Information Processing Apparatus, Information Processing Method, and Information Processing Program

Abstract

Even when the number of participants increases in a gathering of multiple people, the participants can select their favorite food and drinks from the menu list and place an order with the restaurant via the information communication network, making it easier to enliven the occasion of people gathering for a meal. 【Solution means】 The information processing apparatus includes a restaurant information acquisition unit that acquires restaurant information including a menu list for each restaurant, an event information acquisition unit that acquires information on an event scheduled to be held as event information, a selection store information acquisition unit that selects, as a selection store, a restaurant for providing food and drinks to event participants from among a plurality of restaurants based on the restaurant information, and acquires information including the menu list related to the selection store as selection store information, and an event information disclosure unit that discloses the selection store information and the event information to those considering participating in the event.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and an information processing program, and more particularly to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and an information processing program characterized by mediating an order to a restaurant via an information communication network.

Background Art

[0002] With the spread of information communication networks and the development of IT (Information Technology) technology in recent years, it has become possible to place an order at a restaurant via an information communication network (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] In addition, there are cases where food and drink are provided to participants in a gathering of a plurality of people, such as an event, a function, a project, and a festival (hereinafter referred to as an event, etc.). There are many event operation services that create, attract customers, manage, etc. events, etc., and food delivery services. However, services that combine these have not been widespread, and even when these services can be used in combination, they have had the following problems. When the number of participants in an event, etc. increases, in order to reduce the labor of the person who operates, manages, sponsors, etc. the event, etc., the food and drink items are determined in advance regardless of the preferences of the participants, and it may be difficult for the participants to choose their favorite items from the menu.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and an information processing program that, even when the number of participants increases in a gathering of multiple people, enable the participants to select their favorite food and drink from a menu list and place an order with a restaurant via an information communication network, thereby easily enlivening the occasion of people gathering for a meal.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0006] That is, an information processing apparatus according to a first aspect is an information processing apparatus that mediates between event participants and a restaurant that provides food and drink to the participants and accepts orders from the participants for the restaurant. The information processing apparatus includes: a restaurant information acquisition unit that acquires information on a restaurant including a menu list as restaurant information for each restaurant; an event information acquisition unit that acquires, as event information, information including the date and time and location for providing food and drink to event participants who are scheduled to hold an event, via an input by a user of the information processing apparatus; a selected store information acquisition unit that, based on the restaurant information, a user selects a restaurant for providing food and drink to event participants from among one or more restaurants as a selected store, and acquires information including a menu list related to the selected store as selected store information; and an event information disclosure unit that discloses the selected store information and the event information to those who are considering participating in the event.

[0007] The information processing method according to the second aspect is an information processing method used in an information processing apparatus that mediates between participants in an event and a food and beverage store that provides food and beverages to the participants and accepts orders from the participants to the food and beverage store. The information processing apparatus includes a food and beverage store information acquisition step of acquiring, for each food and beverage store, information on the food and beverage store including a menu as food and beverage store information, an event information acquisition step of acquiring, as event information, information including the date and time and the location for providing food and beverages to the participants in the event scheduled to be held through the input of the user of the information processing apparatus, a selected store information acquisition step of the user selecting, based on the food and beverage store information, a food and beverage store for providing food and beverages to the participants in the event from among one or more food and beverage stores as a selected store and acquiring information including the menu of the selected store as selected store information, and an event information disclosure step of disclosing the selected store information and the event information to those considering participating in the event.

[0008] The information processing program according to the third aspect is an information processing program used in an information processing apparatus that mediates between participants in an event and a food and beverage store that provides food and beverages to the participants and accepts orders from the participants to the food and beverage store. The information processing apparatus is caused to exhibit a food and beverage store information acquisition function of acquiring, for each food and beverage store, information on the food and beverage store including a menu as food and beverage store information, an event information acquisition function of acquiring, as event information, information including the date and time and the location for providing food and beverages to the participants in the event scheduled to be held through the input of the user of the information processing apparatus, a selected store information acquisition function of the user selecting, based on the food and beverage store information, a food and beverage store for providing food and beverages to the participants in the event from among one or more food and beverage stores as a selected store and acquiring information including the menu of the selected store as selected store information, and an event information disclosure function of disclosing the selected store information and the event information to those considering participating in the event.

Advantages of the Invention

[0009] The information processing apparatus and the like according to the present invention is an information processing apparatus that mediates between participants in an event and a restaurant that provides food and drink to the participants, and receives orders from the participants to the restaurant. The information processing apparatus includes: a restaurant information acquisition unit that acquires, for each restaurant, information related to the restaurant including a menu as restaurant information; an event information acquisition unit that acquires, as event information, information including the date and time and the location for providing food and drink to the participants in an event scheduled to be held, via an input by a user of the information processing apparatus; a selected store information acquisition unit that selects, as a selected store, a restaurant for providing food and drink to the participants in the event from among a plurality of restaurants based on the restaurant information, and acquires information including a menu related to the selected store as selected store information; and an event information disclosure unit that discloses the selected store information and the event information to those considering participating in the event. Since the information processing apparatus is configured as described above, even when the number of participants increases in a gathering of a plurality of people, the participants can select their favorite food and drink from the menu and place an order with the restaurant via an information communication network, and it is possible to easily enliven the occasion of people gathering for a meal.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010]

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] (Regarding the system configuration including the information processing apparatus 10) With reference to FIGS. 1 to 13, an embodiment of the information processing apparatus 10 according to the present disclosure will be described. First, with reference to FIG. 1, an example of a system configuration including the information processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment will be described.

[0012] The information processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment is a so-called computer that mediates between participants in an event and a food and beverage store that provides food and beverage to the participants, and accepts orders from the participants to the food and beverage store, and may be a server, a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC), a notebook PC, a tablet PC, or a smartphone.

[0013] An event is a gathering of a plurality of people, including various parties such as events, plans, festivals, gatherings, dinners, training sessions, exchange meetings, reunions, drinking parties, lunch parties, children's parties, women's parties, men's parties, celebration parties, encouragement parties, birthday parties, meetings, meetups, conferences, seminars, meetings, banquets, dinners, evening meals, breakfasts, lunches, dinners, tea parties, company parties, mixers, street parties, off-site parties, welcome parties, year-end parties, New Year parties, farewell parties, etc. Also, the event may be held regularly or irregularly. Food and beverage refers to ingesting drinks and food, and may be the ingestion of only one of them. An order to a food and beverage store may be any of food delivery, takeout, and eat-in.

[0014] Food delivery refers to a service that delivers drinks and food to a location specified by a customer. An order to a food and beverage store in food delivery means ordering the products of the food and beverage store and ordering the food and beverage store to deliver them to the specified location. Takeout means that a customer takes out the products of a food and beverage store and eats them outside the food and beverage store. An order to a food and beverage store in takeout means requesting the food and beverage store to set aside the products of the food and beverage store until the customer goes to pick up the specified products. "Eat-in" means consuming food and beverages purchased or ordered in the store at the customer seats in the store. An order placed at a food and beverage store for eat-in means that the customer consumes the products ordered at the customer seats in that food and beverage store. Services for creating, attracting customers, managing, etc. of existing events (hereinafter referred to as event operation services) preset the event holding date and time, the event holding location, and the content of the event, and operate such as attracting customers by publicly disclosing these set information. For the events handled by the information processing apparatus 10 of the present disclosure, in addition to these information, operation such as attracting customers may be performed by adding information on a list of stores where orders can be placed when participants order food and beverages. In this case, the participants can select one store or a plurality of stores from the list to order food and beverages.

[0015] The information processing apparatus 10 is connected to the information communication network 28 and can communicate information with other devices. Other devices refer to the user terminal 29, the participant terminal 30, and the food and beverage store terminal 40. The user terminal 29 is an information processing device used by the user of the information processing device 10, and may be a server, a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as PC), a notebook PC, a tablet PC, or a smartphone. The user is a person who uses the information processing device 10, a person who recruits participants for an event, a person who conducts publicity, advertising, and public relations for an event, a person who is involved in the planning and operation of an event, and a person who operates the information processing device 10 on behalf of these people. Also, the user refers to a person who uses the information processing device 10 and is involved in the operation of an event. Specifically, the user is a person who recruits participants for an event, a person who conducts publicity, advertising, and public relations for an event, a person who is involved in the planning, management, operation, and overall control of an event, and a person who operates the information processing device 10 on behalf of these people. Furthermore, it is also possible that the user includes those related to the holding of the event, such as the organizer of the event. For example, the user may be the organizer, director, coordinator, host, promoter, initiator, etc. of the event, or a person related to the holding of the event. Also, the user may be a person involved in the work generated by the holding of the event, such as the director's work, operation work, management work, etc. of the event. Also, the event may include those whose implementation has already been determined and those whose implementation is undetermined but under consideration. Although one user terminal 29 is shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of user terminals 29 may be connected to the information processing device 10 via the information communication network 28 and exchange information regarding one event with the information processing device 10. The information communication network 28 is a communication line used for transmitting and receiving data such as the information processing device 10, and refers to the entire network used for transmitting and receiving data, such as the Internet and an intranet used within a limited range.

[0016] The participant may include a person who is considering participating in the event, a participant in the event, and a person who plans to participate in the event. A simple participant in the event cannot become a person who uses the information processing device 10 and is involved in the operation of the event, so it is distinguished from the user. However, since the user may participate in the event, the user may become a participant in the event. The participant terminal 30 is an information processing device used by a person considering participating in an event, a participant in the event, or a person planning to participate in the event, and may be a server, a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC), a notebook PC, a tablet PC, or a smartphone. In FIG. 1, for the sake of convenience, three participant terminals 30 (participant terminal 30a, participant terminal 30b, and participant terminal 30c) are shown, but this is not limiting, and two or less or four or more participant terminals 30 may be connected to the information processing device 10 via the information communication network 28 to exchange information regarding one event with the information processing device 10.

[0017] The food and beverage store terminal 40 is an information processing device used in a food and beverage store that provides food and beverage to participants in an event, and may be a server, a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC), a notebook PC, a tablet PC, or a smartphone. In FIG. 1, for the sake of convenience, three food and beverage store terminals 40 (food and beverage store terminal 40a, food and beverage store terminal 40b, and food and beverage store terminal 40c) are shown, but this is not limiting, and two or less or four or more food and beverage store terminals 40 may be connected to the information processing device 10 via the information communication network 28 to exchange information regarding one event with the information processing device 10.

[0018] (Regarding the hardware configuration of the information processing device 10) The hardware configuration of the information processing device 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining an example of the hardware configuration of the information processing device 10. The information processing device 10 includes a communication interface 10a, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 10b, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 10c, a storage unit 10d, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 10e, an input / output interface 10f, and the like.

[0019] The communication interface 10a has a function of performing transmission and reception with other devices via the information communication network 28. The storage unit 10d can be used as a recording device, and stores an information processing program described later, an OS (Operating System: basic software) necessary for the operation of the information processing apparatus 10, various applications, and various data used by the applications.

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

[0021] (Regarding the functional configuration of the information processing apparatus 10) Next, with reference to FIG. 3, the functional configuration of the information processing apparatus 10 will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining an example of the functional configuration of the information processing apparatus 10. By executing an information processing program described later, the information processing apparatus 10 provides the CPU 10e with functional units such as a food and beverage store information acquisition unit 11, an event information acquisition unit 12, a selected store information acquisition unit 13, an event information notification unit 14, a commissioned information acquisition unit 15, an event information disclosure unit 16, a participant profile reception unit 17, a display control unit 18, an order reception unit 19, a message notification unit 20, a settlement option reception unit 21, a storage control unit 22, a settlement processing unit 23, a determination unit 24, a communication promotion unit 25, a treat reception unit 26, and a treat target reception unit 27.

[0022] The food and beverage store information acquisition unit 11 acquires information on food and beverage stores including menu lists as food and beverage store information from each of the food and beverage stores. The food service information acquisition unit 11 acquires information on food service establishments including menu lists as food service establishment information, and this food service establishment information is stored in the storage unit 10d of the information processing apparatus 10. The food service establishment that provided the food service establishment information is registered as a candidate that can become a selected store that the user selects to provide food and drink to the participants of the event.

[0023] The food service establishment information is information in the operation of a food service establishment, information for users (i.e., event participants) who intend to use the food service establishment, and includes information regarding each of the usage modes as food delivery, eat-in, and takeout.

[0024] Some food service establishments may accommodate the use of all users for food delivery, eat-in, and takeout. In such cases, the food service establishment information includes information necessary when users use food delivery, eat-in, and takeout. Also, some food service establishments may accommodate the use of any two of food delivery, eat-in, and takeout for users, and not accommodate the use of the other one. In such cases, the food service establishment information includes information regarding the two usage modes that users can use, does not include information regarding the other usage mode that users cannot use, or includes information regarding the usage mode that users cannot use in the food service establishment information. Also, some food service establishments may accommodate the use of any one of food delivery, eat-in, and takeout for users, and not accommodate the use of the other two. In such cases, the food service establishment information includes information regarding the one usage mode that users can use, does not include information regarding the other two usage modes that users cannot use, or includes information regarding the two usage modes that users cannot use in the food service establishment information.

[0025] The food service establishment information may include any one or more of the business hours of the food service establishment, the menu list, the order cut-off time for each food service establishment, or the upper or lower limit of the number of orders or the total order amount that can be accommodated for the event. In addition, the food and beverage store information may also include at least any one of the business hours of the food and beverage store, the menu, the order closing time for each food and beverage store, and the upper or lower limit of the number of orders or the total order amount that can be accommodated for an event. The business hours of the food and beverage store may vary depending on the day of the week. Also, the business hours of the food and beverage store may be set for each usage mode of food delivery, eat-in, and takeout. The menu is a list of the items of dishes that can be ordered, and may sometimes be called a menu card or a menu. Some food and beverage stores display the name of the dish, a photo of the dish, and an introduction text together with the price. Note that beverages are also included in the dishes. The menu may be set with different contents for each usage mode of food delivery, eat-in, and takeout, and the price of the product may also be set for each usage mode. The order closing time for each food and beverage store is the final time when the users of the food and beverage store can place an order. After this order closing time has passed, in principle, the users cannot place an order for the products of the corresponding food and beverage store. For example, a predetermined time before the date and time of providing food to the event participants (e.g., 0:00 am on the same day) may be set as the order closing time, or a predetermined time before the date and time of providing food to the participants (e.g., 12 hours before) may be set as the order closing time. Note that the order closing time may be set by the event organizers. The order closing time set by the event organizers is set at a time earlier than the order closing time set by the food and beverage store. After the order closing time set by the event organizers has passed, no orders for any products will be accepted in principle. The order closing time is set by the event organizers when they want to determine the number of event participants early, when they want to determine the products ordered by the participants early, or when they want to determine the food and beverage stores that will provide food to the event participants early. The persons related to the event hosting refer to those who are related to the event hosting, including not only the organizers and co-organizers of the event, but also the sponsors, supporters, patrons, cooperators of the event, or the operators of selected stores, etc. Also, the order cut-off time for each food and beverage store may be set for each product in the menu list of the said food and beverage store.

[0026] The upper limit or lower limit of the order quantity that can be handled for an event refers to the maximum or minimum order quantity that a food and beverage store can handle for the orders of users for the event. For example, assume that for an event, the store can handle up to 10 orders at most. The upper limit of the order quantity that can be handled for the event is set to prevent the store from receiving orders exceeding its processing capacity. The lower limit of the order quantity that can be handled for the event, for example, means that the store accepts orders starting from at least 10 orders in the event. This is to prevent the store from receiving orders that are not profitable when calculating the profit and loss when accepting orders. Also, the upper limit or lower limit of the total order amount that can be handled for an event refers to the upper limit or lower limit of the total order amount that a food and beverage store can handle for the orders of users for the event. For example, assume that for an event, the store can accept orders with a total amount of up to 100,000 yen at most. The upper limit of the order amount is set for the same reason as the upper limit of the order quantity, that is, to prevent the store from receiving orders exceeding its processing capacity. The lower limit of the total order amount that can be handled for the event, for example, means that the store accepts orders starting from a total amount of at least 10,000 yen in the event. This is to prevent the store from receiving orders that are not profitable when calculating the profit and loss when accepting orders, which is the same as the case when setting the lower limit of the order quantity. The upper or lower limit of the number of orders or the total order amount that can be handled for an event may refer to the maximum number of orders or the total order amount, or the minimum number of orders or the total order amount, that a food and beverage store can provide products to participants at a specified location and time in the provision service of providing food and beverage to the participants of the event. Since the ability of a food and beverage store to deliver the number of products ordered at the specified location and time required of the store is only known to the store itself, it is included in the food and beverage store information. Also, the upper or lower limit of the number of orders or the total order amount that can be handled for an event may refer to, for example, the maximum number of orders or the total order amount, or the minimum number of orders or the total order amount, that products can be provided to participants in the provision service of providing food and beverage to the participants in one holding of the event. In the case of an event held multiple times, it may also refer to the maximum number of orders or the total order amount, or the minimum number of orders or the total order amount, in one of the events. Also, the upper or lower limit of the number of orders or the total order amount that can be handled for an event may refer to, for example, the maximum number of orders or the total order amount, or the minimum number of orders or the total order amount, that products can be provided to participants in the provision service of providing food and beverage to the participants in one meal opportunity during the event. Also, the upper or lower limit of the number of orders or the total order amount that can be handled for an event may refer to, for example, the maximum number of orders or the total order amount, or the minimum number of orders or the total order amount, of products in the provision service of providing food and beverage to the participants for one day during the event.

[0027] The food and beverage store information may include information on multiple food and beverage stores. In the case of an event with a large number of participants where a single food and beverage store alone cannot handle the orders from the participants of the event, multiple food and beverage stores handle the orders from the participants of the event.

[0028] The food and beverage store information may include the capacity of the food and beverage store. The maximum number of people that a food and beverage store can accommodate refers to the maximum number of customers that the store can accept at one time for dine-in service, and also refers to the maximum number of participants when an event is held at the store. When an event uses the selected store in the dine-in mode, the event information includes that the venue of the event is the selected store chosen for providing food and beverages to the event participants.

[0029] The food and beverage store information may include the minimum order quantity or the minimum total order amount when the store offers delivery service, and the deliverable areas. When an event uses the selected store in the food delivery mode, the event information includes the delivery location of the food. The minimum order quantity for food and beverage delivery by a store refers to the minimum number of orders required for the store to handle a customer's food delivery request. The customer can have the items ordered from the store delivered to the specified location by placing an order of at least this minimum quantity or more. The minimum total order amount for food and beverage delivery by a store refers to the minimum total amount of orders required for the store to handle a customer's food delivery request. The customer can have the items ordered from the store delivered to the specified location by placing an order with a total amount of at least this minimum amount or more. The deliverable areas for food and beverage delivery by a store refer to the areas where the store can deliver the goods. The store may deliver the goods to the customer by its own delivery service or by using an external delivery provider. The minimum order quantity and the minimum total order amount may be set according to the delivery distance to the delivery location. Specifically, the minimum order quantity and the minimum total order amount increase as the delivery distance increases. For example, the minimum order quantity is set to 3 items for a delivery distance of up to 3 kilometers, 5 items for a delivery distance of up to 5 kilometers, and 10 items for a delivery distance of up to 10 kilometers. Also, the minimum total order amount is set to 1500 yen for a delivery distance of up to 3 kilometers, 2500 yen for a delivery distance of up to 5 kilometers, and 5000 yen for a delivery distance of up to 10 kilometers.

[0030] The food service information may include either a statement that the acceptance of the service may be refused if the number of orders or the total order amount does not meet the lower limit that the event can handle, or a statement that the acceptance of the service is conditional on the payment of a predetermined percentage of the shortfall by the relevant parties involved in the event if the number of orders or the total order amount does not meet the lower limit that the event can handle.

[0031] If the food service establishment does not meet the lower limit of the number of orders or the total order amount that it can handle for an event, for example, if the lower limit of the number of orders is set at 10 and there are only 6 orders, it may be difficult to ensure a profit, and the food service establishment may refuse to accept the business of providing food and drinks to the participants of the event. Also, if the food service establishment does not meet the lower limit of the number of orders or the total order amount that it can handle for an event, for example, if the lower limit of the total order amount is set at 2,000 yen and the total order amount is 1,000 yen, it will accept the business on the condition that 500 yen, which is 5% of the shortfall of 1,000 yen, is compensated by the relevant parties involved in the event. By doing so, the relevant parties involved in the event can hold the event as planned, the food service establishment can avoid a situation where it cannot make a profit due to unprofitable operations, and the participants of the event can participate in the event as planned.

[0032] The event information acquisition unit 12 acquires, via the input of the user of the information processing apparatus 10, information including the date and time and location for providing food and drinks to the participants of an event scheduled to be held as event information. The date and time for providing food and drinks to the participants of an event scheduled to be held refers to the date and time for providing food and drinks to the participants during the event. The place for providing food and drinks to the participants of an event scheduled to be held refers to the place where food and drinks are delivered when the event uses a selected store in the form of food delivery, the location of the selected store when the event uses a selected store in the form of eat-in, and the place where the food and drinks taken out from the selected store are provided to the participants of the event when the event uses a selected store in the form of takeout. The event information acquisition unit 12 stores the acquired event information in the storage unit 10d of the information processing apparatus 10. Note that the event information acquisition unit 12 may acquire, as event information, information including the planned number of participants of an event scheduled to be held, and the date and time and place for providing food and drinks to the participants, via the input of the user of the information processing apparatus 10.

[0033] The selected store information acquisition unit 13 selects, as a selected store, a food and drink store for providing food and drinks to the participants of the event from among one or more food and drink stores based on the food and drink store information, and acquires information including a menu list regarding the selected store as selected store information. The user may select one or more selected stores to provide food and drinks to the participants of the event by referring to the food and drink store information. When the planned number of participants of the event is large, the user can select a plurality of selected stores to handle the orders from the participants. When there are few food and drink stores in the vicinity of the location of the event scheduled to be held by the user and there is only one food and drink store that can provide food and drinks to the participants of the event, the user will select the one food and drink store as the selected store. The selected store information refers to the food and drink store information of the selected store selected from among the food and drink stores. The selected store information acquisition unit 13 stores the acquired selected store information in the storage unit 10d of the information processing apparatus 10.

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

[0035] The entrusted information acquisition unit 15 acquires from the selected store information regarding the availability of entrusting the catering service to the participants of the event corresponding to the event information of the selected store to which the event information is notified. The information regarding the availability of entrusting is information regarding the response to the said catering service made by the selected store using the restaurant terminal 40. Specifically, the information regarding the availability of entrusting refers to responses such as the entrustment of the said catering service being possible or impossible, the reason for not being able to accept, a response indicating that it can be entrusted depending on changes in the content of the event information, and a response indicating that it can be entrusted if specific conditions are met.

[0036] The reason for not being able to accept is, for example, that the entrusted cannot be accepted because the planned number of event participants is too large or too small, because there is a shortage of employees at the date and time of providing the catering, because the store is closed temporarily at the date and time of providing the catering, because the vehicle used for delivery is under breakdown, because the store is under construction and eat-in entrustment is not possible, etc.

[0037] The answer indicating that acceptance may be possible depending on changes to the content of the event information is, for example, an answer indicating that acceptance is possible if the usage mode of food delivery is changed to takeout or eat-in, an answer indicating that acceptance is possible if the number of event participants is above or below a certain number, an answer indicating that acceptance is possible if the date and time of food and beverage provision is changed to another date and time (e.g., between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. on the same day, the next day at the same time zone, etc.), an answer indicating that acceptance is possible if the materials for a specific product are insufficient and it is changed to another product, or an answer indicating that acceptance is possible if the food and beverage provision service for another event is cancelled, etc.

[0038] The answer indicating that acceptance may be possible if specific conditions are met means that the selected store can accept if it obtains the user's consent for the specific conditions added to the event information. For example, an answer indicating that acceptance is possible if the order of all participants is 1,000 yen or more, an answer indicating that acceptance is possible if it is a product handover at the parking lot in the usage mode of food delivery, an answer indicating that acceptance is possible if all participants arrive at the store by a specified time, an answer indicating that acceptance is possible if all participants leave the store by a specified time, etc.

[0039] The selected store uses the food service terminal 40 to provide an answer to the information processing device 10 regarding whether it can accept the food and beverage provision service for the participants of the event corresponding to the obtained event information. The selected store determines whether it can handle it in consideration of the planned number of event participants in the event information and the content such as the date and time of providing food and beverages to the participants.

[0040] The event information disclosure unit 16 discloses the selected store information and the event information to those considering participating in the event. The disclosed selected store information and event information are displayed on the display screen of the terminal used by those considering participating in the event. Those considering it apply to participate in the event by selecting and ordering products from the menu list 70 displayed together with the event information. Those who are considering participating in an event can apply to participate in the event by selecting and ordering the products to be eaten and drunk during the event from the menu list displayed on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30. When a participant in the event places an order and the settlement processing unit 23 described later settles the order before the event is held, the user does not need to collect the payment for the products on the day of the event and pay the food and beverage store, and the burden on the user in operating the event and acting as the organizer can be reduced. When a plurality of selected stores are selected by the user and an answer is obtained that it is possible to receive the provision service from all the selected stores, the event information disclosure unit 16 discloses the selected store information and the event information. By obtaining an answer that it is possible to receive the provision service from the selected store, the event information disclosure unit 16 determines that the event planned by the user can be held, and discloses the selected store information and the event information.

[0041] The event information disclosure unit 16 discloses the selected store information and the event information on the information communication network 28 in order to recruit participants for the event. The event information disclosure unit may disclose the selected store information and the event information to a pre-specified SNS (Social Networking Service: a service on the Internet that provides a place for social interaction). After the event information disclosure unit 16 of the information processing apparatus 10 obtains an answer that it is possible to receive the provision service from the selected store, the user and the participant of the information processing apparatus 10 can post and disclose the selected store information and the event information of the event on the SNS using their own accounts. The user of the information processing apparatus 10 may apply an SNS posting discount to the participants who have posted and made public the selected store information and event information on the SNS using their own accounts. The SNS posting discount means discounting part or all of the price generated by the participant's order on the condition that the participant posts the selected store information and event information on the SNS. When implementing the SNS posting discount, by including a link to the ID (Identification) for identifying the participant in the SNS post, it is possible to know who the post belongs to.

[0042] When the selected store information is made public on the information communication network 28, the business hours of the selected store, the menu list, the order closing time for each food and beverage store, and the upper or lower limit of the number of orders or the total order amount that can be accommodated for the event, which are the food and beverage store information of the food and beverage store that provides food and beverage to the participants of the event, are made public. When the event information is made public on the information communication network 28, information including the planned number of participants of the event that the user plans to hold and the date and time for providing food and beverage to the participants is made public. Participants who are considering participating in the event refer to the event information made public on the information communication network 28 and consider whether to participate in the event.

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

[0044] The message notification unit 20 may notify the user that compensation is required when the order number or the total order amount does not exceed the lower limit of the order number or the total order amount set by the food and beverage store after the order closing time of all the products received by the order reception unit 19 has passed. The user who has received the notification from the message notification unit 20 that compensation is required can make a compensation of a predetermined amount, and the food and beverage store will receive the order.

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

[0046] The display control unit 18 performs control to display information on the menu list of the selected store on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 used by the event participants. The participant views the menu list displayed on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 and selects the product to order from the menu list. The display control unit 18 performs control to display information on the menu list of the number of products set corresponding to the planned number of people on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30. The larger the planned number of event participants, the fewer the number of products listed in the menu to reduce the workload of the selected store. Specifically, when the planned number of people is 100 or more, the upper limit of the number of products listed in the menu is set to 30, and the event participants select and order products from the products listed in the menu. When the planned number of people is 50 or less, the upper limit of the number of products listed in the menu is set to 50, and the event participants select and order products from the products listed in the menu.

[0047] The order reception unit 19 receives the products ordered by the event participants using the participant terminal 30. The orders of the event participants received by the order reception unit 19 are stored in the storage unit 10d of the information processing apparatus 10. The display control unit 18 performs control to display information on the products ordered by the participants received by the order reception unit 19 on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 used by other event participants. The event information notification unit 14 notifies the selected store of the number of orders for the products ordered by the participants during the period until the order deadline of the products received by the order reception unit 19. Since the selected store can predict the number of orders for each product before the order deadline of the product, it can prepare the ordered products in advance, thus reducing the workload of the selected store.

[0048] The memory control unit 22 stores the products ordered by the participants in association with the event information. The display control unit 18 controls to display on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 the products ordered by the participant and other participants in the past stored in the memory control unit 22. The memory control unit 22 stores the profile information received by the participant profile reception unit 17. The memory control unit 22 stores the acquired profile information in the storage unit 10d of the information processing apparatus 10. The order reception unit 19 may not accept the orders of the participants for whom the profile information is not stored in the memory control unit 22. Further, the display control unit 18 may display on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 a participant order list 42 that lists together the product names 80 of the products ordered by the participants in the event, as well as the names 84 and icons 39 of the participants in the event for each participant in the event, together with the selected store information and the event information (see FIG. 14). As shown in FIG. 14, the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 displays the participant order list 42 together with the event outline 34b and the menu list 70. Thereby, those who are considering participating in the event, the participants in the event, and those who plan to participate in the event can view the participant order list 42 and the menu list 70 at the same time, so they can know who is ordering which product. In addition, those who are considering participating in the event, participants in the event, and those who plan to participate in the event can view the participant order list 42 and the event information simultaneously, making it easier to imagine the situation on the day of the event, such as who is eating what, and reducing anxiety about participating in the event. In addition, those who are considering participating in the event, participants in the event, and those who plan to participate in the event can easily understand what the participants in the event they are about to participate in have ordered by looking at the participant order list 42.

[0049] The settlement processing unit 23 processes the settlement of the products ordered by the participants in the event. By processing the participants' settlements, the settlement processing unit 23 receives payment for the products ordered by the participants. Once the payment for the products ordered by the participants is withheld by the operator of the information processing apparatus 10, it is then paid from the operator to the selected store. The settlement processing unit 23 uses an online settlement platform that provides an external online settlement agency service. Examples of online settlement platforms include PayPal (registered trademark), Pay.JP, Stripe Payment Links (registered trademark), SELECTTYPE (registered trademark), etc. Participants pay for the products ordered using a credit card, debit card, electronic money, etc. If it is before the expiration of the order closing time for the products corresponding to the settlement, the settlement processing unit 23 accepts the cancellation of the participants' settlements. Also, if it is before the expiration of the order closing time for the products ordered by the participants in the event, they can change to another product.

[0050] The settlement option reception unit 21 accepts the selection of the participants' settlement options, where a settlement option that enables the relevant parties of the event to settle all or part of the payment resulting from the participants' orders on behalf of the participants is preset by the relevant parties of the event. Payment options are set by the event organizers when they entertain event participants, such as paying for food and drinks. Also, payment options are set by a company, for example, when the company gathers people inside or outside the company and provides food and drinks for the gathered people. Also, payment options are set by an educational institution such as a school when the institution gathers students and treats the gathered students to food and drinks. Also, when a food and beverage manufacturer holds a tasting event and provides food and drinks to the participants of the tasting event free of charge, the payment options are set by the food and beverage manufacturer.

[0051] When the participant selects a payment option, or when the event organizers receive an instruction from the event organizers to pay on behalf of the participant, the payment processing unit 23 may reduce all or part of the payment amount resulting from the participant's order as the burden of the event organizers in the participant's payment. When the participant selects a payment option, when the display control unit 18 performs control to display a menu on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30, it may display only the products for which the event organizers bear the cost. Also, when the participant selects a payment option, when the display control unit 18 performs control to display a menu on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30, in order to distinguish between the products for which the participant bears the cost and the products for which the event organizers bear the cost, marks such as tags may be attached to the products on the menu. Also, when the participant selects a payment option, when the participant settles the payment for the product price resulting from the participant's order, the payment processing unit 23 may subtract a predetermined amount borne by the event organizers from the price and make the payment. Even when the participant does not select a payment option, if the event organizers receive an instruction from the event organizers to pay on behalf of the participant, all or part of the payment amount resulting from the participant's order may be reduced as the burden of the event organizers in the participant's payment.

[0052] The display control unit 18 performs control to display an order confirmation button that is operated when a participant determines the product to be ordered on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 used by the event participant. The settlement processing unit 23 executes the settlement process of the participant when the order confirmation button is operated by the participant. Note that the operation of the button means pressing the button by mouse or touch operation. The touch operation means operating by touching the screen of the display unit 31 when the display unit 31 is a touch panel. The operation of the buttons displayed on the display unit 29a of the user terminal 29 and the display unit of the food and beverage store terminal 40 also means pressing the button by mouse or touch operation.

[0053] The determination unit 24 determines whether the preferences of either one or both of the food and the event of the participant and other participants match based on the information on the products ordered by the participants and other participants stored in association with the event information and stored in the storage control unit 22.

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

[0055] The determination unit 24 determines that the participant and other participants have matching event preferences when the participant and other participants have participated in the same event a predetermined number of times or more in the past. Having matching event preferences means that the fields, features, trends, etc. of the events they like to participate in are similar. For example, the determination unit 24 determines that other participants who have participated in the same event as the event the participant has participated in three or more times in the past have matching event preferences with the participant. In addition, the determination unit 24 determines that the participant and other participants who have ordered the same type of product a predetermined number of times or more in the past have matching food preferences. For example, when a participant has ordered ramen, curry rice, grilled meat, sushi, and Italian food in the past, other participants who have ordered Italian food, sushi, and ramen in the past have ordered the same type of products three or more times in the past, so it is determined that their food preferences match. The type of product refers to the genre of cuisine. For example, it refers to Japanese cuisine, seafood, buckwheat noodles, udon noodles, eel, yakitori, tonkatsu, tempura, okonomiyaki, monjayaki, shabu-shabu, Okinawan cuisine, Western food, French cuisine, Spanish cuisine, pasta, pizza, steak, hamburger steak, hamburger, Chinese cuisine, Korean cuisine, Thai cuisine, curry, offal, hot pot, buffet, bread, desserts, etc.

[0056] Communication uses text chat between participants and other participants, but is not limited to this, and voice chat or video chat may also be used. Chat refers to a service that enables real-time communication via the information communication network 28. Text chat is a chat that communicates using characters, voice chat is a chat that communicates using voice, and video chat is a chat that communicates using video information and allows for a call while seeing the face of the other party.

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

[0058] Based on the information about the participants stored in the memory control unit 22 and the products ordered by other participants in the past in association with the event information, the event information notification unit 14 notifies the selected store of the information regarding the number of times other participants who participated in the same event as the participant's past participating event have placed past orders at the selected store of the event the participant plans to participate in, as order count information. The event information notification unit 14 notifies the food service terminal 40 of the selected store of the number of past orders placed by other participants at the selected store as order count information. For example, if other participants have never placed an order at the selected store in the past, the event information notification unit 14 notifies the food service terminal 40 of the selected store that other participants are new customers as order count information. As a result, the selected store can surely provide services for new customers. Also, if other participants have placed 5 orders at the selected store in the past, the event information notification unit 14 can notify the food service terminal 40 of the selected store that other participants have placed 5 orders in the past as order count information. As a result, the selected store can surely provide services for regular customers to customers who have placed 5 orders in the past. That is, since the event information notification unit 14 notifies the food service terminal 40 of the selected store of the number of past orders placed by other participants as order count information, the selected store that has received the notification of the order count information of other participants can provide services according to the past order count of the other participants.

[0059] When other participants who participated in the same event as the participant's past participating event have not placed an order at the selected store of the event the participant plans to participate in, the communication promotion unit 25 transmits information indicating that the participant has placed an order at the selected store of the event to the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 used by other participants who participated in the same event as the participant's past participating event. When other participants who have participated in the same event as the participant's past participation events have not placed an order at the selected store of the event that the participant plans to attend, the participant transmits information indicating that the participant has placed an order at the selected store of the event to the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 used by the other participants for the purpose of prompting and soliciting the other participants to participate in the event that the participant plans to attend. In addition, the communication promotion unit 25 may notify the participant of the event that another participant who has been determined by the determination unit 24 to have preferences in common with the participant of the event has applied to participate in the event when the other participant applies to participate in the event.

[0060] The treat acceptance unit 26 accepts an offer of treat from the participant to settle all or part of the price generated by the order of another participant on behalf of the other participant. That is, a participant (the one who treats) can treat another participant (the one who is treated) by paying all or part of the meal cost of the other participant on behalf of the other participant, and the treat acceptance unit 26 accepts the offer from the participant (the one who treats).

[0061] The treat target acceptance unit 27 accepts the designation of another participant who is the target of the treat by the participant. That is, the treat target acceptance unit 27 accepts another participant (the one who is treated) who is the target of the treat designated by the participant (the one who treats). Another participant (the one who is treated) may have already settled the meal cost. If the settlement of another participant (the one who is treated) has been completed, the settlement of the other participant (the one who is treated) is cancelled and the other participant is refunded.

[0062] The participant (the one who treats) may issue a discount coupon by himself / herself and send the URL for using the discount coupon to another participant (the one who is treated) by e-mail or the like. The amount of the discount coupon can be set by the participant (the one who treats), for example, a discount coupon of 1000 yen or a discount coupon of 500 yen. In addition, a participant (the one treating) may post the URL of the discount coupon on SNS. In this case, the participant can set the amount to be treated and the number of people, such as treating up to 5 people first-come, first-served up to 300 yen per person. The discount coupon is assumed to be associated with the event, and it is a prerequisite for other participants (the ones being treated) to participate in the said event. The treating reception unit 26 accepts applications from participants who have issued the discount coupon themselves and sent the URL for using the discount coupon to other participants by e-mail or the like. The reception unit for the treated target 27 accepts, upon the designation of a participant (the one treating), other participants (the ones being treated) who have received the discount coupon.

[0063] A participant (the one treating) may purchase a gift card and present it to other participants (the ones being treated). The amount of the gift card can be freely set by the participant (the one treating). The URL required for using the gift card may be sent to other participants (the ones being treated) by e-mail or the like.

[0064] Other participants (the ones being treated) can request a treat from a specific person. The person to be requested is a participant who has already placed an order for a product and plans to participate in the event. The person making the request adds a hood to their cart and waits for a response from the participant (the one treating) such as "treat the full amount" or "treat half the amount". Other participants (the ones being treated) can participate in the event by being treated by someone among the participants of the event. The reception unit for the treated target 27 accepts, upon the designation of a participant (the one treating), other participants (the ones being treated) who have received the gift card.

[0065] Other participants (the ones being treated) can request a treat from someone unspecified. Other participants (the ones being treated) put a product in their cart and wait for someone to settle the payment. Then, if someone settles the payment, the other participant can participate in the event.

[0066] The participant (the one who splurges) may purchase their own products and the products of other participants (the ones being splurged on) in advance and invite an unspecified person to the event. When another participant (the one being splurged on) who responds to the invitation appears, the splurge target reception unit 27 will receive the designation of the other participant from the participant. The participant (the one who splurges) can set the conditions for the invited person, and can specify "age", "gender", "occupation", etc.

[0067] The oldest participant in the event can be the participant (the one who splurges), and can specify the youngest participant in the same community as the other participant (the one being splurged on).

[0068] When an agreement is reached between the participant and the other participant regarding the splurge, or when the splurge reception unit receives a request for the participant to settle all or part of the payment generated by the order of the other participant on behalf of the other participant, the settlement processing unit 23 processes the settlement of all or part of the payment generated by the order of the other participant. When another participant uses a discount coupon or gift card, the settlement processing unit 23 deems that an agreement has been reached between the participant and the other participant regarding the splurge, and processes the settlement of the used discount coupon or gift card.

[0069] (Regarding the processing performed via the information processing device 10) With reference to FIGS. 4A, 4B to FIGS. 6A, 6B, the processing among the user terminal 29, the participant terminal 30, and the food and beverage store terminal 40 performed via the information processing device 10 will be described. FIGS. 4A, 4B are flowcharts for explaining the operations of the food and beverage store terminal 40 and the user terminal 29 in the registration of information regarding the food and beverage store and the user, FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the user terminal 29, and FIGS. 6A and 6B are flowcharts for explaining the operation of the participant terminal 30.

[0070] (Regarding the registration of information regarding the food and beverage store: S100~S105) First, referring to FIG. 4A, the processing of the restaurant terminal 40 in registering information related to a restaurant will be described.

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

[0072] S101: Shop registration of the restaurant Next, the restaurant uses the restaurant terminal 40 to register restaurant information, which is information related to the restaurant, induced to the LP (S101). The restaurant information is acquired and registered by the restaurant information acquisition unit 11 of the information processing apparatus 10.

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

[0074] S103: Zip code registration of the restaurant The restaurant registers the zip code of its own store so that the users and participants of the information processing apparatus 10 can search for their own store by using the zip code as a keyword (S103). The zip code is associated with the latitude and longitude. When the zip code of the restaurant is registered, the latitude and longitude of the restaurant are registered.

[0075] S104: Option registration of the restaurant The restaurant can set options as services that can be added when event participants place orders for dishes, and register the options using the restaurant terminal 40 (S104). Examples of services that can be added include services such as providing cutlery or chopsticks together with the dishes, a service of serving a large portion of rice, and a service of serving a large portion of side dishes.

[0076] S105: Request for restaurant store disclosure When the registration of restaurant information including the business hours of the restaurant, the menu list, the order closing time for each restaurant, and the upper limit of the number of orders that can be handled for the event is completed, the restaurant requests the information processing device 10 to disclose this restaurant information to the information communication network 28 (S105). The information processing device 10 discloses the registered restaurant information to the information communication network 28 upon receiving the request.

[0077] (Regarding the registration of user-related information: S110~S112) Next, with reference to FIG. 4B, the processing of the user terminal 29 in the registration of user-related information will be described.

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

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

[0080] S112: User community registration When the event the user has planned is an event targeted at people belonging to a specific community, the user uses the user terminal 29 to register the name of the community, the icon representing the community, and a cover image (not shown) (S112). The cover image is a large image placed at the top of the page introducing the community, and refers to a photograph, illustration, etc. that symbolizes or images the community.

[0081] (Regarding the registration of information about the user: S115~S122) Next, referring to FIG. 5, the operation of the user terminal 29 in registering the user's event information will be described. Here, the user, who is the person planning to hold the event, etc., registers the event information and selects a restaurant.

[0082] S115: Store search by user The user searches for a selected store from among the restaurants registered in the information processing apparatus 10 (S115). The user selects a selected store from among the registered restaurants, using as a clue the postal code of the place where the event will be held, etc.

[0083] S116: Registration of user's event information The user uses the user terminal 29 to register event details 37 (see FIG. 8) in the information processing apparatus 10. The event information acquisition unit 12 of the information processing apparatus 10 acquires the event information registered by the user. As the registration of event information, the user performs postal search, store designation, date and time designation, image registration, document creation, and corona countermeasures (S116). Postal search means registering the postal code of the event venue so that participants can search for the event using the postal code as a clue. Store designation means designating and registering a restaurant that provides food and drink to event participants. The selected store information acquisition unit 13 of the information processing apparatus 10 sets the restaurant selected by the user as the selected store and acquires information about the selected store as selected store information. Date and time designation means designating and registering the date and time when food and drink will be provided to event participants. Note that the date and time designation may be the event date and time. Image registration means registering a cover image 41 (see Fig. 8) that symbolizes or images an event. Document creation means creating and registering a document that explains the outline of an event. COVID-19 countermeasures mean registering an explanatory text about the COVID-19 countermeasures planned to be implemented at an event.

[0084] S117: Notify event information to restaurants The event information registered by the user terminal 29 is notified to the restaurant terminal 40 of the selected store by the event information notification unit 14 of the information processing apparatus 10 (S117). The event information notification unit 14 notifies the event details 37 to the restaurant terminal 40 of the selected store by e-mail, but is not limited thereto, and may be notified by a push notification processed in the information processing program described later.

[0085] S118: Check event information of restaurants The restaurant can confirm the event information registered by the user in S116 using the restaurant terminal 40 by being selected by the user to be the selected store of the event (S118). The information processing apparatus 10 acquires information about the selected store selected by the user of the information processing apparatus 10 by the selected store information acquisition unit 13, and notifies the event information created by the user to the selected store by the event information notification unit 14.

[0086] S119: Consider acceptance by restaurants The restaurant answers information regarding the acceptability of entrusting the food and beverage provision service to the participants of the event corresponding to the acquired event information (S119). When the restaurant rejects the entrustment of the provision service (S119: NO), the process proceeds to S120 of the user terminal 29. When the restaurant accepts the provision service (S119: YES), the process proceeds to S121 of the user terminal 29.

[0087] S120: Confirm restaurant's event rejection When the response of the selected store obtained by the entrusted information acquisition unit 15 of the information processing apparatus 10 is to reject the entrustment of the food and beverage provision service to the event participants (S119: NO), the user terminal 29 is notified to that effect, and the user confirms the rejection of the event by the selected store (S120). The user returns to S116, changes the event information or the selected food and beverage store (selected store), and re-registers the event information (S116). The event information re-registered in S116 is notified to the selected store again (S117). The user changes the event information or the selected food and beverage store (selected store) and re-registers the event information until obtaining acceptance of the food and beverage provision service to the event participants from the selected store.

[0088] S121: Confirmation of acceptance of event by food and beverage store When the response of the selected store obtained by the entrusted information acquisition unit 15 of the information processing apparatus 10 is to accept the entrustment of the food and beverage provision service to the event participants (S119: YES), the user terminal 29 is notified to that effect, and the user confirms that the selected store has accepted the food and beverage provision service to the event participants (S121).

[0089] S122: Disclosure of event information by food and beverage store The event information registered by the user terminal 29 is disclosed to the information communication network 28 by the event information disclosure unit 16 of the information processing apparatus 10 (S122).

[0090] (Regarding the operation of the participant terminal: S125~S152) Next, with reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B, the operation of the participant terminal 30 will be described. Here, after the participant selects an event to participate in, the participant selects a product and settles the selected product.

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

[0092] S126: Event list The display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 displays an event list of events being recruited for participants as the top page 32 of the participant LP (see Fig. 7) (S126). The event list is a table that summarizes the event outlines (34a to 34f: see Fig. 7) created for each event being recruited for participants.

[0093] S127: Event page The participant selects the event outline (34a to 34f) of the event they want to participate in from the event list and causes the event page of the said event to be displayed on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 (S127). By viewing the event page, the participant can learn more detailed event information.

[0094] S128: Has account been registered? It is determined whether the participant has already acquired an account by the information processing apparatus 10 (S128). If the participant has not yet registered an account (S128: NO), they proceed to account registration (S129). If the participant has already registered an account (S128: YES), they proceed to login (S132).

[0095] S129: Account registration If the participant has not completed account registration, they perform account registration by registering an ID and password (S129). The participant profile reception unit 17 of the information processing apparatus 10 receives information regarding the participant's profile as profile information. The profile information includes an ID, password, etc. that are necessary for identity verification for the participant to receive the services provided by the information processing apparatus 10.

[0096] S130: Community registration If a participant belongs to a community, the participant can register for the community (S130). Using the participant terminal 30, the participant can register the community name, community description text, icon, cover photo, list of members, list of events, and so on. A community is a collection of people who share a region, topic, etc., or a place for communication. It is a basic society formed by geographical or spontaneous bonds and has a common social concept, lifestyle, tradition, etc. A community is also used as a place for communication in an equal relationship regarding a specific purpose or theme through the Internet or the like.

[0097] S131: Community Management Participation If a participant is in the position of an administrator who manages other members of the community to which the participant belongs, the participant can register to that effect (S131). An administrator is, for example, a person who sends invitation emails to new members, picks up ordered goods on behalf of the community in the case of takeout, and serves as a contact window for inquiries from selected stores.

[0098] S132: Login The participant uses the participant terminal 30 to authenticate themselves using an ID and password in order to receive services provided by the information processing apparatus 10 (S132).

[0099] S133: Cart Addition The participant uses the participant terminal 30 to add the selected product to the cart (S133). The cart is a virtual space for temporarily storing products before settlement. By adding a product to the cart, the participant can specify the number of products, the product receiving location, delivery date and time, payment method, and option selection.

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

[0101] S135: Option Selection Participants can select options for the product (S135). The options can request that cutlery or chopsticks be provided together with the product, or can request the selected store to serve a larger portion of some of the food items of the product (e.g., rice, etc.).

[0102] S136: Settlement (Credit Assurance) Participants settle for the products added to the cart by operating an order confirmation button (not shown) displayed on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 (S136). Settlement includes credit assurance. When the participant operates the order confirmation button (not shown), the order receiving unit 19 notifies the food and beverage store terminal 40 of the selected store that the participant has placed an order for the products received by the order receiving unit 19, and notifies the selected store of the addition of a provisional order (S139). A provisional order refers to an order for which there remains a possibility of cancellation. The memory control unit 22 stores, in the storage unit 10d, the products ordered by the participant in association with the event information when the participant operates the order confirmation button. Settlement (Credit Assurance) (S136) is performed for each order. When a single order includes a plurality of products, the total price of the plurality of products is processed in a single settlement. Also, even after the settlement (S136) is completed, the participant can place an order to add products before the order deadline has passed, and can separately settle for the order.

[0103] S137: Order Completion When the participant completes the settlement for the products added to the cart (S136), the participant's order is completed (S137). By completing the order, the participant can participate in the event. In conventional event operation services, etc., event participants applied to participate by obtaining free or paid tickets. However, in the event handled by the information processing apparatus 10, participants apply to participate in the event by completing the order for the product. That is, since participants can participate in the event by ordering the products selected from the menu list and completing the pre-payment, the user can save the trouble of collecting the product price from the event participants on the event day. Furthermore, even if there is an unauthorized cancellation by a participant, such as a no-show or last-minute cancellation, the user can eliminate the financial risk of not being able to collect the product price from the participant.

[0104] S138: Order Information Disclosure For products for which the settlement process has been performed by the participant operating the order confirmation button, the Communication Promotion Unit 25 notifies the participant terminals 30 of other participants, and the products ordered by the participant are disclosed to other participants (S138).

[0105] S139: Provisional Order Addition When the participant operates the order confirmation button (not shown) displayed on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30, the settlement of the products ordered by the participant is processed by the settlement processing unit 23 of the information processing apparatus 10 (S136). After the settlement of the said products is processed, the display control unit 18 notifies the food and beverage store terminal 40 of the selected store that an order has been placed by the participant for the products received by the order reception unit 19, and notifies the selected store of the addition of a provisional order (S139). Until the order closing time set for each food and beverage store has elapsed, the participant can freely cancel the order or change the product, so the order in S139 is in a provisional state and is not confirmed.

[0106] S140: Presence or Absence of Participant Cancellation The participant can cancel the product or change it to another product until the order closing time set for the product has elapsed. When a request for settlement cancellation is received from the participant terminal 30 (S140: YES), the settlement processing unit 23 of the information processing apparatus 10 proceeds to S141, and when no request for settlement cancellation is received from the participant terminal 30 (S140: NO), it proceeds to S144. In addition, when a single order includes multiple items, the settlement can be cancelled for each item. In this case, only the price of the item for which the settlement has been cancelled will be refunded to the participant. That is, since the participants in the event can cancel their participation in the event and change the items they ordered on their own for each participant with respect to the information processing apparatus 10, the user does not need to collectively contact the restaurant regarding the cancellation of the participation of the participants and the change of the ordered items, thus reducing the burden on the user.

[0107] S141: Order deadline? When a request for cancellation of the settlement (S136) is received from a participant (S140: YES), the settlement processing unit 23 of the information processing apparatus 10 determines whether or not the order deadline for the item corresponding to the settlement for which the cancellation request has been made has passed (S141). If the order deadline has not passed (S141: NO), the process proceeds to settlement cancellation (S142), and if the order deadline has passed (S141: YES), the process proceeds to non-cancellable (S143).

[0108] S142: Settlement cancellation If the time when the participant requests cancellation of the settlement is before the expiration of the order deadline for the item corresponding to the settlement, the settlement processing unit 23 accepts the cancellation of the settlement by the participant (S142). In this case, the price of the item corresponding to the cancelled settlement is refunded, and the participation of the participant whose cancellation has been accepted in the event is also cancelled. That is, if it is before the expiration of the order deadline for the settled item, the participants in the event can cancel their participation in the event and change the items they ordered on their own for each participant with respect to the information processing apparatus 10. Therefore, the user does not need to collectively contact the restaurant regarding the cancellation of the participation of the participants and the change of the ordered items, thus reducing the burden on the user.

[0109] S143: Non-cancellable If the time when the participant requests cancellation of the payment is after the expiration of the order deadline for the product corresponding to the payment, the payment processing unit 23 rejects the participant's request for cancellation of the payment (S143), the payment is confirmed (S145), the participant's participation in the event is confirmed (S147), and an order email notifying the selected store that the participant's order has been confirmed is sent (S149).

[0110] S144: Confirm deadline? The payment processing unit 23 determines (S144) whether the order deadline for the product corresponding to the payment has passed in a state where there is no request for cancellation of the participant's payment (S136) (S140: NO). Note that the cancellation policy can be set independently for each restaurant. For example, the cancellation policy can be set such that the cancellation fee is 0% of the price three days before the order deadline, 50% of the price two days before the order deadline, 75% of the price the day before the order deadline, and 100% of the price after the order deadline. In accordance with the cancellation policy of the restaurant, the event participant performs a cancellation process (cancellation of the participant's payment) on the information processing device 10, so the user does not need to handle the cancellation process, and the user's workload can be reduced. If the state where there is no request for cancellation of the participant's payment (S136) (S140: NO) is such that the order deadline for the product corresponding to the payment has passed (S144: YES), the process proceeds to payment confirmation (S145), the payment is confirmed, the participant's participation in the event is confirmed (S147), and an order email notifying the selected store that the participant's order has been confirmed is sent (S149).

[0111] S145: Payment confirmed After the expiration of the order deadline set for the product (S141, S144: YES), the payment for the product is confirmed (S145), and in principle, cancellation of the product or change to another product cannot be made. However, exceptionally, depending on the judgment of the selected store, cancellation of the product for which the payment has been confirmed or change to another product can be accepted. Participants in the event make a cancellation request directly to the restaurant through the information processing device 10, rather than to the user. The restaurant determines whether to approve the cancellation request for each restaurant. If the restaurant approves the cancellation request, the cancellation of the event participant is established, and the payment of the participant is refunded. When the settlement is finalized (S145), the participant can obtain (download) a receipt for the order content they settled from the information processing device 10. If the restaurant has registered an "eligible invoice registration number", the number will be described on the receipt. This can save the user and the restaurant the trouble of issuing a receipt for each participant, and can reduce the burden on the user and the restaurant.

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

[0113] S147: Participants' participation is confirmed When it is determined that the order closing time of the goods received by the order receiving unit 19 by the information processing device 10 has passed (S141, S144: YES), a display indicating that the participant's participation in the event is confirmed is displayed on the user terminal 29 (S147).

[0114] S148: User can post on SNS The user can use their own SNS account to post the selected store information and event information on the SNS and can recruit event participants (S148). Similar to the participant terminal 30, the display control unit 18 of the information processing apparatus 10 performs control to display an SNS posting button (not shown) on the display unit 29a of the user terminal 29. The user can post the selected store information and event information by operating the SNS posting button.

[0115] S149: Order email When it is determined that the order deadline time of the product received by the order reception unit 19 of the information processing apparatus 10 has passed (S141, S144: YES), the food and beverage terminal 40 of the selected store receives an order email stating that the order for the product that was a provisional order from the information processing apparatus 10 has been confirmed (S149). Note that the order email is sent to the food and beverage terminal 40 of the selected store for each order. When a single order includes a plurality of products, the order email is sent when it is determined that all of the order deadline times set for each food and beverage store have passed.

[0116] Also, the order email may be sent for each product. That is, when a single order includes a plurality of products, the order email is sent to the food and beverage terminal 40 of the selected store in order from the products for which the order deadline time has passed. In this case, the selected store can sequentially start cooking from the products for which the order email has been received, so the burden on the selected store can be reduced.

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

[0118] S151: Cooking and delivery After the selected store operates the order confirmation button, it starts cooking the products included in the orders of the confirmed participants (S151). When the order of the participant is in the form of food delivery, the selected store delivers the products to the designated location (S151). Note that since it is desirable to complete the delivery to one location in one go, when there are multiple orders to be delivered to the said delivery location, the delivery is made after the preparation of all the products in the multiple orders is completed.

[0119] S152: Delivery Completion Notification Button In the case of the food delivery mode of use, after the delivery of the products is completed, the selected store operates the delivery completion notification button (not shown) displayed on the display unit 40 of the food and beverage store terminal to notify the information processing apparatus 10 that the delivery of the products is completed (S152).

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

[0121] The display control unit 18 may display a list of the event information acquired by the event information acquisition unit 12 on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30. Also, the display control unit 18 may display the search result of the event information obtained based on the input of the event participants on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30. In this case, the communication promotion unit 25 displays the search result on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30. As shown in FIG. 7, an event list of participants being recruited is displayed as the top page 32 of the participant LP on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30. The cover image 33 is a photograph, illustration, etc. that symbolizes or images the service provided by the information processing apparatus 10. The event list includes the event outlines (34a to 34f) of the events for which participants are being recruited. The top page 32 of the LP for participants may display a list of events involving food and drink. The events displayed on the top page 32 of the LP for participants will be events involving food and drink (such as dinners, lunches, drinking parties, etc.). The organizer of the event can select and set either "public" or "non-public (URL-restricted public)" on the top page 32 of the said event. Events published on the top page 32 can be freely participated in by anyone. On the other hand, events set as non-public (URL-restricted public) can only be participated in by those who have been informed of the URL via a messaging app or the like. Participants can search for event information that matches their "event theme, interests, and hobbies" using the participant terminal 30 and display it on the display section 31, or can receive notification of the said event information on the participant terminal 30 via email or the like. By receiving such notifications, participants' motivation to participate in the event is stimulated. Also, participants can search for information on events in which other participants with "similar food preferences" to their own have applied to participate using the participant terminal 30 and display it on the display section 31, or can receive notification of the said information on the participant terminal 30 via email or the like. By receiving such notifications, participants' motivation to participate in the event is stimulated. Also, participants can register their "favorite restaurants" and then search for information on events held at the registered "favorite restaurants" using the participant terminal 30 and display it on the display section 31, or can receive notification of the said information on the participant terminal 30 via email or the like. By receiving such notifications, participants' motivation to participate in the event is stimulated. Also, participants can register their current address and then search for information on events held in the "nearby area" using the participant terminal 30 and display it on the display section 31, or can receive notification of the said information on the participant terminal 30 via email or the like. By receiving such notifications, participants' motivation to participate in the event is stimulated. In addition, by registering their own age, participants can search for information on events that are "close to the generation of the participants" using the participant terminal 30 and display it on the display unit 31, or receive such information on the participant terminal 30 by mail or the like. By receiving such a notification, participation in the event is stimulated. Also, by registering the events they have participated in so far, participants can search for information on events that "are participated in by those who have participated together so far (friends and acquaintances)" using the participant terminal 30 and display it on the display unit 31, or receive such information on the participant terminal 30 by mail or the like. By receiving such a notification, participation in the event is stimulated. In addition, participants can search for event information by "date and time of event" using the participant terminal 30 and display it on the display unit 31, or receive such information on the participant terminal 30 by mail or the like. By receiving such a notification, participation in the event is stimulated.

[0122] The display control unit 18 displays, on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30, a list of the names or icons of the participants in the event accepted by the order reception unit 19 as the participant list. In addition, the display control unit 18 may display all of the names or all of the icons of the participants in the event accepted by the order reception unit 19 as the participant list on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30, or may display the names or icons of a number up to a preset upper limit among the participants in the event accepted by the order reception unit 19 as the participant list. For example, when the upper limit is set to 10, even if the number of participants in the event exceeds 10, the number of names or icons displayed as the participant list is 10. The name or icon 39 of an event participant may refer to the name or icon of the participant included in the information regarding the profile received by the participant profile reception unit 17. Also, a face photo included in the information regarding the profile may be used as the icon 39, or any character, image, etc. that identifies the individual of the event participant may be used as the icon 39 of the event participant. The participant list displays the names or icons 39 of the event participants in a list, and is displayed together with the event outline 34 or the menu list 70, representing a summary of the participants in the event so that the faces, lineups, or details of the event participants can be understood at a glance. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an example in which one of the event outlines (34a to 34f) included in the event list displayed on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 is selected and enlarged. As shown in FIG. 8, the event outline 34b includes a cover image 41, an event title 35, an event content description 36, event details 37, the planned number of participants 38, and the icon 39 of the participants. The cover image 41 is a large image arranged at the top of the event outline 34b, referring to a photo, illustration, etc. that symbolizes or images the event. The event details 37 include the organizer, order deadline, date and time of the event, venue, store name, and maximum capacity. The planned number of participants 38 is the number of event participants at the current time. The icon 39 of the participants is an icon indicating the event participants. The icon 39 of the participants is provided with a URL (Uniform Resource Locator:) or hyperlink associated with the participant profile information stored by the memory control unit 22.

[0123] Referring to FIGS. 9, 10, and 14, the display screen displayed on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 will be described. As shown in FIG. 9, on the display screen of the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30, the event outline 34b, the menu list 70, the planned number of participants 38, and the icon 39 of the participants are simultaneously displayed. The event summary 34b includes a cover image 41, an event title 35, an event description 36, and event details 37, etc. Those who are considering participating in the event can obtain information about the content of the event by viewing the event summary 34b. The planned number of participants 38 indicates the number of people who plan to participate in the event displayed in the event summary 34b. The participant icon 39 is a label that enables participants to be distinguishable from others, and it is the icon of the people who plan to participate in the event displayed in the event summary 34b. Those who are considering participating in the event can recognize whether they know anyone among the people who plan to participate in the event displayed in the event summary 34b by viewing the participant icon 39. Also, those who are considering participating in the event can view the profile information of the participant associated by a URL or hyperlink by performing a mouse operation or a touch operation on one of the participant icons 39 in the participant list. Also, the participants of the event can view the profile information of other participants by performing a mouse operation or a touch operation on one of the icons 39 of other participants of the event. Those who are considering participating in the event and the participants of the event can make a phone call or send a message, etc., based on the contact information included in the profile information of other participants of the event.

[0124] Also, the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 may display the participant's order list 42 together with the icons 39 of the participants who plan to participate in the event. The participant's order list 42 may list the name 84 of the participant, the name 80 of the product ordered by the participant, and the price 82 of the product for each participant icon 39 (see FIG. 14). In this case, a photo of the product may be published together with the product name 82 or instead of the product name 82. Also, the publication of the price 82 of the product is not essential and may not be published. By displaying the order list 42 of the participants on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 as described above, it is possible to inform the participants of the event what products other participants have ordered, so that a topic can be provided for the conversation between the participants on the event day. In addition, it is possible to inform those who are considering participating in the event of what products are selected by the participants. Further, by arranging and publishing the order list 42 of the participants and the menu list 70 side by side, the preferences of the participants can be understood more specifically, the imagination of the participants about the atmosphere on the event day can be stirred up, and a topic can be provided for the participants on the event day. Further, the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 may display the name 44 of the user together with the order list 42 of the participant. FIG. 14 may display "the name of the organizer (e.g., ZYX)" as an example of the name 44 of the user together with the order list 42 of the participant. Further, the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 may display a contact button 45 for the user together with the name 44 of the user. When the contact button 45 for the user is pressed with a mouse cursor or the like, the mail software such as the mailer installed in the participant terminal 30 starts with the user's mail address entered in the input field of the destination mail address. FIG. 14 shows, as an example of the contact button 45 for the user, a "Contact the Organizer" button with the user's example as the organizer displayed. When the "Contact the Organizer" button is pressed with a mouse cursor or the like, the mail software such as the mailer installed in the participant terminal 30 starts with the organizer's mail address entered in the input field of the destination mail address.

[0125] The menu list 70 is a table summarizing the outlines (71 to 76) of the products of the selected store. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an enlarged view of the outline 71 of the product included in the menu list 70. As shown in FIG. 10, the outline 71 of the product includes a cover image 79, a product name 80, an outline 81 of the product, a price 82, and a product selection button 83. The cover image 79 is posted at the upper part of the outline 71 of the product and is a photograph or illustration of the product. The product selection button 83 is operated when a participant selects a product described in the product overview 71. Those considering participating in the event can simultaneously recognize the event overview 34b, the menu list 70, and the planned participants by looking at the display screen of the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 shown in FIG. 9. Therefore, it is easy to imagine that by participating in the event, one can enjoy communicating with others while eating one's favorite foods. Also, those considering participating in the event can place an order for a product by touching the product selection button 83 displayed in the menu list 70 on the display screen shown in FIG. 9. Those considering participating in the event select a product from the menu list 70 and operate the product selection button 83 by mouse operation or touch operation, which means that they have applied to participate in the event displayed in the event overview 34b. Therefore, those considering participating in the event do not need to go through procedures such as arranging tickets to participate in the event. Furthermore, since the order for food and drinks during the event can be placed by mouse operation or touch operation of the product selection button 83, the trouble of using a separate food delivery service can be eliminated. Note that the mouse operation refers to clicking the product selection button 83 using a mouse.

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

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

[0128] The cover image 57 is a large image posted at the top of the outline 52 of the restaurant, and is an image or illustration introducing the restaurant. The selection button 62 is operated when the user selects the restaurant described in the outline 52 of the restaurant as the selected store. Information about the restaurant operated by the selection button 62 by the user is acquired by the selected store information acquisition unit 13 of the information processing apparatus 10.

[0129] Referring to FIG. 13, the input page 29b of the event information displayed on the display unit 29a of the user terminal 29 will be described. On the input page 29b, the user inputs the detailed information 29c of the event that becomes the event information. The event information input to the input page 29b is acquired by the event information acquisition unit 12 of the information processing apparatus 10. The detailed information 29c of the event includes an event title, a detailed event description, a delivery destination postal code, a delivery destination address, a holding date and time, an order deadline time, a minimum number of participants required for the event, and a maximum capacity. The event title is the name of the event. The detailed event description is a detailed description text of the event. The delivery destination postal code is the postal code of the delivery destination of the product ordered by the participant. The delivery destination address is the address of the delivery destination of the product ordered by the participant. The holding date and time is the holding date and time of the event scheduled to be held. The order deadline time is the time to close the order for the participant's product. The minimum number of participants required to hold an event is the minimum number of participants for which the event can be held. The maximum capacity is the maximum number of participants that the event can accommodate.

[0130] (Regarding treating participants of the event) A participant of the event may have all or part of the price resulting from an order of a product paid for by another person. That is, a participant of the event may have another person take over the payment of all or part of the price resulting from an order of a product. Another person may include the user of the information processing apparatus who is the organizer of the event, a person related to the holding of the event, and other participants of the event. To treat means the same as to take over, and means that the person treating takes over all or part of the price of the product for the person being treated.

[0131] There are various patterns of treating, and some of them are exemplified below. (Pattern 1) The person treating is the organizer of the event (hereinafter simply referred to as the organizer), that is, the user of the information processing apparatus, and the person being treated is a participant of the event (hereinafter simply referred to as the participant), and the mode of treating is the full amount. Specifically, the organizer bears the full amount of the price of the participant's product (hereinafter simply referred to as the meal price). The participant can select a product (hereinafter simply referred to as food) and place a pre-order without prior settlement. The operator issues an invoice to the organizer, and the organizer transfers the amount stated in the invoice by bank transfer. Or the organizer makes a prior deposit of the treating amount with a credit card or the like. Note that the operator is a person who provides mediation between the participants of the event and the food and beverage store that provides food and beverages to the participants.

[0132] (Pattern 2) The person treating is the organizer of the event, the person being treated is a participant, and the organizer bears the amount designated by the organizer. Specifically, among the meal expenses of the participants, the organizer shall bear the amount designated by the organizer. For example, if the organizer designates a burden of 1,000 yen per participant, for a meal expense of 1,500 yen, the participant shall bear 500 yen by themselves, for a meal expense of 1,000 yen, the participant has no self - burden, and for a meal expense of 800 yen, the participant has no self - burden. When the participant has a burden, the participant shall settle the amount with a credit card. The operator shall issue an invoice to the organizer, and the organizer shall transfer the amount stated in the invoice by bank transfer. Or the organizer may make a prepayment of the entertainment amount with a credit card or the like and deposit it in advance.

[0133] (Pattern 3) The person who entertains is the organizer, and the person who is entertained is the participant. The organizer shall bear the ratio designated by the organizer. Specifically, for example, if the organizer designates a burden of 50% per participant, for a meal expense of 1,500 yen, the participant shall bear 750 yen by themselves, for a meal expense of 1,000 yen, the participant shall bear 500 yen by themselves, and for a meal expense of 800 yen, the participant shall bear 400 yen by themselves. When the participant has a burden, the participant shall settle the amount with a credit card. The operator shall issue an invoice to the organizer, and the organizer shall transfer the amount stated in the invoice by bank transfer. Or the organizer may make a prepayment of the entertainment amount with a credit card or the like and deposit it in advance.

[0134] (Pattern 4) The person who entertains is the organizer, and the person who is entertained is the participant. The organizer may limit the menu that the participant can order. It may be that only menus from 1,000 yen to 1,500 yen are displayed on the participant terminal 30 of the entertained participant, or the menus that the participant can order can be limited to three.

[0135] (Pattern 5) The person who foots the bill is the host, and the person being treated is the participant. The host may not disclose the amount of money for the treat. Specifically, although it is premised that the host treats the participants, the fifth pattern of treating is carried out when the host wants to keep the amount of the treat undisclosed. For the participants being treated, they are notified, such as "Please choose one and participate." Then, the participants are asked to order what they like without hesitation.

[0136] (Pattern 6) The person who foots the bill is the host, and the person being treated is the participant. The host may not disclose the amount of money for the treat and include it in the membership fee that the participants pay as the event participation fee. Note that the membership fee is set uniformly for the event participants. Specifically, the paid ticket (membership fee) issued by the host may include the cost of meals. Although the host wants the participants to choose their favorite menu, the sixth pattern is used when the host wants to collect the membership fee separately. Regardless of which menu the participants choose, the amount of the event membership fee is the same. For example, the amount of the event membership fee is 5,000 yen, and the participants are asked to choose one item from the menu. In this case, the amount of the menu may not be displayed, and it may be displayed on the menu as "Drinks are served separately."

[0137] (Pattern 7) The person who foots the bill is the host, and the person being treated is the participant. The participants who are the first to arrive up to the number set by the host may be the targets of the treat. Specifically, the number of people to be treated can be set as "the first 10 people," etc., and for "the first 10 people," the full amount of the meal cost can be treated, the first 10 people can be given a 1,000 yen discount, or the first 10 people can be given a 50% discount, etc.

[0138] (Pattern 8) The person who foots the bill is the host, and the person being treated is the participant. An upper limit amount to be borne by the person who foots the bill may be set. Specifically, for example, the budget for the upper limit amount of the treat by the host is set at 30,000 yen. Then, until it reaches 30,000 yen, the full amount of the participants' payment is treated, until it reaches 30,000 yen, the participants' payment is given a 1,000 yen discount, or until it reaches 30,000 yen, the participants' payment is given a 50% discount.

[0139] (Pattern 9) The person who pays is the organizer, and the person being treated is a guest of the event. The organizer can treat "specific participants" such as guest speakers. Once an order is received, the order can be changed to be borne by the organizer for treatment. The payment will be refunded to the guest who has paid. Or credit is secured and settled at the time of order confirmation. If treated, the secured credit will be canceled. Securing credit refers to the operation of inquiring and confirming whether the user's credit card can be used without problems.

[0140] (Pattern 10) The person who pays is the organizer, and the person being treated is a person belonging to the organizer's team. Specifically, the organizer can pay for the members belonging to the organizer's team operated by the organizer. That is, the payment for the members belonging to the organizer's team can be paid by the organizer's invoice.

[0141] (Pattern 11) The person who pays is the organizer, and the person being treated is the operator. Specifically, the organizer can treat the operator, the people belonging to the team supporting the operator, etc.

[0142] (Pattern 12) The person who pays is the organizer, and the person being treated is the participant. It is a method of issuing a coupon (community coupon) to treat the participant. Specifically, the organizer issues a community coupon. The community coupon can only be used in that community. A URL for obtaining the community coupon is sent to specific participants, and the specific participants use the community coupon for settlement. The community coupon is pre-settled by the organizer using a credit card. For a 1500-yen community coupon, up to 1500 yen can be settled, and the remaining amount of the community coupon will be refunded to the organizer. For example, if 1000 yen of a 1500-yen community coupon is used for settlement, the remaining 500 yen will be refunded to the organizer.

[0143] (Pattern 13) The person who foots the bill is the organizer, and the person being treated is the participant. When the participant wins at roulette or draws a lottery, the amount of the treat fluctuates. Specifically, if the participant wins at roulette or draws a lottery, they will be treated by the organizer. For example, if it's a big win, it's a 1000 yen discount, if it's a medium win, it's a 500 yen discount, and if it's a small win, it's a 100 yen discount.

[0144] (Pattern 14) The person who foots the bill is the organizer, and the person being treated is the participant. When the participant wins at roulette or draws a lottery, a community coupon is issued. Specifically, when the participant wins at roulette or draws a lottery, a "community coupon that can be used in the next event to participate" will be issued by the organizer. For example, a community coupon with a 1000 yen discount for a big win, a community coupon with a 500 yen discount for a medium win, and a community coupon with a 100 yen discount for a small win will be issued and provided to the participant. This community coupon can only be used in that community.

[0145] (Pattern 15) The person who foots the bill is the organizer, and the person being treated is the participant. The participant can be treated if they fulfill a certain duty or condition. Specifically, the participant can be treated if they fulfill a specific duty or condition. Specifically, they need to fulfill duties or conditions such as "helping with event operation", "being a note reporter", or "posting on X (formerly Twitter (registered trademark) or Instagram (registered trademark)). The duties or conditions can be displayed to the participant in a pull-down menu or the like and selected by the participant. It may also be possible to set a limit on the number of people for the "duties".

[0146] (Pattern 16) The person who foots the bill is the organizer, and the person being treated is the participant. The participant can make a request to the organizer. Specifically, the participant can say "Treat me!" and make a "request" to the organizer. Whether to accept the "request" can be set for each event. If the participant makes a "request", the organizer can decide whether to "treat" or "reject" based on their judgment.

[0147] (Pattern 17) The person who treats is the host, and the person being treated is the participant. Even if the participant is a student, they may be eligible for a student discount. Specifically, the participant may be able to receive the application of the student discount by proving their student status in advance with a student ID or the like.

[0148] (Pattern 18) The person who treats is the host, and the person being treated is the participant. It may be possible for the participant to receive a gender discount if the participant is male or female. Specifically, by having the participant declare their gender in advance, the host can treat specific gender participants. For example, female participants can have a 1000 yen discount or a 50% discount, etc., and can be used for mixers, street mixers, etc.

[0149] (Pattern 19) The person who treats is the host, and the person being treated is the participant. A discount may be given to participants of a specific age. Specifically, the host can have the participant declare their age in advance, and the host can treat participants of a specific age group. For example, those in their 20s can have a 1000 yen discount, or those 60 and above can have a 50% discount.

[0150] (Pattern 20) The person who treats is the host, and the person being treated is the participant. The host can treat specific participants such as specific guests or customers. Specifically, the host can treat pre-set participants such as guests or customers outside the company. In this case, the organizers and those related to the event operation are not treated. For example, the host can implement a full payment or a 1000 yen discount for guests or customers outside the company.

[0151] (Pattern 21) The person who hosts is the host, and the person who is hosted is the participant. The host may also choose to host for participants who are participating in the community for the first time. Specifically, the host may choose to cover the meal expenses for participants who are participating in the community for the first time. For example, the host may offer a 1000 yen discount on the meal expenses for participants who are participating in the community for the first time, or may offer a 500 yen discount for those who have participated in the community up to 3 times, etc.

[0152] (Pattern 22) The person who hosts is the host, and the person who is hosted is the participant. The host may also choose to host for participants who have collected stamps on the stamp card. Specifically, participants obtain a stamp each time they participate in an event of the community, and the number of times of participation in the community is counted as the number of stamps. Specifically, a 500 yen discount on the meal expenses may be offered at the 5th participation, and a 1000 yen discount at the 10th participation. The discount amount may be determined according to the number of participations. Furthermore, participants may obtain 500 points at the 5th participation and 1000 points at the 10th participation, and may also obtain points that can be used for subsequent participations. Note that the points may only be used within that community.

[0153] (Pattern 23) The person who hosts is the host, and the person who is hosted is the participant. The host may also choose to host for the participant who has invited other participants, together with the other participants. Specifically, the host may choose to host for both the "inviter" and the "invited". For example, the host may offer a 300 yen discount on the meal expenses for both the invited Mr. A and the invited Mr. B. The host issues an invitation link to the participant and sends the invitation link from the participant to the person who is invited to participate in the community. By having the invited person place an order for food via the invitation link, the fact that "the person (participant) invited them" can be recorded. The host may offer a discount on the meal expenses, refund the money, or issue a coupon of equivalent value, etc., to the inviter and the invited. The invitation link may be implemented in a form similar to, for example, the link of an affiliate URL.

[0154] (The 24th pattern) The person who pays may be the organizer, and the person who is treated may be the participant. For the participant who has invited other participants, the discount amount for the meal cost may be determined according to the number of people invited. Specifically, the organizer shall implement discounts for both the "inviter" and the "invited" for the meal cost. The discount amount for the "inviter" varies according to the number of people invited. For example, if one person is invited, the meal cost of the inviter may be reduced by 300 yen, and if three people are invited, it may be reduced by 900 yen. The total number of invited people may be set for each event. In this case, the organizer may not be required to pay for the part exceeding the total number of invited people.

[0155] (The 25th pattern) The person who pays may be the organizer, and the person who is treated may be the participant. It is also possible to discount the meal cost of the participant according to the birthday or birth month of the participant. Specifically, the discount is applied to the person with the "birthday" or "birth month". For example, if the event is held in May, the organizer may reduce the meal cost of the participant born in May by 500 yen, and if the event is held on May 1st, the organizer may discount the full amount of the meal cost for the participant born on May 1st. The organizer can make the birthday of the participant one of the contents of the dinner.

[0156] (The 26th pattern) The person who pays may be the organizer, and the person who is treated may be the participant. It is also possible to pay for the meal cost of the participant with a specific tag. Specifically, the organizer may discount the meal cost for the participant whose profile has a career tag such as "entrepreneur", "engineer", "freelancer", or "personnel". For example, for the participant with the career tag of "entrepreneur", the organizer may reduce 500 yen from the meal cost. A tag refers to a word or short phrase used when classifying or organizing information and representing its attributes or characteristics. A career tag is assigned to the information of the participant according to the participant's career.

[0157] (The 27th pattern) The person who foots the bill is the host, and the person being treated is the participant. When a preset number of participants with the same attribute gather, the meal expenses of the gathered participants will be discounted. Specifically, for example, when 4 participants with the same attribute gather, the meal expenses of these 4 participants may be discounted by 300 yen per person. For example, Pattern 27 is used when it is desired to increase the participation of entrepreneurs.

[0158] (Pattern 28) The person who foots the bill is the host, and the person being treated is the participant. It may also be possible to treat participants coming from afar. Specifically, the host may encourage the participants to register their addresses in advance, and may discount the meal expenses for participants coming from afar. For example, for participants coming from outside Tokyo, 1000 yen may be discounted from the meal expenses. The host can reduce the burden of the participants' transportation costs.

[0159] (Pattern 29) The person who foots the bill is the host, and the person being treated is the participant. When the participant attaches an option to the menu, the host may discount the price of the option. Specifically, the host pays for the price of the menu options. For example, the price of options such as "Large serving" or "Cheese topping" may be covered by the host. The host may use Pattern 29 when it is desired for the participants to eat a lot.

[0160] (Pattern 30) The person who foots the bill is the sponsor of the event (hereinafter simply referred to as the sponsor), and the person being treated is the participant. It may be possible for the sponsor to bear the meal expenses of all the participants. Specifically, the sponsor can pay for the price of all the meals for that event.

[0161] (Pattern 31) The person who pays is the sponsor, and the person who is paid for is the participant. It is also possible for the sponsor to pay for the meals of the participants within the limit in the order of arrival at the event. Specifically, the sponsor may set a limit on the number of first arrivals and pay for the meals of the first-arriving participants until the limit is reached. For example, the meals may be free for the first 20 arrivals, the meals for the first 20 arrivals may be discounted by 500 yen, or the meals for the first 20 arrivals may be discounted by 1000 yen, etc.

[0162] (Pattern 32) The person who pays is the sponsor, and the person who is paid for is the participant. It is also possible for the sponsor to pay for the meals of the participants in the order of arrival at the event until the total amount paid by the sponsor reaches the upper limit amount. Specifically, the sponsor may set an upper limit amount for the total amount to be paid and pay for the participants. For example, the sponsor may set a budget of 30,000 yen for paying for the participants and may make the meals of the participants free until the budget is reached.

[0163] (Pattern 33) The person who pays is the sponsor, and the person who is paid for is a specific participant. For example, the sponsor may apply a discount on the meal cost for students. Specifically, the sponsor may determine a specific attribute and pay for the meals of the participants having that attribute. For example, the sponsor may pay the full meal cost for participants who are students, or the sponsor may reduce the meal cost for participants who are students by 1000 yen.

[0164] (Pattern 34) The person who pays is the sponsor, and the person who is paid for is a specific participant. For example, the sponsor may apply a discount on the meal cost for women. Specifically, the sponsor may determine a specific attribute and pay for the meals of the participants having that attribute. For example, the sponsor may pay the full meal cost for participants who are women, or the sponsor may reduce the meal cost for participants who are women by 1000 yen.

[0165] (Pattern 35) The person who pays is the sponsor, and the person who is paid for is a specific participant. For example, for the elderly, the sponsor may apply a discount on the meal cost. Specifically, the sponsor may determine a specific attribute and pay for the meal costs of the participants with that attribute. For example, the sponsor may pay the full meal cost for participants aged 60 or above, or the sponsor may reduce the meal cost of participants aged 60 or above by 1000 yen.

[0166] (Pattern 36) The person who pays is the sponsor, and the organizer may request sponsors such as companies or individuals. Specifically, the organizer may set the conditions for becoming a sponsor and request someone, whether a company or an individual, to become a sponsor. A company or individual that receives a request to become a sponsor may, if they agree to become a sponsor, "reply with an answer of commitment to become a sponsor." If they "commit to being a sponsor," they may pay for the meal costs of the participants in accordance with the set conditions.

[0167] (Pattern 37) The person who pays is the sponsor, and the organizer may recruit sponsors. Specifically, the organizer may set the conditions for becoming a sponsor and recruit sponsors. A person applying to be a sponsor presses the "Become a Sponsor" button displayed on the terminal used for application. The organizer decides whether to approve the applicant who has pressed the "Become a Sponsor" button to become a sponsor, and if approving, presses the "Approve as a Sponsor" button. Note that whether to recruit sponsors or not is set for each event.

[0168] (Pattern 38) The person who pays is the sponsor, and it may be possible to become a sponsor without the approval of the organizer. Whether it is possible to become a sponsor without the approval of the organizer can be set according to the organizer's intention.

[0169] (Pattern 39) The person who foots the bill is the sponsor, and it is possible to become a sponsor (hereinafter referred to as a retroactive sponsor) after the event starts. If a retroactive sponsor appears, the meal fee already paid by the participants will be refunded. For example, it may be refunded along with an announcement such as "Since Mr. XX has become a sponsor, the meal fee will be refunded."

[0170] (Pattern 40) The person who foots the bill is a participant, the person being treated is also a participant, and the participant issues a coupon to treat other participants. Specifically, the participant can issue a discount coupon. For example, a 500-yen discount coupon, a 1000-yen discount coupon, etc. can be issued to treat other participants. Settlement is made to the participant who issued the coupon at the timing when the coupon is used.

[0171] (Pattern 41) The person who foots the bill is a participant, the person being treated is also a participant, and the meal fee can be treated for other participants with a gift card. Specifically, the participant can purchase a gift card and present it to other participants. The amount of the gift card can be freely set. It may be possible to send a URL, etc. to give it to the person being treated. Settlement is made to the purchaser at the timing when the gift card is purchased. If the gift card is not used, it will be the operating profit.

[0172] (Pattern 42) The person who pays is a participant, and the person who is paid for is also a participant. A participant can freely treat a specific other participant. Specifically, a participant can freely treat a specific other participant. Participants usually pay for bento, etc. in advance with a credit card. If one makes a "free treat", they can overwrite it (cancel the past action and rewrite it with a new action) to treat, and the person who was treated will have the already paid amount refunded. Whether to allow "free treats" or not can be selected by the organizer. Whether "free treats" are only for the participants of that event or it is okay even for those who do not participate can be set by the organizer. The user can decide whether they can make a "free treat" or not. The user can set the range of the target of "free treats" to any one of "friends", "people who have participated in the same dinner", and "strangers".

[0173] (Pattern 43) The person who pays is a participant, and the person who is paid for is also a participant. Coupons can be posted on SNS (Social Networking Service). Specifically, the coupon URL can be posted on SNS together with the message "I'll treat you 300 yen!". The amount and number of people such as "300 yen per person, first 5 people only" can be set. The premise is that the coupon is linked to the event. The coupon should be purchased in advance. Or, it is settled at the timing of its use or the timing of the order deadline of the event.

[0174] (Pattern 44) The person who pays is a participant, and the person who is paid for is also a participant. It may be possible for them to ask another participant. Specifically, it is to ask a specific person to treat, and one can "ask" a "participant" who has already placed an order. The person who asks can add a hood to their own cart and send a message such as "Please treat me, Mr. / Ms. 〇〇!". The participant who is asked can receive a message such as "Received a treat request from Mr. / Ms. ××" and respond to the request with "Treat the full amount" or "Treat half the amount", etc.

[0175] (Pattern 45) The person who treats is a participant, and the person who is treated is also a participant. It is also possible to solicit from unspecified participants and wait for someone to treat. Specifically, ask an unspecified person to treat. The person who solicits puts a hood in their cart and sets a "waiting for treat" flag, and it may be stipulated that they can participate in the event if someone settles the bill for them.

[0176] (Pattern 46) The person who treats is a participant, and the person who is treated is also a participant. It is also possible to invite unspecified people to the event by posting a message "Is anyone there". Specifically, the person who treats purchases a hood for an unspecified person in addition to their own "share" in advance. It is possible to specify "age", "gender", "occupation", etc. for who to receive the hood purchased in advance for an unspecified person.

[0177] (Pattern 47) The person who treats is a participant, and the person who is treated is also a participant. It is also possible to treat by the method of the New Year's money system. Specifically, it is possible for the oldest participant to treat the youngest participant. It is also possible to divide the participants in half, and those above the median age treat those below.

[0178] (Pattern 48) The person who treats is a participant, and the person who is treated is also a participant. It is also possible to treat by the method of throwing money. Specifically, a participant can purchase a "bento" for 1000 yen and throw it at a person they like. A participant can "throw money" at another participant. The person who receives the money receives a message such as "Three bentos have arrived from Mr. X." This means that they can participate in the event three times.

[0179] (Pattern 49) The person who treats is the participant, the person who is treated is a member of the community, and it is also possible to treat by the method of throwing money. Specifically, the user can "throw money" to the community. The community can hold a dinner party based on the "thrown money". Participants can have meals for free until the thrown money is used up. For example, it can be thrown to a community of a student union system, thrown to a community of an NPO, or money can be thrown to a disaster area, etc.

[0180] (Pattern 50) The person who treats is the operator, the person who is treated is the participant, and it is also possible to treat by the method of step points. Specifically, when a participant sets up their my page, they can get 100 points, when they set up SNS, they can get 100 points, and when they participate in an event once, they can get 100 points, etc., and they can accumulate points. Assuming 1 point is equal to 1 yen, they can use the points to participate in a dinner party.

[0181] (Pattern 51) The person who treats is the operator, the person who is treated is the participant, and it is also possible to treat by the method of issuing coupons. Specifically, the operator may be able to issue coupons. Coupons with specific character strings such as "SHOKUJII_SPRING_2024" can be issued, and a usage limit of once per person can be set for the coupons.

[0182] (Pattern 52) The person who treats is the operator, the person who is treated is the participant ambassador, and it is also possible to treat by the method of ambassador coupons or monthly coupons. Specifically, coupons can be automatically issued to specific users such as ambassadors every month. For example, coupons worth 3000 yen per month can be issued. The operator can set settings such as whether the issued coupons can be carried over to the next month or cannot be carried over to the next month. An ambassador refers to a person who is hired by a company or organization or receives payment and plays a representative role to enhance the awareness of the company's products or services.

[0183] (Pattern 53) The person who indulges is the operator, and the person who is indulged is the participant. It can be done by issuing premium member coupons. Specifically, when becoming a premium member with a monthly fee (for example, about 1000 yen), you can receive 1000 points or the like. 1000 points can be used as 1000 yen and can be used as a coupon at the time of settlement when participating in an event. Participants can become premium members substantially for free.

[0184] (Pattern 54) The person who indulges is the operator, and the person who is indulged is the participant. It may also be done by the method of login bonus. Specifically, users can receive a login bonus once a day. Each time they log in, they can receive 10 points or the like. 10 points can be used as 10 yen and can be used as a coupon at the time of settlement when participating in an event.

[0185] (Pattern 55) The person who indulges is the operator, and the person who is indulged is the participant. It may also be done by the method of login gacha. Specifically, users can receive a login bonus once a day. Each time they log in, they can draw a gacha and receive "1 point", "10 points", "50 points", etc. 10 points can be used as 10 yen and can be used as a coupon at the time of settlement when participating in an event. Gacha refers to a mechanism where prizes that can be obtained cannot be selected by oneself, and are purchased or acquired by lottery such as a game-like lottery draw.

[0186] (Pattern 56) The person who indulges is the operator, and the person who is indulged is the participant. It is also possible to indulge in the form of a participation bonus. Specifically, every time a user participates in an event, they can receive a stamp. When 5 stamps, 10 stamps, etc. are accumulated, points such as "100 points" can be received. Assuming 10 points are equivalent to 10 yen, they can be used as coupons during settlement when participating in the event.

[0187] (Pattern 57) The person who indulges is the operator, and the person who is indulged is the participant. It is also possible to indulge in the form of a participation gacha. Specifically, every time a user participates in an event, they can receive a stamp. When 5 stamps, 10 stamps, etc. are accumulated, a "gacha" can be drawn. By drawing the gacha, points such as "1 point", "10 points", "50 points", etc. can be received. Assuming 10 points are equivalent to 10 yen, they can be used as coupons during settlement when participating in the event.

[0188] (Pattern 58) It is also possible that the person who indulges is a restaurant, and the person who is indulged is the participant, and indulge in the form of an option discount. Specifically, the restaurant can cover the cost of options such as a large portion of food, cheese topping, increased sauce, etc.

[0189] (Pattern 59) It is also possible that the person who indulges is a restaurant, and the person who is indulged is the participant, and indulge in the form of a large-group discount. Specifically, when the number of customers in the restaurant reaches a certain number, the restaurant can indulge the participants with messages such as "Great discount when [number of people] is reached!", "When [number of people] is reached, the cost of options will be free for everyone.", "When [number of people] is reached, everyone will get a 100 yen discount.", or "When [number of people] is reached, a 100 yen coupon that can be used at this store next time will be presented."

[0190] (Pattern 60) It is also possible that the person treating is in a restaurant, the person being treated is a participant, and the treatment is done with a probability of one in five participants. Specifically, with a probability of one in five, if two orders are placed, one order will be free. Or, the menu that participants can order can be fixed, and if this menu is ordered, one in five people will get it for free.

[0191] (Pattern 61) It is also possible that the person treating is in a restaurant, the person being treated is a participant, and the treatment is done by a random allocation method. Specifically, the person being treated is randomly selected, and one in ○ people will get it for free. Or, the person being treated is randomly selected, and one in ○ people will get a "¥500 discount", etc.

[0192] (Pattern 62) It is also possible that the person treating is in a restaurant, the person being treated is a participant, and the treatment is done by an eat-in coupon method. Specifically, the restaurant can issue a coupon that can be used in the restaurant to the user. It can lead to a visit to the restaurant. Or, it can attract group customers to the restaurant. For example, a free drink coupon that can be used in the restaurant. Or, a ¥1000 discount coupon for all-you-can-drink can be used as an eat-in coupon.

[0193] (Pattern 63) It is also possible that the person paying is a participant, the person to be paid is the organizer, and the treatment is done by a paid ticket function method. Specifically, when the organizer wants to separately collect the venue fee, drink fee, or seminar fee, etc., paid tickets can be set and sold separately from the food fee. Multiple types of tickets can be made, and participants can be asked to choose from them. For example, the paid tickets can be "plus ¥2000" for general participation, "plus ¥1000" for student participation, "plus ¥500" for ambassador participation, etc.

[0194] (Pattern 64) The payer can be a participant, and the payee can be the organizer. It may also be possible to treat it as treating in an inclusive function method. Specifically, the organizer may want to include (incorporate) the hood fee and venue fee, etc. in the participation fee, etc. (There may be cases where the organizer does not want to inform the participants of the details of the hood fee and venue fee, etc.). Specifically, the participation fee may be set at 3000 yen, etc., including the hood fee. In this case, the amount of the participation fee remains the same regardless of which hood is selected. The participants will receive an announcement such as "Any menu you choose is okay".

[0195] Note that payment by invoice means a settlement method in which the price of goods or services is paid collectively at a later date. Specifically, it refers to a mechanism in which an invoice is issued after a transaction occurs and the payment is made by the specified due date. The pre-purchase method and the deposit method mean temporarily depositing a "guarantee deposit" or "deposit" when using goods or services. This is done to ensure proper use of the services and prevent damages or unpaid amounts. The gift card method refers to a mechanism in which the person treating purchases a gift card in advance and presents the gift card to the person being treated for use. After the gift card is purchased, whether it is used or not, there is no refund of the gift card amount. Ensuring credit on a credit card refers to the process in credit card settlement to prevent unauthorized use of the card or exceeding the credit limit. Specifically, it is done to confirm that the credit card presented by the card user is valid and within the credit limit. This process is carried out by the card company pre-checking the transaction details and temporarily securing the settlement limit when there are no problems. As a result, the validity of the card and the available amount are secured before the card user actually makes a payment.

[0196] Note that the organizer may pay extra using the "treating function" or collect sales using the "ticket function" with the operator. The difference on a monthly basis is the interaction between the organizer and the operator. The organizer pays to the operator or the organizer is billed by the operator side. Calculate the difference.

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

[0198] The information processing program includes a food and beverage store information acquisition step S11, an event information acquisition step S12, a selected store information acquisition step S13, an event information notification step S14, a commissioned information acquisition step S15, an event information disclosure step S16, a participant profile reception step S17, a display control step S18, an order reception step S19, a message notification step S20, a settlement option reception step S21, a storage control step S22, a settlement processing step S23, a determination step S24, a communication promotion step S25, a treat reception step S26, a treat target reception step S27, and the like.

[0199] The information processing program causes the CPU 10e of the information processing apparatus 10 to exhibit various functions such as a food and beverage store information acquisition function, an event information acquisition function, a selected store information acquisition function, an event information notification function, a commissioned information acquisition function, an event information disclosure function, a participant profile reception function, a display control function, an order reception function, a message notification function, a settlement option reception function, a storage control function, a settlement processing function, a determination function, and a communication promotion function. Since the various functions overlap with the descriptions of the various functional units of the information processing apparatus 10 described above, detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

[0200] The food and beverage store information acquisition function acquires information regarding food and beverage stores including menu lists as food and beverage store information from each of the food and beverage stores (S11: food and beverage store information acquisition step).

[0201] The event information acquisition function acquires, as event information, information including the date and time and the location for providing food and drink to the participants of an event scheduled to be held, via the input of the user of the information processing apparatus 10 (S12: event information acquisition step).

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

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

[0204] The entrusted information acquisition function acquires, from the selected store, information regarding the availability of entrusting the business of providing food and drink to the participants of the event corresponding to the event information of the selected store to which the event information has been notified (S15: entrusted information acquisition step).

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

[0206] The participant profile reception function receives, as profile information, information regarding the profile of the participants of the event (S17: participant profile reception step).

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

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

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

[0210] The payment option acceptance function accepts a selection of a payment option by a participant, where a payment option that enables a person related to the event to pay all or part of the price resulting from the participant's order on behalf of the participant is preset by the person related to the event (S21: Payment option acceptance step).

[0211] The storage control function stores the products ordered by the participant in association with the event information (S22: Storage control step).

[0212] The payment processing function processes the payment for the products received by the order receiving unit 19 of the event participant (S23: Payment processing step).

[0213] The determination function determines whether the preferences of either or both of the food and the event of the participant and other participants match based on the information on the participants stored by the storage control function in association with the event information and the products ordered by other participants in the past (S24: Determination step).

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

[0215] The treat acceptance function accepts an offer of a treat from a participant to pay all or part of the price resulting from the order of another participant on behalf of the other participant (S26: Treat acceptance step).

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

[0217] According to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, in providing food and drink to the participants of the event, in any of the usage modes of food delivery, takeout, and eat-in, the participants can order their favorite products from the menu list of the selected store. Therefore, the participants can enjoy participating in the event more, easily liven up the gathering and dining occasion, and since the participants can freely select products from the menu list, they can consume food at the event without worrying about food allergies.

[0218] Also, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, since the participants can order food and drink from a plurality of food and drink stores selected by the user, the participants can order their favorite food and drink from a greater number of options, so it is easy to liven up the gathering and dining occasion. Also, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, since the participants can order their favorite food and drink, the willingness to participate in the event is strengthened and cancellation of participation in the event can be suppressed.

[0219] Also, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, since the number of products in the menu list is set corresponding to the planned number of participants in the event, an excessive workload on the selected stores that provide food and drink to the participants can be suppressed.

[0220] Also, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, since the participants in the event can know the products ordered by other participants, communication of intentions between the participants can be promoted.

[0221] Also, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, since the selected store can know the order status such as the number of orders for products even before the product order closing time, the workload of the selected store can be reduced.

[0222] Also, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, event information of an event in which a participant and other participants participated and the products ordered in the event are stored in association with each other and displayed on the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30. Therefore, the participant can know the events in which he himself and other participants participated in the past and the products ordered in the event, and can obtain topics for conversation with other participants, thereby promoting communication among the participants.

[0223] Also, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, since a participant can chat with other participants determined to have compatible event or food preferences, communication among the participants can be promoted.

[0224] Also, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, based on the information on the products ordered in the past by the participants and other participants stored in association with the event information in the storage control unit 22, the event information notification unit 14 notifies the selected store of the information on the number of times other participants who participated in the same event as the participant's past participating events have ordered in the past at the selected store of the event the participant plans to participate in, as the order count information. Therefore, the selected store can know the past order counts of other participants, and thus can determine whether a customer is a new customer or a repeater who has received orders several times in the past, and can provide customer service tailored to the customer.

[0225] Also, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, when other participants who participated in the same event as the participant's past participating events have not ordered at the selected store of the event the participant plans to participate in, the communication promotion unit 25 transmits information indicating that the participant has ordered at the selected store of the event to the display unit 31 of the participant terminal 30 used by other participants who participated in the participant's past participating events. Therefore, it is possible to encourage and persuade the other participants to participate in the event.

[0226] Further, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, since the order reception unit 19 does not receive an order from a participant whose profile information is not stored, it is possible to safely conduct transactions between participants and products.

[0227] Further, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, since the ordered product is not canceled in principle after the order deadline has passed, the selected store can produce the product with confidence. Conventionally, a catering service has been used for providing food and drink at events. In the case of an event using a catering service, when the actual number of participants is less than the predicted number of participants, there may be excess food ingredients that should have been used in the catering service, resulting in food loss. According to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, by having each participant order their own food and drink, it is possible to achieve a state where there is neither an excess nor a shortage of the provided food and drink, and food loss can be suppressed. Also, when using a catering service, since the event organizer requests the catering service based on the predicted number of participants, if the number of participants in the event exceeds the predicted number, there may be a shortage of food and drink provided to the participants. According to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, since each participant orders their own food and drink, there is no shortage of food and drink provided to the participants.

[0228] Further, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, in the usage mode of food delivery, since the minimum order quantity is set according to the delivery distance to the delivery location, the selected store can receive food delivery orders with confidence because it does not receive unprofitable orders.

[0229] Further, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, since the user and participants of the information processing apparatus 10 can post the selected store information and event information on the SNS they are using, it is possible to easily recruit participants for the event.

[0230] Moreover, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, since it is possible to set a settlement option that enables all or part of the price generated by a participant's order to be settled by the event organizers on behalf of the participant, a participant who selects this settlement option can participate in the event with a reduced economic burden.

[0231] Moreover, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, when it is desired to become an event sponsor and recruit staff, it is possible to easily become an event sponsor and recruit staff simply by setting the above-described settlement option.

[0232] Moreover, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, for an order that does not meet the lower limit of the number of orders or the total order amount that can be handled for an event set by a restaurant, the restaurant can reject the order, so the restaurant does not have to handle orders that are unprofitable.

[0233] Moreover, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, for an order that does not meet the lower limit of the number of orders or the total order amount that can be handled for an event set by a restaurant, the restaurant can accept the order on the condition that all or part of the shortage up to the lower limit is financially borne by the event organizers. Therefore, the restaurant does not have to handle orders that are unprofitable, and even if the lower limit of the number of orders or the total order amount is not met, the event organizers can hold the event, and the participants who plan to participate can participate in the event.

[0234] Moreover, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, when the order deadline for a product has passed, cancellation or change to another product for that product becomes impossible. Therefore, the selected store can produce the product after the order deadline with confidence, and since the ingredients of the product are not wasted, food loss can be suppressed.

[0235] In addition, in a conventional food delivery service, when including products ordered by multiple people, the representative had to collect the payment for all the products, which imposed a heavy burden on the representative. According to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, since the settlement of each product is performed for each participant who ordered the product, there is no need for the representative to collect the payment for the products, and the burden on the representative can be reduced.

[0236] In addition, in an event where content for attracting customers is prepared, the organizer of the event may prepare content such as pitch materials, guest speakers, workshops, or scripts, which has been a burden on the organizer of the event. On the other hand, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, an event aimed at "communication through meals" can be held. In this case, the meal becomes the content of the event, and the organizer of the event only needs to determine a restaurant that provides food and drinks to the participants of the event. Since there is no need for the organizer to prepare the content of the event such as the above-described pitch materials by himself / herself, the burden on the organizer can be reduced.

[0237] In addition, in a conventional event related to business, it becomes a one-way communication to the participants by the organizer of the event preparing content such as pitch materials, presentations by guest speakers, workshops, etc., and it may be difficult to have beneficial communication among the participants. On the other hand, in the communication event through meals by the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, it is easy for the participants to talk with each other during the meal, and communication among the participants is generated. Therefore, it can be an event where it is easy to obtain a network and human capital.

[0238] In addition, in conventional food delivery services, it was mainstream to place orders individually or with 2 to 4 friends or family members. As a result, the total amount of goods delivered at one time was kept low, resulting in poor delivery efficiency. On the other hand, the delivery of goods by the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment is utilized for events such as exchange meetings with about 10 to 30 participants, so it can be a large order and increase the total amount of goods delivered at one time, enabling the realization of highly profitable delivery.

[0239] In addition, since conventional food delivery services assume constant order reception and immediate delivery, there were cases where advance preparations were not in time depending on the scale of delivery. On the other hand, for the delivery of goods by the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, a prior reservation is made with the restaurant that provides food and drink to the event participants. For example, by making a reservation with the restaurant from a predetermined period according to the scale of the event, such as two weeks before the delivery date of the goods, the restaurant can make advance preparations such as purchasing, cooking, and delivery. Furthermore, the event organizer and participants can avoid a situation where the restaurant cannot accept orders for goods from the participants and cannot arrange the goods by receiving approval of the reservation from the restaurant.

[0240] In addition, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, since the event participants select and order the menu they want to eat at the event and directly make a pre-payment to the restaurant, the user does not need to collect the payment and make a payment to the restaurant.

[0241] In addition, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, the event participants can cancel their participation in the event with the information processing apparatus 10, and since the user does not need to respond to the cancellation, the user's workload can be reduced.

[0242] Also, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, after the settlement is finalized (S145), the participants in the event can download a receipt for the settlement made by themselves from the information processing apparatus 10, so that the business burden on the user and the restaurant can be reduced.

[0243] Also, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, since the participants in the event make a settlement with the restaurant before the event is held (advance settlement), the amount of work required for the user to hold the event can be reduced, and further, the risk of non-collection of the food and beverage expenses of the event participants can be reduced, and the user can continuously hold the event.

[0244] Also, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, by ordering and making an advance settlement for the products selected by the event participants from the menu list of the restaurant before the start of the event, the user can save the trouble of collecting the payment from the participants on the event day, and further eliminate the risk of not being able to collect the payment due to uncontacted cancellations (such as last-minute cancellations and no-shows).

[0245] Also, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, the following effects can be achieved from the perspective of the organizer of the event, who is the user. ·Regarding the five points of "event attendance management", "arrangement of food and beverage at the event", "payment of product prices to the restaurant", "procedure for product cancellation to the restaurant", and "acquisition of receipts from the restaurant", the participants in the event can perform them themselves through the information processing apparatus 10. ·The user is completely free from the trouble of managing the above five points. Therefore, conventionally, the user had to communicate with all the participants regarding the above five points, but by introducing the information processing apparatus 10, the business burden on the user as the organizer of the event can be reduced. ·By introducing the information processing apparatus 10, the user can eliminate the financial risks caused by last-minute cancellations and no-shows. · By introducing the information processing apparatus 10, the user can suppress the costs and risks arising from the holding of an event, and thus can hold an event more casually.

[0246] Further, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, from the viewpoint of food loss, since the food and drink selected by the participants themselves of the event are provided at the event, the awareness of "wasteful" works in terms of money and food preferences, and the participation rate in the event increases, and "food loss" can be reduced.

[0247] Further, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, from the viewpoint of the restaurant, risks such as cancellation and no-show of group customers and private room customers can be eliminated.

[0248] Further, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, since the participants of the event can apply to participate in the event by ordering the products selected from the menu list and making a pre-payment, as a result, the task amount of the organizer's business work can be reduced, the risk of uncollected money in the restaurant can be eliminated, and food loss can be reduced.

[0249] Further, when holding a dinner party (an event involving food and drink), there were various conventional problems listed below for each of the organizer, participants, and restaurants, but these can be solved by introducing the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment. · The organizer had a large task amount of the organizer's work in holding a dinner party, but by introducing the information processing apparatus 10 on behalf of the organizer during the communication with the participants, the task amount of the organizer's work was reduced. · The organizer had a high financial risk in holding a dinner party, but since the participants of the event can apply to participate in the event by making a pre-payment for the products they ordered, even if a cancellation or no-show occurs, the organizer will not fall into the situation of uncollected payment. · Participants in an event may be provided with food and drink that does not suit their "taste in food", "allergies", or "ideological or religious prohibitions" at a dinner. However, by introducing the information processing apparatus 10, participants can choose their own dishes, so they will not be provided with food and drink that does not suit them at the event. · When considering participating in an event, participants may have difficulty making a decision to participate because they do not know who will come. However, by introducing the information processing apparatus 10, it is possible to know in advance who will come to the event, making it easier to make a decision to participate. · In the case of a delivery order, when participants in an event place an order in a small number, the delivery cost is high and the order amount jumps up. However, by introducing the information processing apparatus 10, the delivery cost can be suppressed, and the total payment amount of the event participants can be reduced. · In the case of reservations for eat-in group customers / fully reserved customers at a restaurant, the risk of cancellation / no-show was high. However, by introducing the information processing apparatus 10, it is possible to prevent the non-collection of the product price in advance by pre-settling the payments of the event participants.

[0250] Also, in the attendance management of event participants, the organizer had to contact each participant individually to find out who would attend, receive individual responses, count the number of people, and convey the information to the restaurant. However, by introducing the information processing apparatus 10, the gathering status of event participants can be conveyed to the restaurant by the information processing apparatus 10, thus reducing the organizer's administrative work.

[0251] Also, in the arrangement of food and drink for event participants, when the organizer wants to reflect the taste in food of the participants, the organizer has to share the restaurant menu with each participant, wait for the participants' selections, collect the participants' responses, and convey the information to the restaurant. The organizer's burden was enormous. However, by introducing the information processing apparatus 10, the products selected by the participants can be conveyed to the restaurant through the information processing apparatus 10, thus reducing the work burden of the event organizer.

[0252] Also, when the event organizer takes orders from each participant and does not place an order for food and beverages, there is a risk that the participants may be provided with food and beverages that do not match their "preferences", "allergies", or "ideological / religious prohibitions". However, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, since the participants in the event can select and order their favorite products from the menu list, the above risks are eliminated.

[0253] Also, the event organizer has to collect the payment from the participants on the day of the meal, gather the collected payments, and pay the restaurant. The organizer has to interact with all the participants, resulting in a huge workload. However, by introducing the information processing apparatus 10, the participants can make a pre-payment for the products they ordered with the information processing apparatus 10, and the information about the pre-payment is transmitted to the restaurant through the information processing apparatus 10. Therefore, the workload of the event organizer on the day is reduced.

[0254] Also, when the participants in the event desire a receipt, the organizer or the restaurant has to individually issue a receipt and hand it over to the participants individually, which results in a huge workload. However, by introducing the information processing apparatus 10, the participants in the event can download the receipt from the information processing apparatus 10. Therefore, the workload of the organizer and the restaurant regarding the receipt is reduced.

[0255] Also, if a participant requests to cancel their participation during the period until the day of the meal, the organizer has to contact the restaurant again regarding the number of people and the order details, which has been a burden on the organizer's work. However, by introducing the information processing apparatus 10, the request for cancellation of participation from the participant is transmitted to the restaurant through the information processing apparatus 10. Therefore, the workload of the organizer can be reduced.

[0256] In addition, in the case of unauthorized cancellation (such as last-minute cancellation, no-show, etc.), since the organizer cannot collect the payment on the day of the dinner, it is necessary to request the person who cancelled to transfer the payment by bank transfer or the like. If the payment cannot be collected, the organizer has to bear the cost or share it among the other participants. By introducing the information processing device 10, the request for cancellation of participation from the participants can be transmitted to the restaurant through the information processing device 10, thus reducing the workload of the organizer. As described above, by introducing the information processing device 10, participants in the event can individually select a menu and make a prepayment, so they can handle the five aspects of "attendance management", "food and beverage arrangement", "payment", "cancellation", and "receipt" by themselves.

[0257] Also, in the conventional general "participation application type" event notification service, it is said that the proportion of people who actually participate after submitting a "participation application" is about 70%. The organizers of such events order food and beverages in advance using a catering service. However, there is a discrepancy between the number of people who apply to participate in the event and the actual number of participants, and this discrepancy has been a factor in food loss. Conversely, if the order of food and beverages is reduced, the satisfaction of the participants will be lowered. In contrast, by introducing the information processing device 10, since the participants in the event prepare food and beverages at the event through prepayment, the proportion of people who actually participate after submitting a "participation application" is very high, and food loss can be reduced.

[0258] In addition, when ordering catering for a conventional general event, it is necessary to order food and beverages first, so the organizer needs to manage the budget. It is difficult for groups or individuals without a budget to hold a large-scale dinner where the order amount is high. In contrast, by introducing the information processing device 10, since the participants in the event make prepayments individually and the organizer does not manage the payments, there is no need for financial management such as budgeting.

[0259] In addition, in the conventional normal "food delivery", based on the premise of ordering by a small number of people, the delivery cost per order is high. The total price including the delivery cost is 1.5 to 2 times the price of food and beverages. In contrast, according to the information processing apparatus 10, by ordering food delivery for a large number of people, the delivery cost can be suppressed, and an order can be placed at a price close to the in-store price.

[0260] In addition, in the case of reservations for group customers or private room customers in a conventional restaurant, the restaurant side always has the risks of "cancellation" and "no-show". In contrast, according to the information processing apparatus 10, since the participants in the event make individual advance payments, the risk of non-collection of payments for the event organizer / secretary is eliminated, and the risks of cancellation and no-show on the restaurant side are eliminated.

[0261] In addition, conventionally, when participants in an event consider participating in a dinner, they may have difficulty making a decision to participate because they do not know / will not know "who will come?". If a participant in an event asks the organizer about other participants, it is troublesome for both the participants and the organizer. In contrast, according to the information processing apparatus 10, a list of who will participate can be browsed (see FIG. 14). By knowing information such as the names / profiles / icons / SNS-related information of the participants provided by the information processing apparatus 10, the participants can make a decision to participate with confidence. In addition, the event organizer does not need to respond to inquiries from the participants, and the burden can be reduced.

[0262] In addition, conventionally, in order to promote communication among participants in an event, the event organizer creates a LINE (registered trademark) group or a group of a messenger app, etc., and provides a communication channel in the chat app. In contrast, according to the information processing apparatus 10, the communication promotion unit 25 can mediate communication between participants in an event determined to have compatible preferences based on the profile information of the participants, and can save the trouble of the organizer creating a communication channel deliberately.

[0263] Conventionally, event organizers such as event sponsors or stewards have been burdened with five tasks (operations) for each event participant: attendance management, food and beverage arrangements, receipt of payments, handling of cancellations, and issuance of receipts. Therefore, for an event with 30 participants, it was expected that event organizers would be burdened with at least 30 people × 5 tasks = 150 tasks. On the other hand, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, all of these five tasks are processed between the information processing apparatus 10, the participants, and the food and beverage stores, thereby reducing the workload of event organizers.

[0264] In the Internet society, the number of people who feel lonely, whether privately or at work, is increasing. In companies, communication among non-regular employees and remote workers within the company is becoming scarce, and they are in a situation where they are likely to feel lonely. In terms of work styles, the number of people working alone, such as freelancers and entrepreneurs, is increasing, and they are also likely to feel lonely. In local communities, due to the effects of depopulation and urbanization, the number of communities and events that people can easily participate in is decreasing. In such a situation, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, participants can easily participate in "company dinner events", "local communities", "communities with common interests or hobbies", or "events with participants who have the same taste in food".

[0265] Also, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, by constructing an event based on "food", which is a universal content that anyone can easily share and does not discriminate among people, more people can easily participate.

[0266] Also, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, the action of "eating", which usually involves monetary and time costs, can be converted into an opportunity for meeting and communication without increasing these costs.

[0267] In addition, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, a person who has been falling into "eating alone" or "loneliness" by ordering food and drink alone and eating alone can easily participate in "reunion" by ordering food and drink in an "event with meals" where someone is participating.

[0268] In addition, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above embodiment, a participant in an event can perform pre-settlement with a restaurant and at the same time apply to participate in the event by selecting and ordering a menu that he / she wants to eat in the event he / she wants to participate in.

[0269] In addition, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above embodiment, a participant in an event can perform a cancellation procedure and a refund process for participating in the event through the information processing apparatus 10, and can save the trouble of contacting the event organizer or the restaurant for cancellation and the refund procedure.

[0270] In addition, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above embodiment, after the settlement is finalized (S145), a participant in an event can download a receipt for the settlement he / she has made through the information processing apparatus 10, so that the trouble of requesting the organizer and the restaurant to issue a receipt can be saved.

[0271] In addition, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, since a participant in an event makes a settlement with a restaurant before the event is held (pre-settlement), the participant in the event can reduce the burden on the day of the event, and further, the participant in the event can prevent non-payment of the food and drink price.

[0272] In addition, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, a participant in an event orders and pre-settles for the products selected from the menu of the restaurant before the start of the event, so that even if the participant falls into an unexpected cancellation (such as a last-minute cancellation or no-show) without notice due to an accident or the like, non-payment of the price of the order can be prevented.

[0273] Moreover, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, the following effects can be achieved from the perspective of the participants in the event. · Regarding the five points of "event attendance management", "arrangement of food and drink at the event", "payment of the product price to the restaurant", "procedure for product cancellation at the restaurant", and "acquisition of a receipt from the restaurant", the participants in the event can perform them themselves through the information processing apparatus 10. · In "event attendance management", the participant in the event only needs to perform the procedure for canceling the participation in the event on the information processing apparatus 10, that is, only needs to cancel the order of the product, and can save the trouble of contacting the event organizer and the restaurant about canceling the participation in the event. · In "arrangement of food and drink at the event", the participant in the event only needs to place an order for the product on the information processing apparatus 10, and can save the trouble of placing an order for the product with the event organizer and the restaurant. · In "payment of the product price to the restaurant", since the participant in the event can perform the pre-settlement of the price through the information processing apparatus 10, the trouble of paying the product price to the restaurant can be saved. · In "procedure for product cancellation at the restaurant", the participant in the event only needs to perform the procedure for canceling the product on the information processing apparatus 10, and can save the trouble of performing the procedure for canceling the product with the restaurant and the event organizer. · In "acquisition of a receipt from the restaurant", since the participant in the event can download the receipt from the information processing apparatus 10, the trouble of requesting the event organizer and the restaurant to issue the receipt can be saved.

[0274] Moreover, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, since the food and drink selected by the participants in the event are provided at the event, it is possible to prevent food loss such as not being able to eat the provided food and drink and having to discard it.

[0275] Moreover, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, since a participant in an event can apply to participate in the event by ordering and pre-paying for a product selected from a menu list, as a result, the burden on the participant on the day of the event can be reduced, the outstanding payment at the food and beverage store can be eliminated, and food loss can be reduced.

[0276] Also, in holding a dinner party (an event involving food and beverage), there have been several problems for participants in the past, but by introducing the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, these problems can be solved. · The burden on participants in participating in a dinner party was high, but by introducing the information processing apparatus 10, participants can apply to participate in the event by pre-ordering food and beverage at the event, and can pre-pay for the order, so the burden on the participants associated with participating in the event can be reduced. · The financial risk for participants in participating in a dinner party was high, but since products can be ordered in advance, products suitable for their financial situation can be ordered. · In the reservation of an eat-in group / closed event, the payment of the bill at the food and beverage store may be complicated for participants, but by introducing the information processing apparatus 10, the complication of paying the bill at the food and beverage store can be eliminated by pre-payment by the participants in the event.

[0277] Also, in the attendance management of participants in an event, participants only need to perform a cancellation procedure through the information processing apparatus 10, and the trouble of directly contacting the food and beverage store or the organizer can be saved.

[0278] Also, in arranging food and beverage for participants in an event, participants do not need to obtain a menu list from the food and beverage store on the day of the event and convey the products to be ordered to the food and beverage store, and can pre-order through the information processing apparatus 10.

[0279] In addition, in events where the organizer determines the content of food and beverages, such as "buffet-style catering" or "course meals in a restaurant," event participants risk being served food and beverages that do not match their "food preferences," "allergies," or "ethical or religious prohibitions." However, according to the information processing apparatus 10 according to the above-described embodiment, since participants can select and order their preferred products from the menu list, these risks can be eliminated.

[0280] Also, event participants had to pay the restaurant on the day of the meal, which was a burden on the day of the meal. However, by introducing the information processing apparatus 10, participants can pre-pay for the products ordered with the information processing apparatus 10, thus reducing the burden on the day of the meal.

[0281] In addition, when event participants desire a receipt, they had to request the organizer or the restaurant to issue a receipt, which was troublesome. However, by introducing the information processing apparatus 10, event participants can download a receipt from the information processing apparatus 10, thus saving the trouble of requesting the organizer and the restaurant to issue a receipt.

[0282] Also, if a participant requests to cancel their participation during the period until the day of the meal, the participant had to contact the organizer or both the organizer and the restaurant, which was a burden on the participant. However, by introducing the information processing apparatus 10, the participant's request to cancel their participation can be conveyed to the organizer and the restaurant through the information processing apparatus 10, thus reducing the burden on the participant.

[0283] In addition, when a participant cancels without permission (such as a no-show or last-minute cancellation), since the participant cannot pay the fee on the day of the dinner, the participant has to request the restaurant to provide information about the bank account for bank transfer to pay the fee. If the payment cannot be made, the organizer has to bear the cost. By introducing the information processing device 10, a participant's cancellation request can be transmitted to the restaurant through the information processing device 10, thus reducing the burden on the participant. Also, the payment for the participant's order will not be unpaid for pre-settlement. As described above, by introducing the information processing device 10, participants in the event can select a menu individually and perform pre-settlement, so the participants themselves can handle the five aspects of "attendance management", "food and beverage arrangement", "payment", "cancellation", and "receipt".

[0284] Note that the present invention is not limited to the information processing device 10, information processing method, and information processing program according to the above-described embodiment, and can be implemented by various other modification examples or application examples without departing from the gist of the present invention described in the claims. Also, in the above-described embodiment, the term "information" is used, but the term "information" can be replaced with "data", and the term "data" can be replaced with "information".

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0285] 10 Information processing device 10a Communication interface 10b ROM (Read Only Memory) 10c RAM (Random Access Memory) 10d Storage unit 10e CPU (Central processing Unit) 10f Input / output interface 10g Input device 10h Output device 11 Restaurant information acquisition unit 12 Event information acquisition unit 13 Selected Store Information Acquisition Unit 14 Event Information Notification Unit 15 Entrusted Information Acquisition Unit 16 Event Information Publication Unit 17 Participant Profile Reception Unit 18 Display Control Unit 19 Order Reception Unit 20 Message Notification Unit 21 Payment Option Reception Unit 22 Memory Control Unit 23 Payment Processing Unit 24 Judgment Unit 25 Communication Promotion Unit 26 Generosity Reception Unit 27 Generosity Target Reception Unit 28 Information Communication Network 29 User Terminal 29a Display Unit 29b Input Page 29c Event Detailed Information 30 Participant Terminal 30a Participant Terminal 30b Participant Terminal 30c Participant Terminal 31 Display Unit 32 Top Page 33 Cover Image 34 Event Outline 34a Event Outline 34b Event Outline 34c Event Outline 34d Event Outline 34e Event Outline 34f Event Outline 35 Event Title 36 Event Content Explanation 37 Event Details 38 Planned Number of Participants 39 Participant Icon 40 Food and Beverage Store Terminal 40a Food and Beverage Store Terminal 40b Food and Beverage Store Terminal 40c Food and Beverage Store Terminal 41 Cover Image Order list of 42 participants 43 User's name 44 Contact button for the user 50 List of restaurants 51 Overview of the restaurant 52 Overview of the restaurant 53 Overview of the restaurant 54 Overview of the restaurant 55 Overview of the restaurant 56 Overview of the restaurant 57 Cover image 58 Restaurant name 59 Description 60 Business days 61 Business hours 62 Selection button 70 Menu list 71 Overview of the product 72 Overview of the product 73 Overview of the product 74 Overview of the product 75 Overview of the product 76 Overview of the product 79 Cover image 80 Product name 81 Summary text of the product 82 Price 83 Product selection button 84 Name of the participant

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus that mediates between event participants and food and beverage stores that provide food and beverage to the participants, and receives orders from the participants to the food and beverage stores, comprising: a food and beverage store information acquisition unit that acquires information on the food and beverage stores including a menu as food and beverage store information from each of the food and beverage stores; an event information acquisition unit that acquires, as event information, information including the date and time and location for providing food and beverage to the participants of the event scheduled to be held, via an input from the organizer of the event; one or more food and beverage stores that provided the food and beverage store information acquired by the food and beverage store information acquisition unit are registered as candidates that can be selected stores for the organizer to provide food and beverage to the event participants, receives the food and beverage store selected by the organizer from among the one or more food and beverage stores as the selected store, and acquires information including a menu for the selected store as selected store information; an event information disclosure unit that discloses the selected store information and the event information to those considering participating in the event; characterized by comprising: the disclosed selected store information and event information are displayed on a display screen of a terminal used by the person considering; the person considering applies to participate in the event by selecting and ordering a product from the menu displayed together with the event information. An information processing apparatus characterized by this.

2. An event information notification unit that notifies the event information to the selected store selected by the organizer; a commission information acquisition unit that acquires information on whether or not to accept the commission of the food and beverage provision service to the participants of the event corresponding to the event information from the selected store notified of the event information; The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized by comprising this.

3. The food and beverage store information includes at least any one of the business hours of the food and beverage store, a menu, the order cut-off time for each food and beverage store, and the upper or lower limit of the number of orders or the total order amount that can be handled for the event. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized by this.

4. The food and beverage store information may include that the acceptance of the provided service is refused if the number of orders or the total order amount does not meet the lower limit that the food and beverage store can handle for the event, or that the acceptance of the provided service is conditional on the payment of a predetermined percentage of the shortfall by the event organizers when the number of orders or the total order amount does not meet the lower limit that the food and beverage store can handle for the event. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2 is characterized by including any one of the above.

5. A message notification unit that notifies the organizer of a message; An order reception unit that receives the products ordered by the participants of the event using their participant terminals. The information processing apparatus further includes: The message notification unit notifies the organizer of a message indicating that compensation to the selected store is necessary when the number of orders or the total order amount does not exceed the lower limit after the order cut-off time for all the products received by the order reception unit has passed. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3 is characterized by this.

6. The food and beverage store information includes information about a plurality of the food and beverage stores; The organizer selects one or more of the selected stores to provide food and beverages to the participants of the event by referring to the food and beverage store information. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 is characterized by this.

7. A display control unit that controls to display information about the menu list of the selected store on the display unit of the participant terminal used by the participants of the event; An order reception unit that receives the products ordered by the participants of the event using their participant terminals. The information processing apparatus further includes: The display control unit displays, on the display unit of the participant terminal, a list of the names or icons of the participants of the event who have placed orders received by the order reception unit as a participant list. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3 is characterized by this.

8. A settlement option that enables the event organizers to settle all or part of the payment generated by the participants' orders on behalf of the participants is preset by the event organizers, and the information processing apparatus further includes a settlement processing unit that processes the settlement of the products ordered by the participants of the event. ​ When the participant selects the settlement option, or when the organizer of the event receives an instruction from the organizer of the event to settle on behalf of the participant, the settlement processing unit reduces all or part of the payment amount in the participant's settlement as the burden of the organizer of the event for all or part of the payment amount resulting from the participant's order. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that.

9. An event information notification unit that notifies the selected store of the event information for the organizer; further comprising; The display control unit performs control to display information on products ordered by a participant received by the order reception unit on a display unit of a participant terminal used by other participants of the event. The event information notification unit notifies the selected store of the number of orders for products ordered by participants during the period until the order deadline for the products received by the order reception unit. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that.

10. further comprising a storage control unit that stores the products ordered by the participant in association with the event information; The display control unit performs control to display, on the display unit of the participant terminal, products ordered by the participant and other participants stored in the storage control unit in the past. The information processing apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in that.

11. further comprising a settlement processing unit that processes the settlement of the products received by the order reception unit of the participants of the event; The display control unit performs control to display an order confirmation button that is operated when the participant confirms the order on the display unit of the participant terminal used by the participant of the event. The settlement processing unit executes the settlement process of the participant when the order confirmation button is operated by the participant. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that.

12. If it is before the expiration of the order deadline for the products corresponding to the settlement, the settlement processing unit accepts the cancellation of the settlement of the participant. The information processing apparatus according to claim 11, characterized in that.

13. further comprising a participant profile reception unit that receives information regarding the profile of the participant of the event as profile information; The storage control unit stores the profile information received by the participant profile reception unit. The order reception unit of the information processing apparatus according to claim 10 is characterized in that it does not receive an order from a participant in whom the profile information is not stored in the memory control unit.

14. A determination unit that determines whether the preferences of either one or both of food and events of a participant and other participants match based on information on products ordered in the past by the participants and other participants stored in the memory control unit in association with the event information; The information processing apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising a communication promotion unit that mediates communication between a participant of the event and another participant determined to have matching preferences based on the profile information of the other participant stored in the memory control unit.

15. A treat acceptance unit that accepts an offer to treat from the participant to settle all or part of the payment generated by the order of the other participant on behalf of the other participant; A treat target acceptance unit that accepts a designation of the other participant who is the target of the treat by the participant; further comprising The settlement processing unit For the treat, when an agreement is reached between the participant and the other participant, or when the treat acceptance unit accepts an offer from the participant to settle all or part of the payment generated by the order of the other participant on behalf of the other participant, processes the settlement of all or part of the payment generated by the order of the other participant. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that.

16. The communication uses a text chat between a participant and another participant. The communication promotion unit transmits information on the text chat of the participant to the participant terminal used by the other participant. The information processing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the display control unit performs control to display information on the text chat received from the other participant on the display unit of the participant terminal used by the participant.

17. Based on information on products ordered in the past by the participants and other participants stored in the memory control unit in association with the event information. The event information notification unit of the information processing apparatus according to claim 10 is characterized in that it notifies a selected store of an event that a participant is scheduled to participate in of information on the number of times other participants who participated in the same event as the participant's past participated events placed orders in the past as order number information.

18. When other participants who have participated in the same event as the participant's past participation events have not placed an order at the selected store of the event that the participant plans to participate in, the communication promotion unit transmits information indicating that the participant has placed an order at the selected store of the event to the participant terminal used by other participants who have participated in the same event as the participant's past participation events. The information processing apparatus according to claim 14, characterized in that.

19. A display control unit that performs control to display information on the menu list of the selected store on the display unit of the participant terminal used by the participant of the event; An order reception unit that receives the products ordered by the participant of the event using the participant terminal; further comprising The display control unit displays, on the display unit of the participant terminal, the product names of the products ordered by the participants of the event, as well as the names and icons of the participants of the event, in a list together for each participant of the event. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that it is displayed together with the selected store information and the event information.

20. Based on the information on the products ordered in the past by the participants and other participants stored in the storage control unit in association with the event information, a determination unit that determines whether the preferences of either one or both of the food and the event of the participant and other participants match; Based on the profile information of other participants stored in the storage control unit, further comprising a communication promotion unit that mediates communication between the participant of the event and other participants determined to have matching preferences; The communication promotion unit notifies the participant of the event that the other participant has applied to participate in the event when the other participant determined to have matching preferences with the participant of the event applies to participate in the event. The information processing apparatus according to claim 13, characterized in that.

21. The display control unit displays a list of the event information acquired by the event information acquisition unit on the display unit of the participant terminal. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that.

22. The display control unit displays the search result of the event information performed based on the input of the participant of the event on the display unit of the participant terminal, The communication promotion unit displays the search result on the display unit of the participant terminal. The information processing apparatus according to claim 14, characterized in that.

23. An information processing method used in an information processing apparatus that mediates between event participants and food and beverage stores that provide food and beverage to the participants and accepts orders from the participants to the food and beverage stores, comprising: the information processing apparatus:[[]] a food and beverage store information acquisition step of acquiring information on the food and beverage stores including menu lists from each of the food and beverage stores as food and beverage store information; an event information acquisition step of acquiring, as event information, information including the date and time and location for providing food and beverage to the participants of an event scheduled to be held, via the input of the organizer of the event; one or more food and beverage stores that provided the food and beverage store information acquired in the food and beverage store information acquisition step are registered as candidates that can become selected stores selected by the organizer to provide food and beverage to the participants of the event, accepting the food and beverage store selected by the organizer from among the one or more food and beverage stores as the selected store, and acquiring information including the menu list for the selected store as selected store information; an event information disclosure step of disclosing the selected store information and the event information to those considering participating in the event; executing, the disclosed selected store information and event information are displayed on the display screen of the terminal used by the person considering; the person considering applies to participate in the event by selecting and ordering a product from the menu list displayed together with the event information. An information processing method characterized by this.

24. An information processing program used in an information processing apparatus that mediates between event participants and food and beverage stores that provide food and beverage to the participants and accepts orders from the participants to the food and beverage stores, comprising: in the information processing apparatus, a food and beverage store information acquisition function of acquiring information on the food and beverage stores including menu lists from each of the food and beverage stores as food and beverage store information; an event information acquisition function of acquiring, as event information, information including the date and time and location for providing food and beverage to the participants of an event scheduled to be held, via the input of the organizer of the event; One or more restaurants that provided the restaurant information obtained by the restaurant information acquisition function are registered as candidates that can become the selected stores for the organizer to provide food and drink to the participants of the event. The organizer accepts the restaurant selected from among the one or more restaurants as the selected store, and a selected store information acquisition function that acquires information including a menu list related to the selected store as selected store information; An event information disclosure function that discloses the selected store information and the event information to those who are considering participating in the event; exhibit, The disclosed selected store information and event information are displayed on the display screen of the terminal used by the person under consideration; An information processing program, characterized in that the person under consideration applies to participate in the event by selecting and ordering a product from the menu list displayed together with the event information.

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