Patent Document 1, a supporter function is set to support the user's shopping activities when the user is unable to shop with confidence due to a decline in cognitive ability, etc. When the supporter function is set, the user terminal used by the user and the supporter terminal used by the supporter communicate with each other, and the supporter is allowed to perform all or part of the operations that the user can perform in the shopping support program on the user terminal. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2023-32010

[0005] By operating the user terminal using the supporter terminal, it is possible to support the user of the user terminal in shopping. However, if the supporter were to support the shopping using the supporter terminal every time the user went shopping using the user terminal, the support by the supporter using the supporter terminal could become cumbersome.

[0006] In everyday life, it is sometimes more convenient to purchase specific products on a regular basis rather than purchasing products whenever they are in short supply. If you can reliably purchase regular products, the number of times you need to purchase a product when you are in short supply will decrease dramatically. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] The purpose of this invention is to support recipients of support, typically elderly people, in making regular purchases of goods. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The product purchase support system of the present invention is a system for supporting a supportee, typically an elderly person, in making periodic product purchases. The product purchase support system of the present invention includes a supportee terminal operated by the supportee and a supporter terminal operated by a supporter, wherein the supporter terminal comprises: input means for inputting a regular purchase product list including information on one or more products to be purchased regularly and the quantity thereof, and a regular purchase term for each product; and transmission means for transmitting the regular purchase product list input from the input means to the supportee terminal, and the supportee terminal comprises: receiving means for receiving the regular purchase product list transmitted from the supporter terminal; registration means for registering the regular purchase product list received by the receiving means in a storage device; product list confirmation means for prompting confirmation of the contents of the regular purchase product list in accordance with the regular purchase product list registered in the storage device by the registration means; purchase product reading means for reading, from among the one or more products registered in the regular purchase product list, the item and quantity of one or more products that fall within the term in accordance with the regular purchase term; and order data transmission means for transmitting order data for the item and quantity of the products read by the purchase product reading means to an electronic commerce server.

[0009] The present invention also provides a supported person terminal constituting a product purchase support system. The supported person terminal according to the present invention comprises: receiving means for receiving a subscription product list transmitted from the supporter terminal, the subscription product list including information on one or more products to be purchased on a subscription basis and their quantities, and the subscription term for each product; registering means for registering the subscription product list received by the receiving means in a storage device; product list confirmation means for prompting confirmation of the contents of the subscription product list in accordance with the subscription product list registered in the storage device by the registration means; purchased product reading means for reading, from among the one or more products registered in the subscription product list, the item and quantity of one or more products that fall within the term in accordance with the subscription term; and order data sending means for sending order data on the item and quantity of the products read by the purchased product reading means to an electronic commerce server.

[0010] The present invention also provides a method for controlling the above-mentioned supportee terminal.

[0011] According to this invention, a regular purchase term indicating the products (items) to be purchased periodically, their quantities, and the purchase frequency is provided from the supporter terminal to the supported person terminal. In other words, there is no need to input the products to be purchased, their quantities, and the purchase frequency into the supporter terminal. This can support the regular purchase of products by the supported person, typically the elderly.

[0012] A subscription product list includes not only the products and their quantities, but also the subscription term for each product. The subscription term may be, for example, one week, two weeks, or a longer term, such as one month or two months. Of course, it may also be a shorter term, such as one day or two days.

[0013] The item and quantity of one or more products that fall under a term according to the regular purchase term, which are read by the purchase product reading means, refer to the item and quantity of one or more products included in the regular purchase product list, for which the purchase timing has arrived. For example, if the regular purchase term for a certain product is one week, then when one week has passed since the previous purchase, the product will fall under the term according to the regular purchase term at that time.

[0014] The subscription term may be specified by a specific day of the week (e.g., Monday), a specific day of the week within a month (e.g., the first Monday), or a specific day within a month (e.g., the first day of every month, the first day of every even-numbered month). The subscription term can be set according to the characteristics of the product.

[0015] To confirm that the subscription product list registered with support from the supporter terminal is correct, the supporter is prompted to confirm the contents of the subscription product list. In one embodiment, the product list confirmation means includes a voice output means for outputting the contents of the subscription product list by voice, a voice input means for inputting a voice representing the confirmation result, and a voice recognition means for converting the voice input by the voice input means into a character string and determining the content of the confirmation result according to the converted character string. The contents of the subscription product list can be confirmed by voice (words). [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of a regular product purchase support system. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of a supportee terminal. [Figure 3] This shows the product purchase master database. [Figure 4] 1 shows a product purchase history table. [Figure 5] 10 is a flowchart showing a data registration process in a product purchase master database. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart showing a regular purchase product confirmation process. [Figure 7] 10 is a flowchart showing a product purchasing process. [Figure 8] 10 is an example of a product purchase confirmation screen. [Example]

[0017] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of a regular product purchase support system.

[0018] The regular purchase support system includes an electronic commerce server (hereinafter referred to as EC server) 1, a supported person terminal 2, and a supporter terminal 3. The EC server 1, the supported person terminal 2, and the supporter terminal 3 are connected to each other via a network 4 (for example, the Internet) so that data can be communicated with each other.

[0019] The EC server 1 is a server that operates a site (EC site) that sells products over a network (Internet), such as a net supermarket, online supermarket, online supermarket, online mall, or online shop. Various products are sold there, including books, home appliances, daily necessities, processed foods, clothing, and fresh foods. Ordered products are delivered to the customer's home via a courier service or a physical store's delivery network.

[0020] The support recipient terminal 2 is a computer terminal of the person receiving support, typically an elderly person. A smartphone, a tablet, or a personal computer can be used as the support recipient terminal 2.

[0021] The supporter terminal 3 is a computer terminal of a person who provides support to the supportee, typically a relative (grandchild or child) of the supportee, and the supporter terminal 3 can also be a smartphone, tablet, or personal computer.

[0022] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the supportee terminal 2. As shown in FIG.

[0023] As described above, the support recipient terminal 2 is a computer terminal connected to a central processing unit (CPU) 11 that controls its overall operation, an input device (such as a keyboard) 12 that accepts input of characters, symbols, etc., a display device (such as a liquid crystal display) 13 that displays characters, images, etc., a microphone 14 that accepts voice input, a speaker 15 that outputs voice, a memory 16 that provides a work area, a buffer area, etc., a communication device 17 that transmits and receives data via a network (such as the Internet) 4, and a storage device (such as a hard disk) 18 that stores various programs and data. Programs and data (such as an operating program, a communication program, a voice recognition program, a credit card number for payment, etc.) that cause the computer terminal to function as the support recipient terminal 2 are installed in the storage device 18, and the computer terminal operates as the support recipient terminal 2 by executing or reading these programs and data. The operation (processing) of the support recipient terminal 2, which will be described later, is executed according to programs pre-stored in the storage device 18.

[0024] A plurality of databases or tables, here a product purchase master database 18A and a product purchase history table 18B, are stored in the storage device 18 of the support recipient terminal 2. The product purchase master database 18A and the product purchase history table 18B will be described in detail later.

[0025] The EC server 1 and the supporter terminal 3 also have a CPU, memory, storage device, etc., and the computer device (terminal) functions as the EC server 1 and the supporter terminal 3 based on the various programs and data stored in the storage device.

[0026] FIG. 3 shows the product purchase master database 18A.

[0027] The product purchase master database 18A stores information about products that are purchased regularly, information about the e-commerce site where the products are purchased, the frequency (term) of regular purchases, the desired delivery date and time, the delivery address, information about the supporter who assisted with the product purchase, and information about consent to receiving support.

[0028] The product purchase master database 18A registers, for each purchased product, the URL of the server (EC server 1) of the EC site where the purchased product is purchased. An order for the quantity registered in the quantity column for the product registered in the item column is placed with the specific EC server 1 identified by the URL registered in the EC site column.

[0029] The purchase frequency (order frequency) for each product registered in the item column is registered in the "regular purchase term," and the timing is registered in the order reference day of the week. For example, if we focus on the item "cabbage," "1 week" is registered as the regular purchase term, and "Monday" is registered as the order reference day of the week. This means that an order for the item "cabbage" is placed every Monday of each week (regular purchase). Of course, instead of the day of the week, the date of the previous purchase may be used as the reference, and an order (product purchase processing, described below) may be placed when a predetermined number of days (for example, 7 days) have passed since the previous purchase date.

[0030] The "Desired arrival date and time" is the time when you want the ordered item delivered to your home. For example, if the desired arrival date and time is "10:00 the day after ordering," it means that you want the item to be delivered at 10:00 the day after the item is ordered.

[0031] The "Delivery Address" field is where you register the address where you would like the product delivered.

[0032] The "Supporter" column stores data identifying the supporter who supported the registration of the regular purchase of the above-mentioned product, and the "Support Date" column stores the date on which the support was made.

[0033] The "Agreeee" column will contain data identifying the person (supportee) who has agreed to register for a regular purchase of the product with the support of the supporter registered in the Supporter column, and the "Agreement Date" will contain the date on which consent was given.

[0034] FIG. 4 shows the product purchase history table 18B.

[0035] In the product purchase history table 18B, in addition to the item, quantity, and regular purchase term that are also registered in the above-mentioned product purchase master database 18A, the purchase date and price of the product specified by the item are registered. Every time a product is purchased, a pair of the purchase date and price is registered in the product purchase history table 18B.

[0036] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of the data registration process in the product purchase master database 18A described above.

[0037] In the data registration process for the product purchase master database 18A, the supporter terminal 3 and the supported person terminal 2 are connected via the network 4, and with support from the supporter terminal 3, data is registered in the product purchase master database 18A stored in the storage device 18 of the supported person terminal 2. The supporter terminal 3 connects to the supported person terminal 2 and accesses the product purchase master database 18A of the supported person terminal 2. The URL of the EC site, the item of the product to be purchased, the quantity, the regular purchase term, the order reference day of the week, the desired arrival date and time, the delivery address, the supporter, and the support date, which are input using the supporter terminal 3, are transmitted from the supporter terminal 3 to the supported person terminal 2 (step 21). The supported person terminal 2 registers this data transmitted from the supporter terminal 3 in the product purchase master database 18A (step 22). In this way, the data in the product purchase master database 18A is registered through data input support using the supporter terminal 3. The user of the supporter terminal 3 (for example, a grandchild) will find out in advance what the user of the supported person terminal 2 (for example, a grandfather) wants, or will input and register the data over the phone.

[0038] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the regular purchase product confirmation process executed in the supportee terminal 2 when the supporter terminal 3 has finished supporting data registration.

[0039] When new data is registered in the product purchase master database 18A, the regular purchase confirmation process shown in Fig. 6 is executed. In the regular purchase confirmation process, the user of the supportee terminal 2 confirms by voice output each of the items and quantities (step 31), regular purchase term (step 33), order reference day (step 35), desired arrival date and time (step 37), and delivery address (step 39) newly registered in the product purchase master database 18A.

[0040] For example, the supportee terminal 2 outputs the item and quantity as voice from the speaker 15 based on the item and quantity data registered in the product purchase master database 18A (step 31). If the voice output item and quantity are correct, a message to that effect (for example, "OK") is spoken (YES in step 32). The spoken content is received by the microphone 14 of the supportee terminal 2 and converted into a character string (text) through a voice recognition process using a voice recognition program stored in the storage device 18. It is determined whether the converted character string has a positive meaning, such as "OK" or "good." If the content is positive, the process proceeds to confirmation processing for the next regular purchase term (step 33).

[0041] When affirmative utterances are made for all confirmation items (YES in steps 32, 34, 36, 38, and 40), data identifying the consenter is registered in the consenter field of the product purchase master database 18A, and the date is registered in the consent date field (step 41).

[0042] If the utterance has a negative meaning (for example, "no," "try again," etc.), the data registration of the consenter and consent date is stopped (cancelled), and the supporter is notified of this, for example, by email (NO in any of steps 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, step 42) (the email address is stored in advance in the supported person's terminal 2). In this case, the supporter will contact the supported person, confirm the supported person's intention, access the product purchase master database 18A again, and correct the registered data.

[0043] 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of the product purchase process carried out when purchasing a product in the support recipient terminal 2. FIG.

[0044] The product purchase process shown in FIG. 7 is basically executed at a fixed time every day in the supportee terminal 2 (step 51).

[0045] Data representing the regular purchase items and their quantities for which today (a date based on the calendar function of the operating system of the supportee terminal 2) is the order reference date is read from the product purchase master database 18A (step 52). With reference to Figure 3, for example, if today is the first Monday, the four regular purchase items of cabbage, eggs, minced meat, and spring water are read from the product purchase master database 18A along with their quantities.

[0046] Data representing the items and quantities read from the product purchase master database 18A is transmitted from the supportee terminal 2 to the EC server 1 via the network 4. Fee data for each item is transmitted from the EC server 1 and received by the supportee terminal 2 (step 53).

[0047] A message as described below is created (step 54), and a purchase confirmation screen 60 including the amount of each item received from the EC server 1 and the created message is displayed on the supportee terminal 2 (step 55).

[0048] Referring to FIG. 8, the purchase confirmation screen 60 includes a purchase product list 60a, a message display field 60b, and a purchase button 60c.

[0049] The purchased product list 60a includes the item and quantity read from the product purchase master database 18A, the previous purchase amount for the item stored in the product purchase history table 18B (FIG. 4), the current purchase amount transmitted from the EC server 1, and a check box for whether or not to purchase. By unchecking the check box for whether or not to purchase, the purchase of an item that is scheduled to be purchased on a regular basis can be canceled on the supportee terminal 2.

[0050] The message display field 60b displays a message comparing the previous purchase amount with the current purchase amount. For example, a message such as "The total amount has decreased, but the prices of cabbage and eggs have increased. I'll buy them, is that okay?" The message displayed in the message display field 60b may be generated by the supportee terminal 2, or may be generated by a message generation device (generation AI) (e.g., ChatGPT) connected to the network 4 (step 54).

[0051] When the purchase button 60c is tapped or clicked, the order (placing order) data (item and quantity set, delivery address) is sent from the support recipient terminal 2 to the EC server 1 (steps 57, 58). If necessary, information necessary for payment, such as a credit card number, is also sent from the support recipient terminal 2 to the EC server 1. The purchase date and amount are newly registered in the product purchase history table 18B.

[0052] In the above-described embodiment, the URL of the EC site, the item, quantity, and periodic purchase term of the product to be purchased on a regular basis are transmitted from the supporter terminal 3 to the supported person terminal 2, and this data is registered in the product purchase master database 18A (FIG. 5, steps 21 and 22). However, at least the item and quantity of the product may be registered in the product purchase master database 18A by the user of the supported person terminal 2 (e.g., a grandfather) using the supported person terminal 2. In this case, the user of the supporter terminal 3 (e.g., a grandchild) performs a confirmation (agreement, permission, confirmation) process for the registered data performed using the supported person terminal 2. Of the item and quantity of the product registered in the product purchase master database 18A using the supported person terminal 2, the order data is finally transmitted (order placed) to the EC server 1 for the item and quantity of the product that has been confirmed (agreement, permission, confirmation) by the user of the supporter terminal 3 (step 58). Conversely, no order is placed for the item and quantity of the product that has not been confirmed (agreement, permission, confirmation), thereby ensuring the security of the transaction.

[0053] Furthermore, the screen displayed when the user of the supported person terminal 2 (for example, a grandfather) is operating the supported person terminal 2 may be shared with the supporter terminal 3, so that the user of the supporter terminal 3 (for example, a grandchild) can remotely watch the operation of the supported person terminal 2 by the user of the supported person terminal 2. Of course, the supporter terminal 3 may be used to remotely operate the supported person terminal 2. When order data is transmitted from the supported person terminal 2 to the EC server 1 by remote operation, this fact may be transmitted to the EC server 1, and this fact may be recorded as a purchase history in the EC server 1. [Explanation of symbols]

[0054] 1. EC Server 2 Supportee terminal 3 Supporter terminal 4 Network 11 Central Processing Unit 12 Input Devices 13 Display device 14 microphones 15 Speaker 17. Communications equipment 18 Storage device 18A Product purchase master database 18B Product purchase history table 60 Purchase confirmation screen 60c Buy Button

Claims

1. A product purchase support system that supports a support recipient in making regular product purchases, The system includes a supportee terminal operated by the supportee and a supporter terminal operated by the supporter, The supporter terminal is: an input means for inputting a subscription product list including information on one or more products to be purchased on a subscription basis and the number of such products, as well as the subscription term for each product; and A transmission means for transmitting the regular purchase product list input from the input means to the support recipient terminal, The above-mentioned supportee terminal, A receiving means for receiving a subscription product list transmitted from the supporter terminal; a registration means for registering the subscription product list received by the receiving means in a storage device; a product list confirmation means for prompting confirmation of the contents of the regular purchase product list in accordance with the regular purchase product list registered in the storage device by the registration means; A purchase product reading means for reading out the item and quantity of one or more products that fall under the term according to the regular purchase term from among one or more products registered in the regular purchase product list; an order data transmission means for transmitting order data of the product items and the quantities read by the purchase product reading means to an electronic commerce server; Product purchasing support system.

2. The above-mentioned supported person terminal constituting a product purchase support system including a supported person terminal operated by the supported person and a supporter terminal operated by the supporter, a receiving means for receiving a subscription product list including information on one or more products to be purchased on a subscription basis and the number of such products, as well as the subscription term for each product, transmitted from the supporter terminal; a registration means for registering the subscription product list received by the receiving means in a storage device; a product list confirmation means for prompting confirmation of the contents of the regular purchase product list in accordance with the regular purchase product list registered in the storage device by the registration means; A purchase product reading means for reading out the item and quantity of one or more products that fall under the term according to the regular purchase term from among one or more products registered in the regular purchase product list; an order data transmission means for transmitting order data of the product items and the quantities read by the purchase product reading means to an electronic commerce server; Supportee terminal.

3. The product list confirmation means is: a voice output means for outputting the contents of the subscription product list by voice; a voice input means for inputting a voice representing the confirmation result; and a voice recognition means for converting the voice input by the voice input means into a character string and determining the content of the confirmation result in accordance with the converted character string. The supportee terminal according to claim 2.

4. The subscription term is specified by a specific day of the week, a specific day of the week within a month, or a specific day within a month; The supportee terminal according to claim 2.

5. A method for controlling a supported person terminal that constitutes a product purchase support system including a supported person terminal operated by a supported person and a supporter terminal operated by a supporter, comprising: A receiving means receives a subscription product list including information on one or more products to be purchased on a subscription basis and the number of such products, as well as a subscription term for each product, transmitted from the supporter terminal; The registration means registers the received subscription product list in the storage device; The product list confirmation means prompts the user to confirm the contents of the subscription product list according to the subscription product list registered in the storage device; a purchase product reading means for reading out the item or items and the quantity of one or more products that fall within the periodic purchase term from the one or more products registered in the periodic purchase product list; The order data transmission means transmits the read order data of the product type and the quantity to the electronic commerce server. A method for controlling a supported terminal.

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