Business support system

Abstract

To provide a business support system for collectively managing information of a group to which a facility belongs while forming a trust relationship between a facility side for hosting an event and an exhibitor side, and improving convenience of both sides in a series of procedures when holding the event and opening tenant stores.SOLUTION: A business support system accessible to users including facility staff, exhibitors who can set up stores in the facility's space, and managers, comprises a server including a control unit and a storage unit, where the storage unit includes information of users, facilities, and exhibitors, and where the control unit includes extraction means for extracting information in the storage unit in response to a request from a user, display data creation means for creating display data for displaying the information extracted by the extraction means in a form of satisfying the request of the user, and display data output means for outputting display data to terminals.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

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[0003]

[0001] The present invention relates to a business support system that reduces the workload of the person in charge of an event space or a facility with vacant floors.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, commercial facilities such as department stores and shopping malls have rented out a specific section (hereinafter referred to as the "event space" in this specification) in the commercial facility to external operators who wish to hold events in that section, and have earned rental fees. And since the holding of events by the external operators, i.e., the store operators, also increases the customer-attracting power of the entire commercial facility, there is an advantage for the commercial facility that not only the profit from the rental fees but also an increase in the overall revenue of the commercial facility can be expected.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses a system that mediates between a location provider and an owner when the location provider leases a location (frontage) to the owner of a mobile sales vehicle for business operation, and particularly improves the convenience of procedures for both parties.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] In the case of events held in commercial facilities, unlike so-called "storefront businesses" that provide outdoor space to mobile vendors as disclosed in Patent Document 1, the facility will allow the use of space inside the facility. Therefore, when holding events using this space, a strong relationship of trust with the vendors must be ensured. However, usually neither the facility staff nor the vendors know each other's circumstances, so there has been a need for an intermediary to build a relationship of trust between the facility staff and the vendors when allowing the vendors to use the space, as well as tools to improve convenience for vendors when setting up a booth.

[0006] Furthermore, facility managers are expected to reduce management costs by centrally viewing and managing business information for all facilities within the group, including their own, and to improve profitability through integrated management of the entire group. In addition, by setting appropriate rents for space available for events and tenant openings within group facilities, and actively encouraging tenants who match the needs of each facility to hold events or open stores, it is possible to reduce vacant space within facilities and generate maximum profits with limited space and human resources.

[0007] This invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and aims to provide a business support system that maximizes the profits of the facility and / or the entire group by improving the convenience of managing business information related to event hosting and tenant participation, while fostering a relationship of trust between facility staff who own event spaces and other facilities and exhibitors. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] To achieve the above objective, according to one embodiment of the present invention, A business support system accessible to users including facility staff, vendors and administrators who can set up shop in the facility's space, and comprising a server including a control unit and a storage unit. The memory unit includes information on users, facilities, and vendors. The control unit includes an extraction means for extracting information from the storage unit in response to a user request, A display data creation means for creating display data for displaying the information extracted by the extraction means in a form that satisfies the user's requirements, A display data output means that outputs display data to a terminal, Business support system having It will be provided. According to the present invention, information held by facility staff, tenants, and managers can be integrated and managed, and new, commercially useful information can be created by appropriately extracting and processing it according to user requests, thereby reducing the burden of work management on facility staff and contributing to the facility's performance.

[0009] Furthermore, according to one embodiment of the present invention, in a business support system, the control unit has a means for creating usage prices for the space based on the content of events held in the space and / or tenants exhibiting there. According to the present invention, by leasing facility space at a fair usage price, it is possible to contribute to maximizing the performance of facilities, etc.

[0010] Furthermore, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the usage price created by the usage price creation means is a variable price. According to the present invention, the effort required for facility staff to calculate usage fees can be reduced, thereby contributing to labor savings.

[0011] Furthermore, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the means for creating usage prices includes a trained model that has been trained on sales performance data of past events and / or tenants that have set up stalls. According to the present invention, by using an AI trained on past sales performance to calculate usage prices, facility staff can use highly reliable usage prices.

[0012] Furthermore, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the control unit has a DB editing means for the user to edit the usage price from a terminal. According to the present invention, even if the usage price calculated by the AI ​​needs to be changed due to circumstances within the facility, it is possible to adjust it to an appropriate value.

[0013] Furthermore, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the display data creation means includes a management display data creation means that, at the request of a user, creates display data for viewing and editing information for the entire group to which the facility belongs in a single operation. According to the present invention, by using various sales information stored in the system of the present invention to create display data that allows for the centralized management of sales information for the group to which a facility belongs, facility-side personnel within the group will be able to accurately grasp and effectively utilize the overall performance of the group.

[0014] Furthermore, according to one embodiment of the present invention, there is an analytical information creation means that creates information-based analytical data at the request of a user. According to the present invention, it becomes possible to create analysis results in a manner desired by the facility's representative based on the sales performance of the facility or group, and these results can be used for formulating sales strategies for the facility or group.

[0015] Furthermore, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the user includes multiple facility-side personnel within the group to which the facility belongs, and the display data created in response to the requests of some of the multiple facility-side personnel can be used by other facility-side personnel within the group. According to the present invention, by sharing information about the entire group to which each facility belongs, the management burden on the entire group can be reduced. [Effects of the Invention]

[0016] According to the system of the present invention, it is possible to build a relationship of trust between facility staff and exhibitors during event hosting while improving the convenience of information management for the entire facility or group.

[0017] Furthermore, by optimizing the usage fees for space within the facility, it is possible to maximize the revenue of the facility or the entire group. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0018] [Figure 1] It is a diagram showing the overall configuration of the business support system of the present invention. [Figure 2] It is a diagram showing the configurations of the store operator terminal, the administrator terminal, and the facility terminal in the business support system of the present invention. [Figure 3A] It is a diagram showing the configuration of the server in the business support system of the present invention. [Figure 3B] It is a diagram showing examples of store operator information and facility master data. [Figure 3C] It is a diagram showing an example of business management master data. [Figure 3D] It is a diagram showing an example of account information master data. [Figure 4] It is a diagram showing the configuration of the control unit in the business support system of the present invention. [Figure 5] It is a diagram showing the processing of the usage price creation means. [Figure 6] It is a diagram showing the configuration of the display data creation means. [Figure 7] It is a diagram showing the configuration of the usage price creation means. [Figure 8] It is a diagram showing the processing by the store operator side search application. [Figure 9] It is a diagram showing the input page for user registration on the store operator side search site. [Figure 10] It is a diagram showing the search menu page on the store operator side search site. [Figure 11] It is a diagram showing the input page for search conditions on the store operator side search site. [Figure 12] It is a diagram showing the page for displaying search results on the store operator side search site. [Figure 13] It is a diagram showing the facility detailed display page on the store operator side search site. [Figure 14] It is a diagram showing the switching from the facility detailed display page to the space detailed display page on the store operator side search site. [Figure 15] It is a diagram showing the space detailed display page on the store operator side search site. [Figure 16] This is a diagram illustrating an example of a user's profile page on a vendor search site. [Figure 17] This diagram shows an example of a new project registration page on a vendor search site. [Figure 18] This diagram shows an example of a page displaying the progress of offer applications on a seller-side search site. [Figure 19] This diagram illustrates the processing of event hosting offers in the vendor search app. [Figure 20] This is a diagram representing the event hosting offer application page on a vendor search site. [Figure 21] This diagram illustrates the processing performed by the facility's management application. [Figure 22] This is a diagram representing the menu page of the facility's management website. [Figure 23] This is a diagram showing the input page for search criteria on the facility's management website. [Figure 24] This diagram shows a page displaying search results from the facility's management website. [Figure 25] This is a diagram representing the detailed information page for vendor-specific projects on the facility's management website. [Figure 26] This diagram shows an example of an administration page on a facility's management site. [Figure 27] This is a diagram representing the schedule management page on the facility's management site. [Figure 28] This is a diagram representing the sales management page on the facility's management website. [Figure 29] This is a diagram representing the basic information page on the facility's management website. [Figure 30] This is a diagram representing the space information page on the facility's management website. [Figure 31A] This is a diagram representing the pricing information page on the facility's management website. [Figure 31B] This is a diagram representing the pricing information page on the facility's management website. [Figure 31C] This diagram illustrates the process for making bulk price changes on the pricing information page. [Figure 32]This is a diagram representing the sales management page on the facility's management website. [Figure 33] This is a diagram representing the analytics information page on the facility's management site. [Figure 34A] This is a diagram representing the analytics information page on the facility's management site. [Figure 34B] This is a diagram representing the analytics information page on the facility's management site. [Figure 34C] This is a diagram representing the analytics information page on the facility's management site. [Figure 35] This is a diagram representing the bulletin board (exhibitor reviews) on the facility's management website. [Figure 36] This is a diagram representing the bulletin board (trouble reporting) on ​​the facility's management site. [Figure 37] This is a diagram representing the tenant master data on the facility's management site. [Figure 38] This is a diagram representing the tenant master data on the facility's management site. [Figure 39A] This is a diagram representing the account management page. [Figure 39B] This is a diagram representing the account management page. [Figure 40] This is a diagram illustrating an example of a project offer application page on a facility management site. [Figure 41] This is a schematic diagram illustrating the relationship between applications and master data in the business support system of the present invention. [Figure 42] This is a schematic diagram illustrating the relationship between applications and master data in the business support system of the present invention. [Figure 43] This is a schematic diagram illustrating the relationship between applications and master data in the business support system of the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0019] Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. The business support system of the present invention can appropriately manage facility information and business information of a commercially usable facility (hereinafter referred to as "facility" in this specification) that has event space and / or vacant floor space. Furthermore, it can support the easy organization of events, etc., by utilizing the usage prices appropriately set by businesses that hold events related to the sale of goods or provision of services in the space within the facility, businesses that set up shops as tenants in the vacant floor space within the facility (hereinafter referred to as "exhibitors" in this specification), and facility staff, through a system administrator (hereinafter referred to as "administrator" in this specification) who manages the system.

[0020] In this specification, examples of goods handled by vendors include food, beverages, passenger cars, books, local products, communication equipment, housing, and daily necessities. Examples of services handled by vendors include educational facilities such as English conversation schools, cram schools, and various other schools; sports facilities such as swimming pools, dance studios, and training gyms; appraisal services for used goods such as used books and antiques; provision of various insurance products; and operation of beauty facilities. However, the goods and services handled by vendors are not limited to the examples given above.

[0021] Examples of facilities as used herein include, but are not limited to, commercial facilities, retail stores, hot spring facilities, cinemas, rental shops, bookstores, department stores, shopping streets, drugstores, sports facilities, train stations, office buildings, apartment buildings, post offices, amusement parks, sports stadiums, and road service facilities.

[0022] In this specification, "event" means that exhibitors use the event space described above to offer or advertise goods or services.

[0023] In this specification, "group" refers to a collection of facilities managed and operated by the same or related entities. A group includes, but is not limited to, chain stores and franchises as commonly understood. Furthermore, in this specification, each facility within a group is referred to as a "group store."

[0024] In this specification, "event space" means a section within a facility that can be rented out for a certain period of time to various businesses for the purpose of providing or advertising goods or services.

[0025] In this specification, "vacant space" refers to a section within a facility that is available for retail use but is not currently being used as a retail space. A retail space occupied by a retailer is referred to as a "tenant."

[0026] In this specification, event spaces and vacant floor space are collectively referred to as "space."

[0027] In this specification, "facility-side personnel" refers to the person in charge of managing the space within the facility and who has certain authority to allow tenants to use the space. Furthermore, personnel who manage facilities belonging to the group in an integrated manner (for example, sales-related personnel at headquarters, etc., who do not belong to a specific facility) are also referred to as facility-side personnel.

[0028] In this specification, "event hosting offer" means an offer submitted to the facility by a vendor who wishes to host an event in a space within the facility.

[0029] In this specification, "tenant offer" means both an offer made by a tenant to a facility manager when they wish to occupy a vacant space owned by the facility, and an offer made by a facility manager to a tenant in order to have them occupy a vacant space owned by the facility.

[0030] In this specification, "planning offer" means an offer made by a facility representative to an exhibitor to hold an event within the space of the facility to which the representative belongs.

[0031] In this specification, "user" means a person who has registered as a user to use the business support system of the present invention. When it is not necessary to distinguish between store owners and facility staff who use the business support system of the present invention, they may be collectively referred to as "users." Administrators are not included in the definition of user.

[0032] [1. Overall Structure] Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of the business support system 1 of the present invention. The business support system 1 of the present invention comprises a management server 10, a tenant terminal 20, an administrator terminal 30, and a facility terminal 40, each connected via a network N to enable information exchange. Here, the management server 10 is a device operated by the administrator of the business support system 1, the tenant terminal 20 is an information terminal used by tenants to utilize the business support system 1, and the facility terminal 40 is an information terminal used by facility staff to utilize the business support system 1. The administrator terminal 30 is an information terminal used by the administrator to connect to the management server 10 and execute various functions of the management server 10, or to edit data recorded in the management server 10. Furthermore, the business support system 1 of the present invention does not necessarily have to have all of its functions within its own management server 10. For example, certain functions may be outsourced to another company or other entity that has an external server 10a. An example of a predetermined function is the space usage price calculation function described later.

[0033] By using Business Support System 1, facility staff can manage facility information and business information related to the space owned by the facility, and search for tenants to hold events or set up shops in the space, by launching and using the application program within Business Support System 1 (hereinafter referred to as "App" in this specification). Furthermore, by launching and using the App within Business Support System 1, they can carry out the necessary procedures with tenants to hold events or set up shops (hereinafter referred to as "Facility Management App"). Furthermore, exhibitors can use Business Support System 1 to handle various procedures related to event hosting and tenant store openings (hereinafter, this app will be referred to as the "Exhibitor Search App"). In other words, the business support system 1 can contribute to improving convenience for both the tenants and / or the facility by using either a tenant-side search application or a facility-side management application, or by using both while sharing data.

[0034] The following provides a detailed explanation of the overall configuration of Business Support System 1.

[0035] [1.1 Exhibitor Terminals] Figure 2 shows the configuration of the exhibitor terminal 20. The exhibitor terminal 20 comprises an input unit 202, a communication unit 204, a display unit 206, a control unit 208, and a storage unit 210. Exhibitors can use the exhibitor terminal 20 to connect to the business support system 1 and search for spaces. The exhibitor terminal 20 may be, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, smartphone, tablet, or personal computer.

[0036] In Figure 2, the input unit 202 is equipped with devices for receiving various input operations. The devices of the input unit 202 include buttons, a touch panel, a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, and a camera.

[0037] The communication unit 204 is an interface for communicating with external devices and includes a communication interface for connecting the exhibitor terminal 20 to network N (Figure 1). Examples of network N (Figure 1) include various networks such as the Internet, wireless LAN, and wired LAN.

[0038] The display unit 206 includes a display device capable of displaying images, such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display.

[0039] The storage unit 210 is configured to store various types of data. The storage unit 210 includes, for example, semiconductor memory such as ROM, RAM, NVRAM, flash memory, or SSD.

[0040] The control unit 208 is primarily composed of a well-known microcomputer having a CPU and memory such as RAM, ROM, or flash memory. The various functions of the control unit 208 are realized by the CPU executing a program stored in a non-transitional physical storage medium. In this example, the memory corresponds to the non-transitional physical storage medium storing the program. Furthermore, the execution of this program executes a method corresponding to the program. The control unit 208 may consist of one or more microcomputers. The control unit 208 can search for spaces by executing applications of the business support system 1 stored in the management server 10 via the network.

[0041] [1.2 Facility Terminals] Facility staff can use the facility terminal 40 to connect to the business support system 1, manage the space within the facility, and search for tenants to hold events in the space or to set up shop in vacant spaces.

[0042] As shown in Figure 2, the facility terminal 40 comprises an input unit 402, a communication unit 404, a display unit 406, a control unit 408, and a storage unit 410. The facility terminal 40 may be, but is not limited to, a mobile phone, smartphone, tablet terminal, or personal computer.

[0043] The configuration of the memory unit 410, input unit 402, communication unit 404, and display unit 406 is the same as that of the display unit 206 and memory unit 210 in the exhibitor terminal 20 described above.

[0044] The configuration of the control unit 408 is the same as that of the control unit 208 in the exhibitor terminal 20. The control unit 408 manages the space within the facility by executing applications of the business support system 1 stored on the management server 10 via the network, and can also search for exhibitors to hold events in the space or to set up a tenant store in an empty space.

[0045] [1.3 Administrator Terminal] The administrator terminal 30 is an information device used by the business operator (administrator) providing the business support system 1, and is not limited to, but includes, for example, a smartphone, tablet terminal, or personal computer. As shown in Figure 2, the configuration of the administrator terminal 30 is the same as that of the exhibitor terminal 20 and the facility terminal 40, and includes an input unit 302, a communication unit 304, a display unit 306, a control unit 308, and a storage unit 310.

[0046] Specifically, the administrator terminal 30 performs various operations necessary for the administrator to operate the business support system 1. For example, it performs operations related to managing the accounts of users of the business support system 1 (facility staff and vendors), approving / denying user registration applications, editing information stored in the database (hereinafter referred to as "DB") on the management server 10, and mediating offers submitted by both types of users (facility staff and vendors).

[0047] [1.4 Server] Figure 3A is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the management server 10. As shown in Figure 3A, the management server 10 comprises a communication unit 104, a control unit 108, and a storage unit 110. The communication unit 104 includes a communication interface for connecting the management server 10 to the network N in order to communicate with external devices.

[0048] The management server 10 is installed on the network N by the administrator. The management server 10 functions as a web server and application server to provide the business support system 1. That is, the management server 10 processes requests in response to applications stored in the storage unit 110 within the management server 10, or applications downloaded to the exhibitor terminal 20 or facility terminal 40. The management server 10 then transmits screen data (e.g., HTML data) and control data, etc., corresponding to the results of the processing to the exhibitor terminal 20, facility terminal 40, or administrator terminal 30. The exhibitor terminal 20, facility terminal 40, or administrator terminal 30 displays a screen based on the received data.

[0049] [1.4.1 Storage section] The storage unit 110 is configured to store various types of data. The storage unit 110 has semiconductor memory such as ROM, RAM, NVRAM, flash memory, or SSD. The storage unit 110 also stores applications for realizing the functions of the business support system 1, other programs for executing various processes in response to requests from the applications, and various screen data and control data to be transmitted to the exhibitor terminals 20, facility terminals 40, and administrator terminals 30. The storage unit 110 also stores registration information of users who use the business support system 1 and information regarding the system usage history of registered users.

[0050] In Figure 3A, the storage unit 110 includes the tenant information DB 1102, the facility information DB 1104, and the business management DB 1106.

[0051] The Exhibitor Information DB1102 primarily stores basic information about exhibitors, such as company names and contact information, in a list format as master data (hereinafter referred to as "Exhibitor Master Data" in this specification). Figure 3B(a) shows an example of Exhibitor Master Data. The information constituting the Exhibitor Master Data may be obtained from registration information when exhibitors register as users as described later, detailed information added on the exhibitor's My Page on the exhibitor's search site, detailed information registered and edited on the facility's management screen page (Exhibitor Master) (Figure 37), and registration information related to event planning (Figure 17). The Exhibitor Master Data may be partially or entirely created and edited by the administrator and / or facility staff.

[0052] Facility Information DB1104 stores information such as the location, usage price, and contact information of spaces within the facility in a list format as master data (hereinafter referred to as "facility master data" in this specification). Figure 3B(b) shows an example of facility master data. Figure 3B(b) shows excerpts of event spaces (No. 1-4) at X Supermarket and event spaces (No. 5-6) at Z Store as examples. The information that makes up the facility master data may include information about the facility itself, such as company name, branch name, trade name, store name, group, address, contact information, business hours, person in charge information, access information, parking information, bank account information, and number of visitors, as well as information such as event space name, floor, space size, usage time, available equipment, usage price, required documents, payment method, precautions within the facility, information on changing rooms and restrooms, and available merchandise.

[0053] The information comprising the facility master data may be obtained by the administrator in connection with sales activities or procedures such as basic transaction agreements conducted with the facility, or it may be obtained as user registration information when registering a user on the facility management site described later, or it may be registered and edited on the management screen page (facility information management page). Space searches on the tenant search site described later are mainly extracted from the facility master data. The facility master data can be edited as needed by the administrator and / or the facility's representative.

[0054] This section explains the pricing for using facility master data. The pricing indicates the cost of using space within the facility. In the example in Figure 3B(b), the facility master data as of October 9th is shown, and the pricing for each space from the following day (October 10th) to one month later is displayed. Note that there are no particular limitations on the period for calculating and displaying pricing; it can be set as appropriate, such as one week ahead or one year ahead, and past pricing data may also be displayed on the screen.

[0055] The shaded bold text indicates slots where events have already been scheduled (No. 2 and 3 from 10 / 10 to 10 / 12, and No. 5 and 6 from 10 / 10 to 10 / 11), while the remaining slots indicate slots where events have not yet been scheduled. In the example shown in Figure 3B(b), the usage price can vary depending on the space, date, products handled, and other factors, but it can also be set at a fixed price for each facility or space, for example. The method for calculating and updating the usage price will be described later.

[0056] The facility master data for vacant spaces consists of the same items as the facility master data shown in Figure 3B(b), however, the information handled at a facility may differ from that for spaces. In such cases, some information may be omitted, or the data may be composed of different items, or it may be created as completely separate master data. For the sake of simplicity in this embodiment, the master data for event spaces and vacant spaces are both stored as the same facility master data and can be identified as "Event" or "Tenant" in the "Category" section of Figure 3B(b).

[0057] The facility information DB1104 further contains account information master data consisting of account information of facility-side personnel at facilities within the group. Figure 3D shows an example of account information master data. The account information master data consists of information such as user ID, username, area, affiliated store, email address, and access rights. The account information master data can be registered and edited from the account management page described later. The account information master data may also include the user's past browsing information (not shown).

[0058] The Business Management DB1106 primarily stores data for each process that occurs for each event, linked to exhibitor information and some facility information, as master data in a list format (hereinafter referred to as "Business Management Master Data" in this specification), for events and tenant store applications submitted by exhibitors.

[0059] Figure 3C shows an example of business management master data. Business management master data mainly consists of status information, exhibitor information, facility information, event period, sales information, etc. Status information includes information such as the application date, confirmation date, status, and person in charge of the event offer. The application date is automatically entered when the offer application form described later is submitted, but some information, such as status and person in charge, may be entered by the administrator from the administrator terminal. Exhibitor information and facility information may be entered by the user in the application form when applying for an offer (Figure 20), or they may be duplicated from the exhibitor master data and facility master data described above based on the user's identification information. The date information may be the same as the information entered in the application form when applying for an event offer.

[0060] The "Status" in the business management master data indicates the progress of the event hosting offer application, and is updated by the administrator from the administrator terminal 30 as the submitted offer progresses. In the status information exemplified in Figure 3C, "Confirmed" means that the event hosting or tenant participation offered by the exhibitor has been confirmed, "NG" means that the offer for hosting an event, etc., from the exhibitor has not been agreed upon, and "Pending" means that the offer is currently pending and not yet confirmed. The administrator can update the business management master data. The status may be made available for each check, for example, on the management page of the facility-side management site or on the My Page of the exhibitor-side search site, or it may be made available for notification from the administrator to the exhibitor via email, chat, or other communication methods.

[0061] In the business management master data, "sales information" represents the facility's revenue from the use of space during events. In this embodiment, the administrator pays the facility an amount agreed upon between the administrator and the facility for events held by the exhibitors, and this payment amount is entered by the administrator as sales information from the administrator terminal 30. The exhibitors pay the administrator an amount equal to the amount paid by the administrator to the facility plus the administrator's commission. In some cases, the sales amount of merchandise sold by the exhibitors during events may also be included. It should be noted that the processing of sales from events is determined solely by the agreement between the administrator, the exhibitors, and the facility, and the manner in which these sales are reflected in the master data is not limited to the above-described manner. Furthermore, the sales information included in the business management master data can include amounts paid directly between the tenant and the facility based on a contract without the involvement of the administrator. In this case, the facility staff member directly enters the sales from the facility terminal 40 using a sales input screen (not shown).

[0062] The sales items are not limited to product sales, usage prices, etc., as exemplified in Figure 3C; items such as purchase costs and various expenses related to setting up a booth can be added as appropriate. In Figure 3C, "usage price" refers to the daily usage price of event space or vacant floor space within the facility.

[0063] The data included in the business management master data may include a series of records of exchanges between the tenant, manager, and facility after the offer application has been submitted, such as the exchange of contract-related documents and various notices related to event hosting and tenant openings, payment history from tenants to managers or facilities, distribution history of manuals and other documents related to specific facilities or spaces sent after the offer is confirmed, and comments entered using the bulletin board function described below.

[0064] [1.4.2 Control Unit] In Figure 3A, the control unit 108 is primarily composed of a well-known microcomputer having a CPU 108A and memory 108B such as RAM, ROM, or flash memory. The various functions of the control unit 108 are realized by the CPU 108A executing a program stored in a non-transitional physical storage medium. In this example, the memory corresponds to the non-transitional physical storage medium that stores the program. Furthermore, the execution of this program executes a method corresponding to the program. Note that the number of microcomputers constituting the control unit 108 may be one or more.

[0065] In Figure 3A, the control unit 108 has the function of launching and controlling the tenant-side search application, the function of launching and controlling the facility-side management application, and the function of managing and controlling the entire system. Here, the control unit 108 may be composed of multiple microcomputers, each assigned a separate CPU 108A and memory 108B according to its respective function, or it may be configured to share the same CPU 108A and memory 108B.

[0066] Figure 4 is a functional block diagram showing the functional configuration of the control unit 108.

[0067] The control unit 108 includes a user information registration means 108a, a user authentication means 108b, a search condition acquisition means 108c, an extraction means 108d, a display data creation means 108e, a display data output means 108f, an offer receiving means 108g, a user management storage means 108h, a database editing means 108i, a usage price creation means 108j, and an analysis information creation means 108k. These functions (programs) provided in the vendor-side search application or facility-side management application stored in the storage unit 110 are executed by the control unit 108.

[0068] The user information registration means 108a acquires initial registration information, assigns identification information, and stores it in the exhibitor information DB 1102 and facility information DB 1104 when a user uses the business support system 1 for the first time. In addition to the initial registration information, the control unit 108 (DB editing means 108i) updates the exhibitor information DB 1102 or facility information DB 1104 when new information (such as project information or person in charge information) is registered from the My Page or management screen page described later, or when there are changes to that information. Here, the identification information may be a number assigned to each user, such as a vendor or facility representative (or facility, etc.) (for example, the user ID in Figure 3B), or the name or email address of the vendor or facility representative (or facility, etc.) may be used as the identification information.

[0069] When a user requests to log in to the business support system 1, the user authentication means 108b compares the username (or user ID) and password entered by the user from the terminal with those stored in the exhibitor information DB 1102 or facility information DB 1104. If they match, it grants permission to log in; otherwise, it denies permission to log in.

[0070] The search condition acquisition means 108c is a means for acquiring search conditions when a user performs a search using the business support system 1. The search conditions are entered on the search condition input page (Figure 11, etc.), which will be described later. Examples of search conditions include location, products handled, and time period, but are not limited to these. In addition to text input, the search condition acquisition means 108c can also use known input methods such as chat services, voice input, and image input.

[0071] The extraction means 108d extracts the necessary data from the tenant information DB 1102, the facility information DB 1104, and / or the business management DB 1106 in response to the user's request. For example, the search conditions obtained by the search condition acquisition means 108c are compared with the data stored in the exhibitor information DB 1102 or the facility information DB 1104, and matching data is extracted. That is, if the user is an exhibitor, information on spaces that match the specified conditions such as location, products, and time is extracted from the facility information DB 1104. Similarly, if the user is a facility staff member, information on exhibitors that match the project details entered as search conditions from the facility terminal 40 is extracted from the exhibitor information DB 1102. Furthermore, in the My Page section described later, information from the Exhibitor Information DB1102, Facility Information DB1104, and Business Management DB1106, which are stored in association with the user's identification information, are extracted based on the user's request.

[0072] The display data creation means 108e creates data for display to the user based on information extracted from each master data and other information. Figure 6 shows an example of the configuration of the display data creation means 108e. The display data creation means 108e illustrated in Figure 6 includes a management display data creation means 108e1 that creates display data for information related to management, such as the progress of store opening offers, various information on facilities and tenants, and space usage prices (described later); a space display data creation means 108e2 for displaying space in various ways when a user searches for a facility space that meets predetermined conditions (described later); and a display data table 108e3 that associates the display menu selected by the user with the information to be displayed and the location where it should be displayed. However, the functions of the display data creation means 108e are not limited to these, and when other functions are added to the business support system 1, it may have functions for creating display data other than those described above.

[0073] The management display data creation means 108e1 is a function that creates data for displaying information related to the management of the above-mentioned facilities and groups. It creates data for displaying, for example, as a management page on the management screen described later, from information extracted by the extraction means 108d from the information of the tenant information DB 1102, facility information DB 1104, and business management DB 1106. Examples of data displayed on the management page include schedule management data that lists the reservation status of spaces, usage price data that shows the usage price of spaces, facility information data that shows the area, characteristics, and appearance of facilities, sales management data related to event hosting, account management data related to access rights to the business management system, bulletin board data used between facilities or between facilities and tenants, data that visualizes analysis data created by the analysis information creation means 108k based on sales data, and tenant information data for viewing tenant information.

[0074] The space display data creation means 108e2 creates data to display detailed information about a space from data extracted by the extraction means 108d based on a search request from a user, for example. The display data creation means 108e also has a function to set the layout of the display data. When a tenant searches for a space using the business support system 1, it is preferable that they can consider the space while visually recognizing its appearance. Therefore, it is preferable that the display data creation means 108e can set a layout that displays basic information about the space along with image data of the space and surrounding facilities and stores, and further embeds map information such as a web mapping platform.

[0075] The display data table 108e3 is a table that associates the layout of the display data with the information to be displayed and the location where it should be displayed. When the management display data creation means 108e1 obtains the display menu selected by the user, it obtains the information to be displayed and the location where it should be displayed based on the display data table 108e3 and creates display data corresponding to the selected display menu. When the space display data creation means 108e2 obtains the layout selected by the user, it obtains the information to be displayed and the location where it should be displayed based on the display data table 108e3 and creates display data corresponding to the selected layout.

[0076] Furthermore, it is preferable that the display data creation means 108e can change the layout settings at any time. For example, it may be set from the beginning to display the search results in the desired layout, or it may be specified to display the search results in multiple display formats and then select the most suitable layout each time.

[0077] The display data output means 108f displays the created display data to user terminals (exhibitor terminals 20 or facility terminals 40) and / or administrator terminals 30, or to display equipment that can be shared by multiple people, such as a projector.

[0078] The offer receiving device 108g receives event hosting offers or tenant store opening offers from exhibitors, or project offers or tenant store opening offers from facility staff, and sends information that an offer has been received from a user to the administrator terminal 30.

[0079] The user management storage means 108h is a means for storing information in the business management DB 1106 according to the format of the business management master data.

[0080] The DB editing means 108i is used when a user edits the master data in the aforementioned tenant information DB 1102, facility information DB 1104, and business management DB 1106. The editing function may be included as a function of the tenant-side search application and the facility-side management application, or a separate application for editing master data may be provided.

[0081] The usage price creation method 108j creates the usage price for the space within the facility. Figure 7 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the usage price creation means. It includes a usage price calculation means 108j1 for calculating the usage price, and a usage price reflection means 108j2 for reflecting the calculated usage price in the facility master data. Here, the usage price calculation means 108j1 calculates an appropriate usage price for leasing space in order to improve the revenue of the facility or the entire group. The usage price may be calculated using a program that calculates a fair price using a calculation formula set in advance by the facility's staff, etc., or a trained model that has been trained using past sales performance data, including that of other facilities, as training data. The specific methods of calculating the usage price will be described later. Other facilities may include facilities other than the group's stores.

[0082] The usage price calculation means 108j1 may be stored within the management server 10 (Figure 7(a)), or it may be owned by an external company or other entity connected via a network (Figure 7(b)). If the usage price calculation means 108j1 is installed on an external server 10a, the usage price calculation result is obtained from the external server 10a.

[0083] The usage price reflection means 108j2 is a function for managing usage prices, and in addition to reflecting the usage price calculated by the usage price calculation means 108j1 in the facility master data, it may also have a function to separately store data before updating to the latest usage price data.

[0084] The analytical information creation means 108k performs statistical analysis processing on current and / or past sales performance data.

[0085] The functions described above are a list of the main functions of the control unit 108, but the functions used in the business support system 1 are not limited to these.

[0086] [2 Processing] [2.1 Creating a Usage Price] The creation of usage prices will now be explained. Figure 5 is a flowchart showing the process until usage prices are created by the usage price creation means 108j, which will be described later. Hereinafter, in this specification, the person who has the authority to give instructions to the usage price creation means 108j will be referred to as the "usage price creator." Typically, the usage price creator will be the facility's representative or manager.

[0087] The user who creates the usage price sends a usage price creation instruction to the management server 10 from the user's terminal (S1101). The usage price creation instruction can be made by the user each time, or it can be configured to be made automatically at regular intervals even without instruction.

[0088] The usage price can be calculated automatically, manually, or in combination. In the example in Figure 5, the usage price is initially set to be calculated automatically. If automatic calculation is not desired, a setting (automatic calculation stop instruction) must be made to that effect. If a usage price creation instruction is made without an automatic calculation stop instruction (S1102: No), the management server 10 receives the usage price creation instruction via the communication unit 104, the usage price creation means 108j automatically calculates the usage price (S1105), the display data creation means 108e creates data for displaying the calculated usage price (S1106), and the display data output means 108f transmits the data from the communication unit 104 to the terminal of the user who created the usage price, causing it to be output to the terminal of the user who created the usage price (S1107).

[0089] If the user who created the usage price issues a command to stop automatic calculation (S1102: Yes), the management server 10 uses the display data creation means 108e to create a screen (for example, Figure 31A) that allows manual input of the usage price, and the display data output means 108f to display it on the user's terminal (S1103). The user who created the usage price manually inputs the usage price from the screen displayed on their terminal. The screen that allows manual input of the usage price may be launched by an application previously stored on the administrator terminal 30 or facility terminal 40, and may display display data provided by the management server 10 each time manual input is performed.

[0090] The screen for manually entering usage prices is, for example, a calendar-style input screen as shown in Figure 31A below. Users enter the usage price in the box for each date and send it to the management server 10 after completion (S1104). Once manual input is complete and the user who created the usage price gives an instruction that manual input is complete, the display data creation means 108e creates data related to the usage price list screen after manual input (S1106), and the display data output means 108f displays this data on the user's terminal (S1107).

[0091] The user who created the usage price checks the usage price list screen sent from the management server 10. If it is determined that further correction is necessary (S1108: Yes), the user redisplays a screen on their terminal that allows manual input (S1103), and corrects the necessary parts by manual input. If it is determined that further correction is not necessary (S1108: No), the control unit 108 (DB editing means 108i) saves the updated data related to the usage price in the facility master data (Figure 3B(b)) (S1109), and ends the usage price creation work (S1110).

[0092] The information regarding usage prices recorded in the facility master data only needs to reflect the most recently updated amount; however, it would also be beneficial to have a specification that saves the update history. Additionally, if you have set up automatic periodic price calculations, the newly calculated price will be updated each time, but you can choose not to automatically update any parts that have been manually modified in the past. Furthermore, as a general rule, we will not calculate usage fees for slots where an event has already been confirmed.

[0093] Let's explain how the usage fee is calculated. As mentioned above, the usage price of the space is calculated by the usage price calculation means 108j1 and reflected in the facility master data by the usage price reflection means 108j2.

[0094] The usage price calculated by the usage price calculation means 108j1 is a variable price calculated based on the concept of so-called dynamic pricing. That is, for spaces with high demand from tenants, the usage price can be set higher than for spaces with low demand. Therefore, even for spaces within the same facility, the usage price can be varied depending on the date and time of use. The method of dynamic pricing is not particularly limited, and publicly known methods can be used. For example, data such as the season, the timing of nearby events, past business and customer performance including other facilities, and the time it took to find tenants can be stored in the storage unit 110, and by using calculation formulas that utilize this data, or by using a trained model that has learned from this data as training data, a usage price that takes into account the level of demand from tenants can be calculated. It is also possible to use usage price data from other nearby facilities. If the usage price calculation means 108j1 is installed on an external server 10a, the management server 10 provides the data necessary to calculate the usage price to the external server 10a and obtains the usage price calculation result from the external server 10a.

[0095] The usage fee may vary depending on the content of the event held in the space or the tenants that set up shop there. The content of the event held or the tenants that set up shop there includes, but is not limited to, the type of event, the items sold, the scale of the event, the duration, the time of day, the location, past performance, and / or the timing (day of the week, season). The type of event mentioned above refers to the types of events such as merchandise sales, advertising of services such as English conversation classes, appraisal of used books and recycled goods, and shows by singers or characters. Furthermore, within this specification, the content of events held in the space or tenants exhibiting there may include surrounding information, including the usage price of the space and / or the usage status of the space in the facility to which the space belongs or in neighboring facilities, which are applicable to events or tenants handling similar goods in other facilities.

[0096] The usage price reflection means 108j2 reflects the usage price calculated by the usage price calculation means 108j1 onto the facility master data. However, the calculated data may be overwritten each time a calculation is performed, and for example, all past calculated usage prices may be saved for use as training data.

[0097] [2.2 Processing by the application] Next, we will describe the functions of the tenant search application and the facility management application used in the business support system 1. Hereinafter, in this specification, the website displayed by the tenant search application will be referred to as the "tenant search site," and the website displayed by the facility management application will be referred to as the "facility management site."

[0098] This section describes the overview of the business support system 1 using an application. Figure 41 shows an overview of the relationships between the application, master data in the database, users, and administrators used in the business support system 1 in one embodiment of the present invention. The processes performed by the tenant search application and facility management application used by users (user registration, search, progress management, etc.) are executed by exchanging and editing data within three master data sets in Business Support System 1. Furthermore, the business management master data is formed by obtaining tenant and facility information from the tenant master data and facility master data, and by adding and editing information such as the user's system usage history. On the other hand, administrators can edit all master data. In this way, multiple types of applications utilize information from common master data to perform management and search processes.

[0099] [2.2.1 Vendor Search App] Figure 8 illustrates the process of a system where exhibitors become users of an exhibitor-side search application to search for facilities and other resources. Exhibitors use the exhibitor-side search application to search for spaces to hold events or vacant spaces to set up as tenants, and then complete the procedures leading up to the event.

[0100] [2.2.1.1 User Registration Function] Exhibitors access the URL of the exhibitor-side search site from their exhibitor terminal 20 via the network N. When an access is received from an exhibitor, the control unit 108 (display data output means 108f) in the management server 10 displays a top page with a login menu for the exhibitor-side search site (S101a), and proceeds from the top page to the login page (S102). Here, the top page may be a page for the exhibitor-side search site alone, or it may be a joint top page with the facility-side management site described later. In addition, in this embodiment, the search pages for event spaces and vacant spaces are not distinguished within the exhibitor-side search site, but the search for event spaces and vacant spaces may be performed on a separate search site.

[0101] As mentioned above, if the top page serves as the top page for multiple types of websites, the system may be designed to allow the seller to select their preferred search site after logging in, or a page may be displayed allowing the seller to select their preferred site before logging in, and the login page may be displayed after the seller has selected their preferred site.

[0102] Furthermore, the top page may display not only the login menu but also the search page. In that case, the system may be designed so that only a portion of the search function is available to the merchant before they log in, or so that only a portion of the search items are displayed.

[0103] If the exhibitor has completed user registration on the exhibitor-side search site (S103:Yes), they enter the username and password provided by the administrator on the login page. If the control unit 108 (user authentication means 108b) determines that the username and password entered by the exhibitor match those previously registered, the control unit 108 displays the search menu page of the exhibitor-side search site to the exhibitor (S106). If the exhibitor has not completed user registration on the exhibitor-side search site (S103:No), the control unit 108 (user information registration means 108a) displays the new registration page (S104).

[0104] On the new registration page, you register an account (S104). Here, you set a username and password, and register basic information such as a contact email address.

[0105] Once account registration is complete, the control unit 108 (user information registration means 108a) displays a user information registration page (S105) as illustrated in Figure 9 and requests the input of basic exhibitor information. On the user information registration page, the exhibitor enters basic information (name of person in charge, contact information of person in charge, job title of person in charge, company name, company contact information, name of company representative, business description, etc.).

[0106] In addition to registering vendor information, the business support system 1 may require vendors to upload various certificates related to them in order to ensure the credibility of the information of the user vendors and to increase their trust in the facility. For example, a certificate upload page may be set up within the vendor search site, and the system may be designed to allow users to upload image data of various certificates on that page. Examples of such certificates include the vendor's identification card, seal certificate, registration certificate, land ownership certificate, etc.

[0107] Furthermore, the system may be designed to require administrator approval for user registration. In this case, the exhibitor information entered by the exhibitor via the exhibitor terminal 20 is stored in the exhibitor information storage DB 1102, and the administrator refers to this information and only permits user registration if they determine that it is possible. By setting a certain hurdle for user registration in this way, it is possible to reduce the risk of allowing unreliable exhibitors to hold events in the event space, which could ultimately cause damage to the facility.

[0108] Once user registration is complete, the vendor can use the vendor-side search site, and their user information is stored in the vendor information DB1102. For example, if a vendor commits a serious breach of contract after user registration, the administrator can revoke the vendor's account information on the management server 10. Alternatively, without revoking the account information, the administrator can restrict the use of some functions, such as not displaying search items on the top page or disabling some of the search items.

[0109] Once user registration is complete after entering the exhibitor's basic information (S103: Yes), the control unit 108 displays the search menu page on the exhibitor terminal 20 (S106).

[0110] [2.2.1.2 Facility Search Function] The search menu page is the starting page for vendors to search for spaces and other items. Figure 10 shows an example of a search menu page on a vendor-side search site. On the search menu page shown in Figure 10, vendors can select the most suitable search criteria from multiple items and search for spaces and other items.

[0111] The search menu 1705 in Figure 10 displays buttons for multiple types of search items. Examples of search items include "Free Word Search," which searches using entered words such as facility name or address; "Area Search," which searches by the location of the facility or by area such as prefecture; "Product Search," which searches by the type of goods or services handled by the vendor; "Facility Type Search," which searches by selecting the type of facility such as department stores, shopping streets, and road service facilities; "Map Search," which displays map information on the page and searches for facilities based on their location on the map; "New Store Search," which searches for newly opened facilities; "My Search," which repeatedly uses pre-set search conditions; "Date Search," which searches by specifying event dates or desired dates for tenants to open a store; and "Batch Search," which combines these search conditions, but is not limited to these.

[0112] In the search menu 1705 of Figure 10, when a vendor presses one of these search item buttons, the control unit 108 (search condition acquisition means 108c) displays a page (S107-1 to S107-n) on the vendor terminal 20 for entering the search conditions.

[0113] Furthermore, if the search criteria for space search and vacant space search differ significantly, for example, a "Click here for vacant space search" button 1701 (Figure 10) may be provided. When a tenant presses this button, the control unit 108 (search condition acquisition means 108c) may display a separate page (not shown) for vacant space search.

[0114] In addition to the example search items mentioned above, the search results may also be refined from other perspectives (Detailed Search 1702 in Figure 10). Examples of refinement include data based on the number of visitors (ranking) of the event venue itself, the availability of equipment such as power and supplies for each event venue, the presence or absence of image data of the space within the search site, data based on access status, and information based on circumstances specific to the event venue, such as store hours (S109).

[0115] As an additional search criterion for spaces, an item (1703) may be added to narrow down the search from properties managed under contract by the administrator (S110). Properties managed under contract are facilities that can only be opened through the administrator of Business Support System 1, and can only be searched exclusively by registered users. By making these properties managed under contract searchable items, it is possible to provide registered users of Business Support System 1 with added value that surpasses other systems. When a vendor presses a button for a facility name listed in the list of entrusted management properties on the search menu page (e.g., Company A in Figure 10), the control unit 108 (search condition acquisition means 108c) displays a page (S114) showing the list of entrusted management properties on the vendor terminal 20.

[0116] The search menu page may also display helpful information for searches as a special feature page 1704 (S108-1~S108-n). Examples of featured pages include, but are not limited to, information on space requirements for products requiring a certain amount of space, such as passenger cars; rankings of the number of events held during a certain period in the past; rankings of the number of requests from exhibitors by city, town, or prefecture; a list of newly opened facilities; and past incidents involving trouble. By using information that can only be obtained through managers who have actually built a relationship of trust with the facilities as search criteria, it is possible to provide an incentive for exhibitors to use the business support system 1.

[0117] Figure 11 shows an example of a search criteria input page for exhibitors to enter search criteria (S107-1 to S107-n). Figure 11(a) is the criteria input page for free word search, and Figure 11(b) is the criteria input page for product search. When an exhibitor enters search criteria on the page and presses the "Search >" button, the control unit 108 (search criteria acquisition means 108c) acquires the search request and search criteria. Then, the control unit 108 (extraction means 108d) extracts information about spaces that match the search criteria from the facility information DB 1104. The extraction results are edited as display data by the control unit 108 (display data creation means 108e) and transmitted from the management server 10 to the exhibitor terminal 20 by the display data creation means 108e (S112-1 to S112-n).

[0118] Figure 12 shows an example of a search results display page extracted based on the search criteria entered by the exhibitor via the exhibitor terminal 20. The search results page displays information about spaces that match the entered search criteria in four different display formats. Exhibitors can select their preferred display format from these options to view information about their spaces. As shown in Figure 12, it is preferable that the search results can be displayed in one or more of the multiple display formats to improve the viewability for exhibitors.

[0119] For example, Figure 12 illustrates several display formats for search results, including "List View," which shows a list of specified items; "List Display," which displays more items than the List View; "Block View," which lists blocks such as images of event facilities; and "Map View," which shows the location of facilities on a map. However, the display format is not limited to these. In the example in Figure 12, the system is designed to extract and display the usage price of the space extracted as a search result from the facility master data.

[0120] In the search results display page shown in Figure 12, pressing the "Facility Details" button on the page causes the control unit 108 (display data creation means 108e) to edit the display data showing detailed facility information, and the display data output means 108f displays the facility details display page (S120). In block view and map view, pressing an icon consisting of a thumbnail image of a facility or a logo also transitions to the facility details display page showing detailed facility information.

[0121] Furthermore, in the search results display page shown in Figure 12, the list display is designed so that pressing the "Space Details" button will directly display the space details page within the facility, which will be described later (S121). Thus, the display order of the search results page, facility display page, and space details display page is not limited and can be set as appropriate by the administrator.

[0122] Furthermore, the display of results when narrowing down the search criteria from the special feature page mentioned above is the same as in Figure 15 (S113-1 to S-113-n), so the explanation is omitted.

[0123] Figure 13 shows an example of a facility details display page. The facility details page can display basic information such as the facility name, location, access information, and business hours, as well as a calendar showing available days, facility map information, and a list of basic space information. The content displayed on the facility details page is not limited to the above and can be set appropriately while considering its relationship with the content displayed on the space details page, which will be described later. In Figure 13, the space list displays a "Space Details" button, and pressing these buttons displays the details page for each space (S121).

[0124] As shown in Figure 13, the facility details page may embed a floor map that displays the facility's map information and the location of spaces within the facility. Floor maps will be discussed later. In the example in Figure 13, the usage price of spaces within the facility is extracted from the facility master data and displayed.

[0125] Figure 14 is an example showing a space details display page that displays details of a specific space, for example, from the list display of pages shown in Figures 12 and 13. When an exhibitor presses the "Space Details" button in the list display of Figure 12, or the "Space Details" button in the space list on the facility details display page of Figure 13, the control unit 108 (display data creation means 108e) creates the data for the space details display page, and the display data output means 108f displays the space details display page shown in Figure 14 on the exhibitor terminal 20.

[0126] The upper right corner of the space details page displays the "Reservation Request" button (1801) and the "Inquiry" button (1802). The "Reservation Request" button will be explained later. The "Contact Us" button is used to make inquiries to the administrator regarding the space displayed on the page. When the user presses the "Contact Us" button (S151), the control unit 108 displays a window for entering the inquiry details (not shown). The window displays information about the exhibitor, such as the company name, contact person's name, phone number, and reply email address, along with a field for entering the inquiry details. When the exhibitor enters and submits the inquiry details, the inquiry details are notified to the administrator. After the administrator confirms the inquiry details, they may send a reply to the reply email address, display the reply using the My Page described later, or reply via chat using a publicly known chat tool.

[0127] The "Contact Us" button for administrators can be placed on any page within the vendor search site, such as the facility details page or the search results list page.

[0128] The space details page in Figure 14 can include basic information and images of the space within the facility, as well as tabs 1803 for "Facility Information," "Rental Price," "Merchandise," "Equipment / Rental," "Calendar," "Notes," and "Map Display." Each item in tab 1803 will be explained using Figure 15.

[0129] As shown in Figure 15, "Facility Information" displays comprehensive information about the facility to which the selected space belongs. Examples of this information include, but are not limited to, the type of event facility, location, access information, information on various areas such as site area, parking information, attendance figures, number of stores, tenant information, setup and dismantling information, location information, equipment information such as power and water, and available hours. Map information may also be embedded as part of the facility information. Note that the information displayed as facility information may overlap with the information on the facility details page shown in Figure 13. This allows tenants to consider both the space information and the facility information itself, thereby improving convenience for tenants.

[0130] The "Usage Price" section displays details about the usage price of the selected space. For example, clicking on the "Usage Price" tab in tab 1803 will show the basic daily usage price for each day of the week, the usage price for equipment such as sound systems, and cancellation fees for space and equipment use.

[0131] "Products" refers to the goods and services that can be handled in the selected space. Clicking on the price in tab 1803 will display the products categorized as, for example, "Available Products," "Not Available Products," and "Products Requiring Confirmation."

[0132] The "Equipment / Rental" section displays information on equipment that exhibitors can use during the event. Examples of equipment include, but are not limited to, long tables, chairs, partitions, extension cords, tents, sound equipment, loading carts, and storage. Instructions for handling these items and rental precautions can also be displayed.

[0133] The "Calendar" displays the availability and price of the selected space in a calendar format. In Figure 15, the calendar can be displayed by selecting an item within the tabs, but as shown in Figure 14, it may also be displayed permanently at the bottom of the tabs depending on the layout.

[0134] The "Notes" section displays important information regarding the use of the selected space, as shown in Figure 15. These notes may include, but are not limited to, instructions regarding the delivery of fixtures, rules regarding setup and dismantling, wattage limits and available outlets for power use, instructions regarding the distribution of flyers, application procedures for delivery vehicles, filling out the management register, entry and exit procedures, changing areas, restrooms and smoking areas, procedures for borrowing equipment, instructions for nighttime work, height restrictions for exhibits, restrictions on soliciting or calling out to visitors, rules regarding waste disposal, entry passes (badges, etc.), baggage checks, restrictions on the use of rest areas, rules regarding photography, and contact information in case of emergencies.

[0135] The "Map" feature can display map information for both the facility and its surroundings. As mentioned earlier, the map may overlap with other pages such as facility information and search results lists, so it may be excluded from the detailed display page for the selected space. However, being able to display the map on multiple display pages improves convenience for tenants when considering the facility.

[0136] When using map information for a facility, the display format may be one in which a symbol indicating the location of the facility is superimposed on a map of the surrounding area. In that case, the display format can be devised by superimposing symbols representing the locations of nearby facilities on the same map, displaying thumbnail images of the facilities, changing the display of the thumbnail image when it is selected by clicking on it, or displaying a description of the facility corresponding to the thumbnail image.

[0137] When a user (exhibitor) holds an event using space within the facility, the positional relationship between the space and surrounding stores, the positional relationship with visitor traffic routes such as entrances, corridors, and escalators, and the orientation of the booth and how it is visible to passersby are all extremely important factors that affect the number of attendees at the event. Therefore, in order to avoid misunderstandings between the facility and the exhibitor and to ensure that both parties can hold the event with peace of mind, it is preferable that the floor map shows the aforementioned factors that affect the number of attendees at the event.

[0138] The space details page may include embedded map information; for example, a publicly available web mapping platform may be embedded and used. Preferably, the map information used allows switching between maps and photographs, and further preferably, it allows switching between a plan view and a panoramic view. Furthermore, it is preferable that the map information allows the exhibitor to display details of the facility's interior. If this map information can display detailed information about the facility's interior, it may also serve as a floor map of the space.

[0139] Furthermore, it is preferable to display the "Reservation Request" and "Inquiry" buttons on multiple pages in this series of facility and space detail display pages. Since exhibitors usually decide to offer event hosting after referring to the detailed information of each, a page structure that allows them to immediately apply from these multiple pages will improve the convenience for exhibitors. Details on "Reservation Request" will be described later.

[0140] The space details page can include a communication space 1804 to display important notes and other information specific to each space. In the page shown in Figure 15, it states, "Posting posters or other materials on the window glass is prohibited." This is due to past events where posting materials on the window glass caused extra work when cleaning the glass was removed. By prominently displaying important but additional notes based on past experiences, it is possible to reduce disputes between the facility and the vendors.

[0141] The display items provided on the space details page are not limited to those exemplified above. For example, multiple linked tags indicating the characteristics of a specific space viewed by the exhibitor (e.g., "3 minutes from the station," "high-speed WiFi," "under 20,000 yen / day") could be displayed, and clicking on these tags could display a list of spaces with similar characteristics.

[0142] Additionally, comments from the administrator or facility staff can be included on the space details page. For example, comments such as "This is one of the most popular spaces in the Omiya area, and it rarely becomes available, so we recommend applying immediately while it's open" or "This facility attracts many children. Events geared towards children are recommended" can encourage exhibitors to decide to hold events there.

[0143] [2.2.1.3 My Page] When the "My Page" button is pressed on the search menu page shown in Figure 10, the control unit 108 (display data output means 108f) displays My Page (S111). The My Page is a page that displays data edited by the display data creation means 108e, for users who have completed user registration. This data is extracted by the extraction means 108d from the master data stored in each DB of the storage unit 110 of the business support system 1, and is associated with the exhibitor's identification information. Here, the information stored in association with the identification information includes information generated as a result of the exhibitor's actions, such as the exhibitor's search log and the status information of event hosting offers. The My Page is a page edited to make this information convenient for the exhibitor.

[0144] Figure 16 shows an example of a user's profile page on the vendor search site. Items displayed on My Page may include, but are not limited to, "Document Downloads," "Project Information," "Company Information," "My Menu," "Account Management," and "Application Progress."

[0145] The "Document Download" page allows exhibitors to download facility rules, manuals, and other documents when holding events in the space (S115). Examples of documents that can be uploaded include event management information summarizing the basic flow and precautions for holding an event, as illustrated in Figure 16, and a morning meeting checklist summarizing the items to be checked at the start of each day. These documents may be general manuals applicable to most facilities, or they may be manuals specific to a particular space. If the manuals are specific to a particular space, the exhibitor, who is the party responsible for booking the facility, may only be able to download them after the space usage reservation is complete. When an exhibitor clicks on, for example, the text "Event Management Information" or "Morning Meeting Checklist" which has a link attached, the control unit 108 displays a document download page (S122) (not shown).

[0146] The "Event Information" page is where exhibitors register, edit, and display information about the events they plan. When an exhibitor clicks on the "Event Information" link, the control unit 108 displays an event information menu page with links to a new event registration page for registering an event and an event content confirmation page for viewing and editing registered events (S118). When the exhibitor clicks on the link labeled "Register New Project," the control unit 108 (display data output means 108f) displays a new project registration page for registering project information (S128).

[0147] Figure 17 shows an example of a new project registration page. Items that can be registered on the new project registration page include, for example, the event area, target age group, target gender, project name, project details, required space, budget, PR points, project image or diagram, and project proposal upload. When an exhibitor enters these items on the new project registration page and presses the "Register" button, the control unit 108 sends the information to the administrator. If the administrator approves the registration of the content, or if it is automatically registered as the exhibitor's project information in the exhibitor information DB 1102.

[0148] In the "Project Information" section, when the user clicks the link labeled "Confirm Project Details," the control unit 108 displays a project details confirmation page (S129) (not shown) where the registered project information can be viewed and edited. The project details confirmation page is designed to be editable by exhibitors, and the project information edited by exhibitors from the exhibitor terminal 20 is updated in the exhibitor master data by the control unit 108 (DB editing means 108i) either with the administrator's permission or automatically.

[0149] The event information registered and edited by the exhibitors will be used by the facility staff or administrators as a basis for their decision in determining whether or not to offer an event hosting opportunity, as described below. Furthermore, the event information registered in the exhibitor information DB1102 will be used by the facility staff when searching for exhibitors on the facility management site, as described below. Alternatively, instead of creating a separate project information menu page, users may be directed directly to the project details page and the new project page by clicking on the linked text "Confirm Project Details" and "Register New Project" within their My Page.

[0150] The "Company Information" page allows exhibitors to register basic information about themselves, as well as information about their contact person and the group they belong to (S119). When an exhibitor clicks on the "Company Information" link, the control unit 108 displays a company information menu page with links to the company information page, staff management page, and group management page. Company information can be viewed and edited from the company information page (S130), while information about the exhibitor's contact person and group can be viewed and edited from the staff management page (S131) ​​and group management page (S132), respectively (not shown). Alternatively, instead of a company information menu page, users may directly access the company information page, staff management page, and group management page by clicking on the "Company Information," "Staff Management," and "Group Management" links within their My Page.

[0151] The "My Menu" page allows exhibitors to view their past search history, browsing history of event spaces in search results, third-party survey reports, and a list of their searches (S117). When an exhibitor clicks on the "My Menu" link, the control unit 108 displays a My Menu page with links to the search history page, browsing history page, and third-party survey report page. Alternatively, instead of a My Menu page, clicking on the "Search History," "Browsing History," and "Third-Party Survey Report" links within the My Page may directly link to the company information page, staff management page, and group management page.

[0152] The "Third-Party Investigation Report" is an overview of the report when a third party conducts an investigation into an event previously held by an exhibitor via the Business Support System 1. The investigation by the third party may cover, for example, the appearance and language of the exhibitor's staff, as well as infection control measures such as mask-wearing, alcohol disinfectant availability, acrylic panel installation, and glove-wearing. Regarding the setup, this may include, but is not limited to, the completeness of the booth setup, the use of handwritten POP displays, the organization of the back room, the height of fixtures and banners, and the use of sound equipment.

[0153] When a vendor clicks on the "Third-Party Survey Report" link on their My Menu page, for example, the control unit 108 (display data output means 108f) displays the third-party survey report page (S125). The third-party report may be a numerical representation of the third-party evaluation, or it may be an evaluation using symbols such as ○, ×, or △. If the evaluation is by multiple surveyors, the average value, highest value, and lowest value may be shown. In this way, a third-party survey can identify matters that the parties involved may not be aware of, and is effective in improving the vendor's operations and increasing their ability to attract customers.

[0154] When an exhibitor clicks on, for example, the text "Browsing History" which has a link attached, the control unit 108 (display data output means 108f) displays the browsing history of event spaces extracted as a result of the search performed by the exhibitor on the exhibitor's search site (S126). Furthermore, for example, clicking on the "Search History" link will display the usage history (search expression) of My Search as shown in Figure 10 (S127).

[0155] The "Account Management" page displays the user account list page (S123) and the permissions list page (S124) for setting editing permissions and other settings for exhibitors using the business support system 1 (S116). When an exhibitor clicks the linked "Account Management" text on the My Page in Figure 16, the control unit 108 displays an account management menu page (not shown) with links to the account list page and the permissions list page. Alternatively, instead of providing an account management menu page, clicking the "Account List" and "Permission List" text on the My Page may directly link to the account list page and the permissions list page, respectively.

[0156] The "Application Progress Management" page displays a list of application progress for each event hosting offer submitted by an exhibitor (S141). When an exhibitor presses the "Application Progress Management" button, the control unit 108 (display data creation means 108e) extracts and edits data, including the latest status, related to the event hosting offer submitted by the exhibitor from the business management master data in the business management DB 1106, and displays the progress status display page on the exhibitor terminal 20 screen using the display data output means 108f (S142).

[0157] Figure 18 shows an example of a progress display page. Figure 18 shows a list of application progress for multiple spaces to which an exhibitor has made an event hosting offer. In the list, the "Status" column will display one of the following, for example, Confirmed, Rejected, Pending, or Cancelled. Here, "Confirmed" indicates that the reservation process for hosting the event has been completed. "Rejected" indicates that the application to host the event was not approved. "Pending" indicates that a decision has not yet been made regarding whether or not to allow the exhibitor to use the space in response to the offer. "Cancelled" indicates that the event hosting offer has been canceled by the user.

[0158] At the top of Figure 18, there are "Confirmed," "NG," "Pending," and "Cancel" buttons for filtering the status of offers in the list. When these buttons are pressed, the control unit 108 (display data creation means 108e) extracts offers with the selected status and creates data to be displayed on the vendor terminal 20. In Figure 18, filtering is limited to status only, but filtering may be made possible by other items, such as the request date or business name.

[0159] Other examples of items that can be displayed on the My Page include, for example, visitor reviews about facilities related to the exhibitor's offer, or visitor reviews about events previously held by the exhibitor.

[0160] [2.2.1.4 Processing Event Hosting Offers] The processing of event hosting offers will be explained using Figure 19. As described above, an event hosting offer is sent from the communication unit 204 in the exhibitor terminal 20 to the management server 10 when the exhibitor presses the "Reservation Application" button on the space details display page (Figures 14 and 15) (S201), received by the control unit 108 (offer receiving means 108g), and notified to the administrator (S301).

[0161] Figure 20 shows an example of a form used when submitting an offer. The information to be filled in when submitting an offer includes basic information of the exhibitor (the user), as well as the desired date and time for the event. Information regarding offers from exhibitors is tagged with the user's identification information and linked to the exhibitor information and facility information of the offered space for that user, and is stored as business management master data in the business management DB 1106. Subsequently, as the event progresses, new information such as sales and document exchanges during the event are added to the data, and it is updated by the DB editing means 108i (hereinafter referred to as Data 1). In Data 1, the status is "no" before submitting an event hosting offer application.

[0162] Returning to Figure 19, let's explain the processing of event hosting offers. When the offer application is received from the exhibitor terminal 20 (S301), the control unit 108 (DB editing means 108i) changes the status of data 1 to "Application in progress" (S302). The control unit 108 also notifies the administrator terminal 30 of the offer application. The administrator decides whether or not to inquire with the facility about the offer from the exhibitor. If it is determined that an inquiry is necessary (S303: Yes), the administrator terminal 30 sends part or all of the data 1 related to the offer to the facility's representative (S304). If it is determined that an inquiry with the facility is not necessary (S303: No), the administrator decides whether or not to host the event. The administrator may grant the facility's representative permission to view the information in data 1, as well as the registration information at the time of user registration and the project information described on My Page.

[0163] Typically, the administrator and the facility have a basic transaction agreement in place, and in order to reduce the workload for the facility's staff, the administrator has the authority to approve event hosting offers from individual vendors and to act as an agent for the various procedures with the vendors regarding facility use after the offer has been approved. Examples of situations in which the administrator may need to contact the facility's staff include cases where a vendor has little to no experience of hosting events through the system of the present invention, or where a vendor has caused problems or troubles at events they have held in the past. Because the administrator has the authority described above, the entire process from the vendor's offer to the completion of the reservation is handled solely between the vendor and the administrator. This reduces the workload for the facility's staff.

[0164] Communication between the administrator and the facility staff can be conducted via the administrator terminal 30 and the facility terminal 40 using email, the bulletin board or chat function on the management page, etc. When the facility staff receives an inquiry from the administrator terminal 30 to the facility terminal 40 (S401), the facility staff member sends a response to the administrator via the facility terminal 40 regarding whether or not the event can be held (S402).

[0165] Upon receiving the response from the facility staff member at the administrator terminal 30 (S305), the administrator decides whether or not to allow the event to be held. If the administrator decides not to allow the event to be held (S306: No), the administrator terminal 30 outputs a request to the control unit 108 (DB editing means 108i) to change the status of data 1 to "NG" (S302). On the other hand, if the administrator decides to allow the event to be held (S306: Yes), the administrator notifies the exhibitors that the event has been permitted, as necessary, and initiates the necessary procedures for holding the event between the exhibitors and the administrator.

[0166] If it is determined that the event should be permitted (S306: Yes), the administrator terminal 30 outputs a request to the control unit 108 (DB editing means 108i) to change the permissions of the exhibitor information DB 1102 and grant the exhibitor permission to download necessary manuals, rules, etc., regarding the use of the space from their My Page (S307). Subsequently, the administrator terminal 30 also grants the exhibitor permission to download necessary procedural documents. The procedural documents necessary for holding the event may be mailed to the exhibitor, sent as electronic files via email, or a new form for the procedure may be set up on their My Page (not shown) to facilitate the procedure.

[0167] If the administrator has completed the necessary procedures for holding the event with the exhibitor (S309:Yes), the administrator terminal 30 outputs a request to the control unit 108 (DB editing means 108i) to change the status of data 1 to "Confirmed" (S310). On the other hand, if the administrator has not yet completed the procedures with the exhibitor (S309:No) and the exhibitor has notified the administrator of the cancellation of the offer, the administrator terminal 30 outputs a request to the control unit 108 (DB editing means 108i) to change the status of data 1 to "Cancelled" (S311). If the administrator has not yet completed the procedures with the exhibitor (S309:No) and the exhibitor has not notified the administrator of the cancellation of the offer, the administrator does not change the status of data 1.

[0168] In the above-described embodiment of the tenant search application, tenants use the search function to find suitable locations for holding events within the facility or for setting up a tenant store in an empty space. The above-mentioned events and tenant stores may include so-called "pop-up stores." A pop-up store is a store that is set up for a limited period of time, ranging from a few days to several months, and may operate by setting up a temporary store in an event space or by operating in an empty space. To find a suitable location for setting up a "pop-up store," the user should appropriately use the space search or the empty space search according to the type of pop-up store to be set up.

[0169] To facilitate the search for locations for pop-up stores, a pop-up store search function may be added to the vendor search app. For example, administrators could include a field indicating whether or not a pop-up store is permitted in the facility master data, and the vendor search app's search menu could be configured to allow filtering by whether or not a pop-up store is permitted.

[0170] [2.2.2 Facility-side management app] Next, we will explain the processing performed by the facility-side management application used in business support system 1.

[0171] Figure 21 shows that by launching the facility management application, facility staff can manage various information within the facility as users of the facility management site, and can also search for vendors who will hold events within their facility or tenants who will set up shops in vacant spaces. The following describes the processing of the facility management application. Note that the vendor information searched using the facility management application includes the vendor's planning information, which will be described later.

[0172] [2.2.2.1 User Registration Function] The facility staff member accesses the URL of the facility management site from the facility terminal 40 via the network N. Upon receiving access from the facility staff member, the control unit 108 in the management server 10 displays a top page with a login menu for the facility management site (S501b). Here, the top page may be a page for the facility management site alone, or it may be a joint top page with the aforementioned tenant search site. In this embodiment, the search pages for requesting to set up a booth in an event space and requesting to set up a tenant booth in an empty space are not distinguished within the facility management site, but the specification may be to search for both on separate search sites. When the facility staff member gives a login instruction from the login menu, the control unit 108 (user authentication means 108b) displays the login page (S502).

[0173] If the facility staff member has completed user registration (S503:Yes), similar to the case of the vendor search site, they enter the username and password assigned by the administrator into the facility terminal 40 on the login page. If the control unit 108 (user authentication means 108b) determines that the username and password entered by the facility staff member match those previously registered, the control unit 108 (display data output means 108f) displays the menu page of the facility management site to the facility staff member (S505). If the facility staff member has not completed user registration on the facility management site (S503:No), the control unit 108 (user information registration means 108a) displays the account registration page (S504) and requests account registration. The menu page of the facility management site may also serve as the management page or search menu page described later.

[0174] Unlike vendor-side search sites, administrators often already possess facility information through sales activities and other means. In such cases, administrators may register facility representatives as users in advance without requiring them to go through the account registration page on the site.

[0175] Once user registration is complete, the facility's representative will be able to use the facility management site, and their account information will be added to the facility master data in facility information DB1104. If a facility's representative ceases to be a facility representative after user registration, the administrator or a facility representative with the appropriate authority can revoke that representative's account information. Alternatively, they can restrict access to some of the facility management site's functions.

[0176] Once user registration is complete by entering the basic information of the exhibitor (S503: Yes), the control unit 108 (display data output means 108f) displays the menu page of the facility management site on the facility terminal 40 (S505).

[0177] [2.2.2.2 Management functions] Figure 26 shows an example of a menu page (management menu page) for the facility's management site. In the example in Figure 26, there is a My Page frame 2602 (S512) containing links to each page of My Page described later, a management screen frame 2603 (S506) containing links to each page of the management screen, and a link button 2601 to the vendor search page described later. The specifications of the menu page for the facility's management site are not limited to the example in Figure 26. For example, it may be a selection page with links to both the management page and the vendor search page, or it may be a menu page for the vendor search page with a link to the management page.

[0178] The blank space within the management menu page exemplified in Figure 26 may display edited versions of pages from the My Page or management screen described later. By displaying parts of the schedule management page and bulletin board for facilities and group stores (described later) on the management menu page, users can grasp the necessary information simply by looking at the initial menu screen of the facility's management site.

[0179] [2.2.2.3 My Menu] In the My Menu section of the management menu page shown in Figure 26, there are links labeled "Offer History," "Browsing History," and "My Search" as examples. Clicking these links will display the Offer History page, Browsing History page, and My Search page, respectively.

[0180] The offer history page displays the history of project offers made by the facility staff (S516). When the user clicks on the "Offer History" text in the My Menu box, the extraction means 108d extracts information related to the user's past project offers from the business management DB 1106, the management display data creation means 108e1 creates data for the screen that references the project offer history, and the display data output means 108f outputs the project offer history screen to the user's terminal.

[0181] The browsing history page displays the browsing history when searching for vendors using the facility's management site (S517). When the user clicks on the "Browsing History" text in the My Menu box, the extraction means 108d extracts information related to the user's past browsing from the facility information DB 1104, the display data creation means 108e (management display data creation means 108e1) creates data for the screen that references the browsing history, and the display data output means 108f outputs the browsing history screen to the user's terminal.

[0182] "My Search" is a function that allows users to save search queries and reuse the same query, and can be used by facility staff when they periodically search for tenants (S518). When the user clicks the "My Search" text in the My Menu box, the extraction means 108d extracts information related to the search queries used by the user in past browsing from the facility information DB 1104, the display data creation means 108e (management display data creation means 108e1) creates data for a screen that references previously used search queries, and the display data output means 108f outputs the My Search screen to the user's terminal.

[0183] [2.2.2.4 Management screen] The "management screen" is a page that allows for the centralized management and viewing of the status of facility spaces in group stores (S513). As mentioned above, when a facility staff member requests to log in to the business support system 1, the user authentication means 108b compares the username (or user ID) and password entered by the facility staff member from the facility terminal 40 with those stored in the facility information DB 1104, and grants login if they match. The display data creation means 108e (management display data creation means 108e1) creates display data based on the user rights stored in the account information master data (Figure 3D) stored in the facility information DB.

[0184] In the example shown in Figure 26, a management screen frame is provided within the management menu page. Within the management screen frame, links labeled "Schedule Management," "Facility Information," "Sales Management," "Account Management," "Bulletin Board," "Analysis Information," and "Exhibitor Master" are displayed as examples. Clicking these links will display the schedule management page, facility information management page, sales management page, account management page, bulletin board, analysis information page, and exhibitor master page, respectively. Note that the page items within the management menu page are not limited to these. Furthermore, links to each page within the management screen may be displayed on pages other than the management menu page, for example, by using reduced-size icons.

[0185] The schedule management page displays the event status of group stores, for example, in a calendar format (S519). By allowing group store staff to view and edit the event status of all group stores together, facility staff can plan event schedules as part of the group.

[0186] Figure 27 shows an example of a schedule management page. Figure 27(a) is a screen showing a list of events held from October 1st to October 31st for Department Store A and Store B, which belong to the same group. The store name, shop name, event location, and event dates are highlighted with a band 2701 for visual recognition. The bar 2701, which indicates the event period, can be displayed, for example, by a facility staff member dragging a cell in the calendar.

[0187] Figure 27(b) shows a screen where the content of an event displayed as band 2701 can be registered or viewed. For example, it may appear as a pop-up screen when a blank cell in the calendar is dragged, or it may pop up when the cursor is moved over an already displayed band 2701. In the pop-up screen of Figure 27(b), the event date and time can be changed, the purpose of use can be selected, the event type, and the main and sub-items of the event content can be registered and modified. Furthermore, a free input field may be provided for information sharing among facility staff within the group. Note that Figure 27(b) shows items such as headquarters events held at the direction of the group headquarters, product displays where the space is used for product display due to the circumstances of the store, and external reservations (external events) where the space is used by vendors not managed by the administrator of the business management system 1, but it is not limited to these.

[0188] In the schedule management page shown in Figure 27, the event schedule information for group stores is extracted from facility master data and business management master data and edited as display data by the control unit 108 (extraction means 108d and display data creation means 108e (management display data creation means e1)) and displayed on the facility terminal 40 by the display data output means 108f.

[0189] The facility information management page displays facility information for group stores and is used as an input screen when registering information in the facility master data. The facility information management page is displayed by selecting facility information on the management page shown in Figure 26 (S520). Figure 28 is an example of the facility information management page, where basic information related to the facility information of group stores is displayed in a list format. The specifications of the facility information management page can be set as appropriate by the system administrator. Hereinafter, the facility information management page and the individual information pages within the facility information management page are edited from information contained in the facility master data and / or business management master data. In response to a user request, the extraction means 108d extracts the necessary information from the master data, the control unit 108 (management display data creation means 108e1) edits it as display data, and the display data output means 108f displays it on the facility terminal 40 or administrator terminal 30.

[0190] The facility information management page exemplified in Figure 28 is a list format containing information on each group store's facility name (store name), area, prefecture, address, number of indoor spaces, and number of outdoor spaces. This information can be filtered by selecting the area and prefecture using the filter button 2801 in the upper left corner of the screen. Here, "area" refers to a classification determined by organizational and operational considerations within the group. In the example in Figure 28, the leftmost column of the list is marked with a house icon 2802; this icon is a link to a page displaying information for each facility.

[0191] The facility information management page also includes a facility addition button 2803. Pressing this button displays the facility registration page (not shown). When the facility staff member enters information on the facility registration page, the facility registration information is sent to the administrator, and after the administrator's permission, the new facility data is registered in the facility master data by the DB editing means 108i. Administrator permission when registering facility information in the facility master data may be omitted. The format of the facility registration page is not particularly restricted; for example, all items on the basic information display page in Figure 29 described later may be left blank.

[0192] Figure 29 is an example of a page displayed when the Yokohama store's house icon 2802 is clicked in Figure 28, showing individual information for the Yokohama store. There may be multiple pages that display such individual facility information. For example, by selecting one of the following in the page selection box 2901 at the top of Figure 29, such as "Basic Information," "Space Information," "Price Information," "Equipment Information," or "Merchandise Information," detailed information for each facility will be displayed. Figure 29 shows the state when "Basic Information" is selected. In the example of Figure 29, the basic information page is displayed first as the page that displays individual facility information (S520a), but the type and display order of each page are not limited.

[0193] The page that displays individual facility information will be explained using the example in Figure 29. The basic information page illustrated in Figure 29 displays basic information about the facility, such as its address, telephone number, access information, and the store's ability to attract customers. This page is displayed by selecting "Basic Information" from the page selection frame 2901 (S520a). In the example in Figure 29, the facility's exterior and floor guide can be uploaded as images, and when images are uploaded, they are displayed on the screen. By providing a page that can display detailed information for each facility, facility staff can easily grasp the status of group stores. The information on each item on the basic information page can also be updated from the respective information frames in the facility master data. The update is performed by editing the facility master data in the control unit 108 (DB editing means 108i) based on a request entered by the facility staff from the facility terminal 40, or a request entered by the administrator from the administrator terminal 30.

[0194] The space information page displays detailed information about the spaces within the facility and is displayed by selecting "Space Information" from the page selection box 2901 (S520b). Figure 30 shows an example of the space information page for Department Store A Yokohama. Department Store A Yokohama has three spaces, and the system is designed to allow users to upload and display data such as floor number, space name, location, size, and exterior image information for each space. If a new space is created within the facility, the system may be designed so that a new space row (Space 4 in Figure 30) is added by selecting "Add New Space" 3001.

[0195] Furthermore, if the space is not an event space but a vacant floor space for tenant use, in addition to the registration information for event spaces, it may also include items commonly used to indicate the details of the vacant floor space, such as handover conditions, location information and precautions, move-in date, use of electricity and water, security deposit, and implementation conditions.

[0196] The pricing information page displays and allows editing of space usage prices. It is accessed by selecting "Pricing Information" from the page selection box 2901 (S520c). Figure 31A is an example of the pricing information page, showing the usage prices for A Department Store Yokohama from October 1st to October 28th in a calendar format. In the example in Figure 31A, one of the three spaces at A Department Store Yokohama can be selected by checking the space selection box 3101, and similarly, a product can be selected from the product selection box 3102. In the example in Figure 31A, the rooftop event space is selected as the space, and PR (non-merchandise sales other than merchandise sales and buybacks) is selected as the product. If the facility staff member wishes to refer to the usage prices of other spaces or products, they can select a different item in the space selection box 3101 or product selection box 3102. Note that the classification of products on the pricing information page is not limited to PR and buybacks as described above; other classifications such as merchandise sales and non-merchandise sales may also be used.

[0197] The usage prices shown on the calendar on the price information page are extracted from the facility master data by the extraction means 108d, edited as display data by the display data creation means 108e (management display data creation means 108e1), and displayed on the facility terminal 40 or administrator terminal 30 by the display data output means 108f. In the example in Figure 31A, the specification is to display the usage price of only one selected set of space and merchandise, but it may also be specified to display the usage prices of multiple spaces together, for example, as in Figure 31B. In Figure 31B, of the three spaces—the rooftop event space, the space next to the main entrance, and the space next to the central elevator on the first floor—only the usage price is displayed for the two spaces where the checkboxes are checked, and only the usage price is displayed when the merchandise is PR.

[0198] Facility staff can not only view the usage prices shown on the calendar on the pricing information page, but may also edit them on this page. For example, in Figure 31A, the system may allow users to directly input and update the daily usage prices within the price display frame 3105, or, as shown in Figure 31A, clicking on a daily frame on the screen may bring up a new screen 3103 for changing usage prices, where the price can be changed using the input frame 3104. In either case, changing the usage price values ​​shown on the calendar will automatically update the facility master data. In this case, it is preferable to distinguish and display the dates for which event participation contracts have already been concluded (e.g., October 1st-3rd, October 12th-14th) by changing the font or color to indicate that the usage price cannot be changed. In the example in Figure 31A, the slots for which event contracts have already been concluded (October 1st-3rd, 12th-14th) are shown with italicized font and underlined, and the values ​​cannot be changed.

[0199] The usage price may be changed on a daily basis, or it may be changed weekly, or it may be possible to change it in bulk for any desired group, such as by product. Bulk changes to usage prices can be made in the bulk usage price change frame 3107, based on predetermined rules. Figure 31C shows an example of the bulk price change frame 3107. Clicking inside the input frame in the bulk price change frame in Figure 31C(a) displays a new frame containing selection options such as bulk selection by day of the week, bulk selection by week, bulk selection by month, and bulk selection by specified period, as shown in Figure 37C(b). Selecting the type of bulk price change here displays the price input frame shown in Figure 37C(c). Figure 37C(c) is the input frame when bulk change by day of the week is selected. For example, by selecting Sunday and entering the price for each product, the usage prices for Sunday in the calendar on the price information page are changed all at once. When the usage prices on the price information page are edited from the facility terminal 40 in this way, the DB editing means 108i updates the usage price information in the facility master data.

[0200] Furthermore, in the example shown in Figure 31A, the appropriate price is displayed for each day on the calendar. This appropriate price is the usage price automatically generated by the usage price creation means 108j and displayed as it is generated, and the user can then change it considering the appropriate price and the circumstances of each facility. The facility staff can disable the function of the usage price creation means 108j to automatically generate usage prices as needed. For example, an automatic generation stop button (not shown) could be provided on the price information page, and pressing this button would stop the automatic generation of usage prices.

[0201] In the examples in Figures 31A and 31B, the usage price within the price display frame 3105 is ultimately determined by the user. However, initially, a provisional usage price uniformly set for each day of the week may be displayed, or the appropriate price automatically generated by the usage price creation means 108j may be displayed as is. However, even when using the automatically generated appropriate price as is, it is preferable that it be finalized after user approval by an approval means (not shown).

[0202] The price management page can be enhanced with other tools to improve user convenience. For example, in the example shown in Figure 31A, buttons labeled "i" are placed within each day's frame of the calendar to display various information (in Figure 31A, the basis for calculating the fair price), which can be used as a reference when considering the validity of the fair price information.

[0203] The equipment information page (not shown) and the merchandise information page (not shown) are pages for registering and changing information about equipment that can be used in the space and merchandise that will be handled at the event, respectively. These pages are displayed by selecting either equipment information (S520d) or merchandise information (S520e) in the page selection frame 2901. The method of selecting and displaying equipment and merchandise is not particularly limited.

[0204] The sales management page displays sales information for each space used in events held at group stores in a list format. The sales management page is displayed by selecting sales information on the management page shown in Figure 26 (S521).

[0205] Figure 32 shows an example of a sales management page. The list in Figure 32 illustrates the event performance of the A Department Store Group in June 2023. The list can display information such as store name, location, event venue, category, type, merchandise, dates, and sales amount. The facilities displayed in the list can be narrowed down by operating the pull-down selection buttons 3201 provided for each item such as store name, area, store, merchandise, and type. In the example in Figure 32, the dates have been narrowed down to June 10, 2023 to June 30, 2023, and the store name to A Department Store. By referring to this sales information, facility managers can use it as reference material to decide whether or not to hold an event at the store to which they belong. Note that the categories in the list in Figure 32 correspond to the categories in Figure 27(b), indicating whether the event is a headquarters event or an external reservation. In this way, by inputting and using sales from exhibitors outside the management scope of the administrator of the business management system 1, it becomes possible to manage in a manner that is in line with the actual situation of the facility and group.

[0206] In the table in Figure 32, the sales values ​​represent the total usage price during the period when events were held at each store of the A Department Store Group. These values ​​are extracted from the business management master data and edited as display data by the extraction means 108d and the display data creation means 108e (management display data creation means 108e1), and then displayed on the facility terminal 40 or administrator terminal 30 by the display data output means 108f.

[0207] The analysis information page displays the results of an analysis of the business performance of the entire facility or group, and can perform analyses such as occupancy rate analysis, product analysis, and revenue analysis. The analysis information page is displayed by selecting analysis information on the management page in Figure 26 (S522). The analysis information is created by the analysis information creation means 108k, processed into display data by the display data creation means 108e, and displayed on the facility terminal 40 or administrator terminal 30 by the display data output means 108f. Alternatively, the analysis information may include reports created regarding the business performance of the entire facility or group and future performance forecasts.

[0208] Figure 33 is an example of an analysis information page. In the example of Figure 33, a pie chart shows the number of events held per product category within the A Department Store group. By summarizing the number of events held by various genres across all group stores in this way, it is possible to appropriately grasp the strengths and weaknesses of the group as a whole, and this can be used as material for considering events that should be attracted in the future. The layout of the analysis information page can be freely set by the facility staff, for example, the product category items in Figure 33, the target month, and the items shown in the graph, such as the number of events held or event revenue. The content of the analysis information page can be switched to various types of analysis information by selecting each item within the analysis information selection box 3301.

[0209] Figures 34A to 34C show specific examples of analysis information pages. Figure 34A is another example of an analysis information page, which is used for performance management and revenue analysis. The bar graph in Figure 34A shows the sales performance of the entire A Department Store group from January to December due to events held. The bar graph in Figure 34A shows the trend of sales performance for the entire group within a predetermined period, and the length of the period on the horizontal axis, the start and end months, and the items on the vertical axis (e.g., monthly sales, cumulative sales, sales increase / decrease rate compared to the previous month) can be set arbitrarily. Furthermore, the bar graph is not limited to the performance of the entire group, and it may be possible to switch the display to show the sales performance values ​​of each store within the group.

[0210] The revenue analysis table in Figure 34A shows the revenue generated from events and the month-on-month revenue for each facility within the group in a table format. It is displayed by selecting "Revenue Analysis" in the analysis information selection box 3301. The facilities (stores in the table) included in the aggregated analysis table can be selected for each user, for example. For example, in the account management described later, it can be the facilities belonging to the area to which the user belongs, or if the user is a sales representative at headquarters, it can be all stores belonging to the group. The analysis information page may include dropdown buttons (not shown) to allow users to pre-select the analysis target by area or product type within the group of facilities, or it may be designed to perform revenue analysis on a specific space within a store. The display order may also be customizable to allow users to change the display order to include events held, amounts, revenue, percentage, etc. By using these analysis results, it becomes possible to objectively classify stores within the group into those that are performing well and those that are not, and to implement targeted measures for stores with poor sales.

[0211] In the revenue analysis table in Figure 34A, clicking on a store name displays a revenue analysis for each space within a specific facility. The same can be achieved by selecting "Revenue Analysis by Space" in the analysis information selection box 3301. Figure 34B is an example of revenue analysis for each space at Department Store A's Yokohama branch. In the example in Figure 34B, data such as the total number of spaces in a specific facility (Yokohama branch), the total number of days events were held, the revenue from events, the space utilization rate, and sales, number of event days, and month-on-month revenue for each space are shown in a table. The table can be filtered by selecting each item in the filtering box 3402. By enabling this type of revenue analysis by space, facility staff can conduct more detailed analysis when formulating usage plans for event spaces, etc.

[0212] Figure 34C is a page showing the operational status of facilities, and is displayed by selecting "Operational Status" in the analysis information selection box 3301. In Figure 34C, "Facilities Available for Events" refers to the number of facilities that have event space for holding events, while "Facilities Unavailable for Events" refers to the number of facilities that do not have event space for holding events. By understanding the status of facilities that cannot hold events within such a group, it is possible to formulate strategies to increase the overall space usage revenue of the group. In the example of Figure 34C, a list of stores that cannot hold events is displayed. Detailed information on stores that cannot hold events can be viewed by clicking on the store name link (not shown). In addition, the list of facilities that cannot hold events can be narrowed down by selecting items in the filtering box 3403, for example, by area, prefecture, facility name, etc. This series of analytical information is extracted from facility master data and business management master data by the analytical information creation means 108k, edited as display data by the display data creation means 108e (management display data creation means 108e1), and displayed on the facility terminal 40 or administrator terminal 30 by the display data output means 108f.

[0213] The bulletin board is primarily a communication tool for sharing information among facility staff within a group, or between administrators and vendors (S523). The information shared here includes, for example, information about problems that have occurred within the group and evaluations of vendors. The bulletin board function is not particularly limited; any publicly available bulletin board tool, such as a chat format or thread format, can be used.

[0214] Figures 35 and 36 are examples of bulletin boards. Figure 35 is a vendor review page for evaluating vendors hosting events, and Figure 36 is a bulletin board for a trouble report page for sharing trouble information related to vendors within a group. The vendor review page and the trouble report page can be switched by selecting items within selection boxes 3501 and 3601.

[0215] In the exhibitor review page shown in Figure 35, the left side is a posting space 3503 where facility staff post reviews of exhibitors, and the right side is a viewing space 3504 that displays reviews posted by other facility staff. In the posting space 3503, users can input evaluation values ​​by checking the corresponding checkboxes for the items listed in the evaluation space 3505, and the evaluations for multiple items entered are reflected in the color of the star as an overall evaluation. Since there may be many reviews that can be viewed in the viewing space 3504, the number can be narrowed down using the display item selection section 3502. In the example in Figure 35, the exhibitor name is narrowed down to AA Co., Ltd., and reviews posted by staff of A Department Store Yokohama and Machida branches for events previously held by AA Co., Ltd. are displayed. In addition, the number of blacked-out stars in the reviews indicates a higher evaluation, and the number of blacked-out stars can be used to narrow down the satisfaction level in the display item selection section 3502. Furthermore, the display order of the reviews may be set to sort by, for example, highest evaluation or newest review date.

[0216] In Figure 35, the reviews displayed in the viewing space 3504 are shown in a simplified format due to space limitations. However, it is also possible to implement a specification where, for example, pressing the detailed display button 3506 will display the same content as in the posting space.

[0217] The trouble reporting page in Figure 36 is designed so that the posting space 3603, where facility staff post trouble information received by the facility, is located on the left, and the posted trouble information is displayed in the viewing space 3604 on the right. This bulletin board function makes it easy for all group stores to share evaluations and trouble information related to past events involving vendors. This information can then be used to make more effective decisions when those vendors hold events in the future. When vendor reviews and trouble reports are submitted through the posting spaces shown in Figures 35 and 36, they are recorded in the facility master data and business management master data. Based on user requests, they are extracted from the facility master data and business management master data by the extraction means 108d, edited as display data by the display data creation means 108e (management display data creation means 108e1), and displayed on the facility terminal 40 or administrator terminal 30 by the display data output means 108f.

[0218] The use of the bulletin board is not limited to reporting problems or reviewing vendors. For example, a facility manager within the group could require the submission of a report each time an event is held at their facility, and make these reports available for viewing. By using a prescribed format for the reports, vendor review results and problem information can be notified, and the data can be objectively analyzed as analytical information.

[0219] The Exhibitor Master page is where facility staff view and register exhibitor information (S524). For example, it is a screen for recording and managing exhibitors who have held events before, exhibitors who have received event hosting offers, exhibitors' sales data and offer progress, or exhibitors' reputation and evaluations. Exhibitor information can be stored in the Exhibitor Master data by being entered from the exhibitor terminal 20 via the new exhibitor registration page shown in Figure 6, or by the administrator entering it from the administrator terminal 30. However, the Exhibitor Master page is where facility staff enter exhibitor information. Cases in which facility staff enter exhibitor information include when they want to add new information to exhibitors already registered in the Exhibitor Master data, or when they want to register new exhibitors that the administrator is not aware of.

[0220] Figure 37 shows an example of an exhibitor master page. The exhibitor master page in Figure 37 displays the information registered in the exhibitor master data in a list format, and the information can be narrowed down by selecting each item in the selection box 3701. In addition, underlined company names have links to detailed information, and clicking on a company name will display the exhibitor information details page. If a facility staff member wants to add a new exhibitor, they can press the new add button 3702 to display the exhibitor information details page, which will have blank fields, and enter the exhibitor information.

[0221] Figure 38 is an example of a detailed exhibitor information page, showing the company profile page when "Company Profile" is selected in the page selection box 3801. On the company profile page, you can view the company profile of AA Co., Ltd. and edit the displayed content. Exhibitor information changed from the detailed exhibitor information page and newly added exhibitor information are stored in the exhibitor master.

[0222] The detailed exhibitor information page exemplified in Figure 38 may also include other pages such as a payment information page (not shown) containing payment information from financial institutions, a contact person information page (not shown) containing contact information for the exhibitor, a product information page (not shown) containing information about the products handled, and a confirmation page (not shown) containing credit information. These pages may be switchable by selecting an item within the page selection frame 3801. Each page for the exhibitor master data and exhibitor details data is extracted from the exhibitor master data by the extraction means 108d based on the user's request, edited as display data by the display data creation means 108e (management display data creation means 108e1), and displayed on the facility terminal 40 or administrator terminal 30 by the display data output means 108f.

[0223] The account management page is used to manage account information of facility staff at group stores, and is displayed by selecting "Account Management" on the management menu page in Figure 26 (S525). The account information displayed here is extracted from the account information master data by the extraction means 108d, edited as display data by the display data creation means 108e (management display data creation means 108e1), and displayed on the facility terminal 40 or administrator terminal 30 by the display data output means 108f.

[0224] The account management page should preferably display the account information of facility-side staff at group stores in a list format, and also allow for editing of the facility-side staff's account information. Here, account information includes username, user ID, password, email address, area, affiliated store, affiliated department, and job title.

[0225] Figure 39A is an example of an account management page. In the example shown in Figure 39A, the list of account information can be filtered by each displayed item by pulling down the filter button 3902. Additionally, pressing the add user button 3901 displays a user addition screen (S525a) which is not shown, allowing users to add new users, modify information about existing users, or delete users.

[0226] Figure 39B is an example of a screen for adding or changing facilities and departments within a group. Figure 39B is displayed when the department addition / change button 3903 in Figure 39A is clicked (S525b). In the example of Figure 39B, the organization within the group is displayed in a tree format, and by clicking the "Add" and "Edit" text attached to each facility, business unit, and department, business units and departments can be added and edited. In Figure 39B, the Head Office, Tohoku Business Unit, and Kanto Business Unit are registered as areas in the account information master data and are used, for example, when performing refined searches on the screens in Figures 34B and 34C. By reflecting the organizational structure within the group to which the user of the Business Support System 1 belongs as areas in this way, the management of facilities, equipment, and sales information within the group can be made to match the actual organization. In this specification, "area" refers to a classification used to manage various types of information by facility or business unit within the group, and is not limited to the location of a facility. For example, business units or departments within the group, such as the 1st Sales Department or the 2nd Planning Department, may be used as areas.

[0227] In the example of the account management page in Figure 39A, pressing the user permission change button 3904 displays a user permission change page (S525c) which is not shown. On the user permission setting screen, you can set viewing permissions for approval requests, status management, schedule management, facility information, sales management, etc., as well as permissions to determine whether an event can be held and permissions to edit master data.

[0228] The management page may include items other than those described above. For example, it may be configured such that facility-side personnel can view customer reviews during past event held by the store operators narrowed down by search, opinions from customers regarding the store, the aforementioned third-party survey reports, etc.

[0229] [2.2.2.5 Search Function] When the "Store Operator Search" button 2601 is pressed on the management menu page shown in FIG. 26, the control unit 108 (display data output means 108f) displays a search menu page (S507). An example of the search menu page is shown in FIG. 22. The search menu 2201 displays multiple types of search items. Examples of search items include "Free Word Search" that searches by phrases including facility names or areas, "Area Search" that searches by areas such as the location or prefecture of the facility, "Event Content Search" that searches by the content of events planned by store operators, "Merchandise Search" that searches by the types of products or services handled by store operators, "Batch Search" that combines these search conditions for searching, etc., but is not limited thereto. On the search menu page of FIG. 22, when the facility-side personnel select these search items, the control unit 108 (search condition acquisition means 108c) displays pages (S508-1 to S508-n) for inputting each search condition.

[0230] The search menu page may be provided with a special feature menu 2202 that allows searching from groups of store operators independently edited by the administrator (S509-1 to S509-n). The special feature menu 2202 illustrated in FIG. 22, for example, groups multiple types of merchandise handled by store operators by field, and when the facility-side personnel select any of these items, the plans by the corresponding store operators are displayed in a list (S511-1 to S511-n). The specification of the special feature menu 2202 can be arbitrarily set by the administrator and is not limited to the example in FIG. 22.

[0231] FIG. 23 shows an example of a page where a facility-side person in charge inputs search conditions from the facility terminal 40 (S508-1 to S508-n). FIG. 23 is an example of area search. On the search menu page, when the facility-side person in charge selects area search, the control unit 108 (search condition acquisition means 108c) displays a search condition input page for selecting a major classification of areas as shown in FIG. 23a. When the facility-side person in charge checks the check box for, for example, "Kanto Koshinetsu" and presses the "Search>" button, the control unit 108 (search condition acquisition means 108c) displays a search condition input page for selecting a minor classification of areas as shown in FIG. 23b.

[0232] When the facility-side person in charge checks the check boxes for "Tokyo" and "Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa" and presses the "Search>" button on the input page shown in FIG. 23b, for example, the control unit 108 (extraction means 108d) extracts information on store operators that match the search conditions from the store operator information DB 1102. The extraction result is edited as display data by the control unit 108 (display data creation means 108e), transmitted from the management server 10 to the facility terminal 40 by the display data output means 108f, and a search result display page (S510-1 to S510-n) is displayed on the store operator terminal 20.

[0233] FIG. 24 shows an example of a search result display page (S510-1 to S510-n) corresponding to the search conditions input by the facility-side person in charge. On the search result page, the planning information of store operators that match the search conditions input on the search condition input page shown in FIG. 23(a) or FIG. 23(b) is displayed in three display formats. The facility-side person in charge can select a display that is easy to use from among the multiple display forms and view the planning information. As shown in FIG. 24, for the purpose of improving the readability of the facility-side person in charge, it is preferable that the search results can be displayed by selecting any one or more from among the multiple display forms.

[0234] For example, Figure 24 illustrates the following display formats for search results: "List View" in a table format, "List Display" with more display items than the list view, and "Block View" which lists blocks such as images of event venues. However, the display format is not limited to these. These display formats can be selected as appropriate by the facility staff, and it is also possible to display results in multiple display formats on a single page.

[0235] In the search results display page shown in Figure 24, pressing a designated button on the page allows users to transition to the exhibitor's detailed plan display page, which shows detailed information about the exhibitor's plan (S514). In Figure 24, when the "Detailed Information" button is pressed in the list view, the control unit 108 (display data creation means 108e) edits the display data showing detailed information about the exhibitor's plan, and the display data output means 108f displays the exhibitor's detailed plan display page. In the block view and map view, pressing an icon consisting of a thumbnail image or logo mark representing the exhibitor's plan displays the exhibitor's detailed plan display page.

[0236] Figure 25 is an example of a detailed exhibitor event page, showing a PR event by a company that operates an English conversation school. In the example shown in Figure 25, the exhibitor's event details page consists of basic information such as the area where the event can be held, the target age and gender, and the area of ​​space required for the event, as well as items such as the event's PR points, event details, and company profile. The facility staff will review this detailed information and consider whether to submit a proposal to the vendors.

[0237] [2.2.2.6 Processing Project Offers] Let me explain the project offer. When the facility staff member presses the "Offer" button on the exhibitor project details display page (Figure 25), the control unit 108 (display data creation means 108e) creates an offer application page with a project offer application form, and the display data output means 108f displays it on the facility terminal 40 (S515).

[0238] Figure 40 shows an example of a form used when submitting a project offer. The information entered when submitting an offer includes basic information about the facility to which the facility representative belongs, as well as details of the application. Information regarding the offer from the facility representative is linked to the facility representative's identification information and facility information, and is stored as business management master data in the business management DB1106.

[0239] When a project offer request is submitted by a facility representative, it is received via offer receiving device 108g and notified to the administrator. The administrator contacts the vendors who are the target of the offer, and if the vendors intend to hold an event at the facility, they apply for a reservation using the vendor search site. The subsequent processing is the same as when applying for a reservation using the vendor search site, so the explanation is omitted.

[0240] Furthermore, if a facility representative submits a proposal for an event, the administrator may, after confirming the exhibitor's intentions, create new business management master data related to the offer using the DB editing means 108i, without requiring the exhibitor to submit another event hosting offer through the exhibitor search site.

[0241] Regarding the status of offer applications, similar to the vendor search site, the system could be designed so that the status can be checked on the management page by extracting data from the business management master data, or the administrator could contact the facility's representative via email or other means each time.

[0242] [2.3 Searching for available beds] As described above, we have specifically explained how to search for spaces using the tenant search app and how to search for tenant projects using the facility management app. However, the same process is used for tenants to search for available spaces and facility staff to search for tenants to fill available spaces. As mentioned above, in the case of searching for available spaces, administrators can make changes as appropriate, such as using a different search site or changing some of the search criteria.

[0243] [3. Variant] In the above embodiment, a tenant-side search application was used to search for spaces, and a facility-side management application was used to search for tenants' project information. However, both applications could be the same application (Figure 42). That is, since the tenant-side search application and the facility-side management application extract results using data from the same database during processing such as searches, both applications could be integrated into a single application, and the type of search could be specified after logging in, allowing tenants and facility staff to use them interchangeably.

[0244] In the above-described embodiment, a tenant-side search application was used to search for spaces, and a facility-side management application was used to search for tenant planning information. Both applications used the same database. However, the databases used by the applications may be separate. In that case, if multiple databases are used, it is preferable that the data they contain is synchronized.

[0245] In the above embodiment, the vendor-side search application and the facility-side management application were stored in the management server 10 and controlled by the control unit 108 of the management server 10. However, they may also be downloaded to the vendor terminal 20 and facility terminal 40, respectively, installed on each terminal, and only the information stored in the storage unit 110 of the server may be used. In that case, the control function of the control unit 108 of the management server 10 would be replaced by the control unit 208 in the vendor terminal 20 or the control unit 408 in the facility terminal 40.

[0246] In the embodiment described above, a business support system 1 is shown that can be used by both tenants and facility staff, with the tenant search application and the facility management application sharing database information. However, the tenant search application function may be removed from the business support system 1, and the system may be specialized for facility staff to manage group stores (Figure 43). In this case, input and editing of tenant master data, facility master data, and business management master data will be performed only by administrators and facility staff.

[0247] In the above-described embodiment, regarding the processing of event hosting offers from exhibitors, the administrator intervened in the communication between the exhibitor and the facility staff to determine whether or not the event could be held. However, the process of processing event hosting offers may be configured without the step of the administrator terminal 30 outputting a request to the control unit 108 (DB editing means 108i) to change the status of data 1 (administrator's decision step). For example, when the control unit 108 (offer receiving means 108g) receives an event hosting offer application from the exhibitor terminal 20 via the communication unit 104, the DB editing means 108i changes the status of data 1 to "Application in progress," and the control unit 108 notifies both the facility terminal 40 and the administrator terminal 30, or only the facility terminal 40, of the offer application. The facility staff member decides whether or not to host the event based on the offer from the exhibitor and enters the decision result using a predetermined form (not shown) from the facility terminal 40. The information related to the decision result entered from the facility terminal 40 is sent to the management server 10, and the control unit 108 sends the decision result from the management server 10 to the exhibitor terminal 20 that sent the offer via the communication unit 104. The control unit 108 (DB editing means 108i) updates the status information in the business management master data based on the input from the facility staff member's facility terminal 40. This series of decision-making processes does not include a decision-making process by the administrator.

[0248] The information regarding the decision result transmitted from the management server 10 may be displayed on the exhibitor terminal 20 by the display data output means 108f using data for notifying the decision result created by the display data creation means 108e, or the decision result may be notified via a known chat function or email.

[0249] Alternatively, it may be configured such that only a part of the determination of whether a plurality of events can be held is made by the facility-side staff, and the rest is made by the administrator. Or it may be configured such that the decision maker can be switched each time according to the decision of the facility-side staff. For example, when the facility-side staff is a veteran, the permission column of the account information master data (Figure 3D) may be configured to be able to identify whether the determination of whether an event can be held is possible, and the subject of the determination of whether an event can be held may be switched between the administrator or the facility staff with permission. The facility staff who can determine whether an event can be held can be appropriately set on the group account management page. For the facility-side staff, by omitting the administrator's approval judgment in the process of processing the event holding offer, the processing of the event holding offer can be performed simply and quickly.

[0250] [4. Summary] As described above, the embodiments of the information processing apparatus of the present invention have been described, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. Also, the effects described in the above embodiments are merely an enumeration of the most preferable effects resulting from the present invention, and the effects of the present invention are not limited to those described in the present embodiment.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0251] 1: Business support system, 10: Management server, 10a: External server, 20: Exhibitor terminal, 30: Administrator terminal, 40: Facility terminal, 104: Communication unit, 108: Control unit, 108A: CPU, 108B: Memory, 110: Storage unit, 202: Input unit, 204: Communication unit, 206: Display unit, 208: Control unit, 210: Storage unit, CPU: 212, Memory: 214, 302: Input unit, 304: Communication unit, 306: Display unit, 308: Control unit, 310: Storage unit, CPU: 312, Memory: 314, 402: Input unit, 404: Communication unit, 406: Display unit, 408: Control unit, 410: Storage unit, CPU: 412, Memory: 414, 108 a: User information registration means, 108b: User authentication means, 108c: Search condition acquisition means, 108d: Extraction means, 108e: Display data creation means, 108e1: Management display data creation means, 108e2: Space display data creation means, 108e3: Display data table, 108f: Display data output means, 108g: Offer reception means, 108h: User management storage means, 108i: DB editing means, 108j: Usage price creation means, 108j1: Usage price calculation means, 108j2: Usage price reflection means, 108k: Analysis information creation means, 1102: Exhibitor information DB, 1104: Facility information DB, 1106: Business management DB

Claims

1. A business support system accessible to a facility staff member, a vendor who can set up a shop in a space within the facility, and a manager, comprising: a server including a control unit and a storage unit; a facility terminal for the facility staff member to access the server; a vendor terminal for the vendor to access the server; and a manager terminal for the manager to access the server. The memory unit includes information about the facility and the tenants, The control unit, An extraction means for extracting information from the storage unit based on an information extraction request input from the vendor terminal and / or the facility terminal, A display data creation means for creating display data for displaying the information extracted by the extraction means on the exhibitor terminal and / or the facility terminal, A display data output means for outputting the aforementioned display data to the vendor terminal and / or the facility terminal, It has, The aforementioned display data creation means is It has a display data creation table that associates layout settings with the information to be displayed and the position where it should be displayed, and based on the layout settings input from the exhibitor terminal and / or the facility terminal, it creates display data to display the information extracted by the extraction means at the position on the exhibitor terminal and / or the facility terminal where it should be displayed. The control unit, The system includes a search condition acquisition means that acquires the search conditions entered from the exhibitor terminal and / or the facility terminal for the selected item from multiple search items, The extraction means extracts information about the space stored in the storage unit based on the acquired search conditions. The display data creation means creates display data for displaying the extracted space information on the exhibitor terminal and / or the facility terminal. Furthermore, it has an offer receiving means for receiving offers from the aforementioned exhibitors to hold events or to open a store as a tenant, The storage unit stores information including the status of the offer as the offer application progress status. The extraction means extracts information including the status of the offer based on a request for display of the offer application progress status entered from the vendor terminal. The display data output means outputs information including the status of the extracted offer to the vendor terminal. The aforementioned business support system.

2. The display data creation means creates display data including map information that displays the location and appearance of the space within the facility to which the space belongs, as well as visually accessible information relating to the surrounding environment. A business support system according to claim 1.

3. The surrounding environment includes the positional relationship between the space and surrounding stores, the positional relationship between the space and the flow of visitors to the facility, the direction in which the booths are installed in the space and / or how they appear to passersby, The business support system according to claim 2.

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