Information processing system and information processing method

Abstract

To reduce the burden on item acquisitors for procedures and integrally manage the item acquisitors.SOLUTION: An information processing device includes: a storage unit that stores information about an item and identification information of a wireless tag attached to the item; and a control unit that associates, when receiving the identification information of the wireless tag attached to the item from an item acquisitor terminal owned by an item acquisitor who is to acquire the item, information about the item acquisitor with the identification information of the wireless tag. When the information about the item acquisitor and the identification information of the wireless tag are associated with each other, the control unit performs control so as to allow the information about the item stored in the storage unit to be provided to the item acquisitor terminal.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing device, an information processing system, an information processing method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Various systems have been proposed for user registration in order to provide services to consumers who have purchased products. For example, the user registration device receives and stores terminal identification information of the mobile terminal from the user's mobile terminal, and transmits registration request information, which is information requesting input of user information, which is information about the user, to the mobile terminal. The user registration device receives registration request information, which is information including an instruction to approve user registration and the terminal identification information of the mobile terminal, from the mobile terminal, and if the received terminal identification information is stored, records registration status information indicating completion of registration in association with the terminal identification information (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-197961 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, when a consumer purchases a product from a product provider (e.g., a store) and acquires the product, the product provider needs to centrally manage the product acquirer (i.e., the consumer) who acquired the product, by taking special steps such as user registration by the product acquirer. For example, when a product is distributed in the market and the product acquirer changes, it is not realistic to perform user registration each time, making it difficult to centrally manage product acquirers. If product acquirers who have acquired a product could be managed in a centralized manner, it would be possible to provide product acquirers with information about the product in a timely manner, which would be beneficial to both product acquirers and product providers. Therefore, a system that allows for centralized management of product acquirers without forcing product acquirers to take special procedures is needed.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to reduce the burden of procedures imposed on product acquirers and enable centralized management of product acquirers. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] One aspect of the present invention is 1. An information processing system including an information processing device and a product acquirer terminal capable of communicating with the information processing device and carried by a product acquirer who acquires a product, wherein an application for performing processing related to the product is installed in the product acquirer terminal, the information processing device comprising: a storage unit that stores information about the product and identification information of a wireless tag attached to the product; and a control unit that, when receiving the identification information of the wireless tag attached to the product from the product acquirer terminal, associates information about the product acquirer with the identification information of the wireless tag in the storage unit; when a combination of information about the product acquirer and the identification information of the wireless tag exists in the storage unit, the control unit controls to provide information about the product corresponding to the identification information of the wireless tag stored in the storage unit to the product acquirer terminal; when the application of the product acquirer terminal receives identification information from the wireless tag attached to the product, the application transmits the received identification information to the information processing device; and when receiving the identification information from the application of the product acquirer terminal, the control unit associates information about the product acquirer with the received identification information. is. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to one aspect of the present invention, the burden of procedures imposed on product acquirers can be reduced and product acquirers can be managed in a unified manner. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an EC sales system according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration of a tag database. [Figure 3] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration of a member database. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration of a product database. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration of a product order database. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a flow of product sales and returns in an EC sales system according to an embodiment. [Figure 7] 1 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of the internal configuration of an EC sales system according to an embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of an advertising packet transmitted from an IoT tag. [Figure 9]10 is a sequence chart showing a process associated with shipping of a product to a customer in an EC sales system according to an embodiment. [Figure 10] 10 is a sequence chart showing a process associated with returning a product to an EC business in an EC sales system according to an embodiment. [Figure 11] 10 is a sequence chart showing management of tag information in an EC sales system according to an embodiment. [Figure 12] 10 is a sequence chart showing a process for providing product content in an EC sales system according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] In this disclosure, a "wireless tag" refers to an electronic tag attached to a product. The wireless tag may or may not have a battery inside it, as long as the information stored therein can be read by an external communication device via wireless communication. The communication protocol and communication range between the wireless tag and the external communication device are not limited and can be changed or adjusted as appropriate depending on the application. In this disclosure, "capable of communication" is not limited to cases where direct communication is possible, but also includes cases where indirect communication is possible. For example, "device A and device C can communicate" is not limited to cases where device A and device C establish direct communication and transmit or receive data, but also includes cases where device A and device C transmit or receive data via device B.

[0010] An EC sales system 1, which is one embodiment of an information processing system, will be described below with reference to the drawings. EC sales refers to a sales format based on electronic commerce (EC; E-Commerce). The EC sales system 1 is configured so that, for example, a customer uses an EC application program (hereinafter referred to as "EC application") installed on a customer terminal to access the website of an EC business operator and place an order for a product. The type of product is not limited, but the following explanation mainly assumes that the product is an apparel product such as clothing. When using an EC application, a customer registers as a member (user registration, etc.). If the customer does not like a product after receiving it from the EC business, the customer can return the product to the EC business. For example, the return of apparel or other products can be made through a dry cleaner (an example of an intermediary). In this case, the customer does not need to fill out a return slip or the like; they can simply specify the dry cleaner to which the returned product should be sent on the EC application. Therefore, the customer does not have to go through any complicated procedures when returning a product purchased online.

[0011] In addition, in the EC sales system 1, IoT (Internet of Things) tags are attached to products for sale. IoT tags (hereinafter simply referred to as "tags") are an example of wireless tags, but they are energy-harvesting devices that operate by obtaining energy from radio waves in the surrounding environment, and do not have a battery. These tags can operate semi-permanently even without a battery.

[0012] In one embodiment, the tag is configured to perform low-power wireless communication. Examples of communication protocols include Bluetooth® Low Energy (hereinafter referred to as BLE), Bluetooth®, and ZigBee®. The following description will be given using BLE communication as an example. Tags that comply with the BLE standard use broadcast communication. Specifically, tags broadcast advertising packets (described later). This broadcast communication allows only one-way data transmission from the tag to surrounding BLE receiving devices (for example, customer devices or dry cleaner terminals, described later). Packets sent from each tag include a tag ID, which is identification information unique to the tag.

[0013] In the EC sales system 1, when selling a product, it is preferable to clearly identify the person responsible for managing the product from the EC business until the product is delivered to the customer (i.e., the EC business), and the person responsible for managing the product after the product is delivered to the customer (i.e., the customer). Similarly, when returning a product, it is preferable to clearly identify the person responsible for managing the product from the customer until the product is delivered to a dry cleaner or the like (i.e., the customer), the person responsible for managing the product when the product is temporarily stored at a dry cleaner or the like (i.e., the dry cleaner), and the person responsible for managing the product until the product is returned from the dry cleaner to the EC business (e.g., a shipping company). From this perspective, in the EC sales system 1, the tag management server centrally manages the person responsible for managing the product as the product acquirer using the tag attached to the product. The tag management server centrally manages information about the product acquirer (e.g., the EC business, the customer, the dry cleaner, etc.) and the tag ID, which is the tag's unique identification information, in a tag database, which will be described later. In the tag database, the person in charge of managing the product is managed as the "product acquirer."

[0014] In one embodiment, for example, product content or the like is provided to a product acquirer of a product as information about the product. That is, the product acquirer of the product can access the product content corresponding to the product, but non-product acquirers cannot access the product content. Therefore, after the purchase, a customer who has purchased a product can be provided with, for example, attractive information related to the product at any time.

[0015] In one embodiment, information about a product acquirer of a product and the tag ID of a tag attached to the product are recorded on a server. For example, in response to a product information request (described later), a customer terminal communicates with a tag attached to a product to acquire the tag ID of the tag. Then, the information about the customer and the tag ID acquired by the customer terminal are compared with data recorded on the server to determine whether the customer is a product acquirer. This allows control so that product content corresponding to a specific product can be provided to a customer who has acquired the product.

[0016] The system configuration of an EC sales system 1 according to one embodiment, and the flow of specific product sales and returns via EC will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0017] 1, in the EC sales system 1, a customer terminal 2 (an example of a product acquirer terminal), an EC business operator terminal 3 (an example of a product provider terminal), a dry cleaner terminal 4 (an example of an intermediary terminal), a tag management server 5, and an application server 6 are configured to be able to communicate with each other via a network NW. The network NW is a LAN (Local Area Network), a mobile communication network, the Internet, or a combination of these. The tag management server 5 and the application server 6 constitute an exemplary information processing device.

[0018] The customer terminal 2 is a terminal owned by the customer, and examples thereof include, but are not limited to, a laptop computer, a tablet terminal, and a smartphone. The customer is registered as a member of the e-commerce business in a member database described below.

[0019] The EC business operator terminal 3 is a terminal carried by an EC business operator's staff member (e.g., a warehouse staff member) who ships or returns products, and non-limiting examples include a laptop personal computer, a tablet terminal, and a smartphone.

[0020] The dry cleaner terminal 4 is a terminal carried by a dry cleaner staff member who mediates the return of products from customers to the e-commerce business, and non-limiting examples include a laptop personal computer, a tablet terminal, and a smartphone.

[0021] As described above, an EC application is installed on the customer terminal 2, the EC business operator terminal 3, and the dry cleaner terminal 4. The EC application is an application for executing various processes related to EC sales operated by the EC business operator, such as ordering products and returning products. The EC application is configured to receive packets from tags around each terminal and transmit the tag IDs included in the packets to the application server 6.

[0022] The tag management server 5 is a server that manages tags attached to products sold by e-commerce businesses. As described above, in order to clarify the person responsible for managing the products, the tag management server 5 is provided with a tag database that associates information about product acquirers (e.g., e-commerce businesses, customers, dry cleaners, etc.) with tag IDs, which are unique identification information for tags.

[0023] Figure 2 shows an example of the data structure of the tag database. As shown in FIG. 2, the tag database associates at least a "tag ID" with a "product acquirer" who is the person responsible for managing the product. In addition to the tag ID and the product acquirer, the tag database shown in FIG. 2 also includes values ​​for the fields "Owner," "Registered Domicile," "Date of Birth," "Group Name," and "Lifespan," and each value is entered in advance by, for example, an e-commerce business operator or a product manufacturer. In one embodiment, the value of the "product acquirer" field is rewritten as appropriate in response to the transfer of the product. In the tag database, information including the values ​​of each field for each tag ID is called "tag information."

[0024] In the tag database, a status flag is set for each tag ID. This status flag indicates whether the product owner of the product to which the corresponding tag is attached has been determined. For example, there are cases where the product has not actually been acquired yet, but the person who will acquire the product has been decided. In the example of a product being delivered from an e-commerce business to a customer, when an order for the product is accepted from the customer, it is decided that the product tagged with a specific tag ID will be delivered to the customer, but the customer is not the product acquirer until the product actually arrives at the customer's location. Therefore, when an order for the product is accepted, the product acquirer in the tag information is rewritten to the customer's membership code, but until the product actually arrives at the customer's location, the status flag in the tag information is set to "1" (in preparation). Then, when it is confirmed that the product has actually arrived at the customer's location, the status flag in the tag information is set to "0" (confirmed).

[0025] Similarly, in the case of a product being returned from a customer to an e-commerce business via a dry cleaner, when a return request specifying a dry cleaner is received, it is decided that the product tagged with a specific tag ID will be handed over to the dry cleaner, but the dry cleaner is not the product acquirer until the product actually arrives at the dry cleaner. Therefore, when a return request specifying a dry cleaner is received, the product acquirer in the tag information is rewritten to the membership code of the dry cleaner, but until the product actually arrives at the dry cleaner, the status flag in the tag information is set to "1" (preparing). Then, when it is confirmed that the product has actually arrived at the dry cleaner, the status flag in the tag information is set to "0" (confirmed).

[0026] The application server 6 provides various services to the EC applications of the customer terminal 2, the EC business terminal 3, and the dry cleaning shop terminal 4. For example, the application server 6 receives orders from the customer terminal 2 for products that can be provided by the EC business and processes the orders, and also receives return requests from the customer terminal 2 and processes the return requests.

[0027] The application server 6 has a member database that stores information about members who use the EC application. Figure 3 shows an example of the data structure of the member database. The member database shown in Figure 3 is a database that contains values ​​for each field, such as "member code," "name," "gender," and "address," for each record. The fields "name," "gender," and "address" are merely examples and can be changed as appropriate. The membership database not only records information about customers who order products, but also about e-commerce businesses and dry cleaners that handle product returns. In other words, e-commerce businesses are managed by membership codes, and dry cleaners are also managed by membership codes (an example of information about intermediaries).

[0028] The application server 6 includes a product database. Figure 4 shows an example of the data structure of the product database. The product database shown in Fig. 4 is a database that contains values ​​for each field, such as "product code," "tag ID," and "product content," for each record. Each record corresponds to one specific product. Even for products with the same product code, one record is assigned to each different product, and the tag ID of the tag attached to each product is associated with that record. The product content corresponding to the product code is provided to be provided to, for example, a customer who has purchased the product, etc. In one embodiment, the same product content is associated with products having the same product code.

[0029] The application server 6 includes a product order database for managing product orders from customers. Fig. 5 shows an example of the data structure of the product order database. 5, each record in the product order database contains values ​​for the fields "order ID," "membership code," "product code," and "tag ID." When a product order is accepted from a customer, an order ID is issued, and the membership code corresponding to the customer, the product code of the ordered product, and the tag ID of the tag attached to the product are associated in one record. The product code is an example of information about a product. Note that in the product order database, the order ID may be associated with payment information from a customer, refund information to a customer, and the like.

[0030] In Figure 1, only one customer terminal 2 and one dry cleaner terminal 4 are shown, but this is not limited to this and any number of customer terminals 2 and dry cleaner terminals 4, two or more, can access the application server 6 via the network NW.

[0031] Next, with reference to FIG. 6, a flow of EC sales and product returns in the EC sales system 1 of one embodiment will be described. Referring to Fig. 6, the flow of EC sales of products in the EC sales system 1 of one embodiment is carried out in the following steps (I) to (IV). Note that each step in Fig. 6 is actually carried out via the application server 6, rather than the customer, the EC business operator, the dry cleaner, etc. directly exchanging requests or notifications with each other.

[0032] (I) A customer selects a product and places an order on the EC application on the customer terminal 2. For example, when the application server 6 receives a product order request from the customer terminal 2, it issues an order ID and adds one record to the product order database (FIG. 5). The added record includes the membership code corresponding to the customer, the product code of the product being ordered, and the tag ID of the tag attached to the product. Furthermore, in response to a request from the application server 6, the tag management server 5 rewrites the value of the "product acquirer" field of the tag information corresponding to the tag ID in the tag database to the membership code corresponding to the customer, and sets the status flag of the tag information to "1" (in preparation).

[0033] (II) When the EC business operator is ready to ship the product to the customer, the EC business operator sends a shipping notification to the customer. That is, the EC business operator terminal 3 requests the application server 6 to send a shipping notification to the customer terminal 2. In response to the request, the application server 6 sends the shipping notification to the customer terminal 2. Thereafter, the EC business operator ships the product to the customer.

[0034] (III) The EC business operator sends a receipt confirmation notice to the customer at approximately the time when the product arrives at the customer's location. That is, the EC business operator terminal 3 requests the application server 6 to send a receipt confirmation notice to the customer terminal 2. In response to the request, the application server 6 sends the receipt confirmation notice to the customer terminal 2. Although not shown, the receipt confirmation notice includes a "Confirm receipt" button for notifying the application server 6 that the product has been received (confirm receipt). When the product arrives at the customer's hands, the EC application on the customer terminal 2 can receive a packet sent by the tag attached to the product and obtain the tag ID contained in the packet.

[0035] (IV) A receipt confirmation message is sent to the e-commerce business confirming that the customer has received the product. When the customer operates the "acknowledge receipt" button on the EC application on the customer terminal 2, a receipt confirmation is sent to the application server 6. This receipt confirmation includes the tag ID acquired in (III). When the receipt confirmation is received, the application server 6 knows that the product has reached the customer, and requests the tag management server 5 to update the tag database. In response to this request, the tag management server 5 sets the status flag of the corresponding tag information to "0" (confirmed).

[0036] As described above, when a product arrives at a customer's location, the EC application on the customer terminal 2 can receive a packet transmitted from the tag attached to the product and obtain the tag ID contained in the packet. Therefore, after the EC business has shipped the product to the customer, the application server 6 can obtain the tag ID and the membership code corresponding to the customer from the EC application on the customer terminal 2 and determine that the product has arrived by referencing the product order database. In this case, the application server 6 may set the status flag of the tag information to "0" (confirmed). In other words, the application server 6 can associate the customer with the product corresponding to the tag ID and officially register the customer as the product acquirer corresponding to the tag ID. In other words, because the tag information is updated without the customer clicking the "Confirm Receipt" button on the EC application, the burden of operations such as confirming receipt by the customer who has acquired the product can be reduced. Furthermore, since the EC application on the customer terminal 2 can obtain the tag ID immediately after the product arrives, the customer who has acquired the product can be associated with the product in real time. From another perspective, obtaining the tag ID from the EC application on the customer terminal 2 of the product acquirer can confirm that the shipped product is actually in the customer's hands.

[0037] In addition, the following measures can be taken to increase the security of the transfer of goods. (Measure 1) (II) The shipping notification includes an access code and is sent to the customer terminal 2. (III) The receipt confirmation notification requires the customer to enter this access code and then press the "confirm receipt" button. The application server 6 requests the tag management server 5 to update the tag database only if the access code included in the receipt confirmation is successfully authenticated. This measure prevents receipt confirmations from being sent from the customer terminal 2 of customers who have not ordered a product.

[0038] (Measure 2) When sending the shipping notification (II) or the receipt confirmation notification (III), the application server 6 passes key information to the customer terminal 2 for decrypting the packet transmitted by the target tag. The customer terminal 2 obtains the tag ID by decrypting the packet transmitted by the tag attached to the arrived product using the key information provided in advance. This measure prevents the tag ID from being obtained by the terminals of other customers who have not ordered the product.

[0039] Referring to FIG. 6, the flow of returning a product through EC in the EC sales system 1 of one embodiment is carried out in the following steps (V) to (VIII).

[0040] (V) When a customer makes a return request on the EC application on the customer terminal 2, specifying, for example, a dry cleaner to return the product, a return request notice is sent to the EC business operator. For example, customers can access a member database on an EC application to select and specify the nearest dry cleaner, etc. When the application server 6 receives the return request, it requests the tag management server 5 to update the tag database. In the tag database, the tag management server 5 rewrites the value of the "product acquirer" field of the tag information corresponding to the tag ID to the membership code corresponding to the dry cleaner, and sets the status flag of the tag information to "1" (in preparation). The application server 6 transmits a return request notice to the EC business terminal 3 .

[0041] (VI) The e-commerce business will send instructions to the dry cleaner regarding the return of the product. That is, the application server 6 sends a return notice to the EC application on the dry cleaner terminal 4 owned by the dry cleaner specified by the customer. The return notice contains information about the return, such as the customer's membership code, the product code of the product to be returned, and the tag ID. The return notice also contains a "Confirm receipt" button to notify the application server 6 that the product to be returned has been received (confirm receipt).

[0042] (VII) A receipt confirmation message is sent to the e-commerce business confirming that the dry cleaner has received the returned item. When a customer hands over an item to a dry cleaner, the EC application on the dry cleaner terminal 4 can receive a packet transmitted by the tag attached to the item handed over by the customer and obtain the tag ID contained in the packet. When the dry cleaner's staff operates the "acknowledge receipt" button on the EC application on the dry cleaner's terminal 4, a receipt confirmation is sent to the application server 6. This receipt confirmation includes the tag ID obtained from the tag. When the receipt confirmation is received, the application server 6 knows that the product has arrived at the dry cleaner's, and so requests the tag management server 5 to update the tag database. In response to this request, the tag management server 5 sets the status flag of the corresponding tag information to "0" (confirmed). As described above, when the product arrives at the dry cleaner, the e-commerce application on the dry cleaner terminal 4 can receive a packet transmitted by the tag attached to the product handed over by the customer and obtain the tag ID contained in the packet. Therefore, after receiving a return request from a customer, the application server 6 acquires the tag ID and the membership code corresponding to the dry cleaner from the e-commerce application on the designated dry cleaner terminal 4. By referencing the tag database via the tag management server 5, the application server 6 can determine that the product has arrived at the dry cleaner. In this case, the application server 6 may set the status flag of the tag information to "0" (confirmed). Since the e-commerce application on the dry cleaner terminal 4 can acquire the tag ID immediately after the returned product is handed over to the dry cleaner, the product can be associated in real time with the dry cleaner that acquired the product. From another perspective, acquiring the tag ID from the e-commerce application on the dry cleaner terminal 4 of the dry cleaner that acquired the product can confirm that the returned product is actually in the possession of the dry cleaner. Furthermore, the person responsible for managing the product (the dry cleaner, if the product is in the possession of the dry cleaner) can be clarified throughout the distribution process from when the returned product is returned to the e-commerce business.

[0043] (VIII) When the dry cleaner is ready to ship the returned item to the EC business, it sends a shipping notification to the EC business. That is, the dry cleaner terminal 4 requests the application server 6 to send a shipping notification to the EC business terminal 3. In response to the request, the application server 6 sends the shipping notification to the EC business terminal 3. The dry cleaner then ships the item to the EC business.

[0044] Next, the configuration of each device of the EC sales system 1 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. Fig. 7 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of each device in the EC sales system 1 of this embodiment. Fig. 8 is a diagram showing the configuration of an advertising packet transmitted from a tag.

[0045] Referring to FIG. 7, the tag T includes a control unit 11, an antenna 12, a harvesting unit 13, a voltage control unit 14, and an RF transceiver 15. Although the overall form of the tag is not shown, it is, for example, a thin-film member including a conductive metal foil with a predetermined pattern on which an antenna 12 is formed, and an IC chip connected to the metal foil. A control unit 11, a harvesting unit 13, a voltage control unit 14, and an RF transceiver 15 are mounted within the IC chip.

[0046] The control unit 11 has a microprocessor and a memory 111, and controls the entire IoT tag. The memory 111 is a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a ROM (Read Only Memory), and stores the tag ID as well as the program executed by the microprocessor.

[0047] The harvesting unit 13 harvests energy from radio waves in the surrounding environment (for example, radio waves from surrounding wireless communications) and stores the generated power in an internal energy storage 131. In one embodiment, the harvesting unit 13 converts, for example, a radio signal received by the antenna 12 into a DC voltage and stores it in the energy storage 131. The energy storage 131 is, for example, a capacitor. In the case of a capacitor, it may be configured on a semiconductor chip (i.e., an on-die type capacitor).

[0048] The radio waves used by the harvesting unit 13 for energy harvesting can be radio waves in a wide range of different frequency bands. In one embodiment, the tag T operates by obtaining energy from radio waves of one or more specific frequencies contained in the surrounding area. The specific frequencies include radio waves of any frequency that can be converted into energy by the tag T. The specific frequencies may include one or more frequency bands, or may be specific frequencies assigned from among the frequency bands. In one embodiment, the specific frequency may be, for example, a specific frequency or frequency band specified by a wireless communication standard, or a specific frequency or frequency band specified by a business operator that provides the EC application related to this embodiment. Non-limiting examples of radio waves used by the harvesting unit 13 for energy harvesting include radio waves generated by wireless communication in the frequency bands used in mobile communication systems such as 3G to 5G, radio waves generated by wireless communication in the frequency bands used in communication standards such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) and Wi-Fi (registered trademark), radio waves generated by wireless communication in the 2.4 GHz band represented by communication protocols such as ZigBee (registered trademark) and Thread, and radio waves generated by wireless communication in the frequency bands used in RFID (e.g., 900 MHz band, 13.56 MHz band). The radio waves exemplified here are generally applicable to almost all homes. The tag operates on power obtained by the harvesting unit 13 through energy harvesting based on radio waves in the surrounding environment. This eliminates the need to install a battery in the tag, thereby reducing system costs. Furthermore, since there is no need to install a battery, there is no need to replace the battery, so there is no problem of not being able to obtain the tag ID even though the tag is present.

[0049] The voltage control unit 14 supplies an operating voltage to the control unit 11 and the RF transceiver 15, monitors the voltage of the energy storage 131, and switches the power mode depending on the monitoring result. When the voltage of the energy storage 131 is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold, the power mode is set to a first mode in which only a minimum number of circuits are operated, and at this time, the control unit 11 and the RF transceiver 15 do not generate packets or transmit radio signals, as described below. When the voltage of the energy storage 131 is charged to a predetermined threshold or higher, the power mode is set to a second mode in which a normal processing routine is executed, and at this time, the control unit 11 and the RF transceiver 15 perform various processes, including generating packets and transmitting radio signals.

[0050] When the power mode is the second mode, the control unit 11 generates an advertising packet in accordance with the BLE protocol. An advertising packet is a packet that is transmitted using an advertising channel to realize broadcast communication in BLE, and has the packet configuration shown in Fig. 8. Hereinafter, the advertising packet will be simply referred to as a "packet" where appropriate.

[0051] 8, the preamble and address access are each a predetermined fixed value. The CRC is a cyclic check code, which is check data calculated using a predetermined generator polynomial for the packet payload (i.e., advertising channel PDU (protocol data unit)). An advertising channel PDU (hereinafter simply referred to as "PDU") consists of a header and a payload, and the payload consists of an ADV address and ADV data. The ADV address is the address of the advertiser (i.e., the IoT tag that is the entity that sends the notification), but it may also be a random value set each time a transmission is made so that the sender cannot be identified. The ADV data is the advertiser's data (broadcast data), and in this embodiment, includes a tag ID.

[0052] It is preferable that the control unit 11 encrypts the PDU. There are no particular restrictions on the encryption method, but for example, AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) with a key length of 128 bits can be used.

[0053] The RF transceiver 15 performs a predetermined digital modulation (e.g., Gaussian Frequency Shift Keying (GFSK)) on the packet (baseband signal) to be transmitted, then performs quadrature modulation, and transmits the high-frequency signal (in the case of BLE, a signal in the 2.4 GHz frequency band) to the antenna 12.

[0054] The antenna 12 includes a transmitting antenna and a power generating antenna. The transmitting antenna transmits high-frequency radio signals (packets) sent by the RF transceiver 15. On the other hand, the power generation antenna receives, for example, radio waves from the surrounding environment and works together with the harvesting unit 13 to function as a rectenna.

[0055] As shown in FIG. 7, the customer terminal 2 includes a control unit 21, a storage 22, an operation input unit 23, a display unit 24, a first communication unit 25, and a second communication unit 26. The control unit 21 is mainly configured with a microprocessor, and controls the entire customer terminal 2. For example, the control unit 21 controls the first communication unit 25 to communicate with the tag by executing an EC application, and when receiving a packet from the tag, transmits the tag ID included in the packet to the application server 6. The control unit 21 executes the EC application to make various requests to the application server 6 (for example, an order request, a return request, a request to send various notifications, etc.). The control unit 21 executes the EC application to acquire notifications (such as the above-mentioned shipping notification and receipt confirmation notification) sent from the application server 6 and displays them on the display unit 24.

[0056] The storage 22 is a storage device such as an SSD (Solid State Drive), and stores execution results of EC applications and data required for executing EC applications (for example, authentication data).

[0057] The operation input unit 23 is an input interface that accepts operation inputs from customers in order to execute various programs including EC applications, and may be a touch panel input unit provided on the display panel of the display unit 24. The display unit 24 includes a display panel such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Panel) and a drive circuit for the display panel, and displays the execution results of the EC application. The first communication unit 25, for example, performs wireless communication with the target object in a communication range narrower than that of the second communication unit 26, and is configured to receive packets transmitted from each tag according to the BLE protocol, for example. The second communication unit 26 is a communication interface for communicating with the application server 6. The communication protocol is not limited, but may be, for example, HTTP or HTTPS.

[0058] The configurations of the EC business operator terminal 3 and the dry cleaner terminal 4 may be the same as those of the customer terminal 2, and therefore a duplicated explanation will be omitted.

[0059] As shown in FIG. 7, the tag management server 5 includes a control unit 51, a storage 52, and a communication unit 53. The control unit 51 is mainly configured with a microprocessor, and controls the entire tag management server 5. The storage 52 is a storage device such as an HDD, and stores a tag database (see FIG. 2). The communication unit 53 is a communication interface for communicating with the application server 6.

[0060] In the control unit 51, the microprocessor executes a program, and when a rewrite request is received from the EC business terminal 3, the control unit 51 accesses the storage 52 and rewrites specific tag information in the tag database. For example, when an event such as ordering or returning a product occurs, the product acquirer changes, and the control unit 51 updates the value of the "product acquirer" field in the tag information. That is, when a product is transferred from a first product acquirer to a second product acquirer, if the control unit 51 receives information from a terminal held by the first product acquirer (such as the customer terminal 2, the EC business terminal 3, or the dry cleaner terminal 4) designating the second product acquirer as the next product acquirer, the control unit 51 performs a process of associating information about the second product acquirer (i.e., the membership code) with the tag ID in the tag information. Furthermore, the control unit 51 rewrites the status flag in the tag information, which indicates whether or not the product acquirer has been determined.

[0061] When the control unit 51 receives an inquiry from the application server 6 as to whether a customer with a specific membership code is the product acquirer of a product, it compares the combination of the membership code and tag ID included in the inquiry with the tag database and returns the comparison result to the application server 6.

[0062] As shown in FIG. 7, the application server 6 includes a control unit 61, a storage 62, and a communication unit 63. The control unit 61 is mainly configured with a microprocessor, and controls the entire application server 6. For example, in the control unit 61, the microprocessor executes a server program, and when it receives access from each of the clients, the customer terminal 2, the EC business terminal 3, and the dry cleaner terminal 4, it identifies the membership code to establish a session and executes the various processes described above in response to requests from the clients. When an event occurs that requires the tag information contained in the tag database to be rewritten, the control unit 61 transmits a rewrite request to the tag management server 5.

[0063] In one embodiment, the control unit 61 determines whether a product has been returned by a customer based on a product return request to an EC business obtained from the customer terminal 2 and a tag ID corresponding to the product that is the subject of the return request obtained from the EC business terminal 3. In one embodiment, the control unit 61 receives a return request from the customer terminal 2 including the product code of the product to be returned, and determines that the product has been returned by the customer if the tag ID received by the EC business terminal 3 from the tag attached to the product (the returned product) matches the tag ID corresponding to the product code included in the return request. Since different tag IDs are assigned to products with the same product code, by checking whether the tag IDs match, it is possible to determine whether the individual product that the customer had and the individual product that was returned to the e-commerce business are the same. Therefore, even if a customer accidentally or intentionally returns a different individual product, it is possible to determine whether the return was made correctly.

[0064] When the control unit 61 receives a product information request including a tag ID from the EC application of the customer terminal 2, it inquires of the tag management server 5 as to whether the customer with the target membership code is a legitimate acquirer of the product. If the customer is a legitimate acquirer of the product, the control unit 61 provides the corresponding product content to the EC application that made the request. In other words, when the membership code and tag ID corresponding to the customer are associated in the tag database and the control unit 61 determines that the customer is a legitimate acquirer of the product, it controls the EC application of the customer so that the product content corresponding to the product can be provided.

[0065] Storage 62 (an example of a storage unit) is a storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and stores a membership database (see FIG. 3), a product database (see FIG. 4), and a product order database (see FIG. 5). Although not shown, storage 62 stores data corresponding to return requests (such as the customer's membership code, the product code of the product to be returned, and the membership code of the dry cleaners to be used).

[0066] The communication unit 63 is a communication interface for communicating with the customer terminal 2, the EC business operator terminal 3, and the dry cleaner terminal 4. The communication protocol is not limited, but may be, for example, HTTP or HTTPS. The communication unit 63 is also a communication interface for communicating with the tag management server 5.

[0067] Next, the operation of the EC sales system 1 will be described with reference to Fig. 9 and Fig. 10. Fig. 9 and Fig. 10 are sequence charts showing the operation of the EC sales system 1. In each figure, it is assumed that a session is established between the EC application of each terminal, i.e., customer terminal 2, EC operator terminal 3, and dry cleaner terminal 4, and EC operator terminal 3, and that application server 6 recognizes the membership code corresponding to the EC application of the communication partner.

[0068] FIG. 9 is a sequence chart showing the process involved in shipping a product to a customer. 9, when a customer selects a product and places an order on the EC application of the customer terminal 2, the EC application of the customer terminal 2 sends an order request to the application server 6 (step S2). The order request includes the product code of the product to be ordered.

[0069] When the application server 6 receives a product order request, it issues an order ID (step S4) and updates the product order database (FIG. 5) by adding one record to the database (step S6). The added record includes the membership code corresponding to the customer, the product code included in the order request, and the tag ID of the tag attached to the product. For example, the application server 6 can assign one of the tag IDs selected from the product database (FIG. 4) for the product code included in the order request to the added record. This allows a specific individual product to be assigned to the customer's order.

[0070] Next, the application server 6 transmits a request to rewrite the tag information to the tag management server 5 (step S8). The rewrite request includes the membership code of the customer who will acquire the product and the tag ID included in the record added to the product order database. In response to this rewrite request, the tag management server 5 rewrites the value of the "product acquirer" field of the tag information corresponding to the tag ID in the tag database to the membership code included in the rewrite request, and sets the status flag of the tag information to "1" (in preparation) (step S10).

[0071] When the EC business operator is ready to ship the product to the customer, the EC business operator ships the product and sends a shipping notification to the customer on the EC application. This causes the EC application on the EC business operator terminal 3 to request the application server 6 to send a shipping notification notice to the customer terminal 2. In response to this request, the application server 6 sends the shipping notification notice to the customer terminal 2 (step S12).

[0072] Next, the EC business operator performs an operation on the EC application to request a receipt confirmation from the customer at approximately the same time that the product arrives at the customer's location. As a result, the EC application on the EC business operator terminal 3 requests the application server 6 to send a receipt confirmation notice to the customer terminal 2. In response to this request, the application server 6 sends the receipt confirmation notice to the customer terminal 2 (step S14).

[0073] When the product shipped from the EC business arrives at the customer's location, the EC application on the customer terminal 2 receives a packet transmitted by the tag attached to the product and acquires the tag ID contained in the packet. Then, when the customer operates the "Confirm receipt" button included in the receipt confirmation notice received in step S14 (step S16), the EC application on the customer terminal 2 sends a receipt confirmation to the application server 6 (step S18). The receipt confirmation includes the tag ID obtained from the tag attached to the product. It is not necessary for the customer to operate the "Confirm Receipt" button. As mentioned above, when the product arrives at the customer's door, the EC application on the customer terminal 2 can receive a packet transmitted by the tag attached to the arrived product and obtain the tag ID contained in the packet. The EC application on the customer terminal 2 sends the obtained tag ID to the application server 6, and when the application server 6 receives the tag ID, the application server 6 can determine by referring to the product order database that the product has arrived at the customer's door (i.e., that the customer has received the product).

[0074] Upon receiving the receipt confirmation, the application server 6 transmits a rewrite request to the tag management server 5 (step S20). In response to this rewrite request, the tag management server 5 sets the status flag of the tag information to be rewritten in step S10 in the tag database to "0" (confirmed) (step S22). That is, when the customer terminal 2 acquires a tag ID from the tag of a product, the tag management server 5 associates the customer's membership code (an example of information about the product acquirer) with the tag ID. This officially registers the customer who placed the order as the product acquirer of the delivered product.

[0075] FIG. 10 is a sequence chart showing the process involved in returning a product to an e-commerce business. 10, for example, if a customer is dissatisfied with an ordered product and wishes to return it, the customer performs a return request operation on the EC application (step S30). In this operation, the customer can specify, for example, a dry cleaner to which the product should be returned. In response to the customer's operation, the EC application on the customer terminal 2 sends a return request including the product code of the product to be returned, tag ID, and membership code corresponding to the specified dry cleaner to the application server 6 (step S32).

[0076] When the application server 6 receives the return request, it sends a rewrite request to the tag management server 5 (step S33). The tag management server 5 rewrites the value of the "product acquirer" field of the tag information corresponding to the tag ID in the tag database to the membership code corresponding to the dry cleaner included in the return request, and sets the status flag of the tag information to "1" (in preparation) (step S34).

[0077] Next, the application server 6 sends a return request notification to the EC business terminal 3 to let the EC business know that a return request has been made (step S34). The return request notification includes the membership code of the customer who made the return request, the product code of the item to be returned included in the return request of step S32, the tag ID, and the membership code corresponding to the dry cleaner. Furthermore, application server 6 sends a return notice to the EC application of the dry cleaner included in the return request (step S35). The return notice contains information about the return, such as the customer's membership code, the product code of the product to be returned, and the tag ID. By receiving this return notice, the dry cleaner can recognize that a specific product is being returned by the specific customer.

[0078] Thereafter, when the customer brings the product to the dry cleaner, the EC application on the dry cleaner terminal 4 receives the packet transmitted by the tag attached to the product brought in by the customer and acquires the tag ID contained in the packet. When the dry cleaner's staff operates the "acknowledge receipt" button contained in the return information notice received in step S35 on the EC application on the dry cleaner terminal 4, an acknowledgement of receipt is sent to the application server 6 (step S36). This acknowledgement of receipt includes the tag ID acquired from the tag. It is not necessary for the dry cleaner's staff to press the "Confirm Receipt" button. As mentioned above, when the product arrives at the dry cleaner's, the e-commerce application on the dry cleaner's terminal 4 can receive the packet sent by the tag attached to the returned product and obtain the tag ID contained in the packet. The e-commerce application on the dry cleaner's terminal 4 sends the obtained tag ID to the application server 6, and when the application server 6 receives the tag ID, the application server 6 can determine by referring to the product order database and return request that the product to be returned has arrived at the dry cleaner's (that is, the dry cleaner has received the product to be returned).

[0079] The application server 6 may control the dry cleaner terminal 4 of the dry cleaner whose membership code is included in the return request so that it can communicate with the tag. For example, the return information notification in step S35 sends a decryption key for decrypting packets sent from the tag to the EC application of the dry cleaner terminal 4, so that only the EC application of the dry cleaner specified in the return request can obtain the tag ID. This prevents the tag ID from being obtained by an unexpected third party in the distribution process when the product is returned to the EC business.

[0080] When the application server 6 receives the receipt confirmation in step S36, it sends a rewrite request to the tag management server 5 (step S37). In response to this rewrite request, the tag management server 5 sets the status flag of the tag information to be rewritten in step S34 in the tag database to "0" (confirmed) (step S38). In other words, when the dry cleaner terminal 4 acquires a tag ID from a tag attached to an item, the tag management server 5 can associate the dry cleaner's membership code with the tag ID.

[0081] When the dry cleaner is ready to ship the returned items to the EC business, the dry cleaner performs an operation on the EC application to notify the EC business of the shipping. In response to this operation, the EC application on the dry cleaner terminal 4 sends a shipping notification request to the application server 6, requesting that a shipping notification notice be sent to the EC business terminal 3 (step S40). The shipping notification request includes a membership code corresponding to the EC business. When the application server 6 receives the shipping information request, it sends a rewrite request to the tag management server 5 (step S41). The tag management server 5 rewrites the value of the "product acquirer" field of the tag information corresponding to the tag ID in the tag database to the membership code corresponding to the EC business included in the shipping information request, and sets the status flag of the tag information to "1" (preparing) (step S42). Next, the application server 6 transmits a shipping notification to the EC business operator terminal 3 (step S43).

[0082] The dry cleaner then ships the product to the e-commerce business, which then receives it. For example, when a person in charge at the EC business's warehouse receives a returned product, the EC application on the EC business terminal 3 receives a packet transmitted by the tag attached to the returned product and acquires the tag ID contained in the packet. When the person in charge at the EC business operates the "Confirm Receipt" button contained in the shipping notification received in step S43 on the EC application on the EC business terminal 3, a confirmation of receipt is sent to the application server 6 (step S44). This confirmation of receipt includes the tag ID acquired from the tag. It is not necessary for the EC business operator's staff to operate the "Confirm Receipt" button. As mentioned above, when the product arrives at the EC business operator's warehouse, etc., the EC application on the EC business operator terminal 3 can receive a packet transmitted by the tag attached to the returned product and obtain the tag ID contained in the packet. The EC application on the EC business operator terminal 3 sends the obtained tag ID to the application server 6, and when the application server 6 receives the tag ID, the application server 6 can determine by referring to the product order database and the return request that the product to be returned has arrived at the EC business operator (i.e., the EC business operator has received the product to be returned).

[0083] Upon receiving the receipt confirmation, the application server 6 performs a return product confirmation process (step S45). The return product confirmation process is a process for confirming whether the correct individual product has been returned by the customer. Specifically, it is determined whether the tag ID included in the confirmation process of step S44 (i.e., the tag ID received by the EC business terminal 3 from the tag attached to the returned product) matches the tag ID corresponding to the product code included in the return product request. If they match, it can be determined that the correct individual product has been returned.

[0084] Next, the application server 6 transmits a rewrite request to the tag management server 5 (step S46). In response to this rewrite request, the tag management server 5 sets the status flag of the tag information to be rewritten in step S42 in the tag database to "0" (confirmed) (step S48). As described above, the application server 6 receives the tag ID from the EC application on the customer terminal 2 when the customer receives the product, receives the tag ID from the EC application on the dry cleaner terminal 4 when the dry cleaner receives the product, and receives the tag ID from the EC application on the EC business terminal 3 when the EC business receives the product. In other words, by receiving the tag ID from each terminal, the application server 6 can recognize the actual location of the product at the time when the customer, dry cleaner, and EC business each receive the product. Furthermore, by receiving a "receipt confirmation" notification from each terminal, the application server 6 can reliably determine that each product acquirer (customer, dry cleaner, EC business, etc.) has received the product.

[0085] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the timing of rewriting tag information when a product is returned after an order is received from a customer. 11, events E1 to E6 indicate events that trigger rewriting of tag information, for example, event E1 corresponds to the timing of receiving an order for a product at the EC business operator terminal 3, event E2 corresponds to the timing of receiving the product at the customer terminal 2, event E3 corresponds to the timing of returning the product at the customer terminal 2, event E4 corresponds to the timing of receiving the product at the dry cleaner's terminal 4, event E5 corresponds to the timing of shipping the product at the dry cleaner's terminal 4, and event E6 corresponds to the timing of receiving the product at the EC business operator terminal 3. FIG. 11 shows states ST1 to ST6 of tag information managed by the tag management server 5. States ST1 to ST6 represent the state of tag information that changes in response to the corresponding events E1 to E6, with the lower column indicating the product acquirer of the product and the upper column indicating whether the product acquirer has been determined. In Figure 11, the membership code of the e-commerce business that accepted the product order from the customer and shipped the product to the customer is "EC1," the membership code of the customer who placed the product order is "CS100," and the membership code of the dry cleaning shop that receives the returned product from the customer is "CL05."

[0086] 11 , when a product is transferred between three parties (an e-commerce business operator, a customer, and a dry cleaner), the party who has the product in hand among the three parties (the e-commerce business operator, the customer, and the dry cleaner) is recorded in the tag database as the confirmed product acquirer based on the tag ID of the tag attached to the product acquired by each terminal. Furthermore, the party who plans to acquire the product among the three parties (the e-commerce business operator, the customer, and the dry cleaner) is recorded in the tag database as the product acquirer in preparation. Therefore, in one embodiment, by referring to the tag database of the tag management server 6, the application server 6 can identify the product acquirer who is responsible for managing the product when the product is transferred between multiple parties.

[0087] As shown in Figure 11, the product acquirer switches sequentially between the e-commerce business, the dry cleaner, and the customer. For example, in a situation where a product is transferred from the e-commerce business to a customer, the e-commerce business is an example of the first product acquirer, and the customer is an example of the second product acquirer. In a situation where a product is returned from the dry cleaner to the e-commerce business, the dry cleaner is an example of the first product acquirer, and the e-commerce business is an example of the second product acquirer.

[0088] Since the tag management server 5 can grasp the product acquirer, in one embodiment, it becomes possible to provide the product acquirer with product content as information related to the product. FIG. 12 is a sequence chart showing the process of providing product content to a customer who has acquired the product.

[0089] For example, if a product purchased by a customer is located near the customer terminal 2, the EC application on the customer terminal 2 acquires the tag ID from a packet transmitted by the tag attached to the product, and transmits an information request including the tag ID to the application server 6 (step S50). The information request requests information about the target product from the application server 6, and may be transmitted when the customer performs a predetermined operation on the EC application, or may be transmitted automatically each time a tag ID is acquired.

[0090] When the application server 6 receives the information provision request, it sends an inquiry to the tag management server 5 as to whether the sending customer is a product acquirer (step S52). In response to this inquiry, the tag management server 5 checks the combination of the membership code and tag ID included in the inquiry against the tag database (step S54) and returns the check result to the application server 6 (step S56). If the collation result is OK (step S58: YES), the application server 6 refers to the product database (FIG. 4), reads out the product content corresponding to the tag ID included in the information provision request (step S60), and transmits it to the EC application of the requesting customer terminal 2 (step S62). The EC application of the customer terminal 2 receives and displays the product content (step S64).

[0091] As described above, in the EC sales system 1 of one embodiment, product acquirers are managed by the tag management server 5, and by associating provided information such as product content with the tag ID and product code, product acquirers such as purchasers of the product can continue to receive information about the product, for example, even after purchasing the product. Furthermore, in the above-mentioned EC sales system 1, it is also possible to associate a customer with one or more products (for example, in the case of apparel, a group of products such as skirts and jackets), and therefore it is also possible to deliver effective content, etc. to each customer according to the product acquisition status.

[0092] Furthermore, the above-described EC sales system 1 has been described assuming that the products are apparel products such as clothing, but the present invention is not limited to this and can be applied to other types of products (for example, cosmetics, daily necessities, food, furniture, home appliances, office equipment, outdoor equipment, etc.) The present invention can also be applied to online product rental services (for example, clothing subscriptions, etc.). Although a dry cleaner is mentioned as an example of an intermediary when a customer returns a product, this is not limited to this and other intermediaries such as a transport company can also be used. The EC sales system 1 does not limit the types of products that can be handled, so a customer may be associated with products in multiple different fields. In this case, it is also possible to provide effective content according to the customer's product acquisition status.

[0093] For example, if a person other than the product acquirer is near the product acquirer, the EC application on the customer terminal 2 of the person other than the product acquirer may acquire a tag ID from a tag attached to the product of the product acquirer and send an information provision request to the application server 6. In this case, the tag ID and the membership code of the person other than the product acquirer are not recorded in association with each other in the tag database, resulting in a matching error in step S58 of FIG. 12, and the product content is not provided to the EC application of the person other than the product acquirer. Therefore, a system can be established in which only the product acquirer receives the product content. Furthermore, for example, if matching errors continue after product information notification, it may be determined that the product has not arrived at the legitimate product acquirer's hands, and a notification of this may be sent to the EC business operator terminal.

[0094] As described above, in the EC sales system 1, for example, when a product acquirer is transferred (for example, when a product is returned, the product acquirer is transferred in this order from the customer to the dry cleaner and then to the EC business), information about the product acquirer (membership code) is recorded in association with the tag ID in the tag database each time the product acquirer is transferred. When each person acquires a product and their terminal thereby acquires the tag ID of the tag attached to the product, the information about the product acquirer in the tag database is switched, eliminating the need for each person to perform any complicated procedures. Furthermore, since product acquirers are managed centrally in the tag database, the application server can always keep track of current product acquirers and can provide appropriate information such as product content to product acquirers.

[0095] In one embodiment, the tag database may associate information about past acquirers of a product (i.e., membership codes) with the tag ID of the tag attached to the product. That is, the tag information may include not only the current acquirer but also past acquirers. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 11, membership codes are recorded in the "Product Acquirer" field of the tag database in the order of EC1, CS100, CL01, EC1. This makes it possible to track the history of product acquirers even when product acquirers change frequently due to product distribution stages or product transfers. The application server 6 tracks the current acquirer and their acquisition status, as well as past acquirers and their acquisition status, allowing it to provide content effectively. For example, it may be possible to provide content about other products acquired by past acquirers of the product to the current acquirer of the product.

[0096] In the EC sales system 1 of one embodiment, when a customer returns a product, there is no need for the cumbersome work of filling out a return slip, packaging the product, and sending it to the EC business by courier, as in the past. This also saves the EC business the labor required to receive returned products. Therefore, when a customer returns a product, it is more convenient for both the customer and the EC business. By improving the convenience of returning products sold online, customers will be able to order without fear of returning them, which will contribute to the spread of online sales.

[0097] Although the embodiments of the information processing terminal, the information processing system, the information processing method, and the program have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. Furthermore, the above-described embodiments can be improved or modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0098] For example, we have explained the case where an environmentally-harvesting IoT tag that obtains energy from radio waves in the surrounding environment is applied as a wireless tag. Unlike conventional passive tags, IoT tags operate by being powered by radio waves present in the surrounding environment, which has the advantage of eliminating the need to constantly install a fixed reader / writer nearby for power supply, but it is not always necessary to apply IoT tags. A device combining a sensor with an active RFID tag (active tag) with a built-in battery or a passive RFID tag (passive tag) without a built-in battery may be applied as a wireless tag. In this case, a reader / writer is installed in, for example, a user's home, a dry cleaner's, an e-commerce business's warehouse, etc., and the reader / writer reads the tag ID and sensor data stored in the RFID tag and notifies the application server 6.

[0099] BLE tags may also be used as wireless tags. BLE tags perform BLE communication in the same way as the IoT tags described above, but differ from IoT tags in that they have a built-in battery. BLE tags can also be equipped with built-in sensors. As with IoT tags, BLE tags can broadcast radio waves including a tag ID, and each terminal can receive the radio waves and perform the above-mentioned processing.

[0100] Managing the tag ID of a tag attached to a product and the product acquirer in the tag management server is unrelated to the type of product or the sales method (whether the product is transferred through e-commerce or not), and is not limited to a specific product or transfer method. Even when a tag is attached to a product sold in a store, it is possible to associate the purchaser of the product with the tag ID as the product acquirer by communication between the purchaser's terminal and the tag.

[0101] In the above-described embodiment, the EC application may be configured so that some of the functions of the tag management server 5 and the application server 6 are realized by the customer terminal 2, the dry cleaner's terminal 4, or the EC business terminal 3. In other words, some of the functions of the tag management server 5 and the application server 6 can also be realized as native applications. Furthermore, some of the functions of the tag management server 5 may be implemented by the application server 6, or some of the functions of the application server 6 may be implemented by the tag management server. [Explanation of symbols]

[0102] 1. E-commerce sales system T…IoT tag 11...Control unit 111...Memory 12...Antenna 13...Harvesting section 131...Energy Storage 14...Voltage control section 15...RF transceiver 2...Customer terminal 21...Control unit 22…Storage 23...Operation input section 24...Display section 25...1st Communications Department 26...Second Communications Department 3...EC business terminal 4... Dry cleaning shop terminal 5...Tag management server 51...Control unit 52…Storage 53…Communications Department 6...Application Server 61...Control unit 62…Storage 63…Communications Department 6...Web server NW...Network

Claims

1. An information processing system including: an information processing device; and a product acquirer terminal capable of communicating with the information processing device and held by a product acquirer who acquires a product, an application for performing processing related to the product is installed on the product acquirer terminal; The information processing device includes: a storage unit that stores information about the product and identification information of a wireless tag attached to the product; a control unit that, when receiving identification information of a wireless tag attached to the product from the product acquirer terminal, stores information about the product acquirer and the identification information of the wireless tag in the storage unit in association with each other; the control unit performs control so that, when a combination of information about the product acquirer and the identification information of the wireless tag exists in the storage unit, information about the product corresponding to the identification information of the wireless tag stored in the storage unit can be provided to the product acquirer terminal; When the application of the product acquirer terminal receives identification information from the wireless tag attached to the product, the application transmits the received identification information to the information processing device; When the control unit receives the identification information from the application of the product acquirer terminal, the control unit associates information about the product acquirer with the received identification information. Information processing system.

2. The control unit When the product is transferred from a first product acquirer to a second product acquirer, if information designating the second product acquirer as the next product acquirer is received from a product acquirer terminal carried by the first product acquirer, information about the second product acquirer is associated with the identification information of the wireless tag.

2. An information processing system according to claim 1.

3. the control unit associates information about past product acquirers of the product with the identification information of the wireless tag; 3. The information processing system according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The product acquirer includes a person who purchases the product through electronic commerce from a product provider who provides the product. The information processing system according to claim 1 .

5. The wireless tag is a tag that operates by obtaining energy from radio waves of one or more specific frequencies present in the surrounding area. The information processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. The storage unit further stores status information indicating whether a product acquirer of the product has been determined, the control unit sets the status information in advance to indicate that the product acquirer of the product has not been determined, and when the control unit receives the identification information of the wireless tag from the application of the product acquirer terminal, determines that the product has been acquired by the product acquirer and rewrites the status information to indicate that the product acquirer of the product has been determined.

2. An information processing system according to claim 1.

7. An information processing method between an information processing device and a product acquirer terminal that can communicate with the information processing device and is carried by a product acquirer who acquires a product, comprising: an application for performing processing related to the product is installed on the product acquirer terminal; The information processing method includes: the information processing device pre-stores information about the product and identification information of a wireless tag attached to the product; When the application of the product acquirer terminal receives identification information from a wireless tag attached to the product, the application transmits the received identification information to the information processing device; when the information processing device receives the identification information from the application of the product acquirer terminal, the information processing device associates information about the product acquirer with the received identification information of the wireless tag and stores the information in a storage device; and when a combination of information about the product acquirer and the identification information of the wireless tag exists in the storage device, the information processing device controls the information about the product corresponding to the identification information of the wireless tag stored in the storage device so as to be able to provide the product acquirer terminal. Information processing methods.

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