Product search system, product search method, and product search program

Abstract

This invention provides a product search system, method, and program that search for parts corresponding to a vehicle owned by a user based on an image. [Solution] A communication system as a product search system that acquires category information indicating the category of a vehicle owned by a user, wherein the automotive service server acquires part information that identifies the vehicle part located at a location specified by the user operation within the image of the vehicle displayed on the user terminal. The product transaction server searches for products using the category information and part information as search conditions by referring to a storage means that stores product information for vehicle parts. The automotive service server transmits search result information indicating the search result to the user terminal.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for searching for products.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, a transaction system that enables the purchase of products in e-commerce is known. A general transaction system searches for products that meet the conditions specified by a user and provides information on the searched products to the user.

[0003] Also, a system for searching for products using images is known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses performing image recognition processing on an image to recognize one or more objects from the image, displaying an object identifier for identifying the object, accepting a user operation for selecting the object identifier, and transmitting information on products related to the object identified by the selected object identifier to a terminal device.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] Among transaction systems, there is also a system that enables the purchase of vehicle parts. As a user, it is natural to want to purchase parts that fit the user's vehicle. However, even for parts with the same name or the same type, the vehicles that the parts can be compatible with may be different depending on the parts. Such points have not been considered in the conventional technology.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and one example of the problem it addresses is to provide a product search system, a product search method, and a product search program that can search for parts corresponding to a vehicle owned by a user based on an image. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] One aspect of the present invention is a product search system characterized by comprising: category information acquisition means for acquiring category information indicating the category of a vehicle owned by a user; part information acquisition means for acquiring part information that identifies a part of the vehicle, which is located at a location specified by user operation within an image of the vehicle displayed on the user's terminal device; search means for searching for a product by referring to a storage means for storing product information of a vehicle part, wherein the search means uses the acquired category information and the acquired part information as search conditions; and search result information transmission means for transmitting search result information indicating the result of the search by the search means to the terminal device.

[0008] According to this aspect, the user performs an operation to specify the location of any part of the displayed vehicle within the vehicle image. Then, using information indicating the category of the vehicle owned by the user and information identifying the part at the specified location as search criteria, the product is searched. Information indicating the search results is then transmitted to the user's terminal device. Therefore, it is possible to search for products that are likely to be the part at the location specified by the user and that are likely to correspond to the vehicle owned by the user. Thus, based on operations on the image, it is possible to search for products that correspond to the vehicle owned by the user.

[0009] Another aspect of the present invention is a product search system characterized in that the category information acquisition means acquires category information based on registered vehicle information that has been previously registered by the user, and the category information acquisition means is registered vehicle information that indicates a vehicle owned by the user.

[0010] From this perspective, since information about the vehicles owned by the user is pre-registered, the category of the vehicle owned by that user can be identified based on that information.

[0011] Another aspect of the present invention is a product search system characterized in that the category information acquisition means acquires the category information based on vehicle purchase history information indicating the user's vehicle purchase history.

[0012] According to this aspect, category information is obtained based on information showing the user's vehicle purchase history. There is a high probability that the vehicle purchased by the user is a vehicle owned by that user. Therefore, based on information showing the vehicle purchase history, it is possible to identify the category of the vehicle owned by that user.

[0013] Another aspect of the present invention is a product search system further comprising an image transmission means for transmitting to the terminal device an image of a vehicle corresponding to the category indicated by the acquired category information, as the image to be displayed on the terminal device.

[0014] According to this aspect, images of vehicles corresponding to the category of vehicles owned by the user are displayed. Therefore, the user can specify vehicle parts from the images corresponding to the vehicles they own.

[0015] Another aspect of the present invention is a product search system characterized in that the category indicated by the category information is the first category among a plurality of categories included in the same category, the search means searches for a first product that satisfies the first search condition using the category information and the parts information as first search conditions, the second product that satisfies the second search condition using second category information indicating a second category different from the first category among the plurality of categories and the parts information as second search conditions, and the priority determination means for determining the priority of the products found by the search means, further comprising priority determination means for setting the priority of the second product higher than the priority of the first product, and the search result information transmission means transmits the search result information indicating the products found by the search means in the order according to the determined priority.

[0016] According to this aspect, the system searches for the first product of the parts located at the location specified by the user, which corresponds to the vehicle owned by the user. It also searches for the second product of the parts located at the location specified by the user, which corresponds to a vehicle in a different category than the first category of the vehicle owned by the user. The second product is then presented to the user with priority over the first product. The first and second categories are each part of the same category. Therefore, even if the product information does not indicate that a part corresponds to a vehicle in the first category, a part corresponding to a vehicle in the second category may also correspond to a vehicle in the first category. On the other hand, the characteristics of a part indicated in the product information as corresponding to a vehicle in the second category may differ from the characteristics of a part indicated in the product information as corresponding to a vehicle in the first category. For example, the design may differ. Therefore, products for parts that may correspond to the vehicle owned by the user, but whose characteristics may differ from those of parts that normally correspond to the user's vehicle, can be presented to the user with priority over parts that normally correspond to the user's vehicle.

[0017] A further aspect of the present invention is a product search system characterized in that the product information for at least one part product includes information indicating the category of the vehicle to which the part corresponds, and further comprises a category identification means that identifies the category of the vehicle owned by a user and the category of the vehicle to which the part purchased by the user corresponds, based on the product information and product purchase history information indicating the purchased product and the user who purchased the product, and the search means uses as the second category information information information that indicates the category identified by the category identification means as the category of the vehicle to which the part purchased by a user who owns a vehicle in the first category corresponds, among the second categories.

[0018] According to this aspect, it is possible to identify the vehicle category to which parts purchased by users who own vehicles in the same category as the vehicle category owned by the user receiving the search results correspond. Then, among the second categories that are different from the first category of the user's vehicle, products corresponding to vehicles in the same category as the vehicle category to which the purchased parts correspond are searched as second products. Parts purchased by users who own vehicles in the same category as the vehicle category owned by the user receiving the search results may correspond to the vehicle owned by the user receiving the search results. Therefore, there is a possibility that the same parts can be used between the vehicle owned by the user receiving the search results and the vehicle in the category to which the purchased parts correspond. Thus, it is possible to search for products of parts that may have different characteristics from parts that normally correspond to the vehicle owned by the user, but which have a high probability of corresponding to the vehicle owned by the user.

[0019] Another aspect of the present invention is a product search system characterized in that the same category is a vehicle type, and the first category and the second category, respectively, are vehicle models.

[0020] Another aspect of the present application is a product search method executed by a computer, which includes a category information acquisition step of acquiring category information indicating the category of the vehicle owned by the user, a part information acquisition step of acquiring part information that identifies a part located at a position specified by a user operation within an image of the vehicle displayed on the user's terminal device, and a search step of searching for products by referring to storage means that stores product information of products of vehicle parts, where the acquired category information and the acquired part information are used as search conditions, and a search result information transmission step of transmitting search result information indicating the result of the search by the search step to the terminal device. The product search method is characterized by including these steps.

[0021] Another aspect of the present application is a product search program for causing a computer to function as category information acquisition means for acquiring category information indicating the category of the vehicle owned by the user, part information acquisition means for acquiring part information that identifies a part located at a position specified by a user operation within an image of the vehicle displayed on the user's terminal device, search means for searching for products by referring to storage means that stores product information of products of vehicle parts, where the acquired category information and the acquired part information are used as search conditions, and search result information transmission means for transmitting search result information indicating the result of the search by the search means to the terminal device. The product search program is characterized by this function.

Advantages of the Invention

[0022] According to the present invention, based on an operation on an image, it is possible to search for products of parts corresponding to the vehicle owned by the user.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0023] [Figure 1] It is a diagram showing an example of the schematic configuration of a communication system S according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] It is a block diagram showing an example of the schematic configuration of an automobile service server 1 according to an embodiment. [Figure 3] It is a diagram showing an example of information stored in the database of the automotive service server 1. [Figure 4] It is a block diagram showing an example of the schematic configuration of the product trading server 2 according to one embodiment. [Figure 5] It is a diagram showing an example of information stored in the database of the product trading server 2. [Figure 6] It is a diagram showing an example of the functional blocks of the system control unit 11 in the automotive service server 1 according to one embodiment. [Figure 7] (a) is a diagram showing an example of a parts selection screen. (b) is a diagram showing another example of the parts selection screen. [Figure 8] (a) is a diagram showing an example of the parts selection screen at the time of parts selection. (b) is a diagram showing another example of the parts selection screen at the time of parts selection. [Figure 9] It is a diagram showing an example of the functional blocks of the system control unit 21 in the product trading server 2 according to one embodiment. [Figure 10] It is a diagram showing an example of product search. [Figure 11] It is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S according to one embodiment. [Figure 12] It is a flowchart showing an example of the product search process executed by the system control unit 21 of the product trading server 2 according to one embodiment. [Figure 13] It is a block diagram showing an example of the schematic configuration of the automotive service server 1 according to one embodiment. [Figure 14] It is a diagram showing an example of information stored in the database of the automotive service server 1. [Figure 15] It is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S according to one embodiment. [Figure 16] It is a block diagram showing an example of the schematic configuration of the automotive service server 1 according to one embodiment. [Figure 17] It is a diagram showing an example of information stored in the database of the automotive service server 1. [Figure 18] This figure shows an example of a functional block of the system control unit 11 in an automotive service server 1 according to one embodiment. [Figure 19] This diagram shows examples of vehicle categories and parts purchase status. [Figure 20] This figure shows an example of a product search. [Figure 21] This is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S when generating vehicle category association information. [Figure 22] This is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S when searching for parts. [Figure 23] This is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S when searching for parts. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0024] [1. First Embodiment] Hereinafter, embodiments of the product search system of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The product search system may be a system for searching for products. In particular, the product search system may be a system for searching for vehicle parts. Examples of vehicles to which the present invention can be applied include automobiles, motorcycles, bicycles, etc. Hereafter, as an example, embodiments will be described assuming that the vehicle is an automobile.

[0025] [1-1. Communication System Configuration] First, the configuration and functional overview of the communication system S according to this embodiment will be explained with reference to Figure 1. Figure 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overview configuration of the communication system S according to this embodiment.

[0026] As shown in Figure 1, the communication system S comprises an automobile service server 1, a commodity trading server 2, and multiple user terminals 3. The automobile service server 1, the commodity trading server 2, and each user terminal 3 are connected to a network NW. The network NW is constructed using, for example, the internet, a dedicated communication line (e.g., a CATV (Community Antenna Television) line), a mobile communication network (including base stations, etc.), and a gateway. The combination of the automobile service server 1 and the commodity trading server 2 may be an example of a commodity search system. The commodity search system may be a system for searching for commodities. Furthermore, the automobile service server 1 and the commodity trading server 2 may be integrated into a single device.

[0027] The automotive service server 1 may be a server device that performs processing related to a specific automotive service. An automotive service is a service related to an automobile, which is an example of a vehicle. For example, an automotive service may provide services such as automobile sales, automobile purchase, scheduling of vehicle inspections, and scheduling of vehicle repairs. The automotive service server 1 may also perform processes such as automobile searches, providing search results, and automobile purchase procedures. Furthermore, the automotive service server 1 may transmit various information related to automotive services to the user terminal 3. For example, the automotive service server 1 may transmit the content of an automotive service website.

[0028] The commodity trading server 2 may be a server device that performs processing related to a specific commodity trading service. The commodity trading service may be a service that enables the trading of goods in electronic commerce. In particular, the commodity trading service may be a service that enables users to purchase goods. The goods that can be purchased through the commodity trading service may include automobile parts. Automobile parts as goods may include parts that can be replaced by the user who purchased the part, or by an auto parts store, etc. The commodity trading service may be a service that enables the purchase of goods from only a single seller, or a service that enables the purchase of goods from multiple sellers. Sellers may be businesses or individuals that sell goods through the commodity trading service. A store is an example of a seller. Hereafter, as an example, the commodity trading service may be a service that enables the purchase of goods in a specific online shopping mall. Multiple stores may sell goods in the online shopping mall. The commodity trading server 2 may perform processing such as searching for goods, providing search results, accepting orders for goods, and providing order details to sellers. The commodity trading server 2 may also transmit various information related to the commodity trading service to the user terminal 3. For example, the commodity trading server 2 may transmit the content of the online shopping mall.

[0029] Each user terminal 3 may be a terminal device used by a user who is eligible to use the automobile service and commodity trading service. Examples of user terminals 3 include smartphones, tablet computers and other portable information terminals, mobile phones, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), personal computers, set-top boxes, etc. A web browser may be installed on each user terminal 3. In addition, certain types of user terminals 3 may be capable of installing applications for automobile services and applications for commodity trading services. Each user terminal 3 may communicate with the automobile service server 1 through a web browser or an application for automobile services, and may also receive and display information from the automobile service server 1. In addition, each user terminal 3 may communicate with the commodity trading server 2 through a web browser or an application for commodity trading services, and may also receive and display information from the commodity trading server 2.

[0030] [1-2.Device configuration] [1-2-1. Automotive Service Server] Next, the configuration of the automotive service server 1 will be described with reference to Figures 2 and 3. Figure 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the schematic configuration of the automotive service server 1 according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 2, the automotive service server 1 includes a system control unit 11, a system bus 12, an input / output interface 13, a storage unit 14, and a communication unit 15. The system control unit 11 and the input / output interface 13 are connected via the system bus 12.

[0031] The system control unit 11 is composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11a, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 11b, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 11c, and the like.

[0032] The input / output interface 13 performs interface processing between the storage unit 14 and the communication unit 15 and the system control unit 11.

[0033] The storage unit 14 is composed of, for example, a hard disk drive. This storage unit 14 may store databases such as a vehicle DB 14a, a parts DB 14b, a vehicle image DB 14c, and a owned vehicle DB 14d. "DB" is an abbreviation for database.

[0034] Figure 3 shows an example of information stored in the database of the automobile service server 1. The vehicle DB 14a may store basic vehicle information for each vehicle category. In this case, the category may be identified, for example, by a combination of model and grade. The basic vehicle information may include information indicating one or more categories of items about the vehicle. The category items may also be information indicating what criteria are used to categorize vehicles. Examples of vehicle category items include manufacturer, vehicle type, model, grade, model year, and body type. In the vehicle DB 14a, as shown in Figure 3 for example, the vehicle ID, manufacturer name, vehicle type name, model name, grade, and body type ID may be stored in association with each other as basic vehicle information. The vehicle ID may be identification information for identifying a vehicle. The manufacturer name may be the name of the manufacturer of the vehicle. The manufacturer may be the manufacturer that produced the vehicle. The vehicle type name may indicate the name of the vehicle type. In this embodiment, the vehicle type may indicate a vehicle category identified by the name given to the vehicle by the manufacturer. Examples of vehicle names include "Prius" (registered trademark) and "March" (registered trademark). The model name may be a name indicating the model of the vehicle. The grade may indicate the class of the vehicle. Examples of grades include C, L, R, G, GT, S, D, and no grade. The body type ID may be identification information to identify the body type of the vehicle. The body type may be a category of vehicle determined by, for example, the shape, size, interior specifications, and intended use of the vehicle. Examples of body types include compact cars, sedans, station wagons, coupes, convertibles, SUVs (Sport Utility Vehicles), and minivans.

[0035] The parts database 14b may store basic part information about vehicle parts, for example, for each part identified by a general name or for each type of part. Examples of part types include grilles, horns, door mirrors, door panels, windshields, side steps, wings, speedometers, tachometers, instrument panels, console panels, seats, seat belts, shift knobs, steering wheels, pedals, headlights, interior lights, turn signals, tires, wheels, etc. For example, as shown in Figure 3, the parts database 14b may store basic part information such as part IDs, part names, and component parts lists, associated with each other. The part ID may be identification information for identifying a part. The part name may indicate the name of the part. The part name may be the general name of the part or a name indicating the type of part. The component parts list may be a list of part IDs of other parts included in that part. For example, suppose a console panel includes a shift knob and a drink holder. In this case, the component parts list for the console panel may include the part IDs of the shift knob and the drink holder, respectively.

[0036] Vehicle image DB14c may store vehicle image information for each vehicle image. A vehicle image is an image of a vehicle. A vehicle image may be, for example, an image generated by 2D or 3D computer graphics. Alternatively, a vehicle image may be a photograph of a vehicle. Vehicle images may be prepared for each vehicle category. Examples of vehicle categories in this case include body type, vehicle type, model, combination of vehicle type and grade, and combination of model and grade. Hereafter, it will be assumed that vehicle images are prepared for each body type. In addition, vehicle images may be prepared separately for the interior and exterior of the vehicle. An exterior vehicle image may be an image of the vehicle's exterior. An interior vehicle image may be an image of the vehicle's interior. Furthermore, exterior vehicle images may be prepared for each viewpoint angle. The viewpoint angle may indicate the angle from which the vehicle image is viewed. As shown in Figure 3, the vehicle image DB14c may store vehicle image information such as body type ID, interior / exterior type, viewpoint angle, vehicle image URL (Uniform Resource Locator), and segment map URL, all associated with each other. The body type ID may indicate the body type of the vehicle shown in the vehicle image. The interior / exterior type may indicate whether the vehicle image is an interior or exterior image. The viewpoint angle may only be valid if the interior / exterior type indicates an exterior view. The vehicle image URL may be identification information for identifying the image data of the vehicle image. Examples of image data formats include JPEG, TIFF, PNG, etc. The image data of the vehicle image may be stored in the storage unit 14 in association with this vehicle image URL. The segment map URL may be identification information for identifying the data of the segment map of the vehicle image. The segment map may be a map that shows the relationship between each coordinate or each pixel in the vehicle image and the parts of the vehicle. For example, the segment map may be a two-dimensional array with a size corresponding to the number of pixels in the vertical and horizontal directions of the vehicle image.Each element in the segment map may be information identifying a part in the vehicle image, where the pixel at the coordinates corresponding to that element represents part of that part. The information identifying a part may be, for example, a part ID. An element corresponding to the coordinates of a pixel that does not represent any part may be information indicating that there is no part. The segment map data may be stored in the storage unit 14 in association with this segment map URL. For example, when a predetermined device or an automobile service server 1 generates a vehicle image using 3D computer graphics, in the 3D model of the vehicle, information identifying that part may be associated with the polygons that correspond to parts among the polygons that make up the vehicle. When rendering using the vehicle model, the device may identify the part information associated with the polygon corresponding to each pixel of the vehicle image. The device may generate a segment map that includes the identified part information for each coordinate or for each pixel. If the vehicle image is a photograph of the vehicle, the predetermined device or automobile service server 1 may identify the parts of the vehicle using image recognition technology. For example, the device may generate a segment map that divides the vehicle image into areas for each part and other areas using segmentation. Segmentation may be implemented using, for example, machine learning.

[0037] The owned vehicle DB14d may store owned vehicle information for each user who registered a vehicle. For example, as shown in Figure 3, the owned vehicle DB14d may store owned vehicle information such as user ID, manufacturer name, vehicle name, model name, model year, and grade, associated with each other. The user ID may be identification information to identify the user. The manufacturer name, vehicle name, model name, and grade may indicate the manufacturer, vehicle name, model, and grade of the vehicle owned by that user, respectively. The model year may indicate the year the vehicle was manufactured. Each user can register the vehicle they own with the automotive service by operating the user terminal 3. For example, the user selects the manufacturer and vehicle name of the vehicle, and inputs the model name, model year, and grade. Input of some information may be optional. The user terminal 3 transmits the manufacturer name and vehicle name of the selected manufacturer and vehicle, as well as the input model name, model year, and grade, to the automotive service server 1. The automotive service server 1 generates vehicle ownership information, including the information received from the user terminal 3 and the user's user ID. The automotive service server 1 stores the generated vehicle ownership information in the vehicle ownership database 14d.

[0038] Furthermore, the storage unit 14 may store various programs such as an operating system, a DBMS (Database Management System), and an automobile service program. The automobile service program is a program that causes the system control unit 11 to execute processing related to automobile services. The automobile service program may be acquired, for example, from another device via a network NW, or it may be recorded on a recording medium such as magnetic tape, optical disk, or memory card and read via a drive device.

[0039] The communication unit 15 is composed of, for example, a network interface card. The communication unit 15 connects to a device different from the automotive service server 1 via the network NW and controls the communication status with the connected device.

[0040] [1-2-2. Commodity Trading Server] Next, the configuration of the commodity trading server 2 will be described with reference to Figures 4 and 5. Figure 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the schematic configuration of the commodity trading server 2 according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 4, the commodity trading server 2 includes a system control unit 21, a system bus 22, an input / output interface 23, a storage unit 24, and a communication unit 25. The system control unit 21 and the input / output interface 23 are connected via the system bus 22.

[0041] The system control unit 21 is composed of a CPU 21a, ROM 21b, RAM 21c, etc.

[0042] The input / output interface 23 performs interface processing between the storage unit 24 and the communication unit 25 and the system control unit 21.

[0043] The storage unit 24 is composed of, for example, a hard disk drive. Databases such as product DB 24a and product purchase history DB 24b may be stored in this storage unit 24.

[0044] Figure 5 shows an example of information stored in the database of the product trading server 2. The product DB 24a or storage unit 14 may be an example of product information storage means. The product information storage means may store product information. Product information may be information about products. Product information may be information that can be registered by employees of the store that sells the product to which the product information corresponds. The product information storage means may also store product information for vehicle parts. The product DB 24a may store product information for products that can be purchased through the product trading service. For example, product information may be stored for each product. If the product trading service is a service that enables the purchase of products at an online shopping mall, product information may be stored for each combination of product and the store that sells that product. For example, as shown in Figure 5, the product DB 24a may store product information such as store ID, product ID, product code, product category information, product name, catchphrase, product description, product image URL, price, attribute information, etc., associated with each other. The store ID may be identification information for identifying the store that sells the product. The product ID and product code may be identification information for identifying the product, respectively. The product ID may be identification information assigned by the store that sells the product to identify that product. The product code may be unique identification information predetermined for the product, regardless of the store that sells it. An example of a product code is the JAN (Japanese Article Number) code. Product category information may be information indicating the category to which the product belongs. Product categories may be defined hierarchically, for example. Examples of top-level categories include fashion, gourmet food, daily necessities, home appliances, and vehicles / motorcycles. Examples of categories one level below vehicles / motorcycles include car accessories / motorcycle accessories, cars / motorcycles, etc. Examples of categories one level below car accessories / motorcycle accessories include car accessories, motorcycle accessories, etc. Examples of categories one level below car accessories include accessories, parts, tires / wheels, etc.Product category information may include, for example, the product category IDs for each category from the highest-level category to which the product belongs down to the lowest-level category. The product category ID may also be identification information for identifying a category. The product name may indicate the name given to the product by the store. The catchphrase may indicate the advertising slogan specified by the selling store for the product. The product description may indicate the description specified by the selling store as a description of the product. The product name, catchphrase, and product description may each be, for example, text data. The product image URL may be identification information for identifying the image data of the product image for that product. The product image may be the image of the product. The image data of the product image may be stored in the storage unit 24 in association with this product image URL. The attribute information may be information indicating the attributes of the product for items defined by the category to which the product belongs.

[0045] Of the product information for parts stored in product DB24a, at least one piece of product information may include product part information and part-compatible vehicle category information. Product part information may also be identification information for identifying a part. Product part information may indicate the type of part, or it may indicate one of the categories of parts classified by the general name of the part. Part-compatible vehicle category information may also indicate the category of vehicle to which the part corresponds. Examples of vehicle categories include manufacturer, vehicle type, model, grade, model year, and combinations of two or more of these categories. Examples of vehicles to which a part corresponds include vehicles to which the part fits, vehicles in which the part can be installed, vehicles in which the part functions normally when installed, vehicles in which the vehicle functions normally when the part is installed, and vehicles in which the design does not look out of place when the part is installed. The category of vehicles to which a part corresponds is usually determined by the manufacturer of the part. The category of vehicle to which a part corresponds is usually indicated on the part, on the packaging of the part, or in the instruction manual for that part. At least one of the product part information and the vehicle category information for which the part corresponds may be included in the text of at least one of the following: product name, catchphrase, and product description. For example, the part name may be included in the text as part information. Similarly, the name of the vehicle category may be included in the text as an example of vehicle category information for which the part corresponds. As will be described later, this text is presented to the user. Therefore, the text in the product information for a part product usually includes the part name. Generally, the text in the product information for a part product also includes the name of the vehicle category to which the part corresponds. At least one of the product part information and the vehicle category information for which the part corresponds may be included in the product category information. For example, among car accessories, parts products may be categorized by the type of part. In this case, the product category information for a part product may include a product category ID indicating the type of part, as an example of product part information.For example, a parts product may be categorized by the vehicle category to which the part corresponds. In this case, the product category information for a parts product includes a product category ID indicating the vehicle category to which the part corresponds, as an example of vehicle category information for parts. Also, for example, if categories are classified by the type of part, the attribute information for a parts product may include information indicating the vehicle category to which the part corresponds, as an example of vehicle category information for parts.

[0046] The memory unit 24 may store product screen information for each product information stored in the product DB 24a. The product screen is the screen for the product corresponding to that product information. For example, the product screen may be a screen that contains information about that product. For example, the product screen may include information such as the product name, product image, catchphrase, product description, and price. The product screen may also be a screen that can accept operations for purchasing or ordering the product corresponding to that product screen. For example, the product screen may include elements that can be operated to purchase the product. Examples of operable elements include buttons, links, icons, lists, etc. Examples of operations for purchasing a product include operations to enter the purchase procedure and operations to add the product to the shopping cart. The purchase procedure may include processes for the user to determine the order details or processes for the user to confirm the order details. Examples of order details include the number of products to purchase, payment method, product delivery method, and product delivery address. The purchase procedure may further include processes to confirm the order details. The purchase procedure may also include a settlement process for the user to pay the price for the product to be purchased by the product transaction server 2. The purchase procedure may also include the process by which the product transaction server 2 notifies the store where the purchase is to be made of the order details. The shopping cart may be a virtual container or list in which the user places items that they plan to purchase later. The user can purchase items that are in the shopping cart. The product screen information may be, for example, screen information. The screen information may be information that indicates a specific screen. The screen information may also be information that causes that specific screen to be displayed on the user terminal 3. The screen information may be, for example, an HTML (HyperText Markup Language) document. In this case, the screen can be replaced with a web page or page. Alternatively, the screen information may be information that indicates the content or each element displayed on the user terminal 3. Alternatively, the screen information may be information that instructs the user terminal 3 to display a specific screen. Based on this instruction, the user terminal 3 may obtain and display information that indicates the content or elements to be displayed from the automobile service server 1 or other device.

[0047] The Product Purchase History DB24b may be a database of product purchase history information showing the purchase history of products in a product trading service. The Product Purchase History DB24b may also contain information indicating the purchased products and the users who purchased them. The Product Purchase History DB24b may store a product purchase log each time a product is purchased. The product purchase log may contain information indicating a record of the purchase of a product. For example, as shown in Figure 5, the Product Purchase History DB24b may store the following as a product purchase log, associated with each other: order number, purchase date and time, user ID, store ID, product ID, quantity purchased, shipping fee, and payment amount. The order number may be a number used to identify the purchase or order of a product. The purchase date and time may indicate the date and time the product was purchased. The user may indicate the user who purchased the product. The store ID may indicate where the product was purchased. The product ID may indicate the product purchased from that store. The quantity purchased may indicate how many of the product were purchased. The payment amount may indicate the amount paid by the user for the purchase of the product.

[0048] The storage unit 24 may also store various programs such as an operating system, a DBMS, and a commodity trading service program. The commodity trading service program is a program that causes the system control unit 21 to execute processing related to commodity trading services. The commodity trading service program may be acquired, for example, from another device via a network NW, or it may be recorded on a recording medium such as magnetic tape, optical disk, or memory card and read via a drive device.

[0049] The communication unit 25 is composed of, for example, a network interface card. The communication unit 25 connects to a device different from the commodity trading server 2 via the network NW and controls the communication status with the connected device.

[0050] [1-3. Overview of System Control Unit Functions] [1-3-1. Automotive Service Server] Next, the functional overview of the system control unit 11 in the automotive service server 1 will be described with reference to Figures 6 to 8. Figure 6 is a diagram showing an example of the functional blocks of the system control unit 11 in the automotive service server 1 according to this embodiment. The system control unit 11 may function as a category information acquisition unit 1101, an image transmission unit 1102, a parts information acquisition unit 1103, a search condition information transmission unit 1104, a search result information receiving unit 1105, a search result information transmission unit 1106, etc., as shown in Figure 6, by the CPU 11a reading and executing various program codes included in the automotive service program.

[0051] The category information acquisition unit 1101 may acquire owned vehicle category information that indicates the category of the vehicle owned by the user. This user may be, for example, a user who requests a search for parts products from the automobile service server 1. This user is called the search request user. Examples of vehicle categories include vehicle type, model, combination of vehicle type and grade, combination of model type and grade, combination of manufacturer and vehicle type, combination of manufacturer, vehicle type and grade, combination of vehicle type and model year, combination of vehicle type, grade and model year, etc. The category items indicated by the owned vehicle category information may match the category items indicated by the parts-compatible vehicle category information. If the owned vehicle category information indicates a vehicle type, the parts-compatible vehicle category information may also indicate a vehicle type. The category information acquisition unit 1101 may acquire owned vehicle category information from, for example, the owned vehicle DB 14d. Examples of owned vehicle category information include the name of the vehicle category, product category information for identifying the vehicle category to which the parts product corresponds among the product categories in the product trading service, and other information that identifies the parts. For example, the user logs in to the automobile service or product trading service. When logging in, the user enters, for example, their user ID and password. User terminal 3 transmits the entered login and password to the automobile service server 1 or the commodity trading server 2. The server device that receives the login and password authenticates the user based on that information. If authentication is successful, the server device may store, for example, a cookie containing the user ID on user terminal 3. Thereafter, requests sent from user terminal 3 to automobile service server 1 and commodity trading server 2 will include the user ID stored on user terminal 3. The category information acquisition unit 1101 may, for example, acquire owned vehicle category information from owned vehicle information containing the user ID transmitted from user terminal 3.

[0052] The image transmission unit 1102 may transmit a vehicle image to the user terminal 3 of the user making the search request. For example, the image transmission unit 1102 may transmit a vehicle image that will be displayed on the user terminal 3. As a vehicle image to be displayed on the user terminal 3, the image transmission unit 1102 may transmit a vehicle image of a vehicle corresponding to a category indicated by the owned vehicle category information acquired by the category information acquisition unit 1101 to the user terminal 3. For example, suppose that image data of vehicle images of vehicles in multiple categories are stored in the storage unit 14. The vehicle image of a vehicle corresponding to a category indicated by the owned vehicle category information may be, for example, a vehicle image of a vehicle in a category that matches the category indicated by the owned vehicle category information. For example, suppose that image data of vehicle images is stored for each vehicle type, and the category indicated by the category information is the vehicle type. In this case, the image transmission unit 1102 may transmit a product image of a vehicle of the vehicle type indicated by that category information. There may be cases where there is no category among those categories that matches the category indicated by the owned vehicle category information. In this case, the vehicle image of a vehicle corresponding to a category indicated by the owned vehicle category information may be a vehicle image of a vehicle belonging to the category to which the category indicated by the owned vehicle category information belongs. For example, suppose that vehicle image data is stored for each body type, and the category indicated by the owned vehicle category information is the vehicle type. In this case, the image transmission unit 1102 may transmit a vehicle image of a vehicle with the same body type as the vehicle of the vehicle type indicated by the owned vehicle category information. The vehicle DB 14a defines the correspondence between multiple categories, each with different vehicle classification criteria, for each vehicle. For example, the manufacturer, vehicle type, model, grade, and body type are associated. By referring to the vehicle DB 14a, the image transmission unit 1102 can identify which other item categories correspond to a specific item of the user's vehicle.

[0053] The image transmission unit 1102 may transmit the vehicle image selected by the search requesting user from among the vehicle's exterior and interior images to the user terminal 3. Alternatively, the image transmission unit 1102 may transmit the vehicle image to the user terminal 3 from a viewpoint angle corresponding to the search requesting user's operation among multiple starting angles.

[0054] The image transmission unit 1102 may transmit screen information for displaying a vehicle image to the user terminal 3. The image transmission unit 1102 may include tags, scripts, or programs in the screen information for the user terminal 3 to obtain a vehicle image from the automotive service server 1. As a result, the image transmission unit 1102 may transmit a vehicle image in response to a request from the user terminal 3.

[0055] Figure 7(a) shows an example of a parts selection screen. The parts selection screen is an example of a screen for displaying vehicle images. As shown in Figure 7(a), the parts selection screen 100 may include an image display area 110 and an interior / exterior switching slider 120. The image display area 110 may be an area where vehicle images are displayed. For example, as shown in Figure 7(a), an image 210 of the vehicle's exterior is displayed in the image display area 110. The interior / exterior switching slider 120 may be an operable element for switching the vehicle image displayed in the image display area 110 between an exterior image and an interior image. A mouse pointer 310 may also be displayed on the parts selection screen 100. The mouse pointer 310 may be an image indicating a position on the screen. For example, a user requesting a search can change the viewing angle of the vehicle image displayed in the image display area 110 by dragging the mouse pointer 310 horizontally. The user requesting a search may also be able to move the vehicle image in the image display area 110 up, down, left, and right, and enlarge or reduce it. Furthermore, if user terminal 3 is a terminal device with a touch panel, the mouse pointer 310 may not be displayed, and the user requesting the search may be able to operate using the touch panel.

[0056] Figure 7(b) shows another example of the parts selection screen. In Figure 7(b), elements similar to those in Figure 7(a) are denoted by the same reference numerals. The user requesting the search moves the mouse pointer 310 to select the interior / exterior switching slider 120, which switches the vehicle image to an interior image. Then, as shown in Figure 7(b), the image of the vehicle's interior 220 is displayed in the image display area 110.

[0057] The parts information acquisition unit 1103 may acquire designated parts information that identifies a part of a vehicle, which is located at a location specified by the user in the vehicle image displayed on the user terminal 3. The designated parts information may, for example, indicate the type of part. Examples of designated parts information include the part name, part ID, and product category ID used to identify the type of part in the product trading service. The location specified by the user may, for example, be a location specified by the mouse pointer 310, or a location touched by the user with their finger on the touch panel. The parts located at the location specified by the user may include parts represented by the image of the specified location in the displayed vehicle image. Furthermore, the parts located at the location specified by the user may include parts that are not directly represented by the image of the specified location, but are generally included in the part of the car represented by the image of that location.

[0058] The parts information acquisition unit 1103 may acquire the coordinates of a specified location. Alternatively, the parts information acquisition unit 1103 may have the user terminal 3 acquire those coordinates. The coordinates in the vehicle image and the specified parts information may be associated in advance. This association information may be, for example, a segment map. The parts information acquisition unit 1103 may acquire the specified parts information of the part at the specified location based on the coordinates of the location and the segment map. Alternatively, the parts information acquisition unit 1103 may transmit the segment map to the user terminal 3. The parts information acquisition unit 1103 may have the user terminal 3 acquire the specified parts information of the part at the specified location based on the coordinates of the location and the segment map. Then, the parts information acquisition unit 1103 may acquire the specified parts information from the user terminal 3.

[0059] Figure 8(a) shows an example of a parts selection screen when selecting parts. In Figure 8(a), the same elements as in Figure 7(b) are denoted by the same reference numerals. For example, a user requesting a search enlarges the interior image 220 displayed in the image display area 110 of the parts selection screen 100, and then clicks or selects the console panel image 221 with the mouse pointer 310, as shown in Figure 8(a). Then, a parts label 410 may be displayed on the parts selection screen 100. The parts label 410, which is a label indicating a part located at a location specified by the user, displays "Console Panel". When a user requesting a search clicks or selects the parts label 410 with the mouse pointer 310, the user terminal 3 may send the specified parts information of the part indicated by the parts label 410 to the automotive service server 1. In the example shown in Figure 8(a), the specified parts information indicating the console panel is sent.

[0060] Figure 8(b) shows another example of the parts selection screen when selecting a part. If a part located at a specified location by user operation includes one or more other parts, it may be possible to specify the other parts included in the part located at the specified location. For example, after the part label 410 is displayed as shown in Figure 8(a), the search requesting user does not select the part label 410, but instead clicks or selects the image 222 of the shift knob in the console panel with the mouse pointer 310, as shown in Figure 8(b). Then, the parts selection screen 100 may display the part label 420. The part label 420 displays "Shift Knob". When the search requesting user clicks or selects the part label 420 with the mouse pointer 310, the user terminal 3 may send specified part information indicating the shift knob.

[0061] The search condition information transmission unit 1104 may transmit search condition information to the product transaction server 2. The search condition information may be information indicating the search conditions for a product. The search conditions may be conditions for searching for a product. For example, the search condition information transmission unit 1104 may transmit search condition information that includes owned vehicle category information obtained by the category information acquisition unit 1101 and specified part information obtained by the parts information acquisition unit 1103.

[0062] The search result information receiving unit 1105 may receive search result information from the product transaction server 2, which has searched for products based on the search condition information transmitted by the search condition information transmitting unit 1104. The search result information may also be information indicating the results of a product search. The search result information may include information on each product that satisfies the search conditions. For example, the search result information may include at least one of the following: product name, the name of the store that sells the product, product image URL, price, product category information for the product, URL of the product screen information, and information on reviews of the product by users who purchased the product. The search result information may also include information indicating the display priority of each product. The priority may indicate how much priority the information of that product is given to being displayed. The higher the priority, the more priority the product information is given to being displayed.

[0063] The search result information transmission unit 1106 may transmit search result information, which indicates the result of a product search by the product transaction server 2, to the user terminal 3. For example, the search result information transmission unit 1106 may transmit the search result information received by the search result information receiving unit 1105 as is. Alternatively, the search result information transmission unit 1106 may transmit screen information of the search results screen as another example of search result information. The search results screen may be a screen that displays the search results for a product. The search results screen may display information for each product that satisfies the search criteria. For example, the product name, store name, product image, price, product category name, etc., may be displayed. The search results screen may also include a link to the screen information of the product screen of a product that satisfies the search criteria. For example, when a user making a search selects information for any product on the search results screen, the user terminal 3 may transmit the URL of the screen information of that product's product screen to the product transaction server 2. The product transaction server 2 may transmit the screen information associated with this URL to the search requesting user terminal 3. Based on this screen information, the user terminal 3 may display the product screen of the product selected by the search requesting user. Furthermore, the search results screen may display information on products that meet the search criteria in an order according to their display priority. For example, product information may be displayed from top to bottom on the search results screen in order of priority. The search results information transmission unit 1106 may generate screen information for the search results screen based on the search results information received by the search results information receiving unit 1105. The search results screen may also be a screen that allows switching between multiple screens internally. For example, the search results screen may include tabs to switch between the displayed screens. For example, there may be a normal screen, a category screen, and a review screen. The normal screen may be a screen that displays information on the searched products in order of priority. The category screen may be a screen that displays a list of categories for the searched products. For example, the category to which a relatively large number of the searched products belong may be displayed. When a user selects a category on the category screen, information on products in the selected category from the searched products may be displayed in order of priority.The review screen may also be a screen that displays reviews for the searched product.

[0064] [1-3-2. Commodity Trading Server] Next, the functional overview of the system control unit 21 in the commodity trading server 2 will be described with reference to Figures 9 and 10. Figure 9 is a diagram showing an example of the functional blocks of the system control unit 21 in the commodity trading server 2 according to this embodiment. The system control unit 21 may function as a search condition information receiving unit 2101, a search unit 2102, and a search result information transmission unit 2103, etc., as shown in Figure 9, by the CPU 21a reading and executing various program codes included in the commodity trading service program.

[0065] The search condition information receiving unit 2101 may receive search condition information transmitted from the automobile service server 1.

[0066] The search unit 2102 may search for products by referring to the product information storage means. The product information storage means may be the product DB 24a or the storage unit 24. The search unit 2102 may use owned vehicle category information obtained by the category information acquisition unit 1101 of the automobile service server 1 and specified part information obtained by the parts information acquisition unit 1103 of the automobile service server 1 as search conditions. The search unit 2102 may search for products that satisfy the conditions of both the owned vehicle category information and the specified part information. For example, the search unit 2102 may search for products whose product information includes both the owned vehicle category information and the specified part information. As described above, the product information of at least one product among the parts products includes part-compatible vehicle information and product part information. The search unit 2102 may search for product information that includes part-compatible vehicle information that matches the owned vehicle category information and product part information that matches the specified part information. This makes it possible to search for products that are parts corresponding to vehicles in the category indicated by the owned vehicle category information and parts indicated by the specified part information. Alternatively, it is possible to search for products that are parts corresponding to vehicles in that category and are highly likely to be the parts indicated by the specified parts information. This owned vehicle category information and specified parts information are included in the search conditions information received by the search conditions information receiving unit 2101.

[0067] Assume that the product information stored in the product information storage means includes text related to the product. In this case, the search unit 2102 may use the name of the category indicated in the owned vehicle category information as a keyword to search for products whose product information text contains that keyword. Alternatively, the search unit 2102 may use the name of the part indicated by the specified part information as a keyword to search for products whose product information text contains that keyword. In other words, the search unit 2102 may perform a keyword search. Examples of text related to a product include the product name, catchphrase, and product description. The search unit 2102 may perform a search using one, two, or all of the product name, catchphrase, and product description.

[0068] If a vehicle part has a corresponding vehicle category, the search unit 2102 may search for products whose product category information is indicative of a product in the category shown in the owned vehicle category information. For example, the search unit 2102 may search for products whose product category information contains a product category ID corresponding to a vehicle category shown in the owned vehicle category information. Furthermore, if a vehicle part has a category that can be identified by the general name of the part or a category indicating the type of part, the search unit 2102 may search for products whose product category information is indicative of a product in the specified part information. For example, the search unit 2102 may search for products whose product category information contains a product category ID corresponding to a part shown in the specified part information.

[0069] If the product information for a vehicle part includes attribute information indicating the vehicle category to which the part corresponds, the search unit 2102 may search for products whose attribute information included in the product information indicates the category shown in the owned vehicle category information.

[0070] The search unit 2102 may also search for products that meet the search criteria from among products in categories related to automobiles, for example. For example, the search unit 2102 may perform a search among products related to car accessories.

[0071] Figure 10 shows an example of a product search. For example, as shown in Figure 10, the user requesting the search specified a console panel in the image 220 of the vehicle's interior displayed on the parts selection screen 100. The vehicle information of the user requesting the search, stored in the owned vehicle DB 14d, includes the model name "AAA111" of the vehicle owned by that user. In this case, the keywords "console panel" as owned vehicle category information and "AAA111" as specified part information may be used as search conditions. For example, the product name of a certain product includes the keyword "console". The product description of that product also includes the keyword "AAA111". Therefore, the search unit may identify that product as one of the products that satisfy the search conditions. As mentioned above, the vehicle category is not limited to the model.

[0072] The search result information transmission unit 2103 may transmit search result information, which indicates the results of the product search performed by the search unit 2102, to the automobile service server 1. For example, the search result information transmission unit 2103 may generate search result information based on the product information of each searched product. The search result information transmission unit 2103 may determine the priority of each product searched by the search unit 2102. This priority may indicate how much priority is given to the presentation or display of each searched product. The higher the priority of a product, the more preferentially its information may be displayed. The search result information transmission unit 2103 may determine the priority based on predetermined criteria. For example, the more popular a product is, the higher its priority may be. Popularity may indicate how popular a product is. For example, popularity may be determined based on the number of purchases or purchase frequency of a product. For example, the more times a product is purchased, the higher its popularity may be. For example, the search result information transmission unit 2103 may determine the number of purchases or purchase frequency of each product based on the product purchase history DB 24b. The search result information transmission unit 2103 may predetermine the popularity level of each product. The search result information transmission unit 2103 may, for example, include the determined popularity level in the product information stored in the product DB 24a. The search result information transmission unit 2103 may also include the determined priority level of each product in the search result information. Furthermore, the search result information transmission unit 2103 may obtain user review information for each product from a predetermined database (not shown). The search result information transmission unit 2103 may also include the review information in the search result information.

[0073] [1-4. Operation of the communication system] Next, the operation of the communication system S will be described with reference to Figures 11 and 12. The system control unit 11 of the automobile service server 1 may execute the processes shown in Figure 11 according to the various program codes included in the automobile service program. The system control unit 21 of the commodity trading server 2 may execute the processes shown in Figures 11 and 12 according to the various program codes included in the commodity trading service program. The order of the processes is not limited to the order shown in these figures. Also, at least one of the steps shown in these figures may not be executed.

[0074] Figure 11 is a sequence diagram showing an example of processing of the communication system S according to this embodiment. For example, the user terminal 3 displays some screen of an automobile service. Here, the user requesting the search performs an operation to select a search for parts. In response to this operation, the user terminal 3 sends a parts selection screen request to the automobile service server 1, as shown in Figure 11 (step S101). The parts selection screen request may also indicate a request for screen information of the parts selection screen. The category information acquisition unit 1101 of the automobile service server 1 acquires the owned vehicle category name, which indicates the name of the category of the vehicle owned by the search requesting user, as an example of owned vehicle category information, from the owned vehicle information stored in the owned vehicle DB 14d in association with the user ID included in the parts selection screen request (step S102). For example, the category information acquisition unit 1101 may acquire the names of each of the categories of one or more predetermined items. Next, the image transmission unit 1102 acquires the body type ID associated with the model name included in this owned vehicle information from the vehicle DB 14a (step S103). Next, the image transmission unit 1102 sends an HTML document as an example of screen information for the parts selection screen to the user terminal 3 (step S104). The user terminal 3 displays the parts selection screen 100 based on this HTML document (step S105).

[0075] The user terminal 3 also sends a vehicle image request to the automotive service server 1 according to the tags, scripts, or programs contained in this HTML document (step S106). The vehicle image request may indicate a request for a vehicle image. The vehicle image request may include, for example, an interior / exterior type indicating the exterior and a viewpoint angle indicating 0 degrees. The image transmission unit 1102 of the automotive service server 1, upon receiving the vehicle image request, retrieves the vehicle image data and segment map associated with the acquired body type ID from the storage unit 14 (step S107). For example, the image transmission unit 1102 may retrieve the vehicle image URL and segment map URL associated with the combination of the body type ID and the exterior type and viewpoint angle included in the vehicle image request from the vehicle image DB 14c. The image transmission unit 1102 may retrieve the vehicle image data and segment map associated with the acquired vehicle image URL and segment map URL, respectively. Next, the image transmission unit 1102 transmits the acquired image data and segment map to the user terminal 3 (step S108). The user terminal 3, having received the image data and segment map, displays a vehicle image in the screen area 110 based on this screen information (step S109). Subsequently, steps S106 to S109 may be executed in response to operations by the user to switch between the interior and exterior of the vehicle or to change the viewing angle.

[0076] After step S109, the user requesting the search selects a part from the displayed vehicle image (step S110). For example, the user requesting the search may specify a location within the vehicle image. The part selection screen HTML document may contain event handlers for the specification within the vehicle image. According to these event handlers, the user terminal 3 may identify the coordinates of the specified location. The user terminal 3 may obtain a part ID corresponding to the coordinates of the specified location from the segment map. The user terminal 3 may display a part label containing the part name of the part identified by the part ID. The user requesting the search selects a part by selecting the displayed part label (step S110). Depending on the part selection, the user terminal 3 sends the part name of the selected part as the specified part name to the automobile service server 1 (step S111). The search condition information transmission unit 1104 of the automobile service server 1 transmits the search condition information, including the acquired vehicle category name and the received specified part name, to the product transaction server 2 (step S112). Upon receiving the vehicle category name and specified part name, the product transaction server 2 executes the product search process (step S113).

[0077] Figure 12 is a flowchart showing an example of a product search process executed by the system control unit 21 of the product transaction server 2 according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 12, the search unit 2102 searches the product DB 24a for product information that includes the vehicle category name received from the automobile service server 1 in one or more predetermined types of text, and also includes the specified part name received from the automobile service server 1 in one or more predetermined types of text (step S201). The one or more predetermined types of text may be one or more predetermined pieces of information such as product name, catchphrase, and product description. Next, the search result information transmission unit 2103 determines the display priority of the products corresponding to each searched product information (step S202). Next, the search result information transmission unit 2103 generates search result information based on the searched product information (step S203). For example, the search result information transmission unit 2103 may generate search result information including the product name, product image URL, price, URL of the product screen information, and priority for each product. When step S203 is completed, the product search process ends.

[0078] Returning to Figure 11, once the product search process is complete, the search result information transmission unit 2103 transmits the generated search result information to the automobile service server 1 (step S114). The search result information transmission unit 1106 of the automobile service server 1 generates an HTML document as an example of screen information for the search results screen based on the search result information (step S115). For example, the search result information transmission unit 1106 may generate information to display the product name, product image, price, etc. for each product. Alternatively, the search result information transmission unit 1106 may add the information for each product to the HTML document for the search results screen so that the generated information for each product is arranged from top to bottom in order of priority. Next, the search result information transmission unit 1106 transmits the generated HTML document to the user terminal 3 (step S116). The user terminal 3 displays the search results screen based on this HTML document (step S117).

[0079] As described above, according to this embodiment, the user performs an operation to specify a location within the displayed image of the vehicle where an image of any part of that vehicle is located. Then, using information indicating the category of the vehicle owned by the user and information identifying the part located at the specified location as search conditions, the product is searched. Information indicating the search result is then transmitted to the user's terminal device. Therefore, it is possible to search for products of parts that are likely to be located at the location specified by the user and that are likely to correspond to the vehicle owned by the user. Thus, based on operations on the image, it is possible to search for products of parts corresponding to the vehicle owned by the user.

[0080] Here, the automotive service server 1 may obtain vehicle category information based on vehicle ownership information that indicates the vehicles owned by the user and which has been registered in advance by the user. In this case, since the information of the vehicles owned by the user is registered in advance, the category of the vehicle owned by that user can be identified based on that information.

[0081] Alternatively, the automotive service server 1 may send an image of a vehicle corresponding to the category indicated by the owned vehicle category information to the user terminal 3 as an image to be displayed on the user terminal 3. In this case, an image of a vehicle corresponding to the category of the vehicle owned by the user will be displayed. Therefore, the user can specify a vehicle part from the image corresponding to the vehicle owned by the user.

[0082] [2. Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment will be described. Except for the points described below, this embodiment may be identical to the first embodiment. In the first embodiment, the automobile service server 1 obtained vehicle ownership category information of vehicles owned by the search request user from information registered by the search request user. In this embodiment, the automobile service server 1 obtains vehicle ownership category information based on the vehicle purchase history. In this embodiment, vehicles purchased by the search request user may be considered as vehicles owned by that search request user.

[0083] [2-1. Automotive Service Server Configuration] Next, the configuration of the automotive service server 1 will be described with reference to Figures 13 and 14. Figure 13 is a block diagram showing an example of the schematic configuration of the automotive service server 1 according to this embodiment. In Figure 13, the same elements as in Figure 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals. The difference between Figure 13 and Figure 2 is that the storage unit 14 stores the vehicle DB 14a, parts DB 14b, vehicle image DB 14c, and vehicle purchase history DB 14e.

[0084] Figure 14 shows an example of information stored in the database of the Automobile Service Server 1. The Vehicle Purchase History DB 14e may store vehicle purchase history information that shows the history of vehicle purchases through the Automobile Service. For example, the Vehicle Purchase History DB 14e may store a vehicle purchase log each time a vehicle is purchased. The vehicle purchase log may be information that shows a record of the vehicle purchase. For example, as shown in Figure 14, the Vehicle Purchase History DB 14e may store the purchase date and time, user ID, manufacturer name, vehicle name, model name, grade, and model year as a vehicle purchase log, associated with each other. The purchase date and time may indicate the date and time the vehicle was purchased. The user ID may indicate the user who purchased the vehicle. The manufacturer name, vehicle name, model name, grade, and model year may each indicate the category of the purchased vehicle. That is, the manufacturer name may be the name of the manufacturer of the vehicle. The vehicle name may indicate the name of the vehicle's vehicle type. The model name may be the name indicating the vehicle's model type. The grade may indicate the vehicle's class. The model year may indicate the year the vehicle was manufactured.

[0085] [2-2. Functional Overview of the System Control Unit of the Automotive Service Server] Next, the functional overview of the system control unit 11 in the automobile service server 1 will be described. The category information acquisition unit 1101 may acquire owned vehicle category information based on vehicle purchase history information that shows the history of vehicle purchases by the search request user. For example, the category information acquisition unit 1101 may search the vehicle purchase history DB 14e for one or more vehicle purchase logs, including the user ID of the search request user, acquired from the user terminal 3, as the vehicle purchase history information of the search request user. The category information acquisition unit 1101 may acquire owned vehicle category information that shows the category of the vehicle indicated by the retrieved vehicle purchase log. For example, the category information acquisition unit 1101 may acquire one or more predetermined pieces of information from the manufacturer name, vehicle name, model name, grade, and model year included in the vehicle purchase log as owned vehicle category information. If multiple vehicle purchase logs are retrieved, the category information acquisition unit 1101 may acquire owned vehicle category information based on the vehicle purchase log that includes the most recent purchase date and time among those vehicle purchase logs. That is, the last purchased vehicle may be considered to be the vehicle currently owned by the user.

[0086] [2-3. Operation of the communication system] Next, the operation of the communication system S will be explained with reference to Figure 15. Figure 15 is a sequence diagram showing an example of processing of the communication system S according to this embodiment. In Figure 15, the same reference numerals are used for the same processes as in Figure 11. As shown in Figure 15, when a parts selection screen request is received from the user terminal 3 (step S101), the category information acquisition unit 1101 of the automobile service server 1 searches the vehicle purchase history DB 14e for a vehicle purchase log that includes the user ID included in the parts selection screen request (step S121). Next, the category information acquisition unit 1101 obtains the owned vehicle category name as an example of owned vehicle category information from the retrieved vehicle purchase log (step S122). Next, the image transmission unit 1102 obtains the body type ID stored in the vehicle DB 14a in association with the model name included in the retrieved vehicle purchase log (step S123). After that, steps S104 to S117 are executed.

[0087] As described above, according to this embodiment, vehicle ownership category information is obtained based on information indicating the user's vehicle purchase history. There is a high probability that a vehicle purchased by a user is a vehicle owned by that user. Therefore, based on information indicating the vehicle purchase history, the category of vehicles owned by that user can be identified.

[0088] [3. Third Embodiment] Next, a third embodiment will be described. Except for the points described below, this embodiment may be identical to at least one of the embodiments described so far. In this embodiment, products for parts corresponding to vehicles in the category of vehicles owned by the search request user are searched, and products for parts corresponding to vehicles in a different category may also be searched. The products that are searched may be products that may correspond to vehicles owned by the search request user.

[0089] [3-1. Configuration of the Automotive Service Server] Next, the configuration of the automotive service server 1 will be described with reference to Figures 16 and 17. Figure 16 is a block diagram showing an example of the schematic configuration of the automotive service server 1 according to this embodiment. In Figure 16, the same elements as in Figure 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals. The difference between Figure 16 and Figure 2 is that the storage unit 14 stores a vehicle DB 14a, a parts DB 14b, a vehicle image DB 14c, and a owned vehicle DB 14d, as well as a vehicle category association DB 14f.

[0090] Figure 17 shows an example of information stored in the database of the Automobile Service Server 1. The Vehicle Category Association DB 14f may store vehicle category association information each time a user who is considered to own a vehicle purchases a vehicle part. The vehicle category association information may also be information that associates the category of the vehicle owned by the user with the category of the vehicle to which the part purchased by the same user corresponds. As mentioned above, the category of the vehicle owned by the user is called the owned vehicle category. The category of the vehicle to which the part corresponds is called the part-corresponding vehicle category. The items for the owned vehicle category and the items for the part-corresponding vehicle category may be the same. The owned vehicle category and the part-corresponding vehicle category may have categories located at a higher level than them. The categories located at a higher level than each of the owned vehicle category and the part-corresponding vehicle category are called higher categories. The higher category of the owned vehicle category includes multiple categories that include that owned vehicle category. Also, the higher category includes multiple categories that include that part-corresponding vehicle category. Examples of common higher categories are listed below. Manufacturer is a higher category than vehicle type. Vehicle type is the higher category of each of the model, grade, and model year. Model is the higher category of each of the grade and model year. Grade is the higher category of the model year. Furthermore, the higher category of a higher category of a certain category may also be the higher category of that category. Each of the owned vehicle category and the parts compatible vehicle category may be a combination of multiple categories. For example, if the higher category is vehicle type, examples of owned vehicle category and parts compatible vehicle category include the vehicle type of that vehicle, the vehicle grade of that vehicle, a combination of model and grade, and a combination of model, grade, and model year. The owned vehicle category and parts compatible vehicle category indicated by the vehicle category association information may be different categories from each other. Vehicle category association information may include owned vehicle category information and parts compatible vehicle category information. Owned vehicle category information is information that indicates the owned vehicle category. Parts compatible vehicle category information is information that indicates the parts compatible vehicle category.Vehicle category association information may also include purchased parts information. Purchased parts information may be information used to identify the purchased parts. As shown in Figure 17, the vehicle category association DB14f may store the following as vehicle category association information, such as user ID, owned vehicle model name, store ID, product ID, product code, product category information, purchased part name, and part-corresponding vehicle model name, in association with each other. The user ID may indicate the user in question. The owned vehicle model name may be a name indicating the model of the vehicle owned by that user. The owned vehicle model name is an example of owned vehicle category information. The store ID may indicate the vendor of the parts purchased by that user. The product ID may indicate the product purchased by that user from that store. The product code may indicate the purchased product. The product category information may indicate the category of the purchased product. The purchased part name may be the general name of the purchased part or a name indicating the type of part. The purchased part name may be an example of purchased parts information. The part-corresponding vehicle model name may be a name indicating the model of the vehicle to which the purchased product corresponds. The vehicle model names listed as compatible with the parts are an example of the parts compatibility category information.

[0091] [3-2. Overview of System Control Unit Functions] [3-2-1. Automotive Service Server] Next, the functional overview of the system control unit 11 in the automotive service server 1 will be described with reference to Figures 18 to 20. Figure 18 is a diagram showing an example of the functional blocks of the system control unit 11 in the automotive service server 1 according to this embodiment. In Figure 18, the same elements as in Figure 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals. As shown in Figure 18, in addition to the category information acquisition unit 1101 to the search result information transmission unit 1106, the system control unit 11 may also function as a category identification unit 1107 and a priority determination unit 1108.

[0092] The category identification unit 1107 may identify the owned vehicle category, which is the category of the vehicle owned by the user, and the parts-corresponding vehicle category, which is the category of the vehicle to which the parts purchased by the user correspond. Alternatively, the category identification unit 1107 may identify the owned vehicle category of the vehicle owned by the user, the parts-corresponding vehicle category to which the parts purchased by the user correspond, and the purchased parts. For example, the category identification unit 1107 may perform the identification based on the owned vehicle category information of multiple users, product purchase history information, and product information. The owned vehicle category information used may be information that indicates the category of the vehicle owned by each of those multiple users. These multiple users may be users who own vehicles. These multiple users may or may not include the user making the search request. For example, the category information acquisition unit 1101 can acquire owned vehicle category information for each user who owns a vehicle. The product purchase history information may be information that indicates the purchase history of parts products. The product purchase history information used may be information that indicates the purchased product and the user who purchased that product. For example, one or more purchase logs from the purchase logs stored in product DB24a that indicate the purchase of a part can be obtained as product purchase history information. The product information used may be the product information of the product indicated by the product purchase history information as the purchased part. As mentioned above, the product information of a part may include product part information and vehicle category information corresponding to the part.

[0093] The category information acquisition unit 1101 may acquire, for example, owned vehicle information or vehicle purchase history information, user IDs for each user who owns a vehicle and owned vehicle category information indicating the category of the vehicle owned by that user. This identifies the category of the vehicle owned by the user. The category identification unit 1107 may search the product purchase log containing the acquired user ID from the product purchase history DB 24b. In this case, the category identification unit 1107 may search the purchase log of parts products. For example, based on the product category information included in the product information of the purchased product, the purchase log of a product in the car accessories category may be searched as a purchase log of parts products. Alternatively, the category identification unit 1107 may search the purchase log of products in each category that is a subcategory of the car accessories category and corresponds to vehicle parts. The category identification unit 1107 may have the product transaction server 2 perform the search of product purchase logs. The category identification unit 1107 may acquire product information of the product indicated by the product ID included in the product purchase log from the product DB 24a. The category identification unit 1107 may obtain vehicle category information corresponding to the parts from the acquired product information. Furthermore, the category identification unit 1107 may obtain product part information included in the product information as purchased part information.

[0094] The category identification unit 1107 may store the results of identifying the category of a vehicle owned by a user and the corresponding vehicle category of the part purchased by that user in the storage unit 14. Furthermore, the category identification unit 1107 may store the results of identifying the purchased part in the storage unit 14. This information indicating the identification results may also be vehicle category association information. The category identification unit 1107 may associate the owned vehicle category information obtained for the same user with the acquired part-corresponding vehicle category information and the purchased part information and store them in the vehicle category association DB 14f. If the owned vehicle category information and the part-corresponding vehicle category information indicate the same category, the category identification unit 1107 does not need to store vehicle category association information for them.

[0095] The search condition information transmission unit 1104 may transmit first search condition information and second search condition information to the product transaction server 2 as search condition information. By transmitting two sets of search condition information, the search condition information transmission unit 1104 may cause the product transaction server 2 to search for products using different search conditions. The first search condition information may be information indicating the first search condition for a product. The second search condition information may be information indicating the second search condition for a product. Each of the first and second search condition information may include specified part information acquired by the parts information acquisition unit 1103. In addition to the specified part information, the first search condition information may also include first vehicle category information, which indicates the first vehicle category, which is the category of the vehicle owned by the search request user. That is, the first search condition information may be the same as the search condition information described in the first embodiment, etc. The first vehicle category may correspond to the vehicle category owned by the search request user. As a result, the product trading server 2 searches for products based on the first search condition information for parts located in the vehicle image at the location specified by the user requesting the search, and which correspond to vehicles in the same first vehicle category as the vehicle owned by the user requesting the search. The second search condition information may include, in addition to the specified part information, second vehicle category information indicating a second vehicle category different from the first vehicle category. The higher-level category of the first vehicle category and the higher-level category of the second vehicle category may be the same. That is, each of the first and second vehicle categories may be any of the multiple categories included in the same higher-level category. For example, if the first vehicle category is the model of the vehicle owned by the user requesting the search, the second vehicle category may be the model of a vehicle of the same type as that model, but a different model from the vehicle owned by the user requesting the search. As a result, the product trading server 2 searches for products that correspond to vehicles in a second vehicle category that is different from the category of the vehicle owned by the search requester, among the categories that are included in the same higher category as the first vehicle category of the vehicle owned by the search requester, based on the second search condition information.Although vehicles in the second vehicle category differ from those in the first vehicle category, both categories belong to the same higher category. Therefore, parts corresponding to vehicles in the second vehicle category may also correspond to vehicles in the first vehicle category. This allows users to search for parts that may be compatible with the vehicles they own. On the other hand, parts that correspond to different vehicle categories may also have different characteristics. An example of such characteristics is the design of the part. Therefore, users can search for parts that may be compatible with the vehicles they own, but whose characteristics may differ from parts that would normally correspond to those vehicles.

[0096] The search condition information transmission unit 1104 may determine a second vehicle category to be used as a second search condition from among the second vehicle categories that are different from the first vehicle category, based on the results of the category identification unit 1107. For example, the search condition information transmission unit 1104 may determine as second vehicle category information to be used for the search information the category identified by the category identification unit 1107 as the category of the vehicle to which a part purchased by a user who owns a vehicle in the first vehicle category corresponds, from among the second vehicle categories. Therefore, the second vehicle category may correspond to the vehicle category to which the purchased part corresponds. For example, the search condition information transmission unit 1104 may obtain part-corresponding vehicle category information from the category association information showing the results of the category identification unit 1107, indicating the vehicle category to which a part purchased by a user who owns a vehicle in the first vehicle category corresponds, from among the second vehicle categories that are different from the first vehicle category. As mentioned above, the first vehicle category corresponds to the owned vehicle category. Therefore, the search condition information transmission unit 1104 may search the vehicle category association DB 14f for vehicle category association information that includes the same owned vehicle category information as the first vehicle category information obtained by the category information acquisition unit 1101. The search condition information transmission unit 1104 may also acquire the parts corresponding vehicle category information included in the retrieved vehicle category association information as second vehicle category information. As a result, the product transaction server 2 searches for products for parts that correspond to vehicles in the same category as the vehicle to which any part purchased by the user corresponds, among other categories in the same higher category as the higher category that includes the category of the vehicle owned by the search request user. Even if the product information does not indicate that a part corresponds to a vehicle in the same category as the vehicle owned by the user, the part purchased by that user may correspond to the vehicle owned by that user. In that case, the vehicle in the category owned by the user and the vehicle in the category indicated by the product information as the category to which the purchased part corresponds may be compatible in terms of available parts. Therefore, it is possible to search for products for parts that may correspond to the vehicle owned by the user.The search condition information transmission unit 1104 may, for example, acquire information indicating the vehicle category to which parts whose purchase count or purchase frequency exceeds a predetermined value corresponds, as second vehicle category information.

[0097] The search condition information transmission unit 1104 may determine, as the second vehicle category information used as the second search condition, information indicating the vehicle category to which a part identical to the part indicated by the specified part information obtained by the parts information acquisition unit 1103 corresponds, among the parts purchased by a user who owns a vehicle in the first category. As a result, the product transaction server 2 searches for products of parts that have been purchased by any user in any of the other categories included in the same higher category as the vehicle category of the vehicle owned by the search request user, and that correspond to a vehicle in the same category as the vehicle to which a part of the same type as the part specified by the search request user corresponds, located in the vehicle screen. This makes it possible to search for products of parts of the type specified by the search request user that may correspond to a vehicle owned by the search request user. Whether or not parts are compatible between vehicles of different categories may vary depending on the type of part. If the vehicle category association information includes purchased part information, the search condition information transmission unit 1104 may obtain part-corresponding vehicle category information as the second vehicle category information from the vehicle category association information that includes purchased part information that matches the specified part information.

[0098] The search result information receiving unit 1105 may receive first search result information from the product trading server 2, which indicates the result of a search based on the first search result information transmitted by the search condition information transmitting unit 1104. Products found based on the first search result information are referred to as first products. The search result information receiving unit 1105 may also receive second search result information from the product trading server 2, which indicates the result of a search based on the second search result information transmitted by the search condition information transmitting unit 1104. Products found based on the second search result information are referred to as second products.

[0099] The priority determination unit 1108 may determine the priority of products retrieved by the product transaction server 2. This priority may indicate how much priority is given to presenting or displaying each retrieved product. The higher the priority of a product, the more preferentially its information may be displayed. The priority determination unit 1108 may also lower the priority of the second product than the priority of the first product. This allows the search request user to preferentially present parts that may have different characteristics from parts that normally correspond to vehicles owned by the search request user.

[0100] Figure 19 shows an example of vehicle categories and parts purchase status. For example, the higher-level category is the vehicle type, and the first vehicle category and the second vehicle category may each be the vehicle model. As shown in Figure 19, the user making the search request owns a vehicle of model "AAA111". This vehicle is of the vehicle type "AAAAAA". In addition to the vehicle of model "AAA111", there are also vehicles of model "AAA110" and vehicle of model "AAA112" that are of the vehicle type "AAAAAA". Assume that there are other users besides the user making the search request who own a vehicle of model "AAA111". None of the users who own a vehicle of model "AAA111" have purchased parts corresponding to a vehicle of model "AAA110". On the other hand, at least one of the users who own a vehicle of model "AAA111" has purchased parts corresponding to a vehicle of model "AAA112".

[0101] Figure 20 shows an example of a product search. For example, as shown in Figure 20, the user requesting the search specified a console panel in the image 220 of the vehicle's interior displayed on the parts selection screen 100. The vehicle information of the user requesting the search, stored in the owned vehicle DB 14d, includes the model name "AAA111" of the vehicle owned by that user. In this case, the first search condition includes the first vehicle category information indicating the model "AAA111" and the specified part information indicating "console panel". As mentioned above, the user who owns the vehicle of model "AAA111" has purchased parts corresponding to the vehicle of model "AAA112". Therefore, the second search condition includes the second vehicle category information indicating the model "AAA112" and the specified part information indicating "console panel". Assume that product DB 24a stores product information for products A, B, and C. Product A is a console panel corresponding to the vehicle of model "AAA110". Product B is a console panel corresponding to the vehicle of model "AAA111". Product C is a console panel compatible with vehicle model "AAA112". Neither the first nor the second search criterion includes model "AAA110". Therefore, product A is not found as a product that meets the search criteria. Product B is found as a product that meets the first search criterion. Product C is found as a product that meets the second search criterion. Product B corresponds to product 1, and product C corresponds to product 2. Therefore, product C has a higher priority than product B.

[0102] The search result information transmission unit 1106 may transmit search result information to the user terminal 3, which shows the products searched by the product transaction server 2 in an order according to the priority determined by the priority determination unit 1108. For example, when the search result information transmission unit 1106 generates screen information for a search results screen as an example of search result information, it may generate the screen information so that the information of the searched products is arranged on the search screen in an order according to the priority. For example, the product information may be arranged from top to bottom on the search results screen in order of the highest priority product.

[0103] [3-2-2. Commodity Trading Server] Next, the functional overview of the system control unit 21 in the commodity trading server 2 will be described. The search condition information receiving unit 2101 may receive the first search condition information and the second search condition information transmitted from the automobile service server 1.

[0104] The search unit 2102 may use the first vehicle category information and specified parts information as first search conditions to search for a first product that satisfies these first search conditions. For example, the search unit 2102 may perform a search for a first product based on the first search condition information received by the search condition information receiving unit 2101. Alternatively, the search unit 2102 may use the second vehicle category information and specified parts information as second search conditions to search for a second product that satisfies these second search conditions. For example, the search unit 2102 may perform a search for a second product based on the second search condition information received by the search condition information receiving unit 2101.

[0105] The search unit 2102 may use, as second category information, information indicating the category identified by the category identification unit 1107 of the automobile service server 1 as the vehicle category to which the parts purchased by a user who owns a vehicle in the first category correspond, in order to search for the second product. As mentioned above, the second category information included in the second search condition information transmitted by the search condition information transmission unit 1104 of the automobile service server 1 and received by the search condition information receiving unit 2101 indicates the category identified by the category identification unit 1107 as the vehicle category to which the parts purchased by a user who owns a vehicle in the first category correspond. Therefore, the search unit 2102 can use this second category information.

[0106] The search result information transmission unit 2103 may transmit first search result information, which indicates the search results based on the first search result information from the search unit 2102, to the automobile service server 1. The search result information transmission unit 2103 may also transmit second search result information, which indicates the search results based on the second search result information from the search unit 2102, to the automobile service server 1. Both the first and second search result information may include information on each of the searched products. In this case, the search result information transmission unit 2103 does not need to determine the priority order of the searched products.

[0107] [3-3. Operation of the communication system] Next, the operation of the communication system S will be described with reference to Figures 21 to 23. Figure 21 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system S when generating vehicle category association information. The automobile service server 1 may, for example, execute the process shown in Figure 21 for each user whose owned vehicle information is stored in the owned vehicle DB 14d at predetermined intervals. Examples of predetermined intervals include one day, one week, one month, etc. If a vehicle purchase log is used as described in the second embodiment, the automobile service server 1 may identify the user who purchased the vehicle based on the vehicle purchase log. For each identified user, the automobile service server 1 may execute the same process as shown in Figure 21, using the vehicle purchase log instead of the owned vehicle information.

[0108] As shown in Figure 21, the category identification unit 1107 of the automobile service server 1 obtains the target owned vehicle information from the owned vehicle DB 14d (step S301). Next, the category identification unit 1107 obtains the user ID from the obtained owned vehicle information (step S302). Next, the category identification unit 1107 sends a product purchase history search request to the product transaction server 2, which includes the obtained user ID and the date and time when the processing shown in Figure 21 was last performed for the user identified by this user ID (step S303). The product transaction server 2 searches the product purchase history DB 24b for product purchase logs that include the user ID included in the product purchase history search request and include a purchase date and time after the date and time when the last processing was performed (step S304). Next, the product transaction server 2 sends each retrieved product purchase log to the automobile service server 1 (step S305). The category identification unit 1107 of the automobile service server 1 obtains a combination of store ID and product ID from each product purchase log received from the product transaction server 2. The category identification unit 1107 sends a product information request containing each acquired combination to the product transaction server 2 (step S306). The product transaction server 2 acquires each combination of store ID and product ID from the product information request. The product transaction server 2 acquires product information containing each acquired combination from the product DB 24a. The product transaction server 2 sends each acquired product information to the automobile service server 1 (step S307).

[0109] The category identification unit 1107 of the automotive service server 1, upon receiving product information, acquires the vehicle model name included in the target owned vehicle information as the owned vehicle model name, and also acquires the model name included in the target owned vehicle information as the owned vehicle model name (step S308). Next, for each received product information, the category identification unit 1107 extracts the model name from the text contained in the product information and identifies the extracted model name as the vehicle model name corresponding to the parts (step S309). The model name can be extracted by searching the text for the model name of each vehicle stored in the vehicle DB 14a. Here, the category identification unit 1107 excludes model names that are the same as the owned vehicle model name from the extraction target. Furthermore, if the text in a single product information contains multiple different model names, the category identification unit 1107 may extract those multiple model names. At this time, if any of the multiple model names included in the text of a single product information are the same as the owned vehicle model name, the category identification unit 1107 may or may not exclude all of those multiple model names from the extraction target. Since the product information clearly indicates that such parts correspond to vehicles of the model indicated by the owned vehicle model name, even if they correspond to other vehicle models, the characteristics of those parts are likely to be the same as, or approximately the same as, the characteristics of parts that normally correspond to vehicles of the model indicated by the owned vehicle model name. Next, the category identification unit 1107 obtains the vehicle name associated with the same model name as each extracted part-corresponding vehicle model name from the vehicle DB 14a as the part-corresponding vehicle vehicle name (step S310). Next, the category identification unit 1107 identifies the part-corresponding vehicle model names from among the extracted part-corresponding vehicle model names whose part-corresponding vehicle vehicle name matches the owned vehicle vehicle name (step S311). Next, the category identification unit 1107 generates vehicle category association information for each identified vehicle model name corresponding to a part, including the vehicle model name, the owned vehicle model name, and the purchased part name. (Step S312). For example, the category identification unit 1107 may obtain store ID, product ID, product code, and product category information from the product information from which the identified vehicle model name corresponding to the part has been extracted.Furthermore, the category identification unit 1107 may extract product part names from the text in the product information. For example, product part names can be extracted by searching the text for each part name stored in the parts database 14b. If the text contains multiple different part names, the category identification unit 1107 may, for example, extract the part name that appears most frequently in the text. The category identification unit 1107 may generate vehicle category association information including the vehicle model name corresponding to the part, the vehicle model name owned, the store ID, the product ID, the product code, the product category information, the product part name as the purchased part name, and the user ID. Next, the category identification unit 1107 stores each of the generated vehicle category association information in the vehicle category association database 14f (step S313).

[0110] Figures 22 and 23 are sequence diagrams showing an example of the processing of the communication system S when searching for parts. In Figures 22 and 23, the same reference numerals are used for the same processes as in Figure 11.

[0111] As shown in Figure 22, when the automotive service server 1 receives a part selection screen request from the user terminal 3 (step S101), the category information acquisition unit 1101 of the automotive service server 1 acquires the model name included in the owned vehicle information stored in the owned vehicle DB 14d in association with the user ID included in the part selection screen request as the owned vehicle model name (step S102). Next, steps S103 to S111 are executed. After step S111, the search condition information transmission unit 1104 of the automotive service server 1 transmits the first search condition information, including the acquired owned vehicle model name and the specified part name received from the user terminal 3, to the product transaction server 2 (step S142). The search unit 2102 of the product transaction server 2, which has received the first search condition information, executes a product search process using the owned vehicle model name and the specified part name included in the first search condition information as search conditions (step S143). Next, the search result information transmission unit 2103 of the product transaction server 2 transmits the search condition information generated in the product search process to the automobile service server 1 as first search condition information (step S144).

[0112] Upon receiving the first search condition information, the search condition information transmission unit 1104 of the automobile service server 1 searches the vehicle category association DB 14f for vehicle category association information that includes the owned vehicle model name matching the acquired owned vehicle model name (step S161). Next, the search condition information transmission unit 1104 obtains the vehicle model name corresponding to the part from each of the retrieved vehicle category association information (step S162). At this time, the vehicle model name corresponding to the part may be obtained only from the vehicle category association information that includes the purchased part name matching the specified part name among the retrieved vehicle category association information. Next, the search condition information transmission unit 1104 transmits the second search condition information, which includes the acquired vehicle model name corresponding to the part and the specified part name, to the product transaction server 2. If multiple matching vehicle category association information is found, the second search condition information may include multiple vehicle model names corresponding to parts. The search condition information transmission unit 1104 may generate the second search condition information so that it includes multiple vehicle model names corresponding to parts that are different from each other. Upon receiving the second search condition information, the search unit 2102 of the product transaction server 2 executes a product search process using the vehicle model name and specified part name included in the second search condition information as search conditions (step S164). If the second search condition information includes multiple vehicle model names for parts, the search unit 2102 searches for products in which the text in the product information includes at least one of those multiple vehicle model names for parts and also includes the specified part name. Next, the search result information transmission unit 2103 of the product transaction server 2 transmits the search condition information generated in the product search process to the automobile service server 1 as the second search condition information (step S164).

[0113] The priority determination unit 1108 of the automobile service server 1, upon receiving the second search condition information, determines the priority of each first and second product such that the priority of the second product, indicated by a combination of store ID and product ID included in the second search result information as a product that satisfies the second search condition, is higher than the priority of the first product, indicated by a combination of store ID and product ID included in the first search result information as a product that satisfies the first search condition (step S166). For example, the priority determination unit 1108 may assign priorities to the second products in order from first place. Alternatively, the priority determination unit 1108 may assign priorities to the first products in order from a rank corresponding to a number calculated by adding 1 to the number of second products found. Next, the search result information transmission unit 1106 generates an HTML document of the search results screen (step S167). For example, the search results information transmission unit 1106 may generate information to display the product name, product image, price, etc., for each product. The search results information transmission unit 1106 may also add the generated product information to the HTML document of the search results screen so that it is arranged from top to bottom in order of priority. Next, the search results information transmission unit 1106 sends the generated HTML document to the user terminal 3 (step S116). The user terminal 3 displays the search results screen based on this HTML document (step S117).

[0114] As explained above, according to this embodiment, a first product of parts located at a location specified by the user, which corresponds to a vehicle owned by the user, is searched for. A second product of parts located at a location specified by the user, which corresponds to a vehicle in a second vehicle category different from the first vehicle category of the vehicle owned by the user, is also searched for. The second product is then presented to the user with priority over the first product. The first and second vehicle categories are each included in the same category. Therefore, even if the product information does not indicate that a part corresponds to a vehicle in the first vehicle category, a part corresponding to a vehicle in the second vehicle category may also correspond to a vehicle in the first vehicle category. On the other hand, the characteristics of a part indicated in the product information as corresponding to a vehicle in the second vehicle category may differ from the characteristics of a part indicated in the product information as corresponding to a vehicle in the first vehicle category. Therefore, products of parts that may correspond to a vehicle owned by the user, but whose characteristics may differ from those of parts that normally correspond to a vehicle owned by the user, can be presented to the user with priority over parts that normally correspond to a vehicle owned by the user.

[0115] Here, the automotive service server 1 may identify the vehicle category owned by a user and the corresponding vehicle category of the parts purchased by that user, based on owned vehicle category information indicating the vehicle categories owned by multiple users, product purchase history information, and product information. Alternatively, the product transaction server 2 may use information indicating the category identified as the corresponding vehicle category of parts purchased by a user who owns a vehicle in the first vehicle category, as second vehicle category information for product searches. In this case, it is possible to identify the vehicle category to which parts purchased by a user who owns a vehicle in the same category as the vehicle category owned by the user to whom the search results are provided can be identified. Then, among the second vehicle categories that are different from the first vehicle category of the user's vehicle, products of parts corresponding to vehicles in the same category as the vehicle category to which the purchased parts correspond are searched as second products. Parts purchased by a user who owns a vehicle in the same category as the vehicle category owned by the user to whom the search results are provided may correspond to the vehicle owned by the user to whom the search results are provided. Therefore, it is possible that the same parts can be used between the vehicle owned by the user to whom the search results are provided and the vehicle in the category to which the purchased parts correspond. Therefore, it is possible to search for products that are likely to be compatible with the user's vehicle, even if the parts may have different characteristics than those typically compatible with the user's vehicle.

[0116] [4. Fourth Embodiment] Next, a fourth embodiment will be described. Except for the points described below, this embodiment may be identical to at least one of the embodiments described so far. In the embodiments described so far, the vehicle image was transmitted from the automotive service server 1 to the user terminal 3. However, the user terminal 3 may acquire the vehicle image from a different source than the automotive service server 1. For example, the user may take a photograph of the vehicle using the user terminal 3 or another device. The user terminal 3 may acquire the image of the photographed vehicle. Alternatively, for example, the user may download a vehicle image to the user terminal 3 from some website. The user terminal 3 may display the vehicle image acquired in this way. The user terminal 3 may also transmit this vehicle image to the automotive service server 1. The automotive service server 1 may, for example, use image recognition technology to perform a process that associates each coordinate (or each pixel) in the vehicle image acquired from the user terminal 3 with a part. For example, as mentioned above, the automotive service server 1 may use segmentation to generate a segment map that shows the association between each coordinate and part in the vehicle image. The user terminal 3 or the automotive service server 1 may, based on this segment map, identify the parts located at the locations specified by the user operation within the vehicle image and obtain the specified part information. The automotive service server 1 may also obtain owned vehicle category information based on the vehicle image obtained from the user terminal 3. For example, suppose an automotive service website instructs users to upload images of their owned vehicles to the automotive service. In this case, the vehicle image obtained from the user terminal 3 can be considered an image of the user's owned vehicle. The automotive service server 1 may use image recognition to identify the category of the vehicle shown in this image. The automotive service server 1 may then obtain owned vehicle category information indicating the identified category. Furthermore, regardless of whether the user terminal 3 obtains the vehicle image from the automotive service server 1 or from another source, the automotive service server 1 may be configured so that the user can specify the category of the vehicle they own when searching for parts.The automotive service server 1 may obtain information indicating a specified category from the user terminal 3 as owned vehicle category information.

[0117] (Note 1) A product search system characterized by comprising: category information acquisition means for acquiring category information indicating the category of a vehicle owned by the user; part information acquisition means for acquiring part information that identifies a part of the vehicle, which is located at a location specified by user operation within an image of the vehicle displayed on the user's terminal device; search means for searching for a product by referring to a storage means for storing product information of a vehicle part, and using the acquired category information and the acquired part information as search conditions; and search result information transmission means for transmitting search result information indicating the result of the search by the search means to the terminal device.

[0118] (Note 2) The product search system according to Note 1, wherein the category information acquisition means is registered vehicle information indicating a vehicle owned by the user, and the category information is acquired based on registered vehicle information previously registered by the user.

[0119] (Note 3) The product search system according to Note 1 or 2, characterized in that the category information acquisition means acquires the category information based on vehicle purchase history information showing the user's vehicle purchase history.

[0120] (Appendix 4) The product search system according to any one of Appendix 1 to 3, further comprising an image transmission means for transmitting to the terminal device an image of a vehicle corresponding to the category indicated by the acquired category information as the image to be displayed on the terminal device.

[0121] (Note 5) The product search system according to any one of Notes 1 to 4, characterized in that the category indicated by the category information is the first category among a plurality of categories included in the same category, the search means searches for a first product that satisfies the first search condition using the category information and the parts information as first search conditions, the second product that satisfies the second search condition using second category information indicating a second category different from the first category among the plurality of categories and the parts information as second search conditions, and the priority determination means for determining the priority of the products found by the search means, further comprising priority determination means for setting the priority of the second product higher than the priority of the first product, and the search result information transmission means transmits the search result information indicating the products found by the search means in the order according to the determined priority.

[0122] (Note 6) The product information for at least one part product includes information indicating the category of the vehicle to which the part corresponds, and further comprises a category identification means that identifies the category of the vehicle owned by a user and the category of the vehicle to which the part purchased by the user corresponds, based on the product information and product purchase history information indicating the purchase history of the part product, product purchase history information indicating the purchased product and the user who purchased the product, and the search means uses as the second category information information information that indicates the category identified by the category identification means as the category of the vehicle to which the part purchased by a user who owns a vehicle in the first category corresponds, among the second categories.

[0123] (Note 7) The product search system according to Note 5 or 6, characterized in that the same category is a vehicle type, and the first category and the second category are each vehicle models.

[0124] (Note 8) A product search method performed by a computer, comprising: a category information acquisition step of acquiring category information indicating the category of a vehicle owned by the user; a parts information acquisition step of acquiring parts that identify parts of the vehicle, which are located at a location specified by user operation in an image of the vehicle displayed on the user's terminal device; a search step of searching for a product by referring to a storage means that stores product information of the vehicle parts, wherein the search step uses the acquired category information and the acquired parts information as search conditions; and a search result information transmission step of transmitting search result information indicating the result of the search performed in the search step to the terminal device.

[0125] (Note 9) A product search program characterized in that the computer functions as: category information acquisition means for acquiring category information indicating the category of a vehicle owned by the user; part information acquisition means for acquiring part information that identifies a part of the vehicle, which is located at a location specified by user operation within an image of the vehicle displayed on the user's terminal device; search means for searching for products by referring to a storage means for storing product information of vehicle parts, wherein the search means uses the acquired category information and the acquired part information as search conditions; and search result information transmission means for transmitting search result information indicating the result of the search by the search means to the terminal device. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0126] 1. Automotive service server 2. Commodity Trading Server 3. User terminals 11, 21 System Control Unit 12, 22 System Bus 13, 23 Input / Output Interfaces 14, 24 Storage section 15, 25 Communications Department 14a Vehicle Database 14b Parts DB 14c Vehicle Image Database 14d Owned Vehicle Database 14e Vehicle Purchase History Database 14f Vehicle Category Association Database 24a Product DB 24b Product Purchase History Database 1101 Category Information Acquisition Unit 1102 Image transmission unit 1103 Parts Information Acquisition Unit 1104 Search Criteria Information Transmission Unit 1105 Search Results Information Receiving Unit 1106 Search Results Information Transmission Unit 1107 Category Identification Section 1108 Priority Determination Unit 2101 Search Criteria Information Receiving Unit 2102 Search Department 2103 Search Results Information Transmission Unit NW Network

Claims

1. A means for obtaining category information that indicates the category of the vehicle owned by the user, A parts information acquisition means for acquiring parts that identify parts of the vehicle, which are located at a location specified by user operation within an image of the vehicle displayed on the user's terminal device. A search means for searching for a product by referring to a storage means that stores product information of vehicle parts, the search means using the acquired category information and the acquired part information as search conditions, A search result information transmission means that transmits search result information indicating the results of the search performed by the search means to the terminal device, A product search system characterized by having the following features.

2. The product search system according to claim 1, wherein the category information acquisition means is registered vehicle information indicating a vehicle owned by the user, and the category information is acquired based on registered vehicle information previously registered by the user.

3. The product search system according to claim 1, characterized in that the category information acquisition means acquires the category information based on vehicle purchase history information indicating the user's vehicle purchase history.

4. The product search system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising an image transmission means for transmitting to the terminal device an image of a vehicle corresponding to the category indicated by the acquired category information as the image to be displayed on the terminal device.

5. The category indicated by the category information is the first of several categories included in the same category. The search means searches for a first product that satisfies the first search condition using the category information and the parts information as first search conditions, and searches for a second product that satisfies the second search condition using the second category information, which indicates a second category different from the first category among the plurality of categories, and the parts information as second search conditions. Priority determination means for determining the priority of the products found by the search means, further comprising priority determination means for setting the priority of the second product higher than the priority of the first product, The product search system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the search result information transmission means transmits the search result information showing the products searched by the search means in an order according to the determined priority.

6. The product information for at least one part includes information indicating the vehicle category to which the part corresponds. The system further comprises: second category information indicating the categories of vehicles owned by multiple users; product purchase history information indicating the purchase history of parts, which includes product purchase history information indicating the purchased product and the user who purchased the product; and category identification means that identifies the category of a vehicle owned by a user and the category of a vehicle to which the purchased part corresponds, based on the product information. The product search system according to claim 5, characterized in that the search means uses as second category information information information that indicates the category identified by the category identification means as the category of the vehicle to which a part purchased by a user who owns a vehicle of the first category corresponds.

7. The aforementioned same category refers to vehicle type. The product search system according to claim 5, characterized in that each of the first category and the second category is a vehicle model.

8. In a product search method performed by a computer, A category information acquisition step to obtain category information indicating the category of the vehicle owned by the user, A part information acquisition step involves acquiring part information that identifies a part of the vehicle, which is located at a location specified by user operation within an image of the vehicle displayed on the user's terminal device. A search step for searching for a product by referring to a storage means that stores product information of vehicle parts, the search step using the acquired category information and the acquired part information as search conditions, A search result information transmission step which transmits search result information indicating the results of the search performed in the search step to the terminal device, A product search method characterized by including [the following].

9. Computers, A means for obtaining category information that indicates the category of the vehicle owned by the user, A parts information acquisition means for acquiring parts that identify parts of the vehicle, which are located at a location specified by user operation within an image of the vehicle displayed on the user's terminal device. A search means for searching for a product by referring to a storage means that stores product information of vehicle parts, the search means using the acquired category information and the acquired part information as search conditions, Search result information transmission means for transmitting search result information indicating the results of a search performed by the search means to the terminal device, A product search program characterized by its function as follows.

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