Information processing system, information processing method, and information processing program

Abstract

The present invention provides an information processing system comprising: a linking unit 65 that performs notification registration by recording notification registration data linking a customer ID, a product ID, and a sales location ID for an online store with multiple sales locations; a product information acquisition unit 66 that acquires product information including the product ID and the sales location ID; a delivery destination determination unit 67 that looks up the customer ID linked to the product ID and sales location ID included in the product information and determines the looked-up customer ID to be a delivery destination; and a delivery request unit 68 that transmits, to a message transmission system, a request for delivery of a message with the determined customer ID designated as the delivery destination, said message notifying the relevant customer that the product information has been updated for the product associated with the product ID and sales location ID.

Description

Information processing system, information processing method, and information processing program

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a technique for providing notifications regarding products in a store.

[0002] Conventionally, a technology has been used that enables a user to log in to a site (e.g., an online store, a social networking service, etc.) using a user account of an external social networking service (SNS) (hereinafter referred to as "external SNS login"). Here, external SNS login is a method of realizing a user's login to a site by obtaining permission from the target user for the site to acquire the target user's information from the external SNS, acquiring the target user's information, and linking it with the user information of the site (such as the user's account ID or email address held on the site), and can be realized using, for example, Open Authorization 2.0 (OAuth2.0) (see Non-Patent Document 1).

[0003] Furthermore, various techniques for notifying inventory status have been proposed (see Patent Documents 1 to 3).

[0004] JP 2020-154969 A JP 2021-047661 A JP 2020-154968 A

[0005] "RFC6819 - OAuth 2.0 Threat Model and Security Considerations" by Lodderstedt, McGloin, Hunt, Internet Engineering Task Force, January 2013

[0006] Conventionally, when a user wants to receive notifications about a product (for example, notifications of arrival, restock, low stock, price reduction, etc.), they specify the target product and register their contact information (email address, etc.), and notifications are sent to the contact information when there is a change in the product information (for example, arrival, restock, low stock, price reduction, etc.). However, in most cases, users have to visit a sales outlet and ask a staff member to register notifications, and the user's work to register notifications is cumbersome.

[0007] In view of the above-mentioned problems, an object of the present disclosure is to more easily notify a user of product-related information.

[0008] One example of the present disclosure is an information processing system comprising: a linking means for registering arrival notification data in an arrival notification registration management table, the linking linking the customer ID of a customer, the product ID of a product for which the customer wishes to be notified of arrival, and the sales base ID of one of the multiple sales bases, for an online store having multiple sales bases; a product information acquisition means for acquiring inventory information including the product ID and sales base ID that has been updated on the website of an organization related to the product; a delivery destination determination means for searching for the customer ID linked to the product ID and sales base ID included in the inventory information and determining the searched customer ID as a delivery destination; and a delivery request means for transmitting to a message sending system a delivery request for a message in which the customer ID determined by the delivery destination determination means is specified as the delivery destination, and which notifies the customer that inventory information for the product related to the product ID and sales base ID has been updated.

[0009] The present disclosure can be understood as an information processing device, a system, a method executed by a computer, or a program executed by a computer. The present disclosure can also be understood as such a program recorded on a recording medium readable by a computer or other device, machine, etc. Here, a recording medium readable by a computer, etc. refers to a recording medium that stores information such as data and programs by electrical, magnetic, optical, mechanical, or chemical action and can be read by a computer, etc.

[0010] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to more easily notify a user of product-related information sent to a designated sales base out of a plurality of sales bases.

[0011] 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a system according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of the functional configuration of a system according to an embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an outline of the flow of a product detail page according to an embodiment. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram (1) showing an overview of the flow of an arrival notification registration process according to an embodiment. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram (2) showing an overview of the flow of an arrival notification registration process according to an embodiment. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram (3) showing an overview of the flow of an arrival notification registration process according to an embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a pop-up notifying that an arrival notification registration for a product has been completed according to an embodiment. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an overview of the flow of a message distribution process according to an embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the contents of a message sent to a customer when an item for which an arrival notification has been registered by the customer according to an embodiment arrives. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a list of arrival notification registrations according to an embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a store-side product search screen for variations. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of an arrival notification request page for variations. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a system according to variations. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an overview of the functional configuration of a system according to variations. FIG. 15 is a sequence diagram showing an overview of the flow of an arrival notification registration process for variations. FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing an overview of the flow of a message distribution process for variations. FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing an overview of the flow of a message distribution process for variations. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing an outline of the flow of a notification registration process related to a variation.

[0012] Hereinafter, embodiments of an information processing system, method, and program according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiments described below are merely examples, and the information processing system, method, and program according to the present disclosure are not limited to the specific configurations described below. In implementing the present disclosure, a specific configuration according to the embodiment may be appropriately adopted, and various improvements and modifications may be made.

[0013] In this embodiment, an information processing system, a method, and a program according to the present disclosure will be described as being implemented in an online store support system. However, the information processing system, a method, and a program according to the present disclosure can be widely used as a technology for enabling a user to receive a notification of arrival of a desired product, and the application of the present disclosure is not limited to the examples shown in the embodiment.

[0014] 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a system according to this embodiment. The system according to this embodiment includes a distribution management server 1 and a store-side user terminal 9a, which are connected to a network and can communicate with each other, and is further connected via the network to an external social networking service (hereinafter referred to as an "external SNS") 8, an online store, and a customer-side user terminal 9b.

[0015] The distribution management server 1 is an information processing device including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, a storage device 14 such as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory) or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and a communication unit 15 such as a NIC (Network Interface Card). However, the specific hardware configuration of the distribution management server 1 can be omitted, replaced, or added as appropriate depending on the embodiment. Furthermore, the distribution management server 1 is not limited to a device consisting of a single housing. The distribution management server 1 may be realized by a plurality of devices using so-called cloud or distributed computing technology.

[0016] The store-side user terminal 9a is a computer used by staff of the online store (staff of the business that operates the online store, including staff at sales locations such as physical stores), and the customer-side user terminal 9b is a computer used by customers of the online store. Both user terminals 9a and 9b are computers equipped with a CPU, ROM, RAM, storage device, communication unit, input device, output device, etc. (not shown), and may be, for example, a smartphone, tablet, personal computer, etc. However, the specific hardware configuration of the user terminals 9a and 9b may be omitted, replaced, or added as appropriate depending on the embodiment. Furthermore, the user terminals 9a and 9b are not limited to devices consisting of a single housing. The user terminals 9a and 9b may be realized by multiple devices using so-called cloud or distributed computing technology, etc.

[0017] A user uses the distribution management server 1 via these user terminals 9 a and 9 b. However, a user can use the information processing system according to the present disclosure as a store user from one user terminal, and at the same time, use the information processing system according to the present disclosure as a customer user.

[0018] The online store is an EC service provided by an external information processing system equipped with a CPU, ROM, RAM, a storage device, a communication unit, etc. (not shown), and the server of the online store receives a request for the online store's web page sent from a customer user terminal 9b running an application that allows browsing of the online store, such as an internet browser or an e-commerce application, sends the requested web page to the customer user terminal 9b, and sells the ordered products to the customer. The online store has an inventory database (not shown) for managing product inventory.

[0019] The external SNS 8 is an external information processing system including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, a storage device, a communication unit, etc. (not shown), and provides a social networking service that enables online interaction between users. In this embodiment, the external SNS 8 is an external system provided by a service provider that is different from the service provider that manages or operates the distribution management server 1, and is restricted from obtaining resources related to the user without obtaining the user's permission.

[0020] 2 is a diagram illustrating an outline of the functional configuration of the system according to the present embodiment. The distribution management server 1 functions as an information processing device including a product database 21, an access instruction unit 61, a related information storage unit 62, an SNS user ID acquisition unit 63, a target ID identification unit 64, a linking unit 65, a product information acquisition unit 66, a distribution destination determination unit 67, a distribution request unit 68, a search ID identification unit 22, and a registration count acquisition unit 23, by loading a program stored in a storage device 14 into a RAM 13 and executing the program by a CPU 11, thereby controlling each piece of hardware included in the distribution management server 1. In this embodiment and other embodiments described below, each function included in the distribution management server 1 is executed by the CPU 11, which is a general-purpose processor; however, some or all of these functions may be executed by one or more dedicated processors.

[0021] The product database 21 is a database that accumulates product data for products handled by online stores. In this embodiment, the product data is generated by the distribution management server 1 performing data crawling on the online store's server and compiling the obtained data for each product. By acquiring product data through data crawling, it is possible to introduce the system according to this embodiment without the development burden of incorporating a mechanism for transferring product feeds into the existing online store's server. However, the method for generating product data is not limited to the crawling method exemplified in this embodiment. The product data may be obtained by referencing the online store's database, importing a table extracted from the online store's database (e.g., a CSV table), acquiring a product feed from the online store's server, or the like.

[0022] When the access instruction unit 61 receives, from a customer's user terminal (customer-side user terminal 9 b), an instruction to start authorization processing for authorizing access to resources related to the customer stored in the external SNS 8, the access instruction unit 61 causes the customer-side user terminal 9 b to access an API for the authorization processing provided by the external SNS 8 (redirect response). In this embodiment, OAuth is adopted as the protocol used to authorize access to resources, and the start instruction received here is an OAuth start instruction. However, the protocol used to authorize access to resources is not limited to OAuth. In this embodiment, the API for the authorization processing is an API that not only performs the authorization processing but also executes a distribution permission processing (adding a friend / friend) that authorizes message distribution to the customer on the external SNS 8 from an organization (in this embodiment, an online store to which the staff member belongs or the management entity of the distribution management server 1) (e.g., registering the customer as a so-called "friend / friend").

[0023] In this embodiment, the start instruction and the accompanying API access are start instructions and access sent from the customer's user terminal 9b in response to the customer operating an operation element (for example, an arrival notification request button located on the product details page described below) linked to the target on the customer's user terminal 9b.

[0024] The related information storage unit 62 stores information related to the target transmitted from the customer user terminal 9 b together with the start instruction, by linking it to information that can identify the customer user terminal 9 b (for example, session information and / or cookies).The related information storage unit 62 stores, as information related to the target, address information of a web page (in this embodiment, a product details page) that includes an arrival notification registration start script for transmitting the start instruction to the customer user terminal 9 b, by linking it to information that can identify the customer user terminal 9 b.

[0025] If authorization is obtained, the SNS user ID acquisition unit 63 acquires the SNS user ID of the customer in the external SNS 8 from the external SNS 8 .

[0026] The target ID specification unit 64, triggered by the acquisition of the customer's SNS user ID by the SNS user ID acquisition unit 63, specifies the product ID and sales outlet ID that are the targets of arrival notification registration linked to the start instruction, based on the information stored by the related information storage unit 62 (received together with the start instruction). The product ID and sales outlet ID specified here are the ID of the product at the online store and the ID of the sales outlet (such as a physical store) for which the customer wishes to receive a notification of arrival.

[0027] The linking unit 65 links the customer's SNS user ID in the external SNS 8, acquired by the SNS user ID acquisition unit 63, to the product ID and sales base ID of the arrival notification registration target (e.g., a product from an online store) for which the customer wishes to be notified of arrival, identified by the target ID identification unit 64.

[0028] The product information acquisition unit 66 acquires inventory information, including the product ID and sales base ID, relating to inventory information updated after the product information acquisition unit 66 last acquired inventory information, from the website of the organization for which the arrival notification registration is to be made (in this embodiment, the online store to which the staff member belongs).

[0029] The distribution destination determination unit 67 searches for the SNS user ID of the customer linked to the product ID and sales base ID included in the inventory information, and determines the searched SNS user ID as the distribution destination.

[0030] The distribution request unit 68 sends a distribution request to the external SNS 8 for a message in which the SNS user ID of the organization is specified as the distribution source and the SNS user ID of the customer determined by the distribution destination determination unit 67 is specified as the distribution destination, and the message notifies the customer that the inventory information for the arrival notification registration target related to the product ID and sales base ID has been updated.

[0031] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of a product detail page according to this embodiment. The bracketed text in the figure indicates that the attribute information written within the brackets is displayed in the bracketed portion. The customer's user terminal 9b accesses the server of the online store site in response to a customer's operation and displays a product detail page prepared on the site. The product detail page is a web page prepared for each product sold to customers at the online store or a physical store corresponding to the online store. In addition to product information (product name, product image (video / still image), product price, color variations (if any), product details (product description), store name, branch name, etc.) obtained from the product database 21, the page may also include a link to the staff page of the staff member recommending the product, search tags for searching for the product, the product's inventory status, a request button for receiving a stock notification for the product, the content of data posted by the staff member regarding the product, comments by the staff member, an add-to-shopping-cart button, and so on. A user can add a product to their cart and purchase it by referring to the product detail page. The product name, product image data, product price, etc. are generated by the online store's server.

[0032] In this embodiment, the product inventory status and the arrival notification request button for receiving arrival notification of the product are displayed on the product details page for each sales location belonging to the online store's group. Here, the sales locations may be physical stores or locations (such as warehouses) for shipping products purchased online. The online store references product inventory data and displays the product inventory status for each sales location, such as "In Stock," "Limited Stock," or "Out of Stock," on the product details page, depending on the inventory available to customers at each sales location. Furthermore, for sales locations that, after referencing the inventory data, currently have no inventory available to customers (zero inventory), the online store inserts an HTML tag on the product details page to display the arrival notification request button along with the inventory display for that sales location. That is, in the system according to this embodiment, the online store automatically displays the arrival notification request button depending on the product inventory. This HTML tag is an HTML tag for obtaining and displaying an arrival notification request button provided by the distribution management server 1. When the customer user terminal 9b displays a product details page obtained from an online store, it accesses the URL of the distribution management server 1 included in the HTML tag to obtain and display the arrival notification request button from the distribution management server 1. A customer viewing the product details page can operate this arrival notification request button to receive a notification about the status of the product via their SNS account.

[0033] The search ID specification unit 22 specifies at least one of a product ID and a sales base ID based on a search key that can specify at least one of a product and a sales base, which is specified by a staff member of the online store.

[0034] The registration number acquisition unit 23 searches the arrival notification registration management table based on the product ID and / or sales base ID identified by the search ID identification unit 22, and acquires the number of arrival notification registrations that are narrowed down to at least one of the product and the sales base.

[0035] <Processing Flow> Next, the processing flow executed in the system according to this embodiment will be described. Note that the specific content and processing order of the processing described below are an example for implementing the present disclosure. The specific processing content and processing order may be selected as appropriate depending on the embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0036] When the online store's server receives a request for a web page of the online store sent from a customer user terminal 9b running an application that allows browsing of the online store, such as an Internet browser or an e-commerce application, the server transmits the requested web page to the customer user terminal 9b. At this time, the contents of the web page sent to the customer user terminal 9b, such as the product name, product image (video / still image), product price, color variations (if any), product details (product description), and an add-to-shopping-cart button, are generated and managed by the online store's server, and conventional technologies may be used for generating and managing this content. In this embodiment, the web page displays the inventory status of the target product at each sales location.

[0037] In addition to the product details page described above, the arrival notification request button may also be displayed on the online store's homepage, shopping cart page, video list page, staff ranking page, staff page, email newsletter, etc.

[0038] 4 to 6 are sequence diagrams showing an overview of the flow of the arrival notification registration process according to this embodiment. The process shown in this sequence diagram is executed when the customer operates the arrival notification request button displayed on the product details page on the customer's user terminal 9b, and is processed in order from FIG. 4 to FIG. 6.

[0039] The above-described product details page includes an arrival notification request button that allows a customer to register an arrival notification for a product related to the product details page if the customer wishes to receive an arrival notification (including a re-stock notification). When the arrival notification request button is operated, the customer's user terminal 9b executes the arrival notification registration start script associated with the arrival notification request button. In this embodiment, by operating the arrival notification request button, the customer is set as a notification recipient for arrival notifications for the product for which the arrival notification has been set, among the information transmitted from the store's SNS account.

[0040] The arrival notification request button is set with the product ID and sales base ID, and the product details page includes a pop-up display script for "displaying a pop-up indicating that arrival notification registration has been completed." However, when the page is first acquired and displayed by the customer user terminal 9b, the arrival notification registration has not yet been completed, so the pop-up display script is not executed.

[0041] In steps S401 and S402, an OAuth start communication is received and the SNS user ID of the online store is acquired. The distribution management server 1 receives the OAuth start communication transmitted from the customer user terminal 9b, which executed the arrival notification registration start script by the customer operating the arrival notification request button displayed on the product details page on the customer user terminal 9b (step S401). At this time, the customer user terminal 9b notifies the distribution management server 1 of information capable of identifying the product details page on which the arrival notification request button is operated, information capable of identifying the product corresponding to the arrival notification request button, and information capable of identifying the sales base. In the system according to this embodiment, the URL of the product details page is notified as information capable of identifying the product details page, the product ID is notified as information capable of identifying the product, and the sales base ID is notified as information capable of identifying the sales base. That is, the HTML tag of the arrival notification request button includes the product ID and sales base ID, and when the button is operated by a customer, the URL of the product details page, the product ID, and the sales base ID are notified to the distribution management server 1 along with the OAuth start communication. However, other information such as the product ID may be used instead of the URL as information that can identify the product details page. Furthermore, the product ID may be, for example, an SKU (Stock Keeping Unit, the smallest unit of a product type that is treated as the same product in inventory management) code.

[0042] The related information storage unit 62 receives the OAuth start communication, the URL of the product details page, the product ID, and the sales base ID, and stores the URL of the product details page, the product ID, and the sales base ID, linking them to information (e.g., session information and / or cookies) that can identify the customer-side user terminal 9b. Furthermore, the distribution management server 1 acquires the SNS user ID of the online store corresponding to the product details page in the external SNS 8 based on the URL of the product details page (step S402). The distribution management server 1 previously stores store data linking the domain information of the online store with the SNS user ID of the online store. The distribution management server 1 then references this store data to acquire the SNS user ID of the corresponding online store based on the product details page URL. Processing then proceeds to step S403.

[0043] In step S403, communication from the customer-side user terminal 9b is redirected to the authorization server of the external SNS 8. The access instruction unit 61 sends a redirect response to the customer-side user terminal 9b to redirect the browser of the customer-side user terminal 9b to an external SNS login API provided by the authorization server of the external SNS 8 (step S403). Here, the external SNS login API is an API that provides a function (external SNS login) that allows a user to log in to a site other than the external SNS 8 using a user account on the external SNS 8. The sent redirect response also includes the SNS user ID of the online store acquired in step S402. Upon receiving the redirect response, the customer-side user terminal 9b sends an authorization request including the SNS user ID of the online store to the authorization server of the external SNS 8.

[0044] When the customer user terminal 9b is not logged in to the external SNS 8, the authorization server of the external SNS 8 that received the authorization request sends a login authentication URL for the SNS 8 to the customer user terminal 9b, causing the customer user terminal 9b to display a login authentication screen for the SNS 8, prompting the customer to enter authentication information and press the login button. Upon receiving the input of the authentication information and the operation of the login button, the customer user terminal 9b sends the authentication information to the external SNS 8 and logs in to the external SNS 8. Here, the authentication information may be, for example, a user ID such as an email address and a password. However, the authentication information is not limited to an ID and a password, and other authentication information such as biometric authentication, a one-time password, or an electronic certificate may be used, or multiple authentication methods may be combined. In addition, if the authentication information is already stored in the customer's user terminal 9b because this is the second or subsequent external SNS login process, the user does not need to input the authentication information, and the customer's user terminal 9b sends the authentication information to the external SNS 8 and logs in to the external SNS 8 simply by operating the login button.

[0045] When the customer-side user terminal 9b is logged in to the external SNS 8, the authorization server of the external SNS 8 that received the authorization request sends an authority delegation confirmation URL to cause the customer-side user terminal 9b to display an authority delegation confirmation screen, and asks the customer whether or not information about the customer held by the SNS 8 (in this embodiment, the customer's SNS user ID, etc.) may be provided to the distribution management server 1. When the customer performs an operation on the customer-side user terminal 9b indicating consent to the authority delegation (for example, pressing an consent button), the customer-side user terminal 9b notifies the authorization server of the external SNS 8 that the customer has consented to the authority delegation, and the authorization server that has received the notification sends an authorization response to the customer-side user terminal 9b.

[0046] Here, if the target online store is not permitted to send messages to the target customer on the SNS 8 (for example, the customer is registered as a "friend"; hereinafter, this will be referred to as "friend") at the time the authorization server of the external SNS 8 receives the notification of consent to the authority delegation, the external SNS 8, before sending the authorization response, sends a URL for registering the online store as a friend to the customer's user terminal 9 b, causing the customer's user terminal 9 b to display an add-friend screen and confirm with the customer whether or not it is OK to register the target online store as a friend. At this time, the external SNS 8 determines whether the target online store and the customer are already registered as friends based on the SNS user ID of the online store received in the authorization request and the SNS user ID of the customer identified in the SNS login. When a customer performs an operation on the customer's user terminal 9b indicating that they agree to being added as a friend (for example, by pressing the "Agree" button), the customer's user terminal 9b notifies the external SNS 8 that the customer has agreed to being added as a friend, and the external SNS 8, upon receiving the notification, sets the SNS 8 to a state in which messages are permitted to be sent from the target online store to the target customer (in this embodiment, the customer is registered as a "friend").

[0047] The authorization response sent from the external SNS 8 to the customer-side user terminal 9b includes a redirect URL for causing the browser of the customer-side user terminal 9b to access a URL for triggering the distribution management server 1 to acquire resources from the external SNS 8. The redirect URL sent here is the URL (callback URL) of the distribution management server 1 that is pre-registered in the external SNS 8 for OAuth authorization of the distribution management server 1, and the external SNS 8 identifies the pre-registered redirect URL based on information that can identify the distribution management server 1 or online store related to the authorization request (e.g., the SNS user ID or domain information of the online store). Note that, in the present embodiment, an example is described in which the redirect URL is pre-registered for each distribution management server 1 or online store before receiving an authorization request; however, the redirect URL may be registered in the authorization server together with the authorization request when the authorization request is made.

[0048] The redirect URL included in the authorization response also has an authorization code, which indicates that consent to the delegation of authority has been obtained, attached as a parameter. This authorization code is used by the authorization server to confirm that the service (here, the distribution management server 1) for which consent to the delegation of authority has been obtained from the user at the time of a token request, which will be described later.

[0049] In steps S404 to S408, the customer's SNS user ID is acquired based on the authorization response. Upon receiving the authorization response, the customer-side user terminal 9b accesses the specified redirect URL, triggering the distribution management server 1 to acquire resources from the external SNS 8. Upon receiving the access to the specified redirect URL from the customer-side user terminal 9b (step S404), the SNS user ID acquisition unit 63 transmits a token request for the customer's SNS user ID to the authorization server of the external SNS 8 (step S405). Upon receiving the token request, the authorization server verifies the authorization code attached to the token request to confirm that the sender of the token request is a sender to whom the customer (an SNS user having an account on the SNS 8) has agreed to the authority delegation. The authorization server then issues an access token that permits the target SNS user to access resources held by the SNS 8, and transmits a token response including the issued access token to the distribution management server 1.

[0050] When the SNS user ID acquisition unit 63 receives a token response including an access token permitting access to the resource for the customer (step S406), it requests the SNS user ID of the target customer by sending a resource access including the access token to the resource server of the external SNS 8 (step S407). The resource server references the received access token to confirm that the sender of the resource access (the distribution management server 1) has been delegated authority by the user, and provides the resource (here, the SNS user ID of the target customer) to the sender of the resource access. The SNS user ID acquisition unit 63 receives the SNS user ID of the target customer from the resource server of the external SNS 8 (step S408). Then, the process proceeds to step S409.

[0051] In step S409, the product ID and sales outlet ID for which an arrival notification is to be registered are identified, and the customer's SNS user ID is linked to the product ID and sales outlet ID. The target ID identification unit 64 identifies the product ID and sales outlet ID for which an arrival notification is to be registered and linked to the start instruction based on the information stored by the related information storage unit 62 (received together with the start instruction). The linking unit 65 then creates arrival notification registration data by linking the combination of the product ID and sales outlet ID with the received customer's SNS user ID, and registers the created arrival notification registration data in the arrival notification registration management table (step S409). Here, based on the session information and / or cookies stored in step S402, the target ID identification unit 64 identifies the product ID and sales outlet ID displayed on the customer's user terminal 9b at the time OAuth was started, i.e., the product ID and sales outlet ID to be linked to the customer's SNS user ID. More specifically, the target ID identification unit 64 uses the session information and / or cookie related to the customer-side user terminal 9b that originated the access in step S404 to search for the linking data stored by the related information storage unit 62 in step S402, thereby identifying the product ID and sales location ID to be linked to the customer's SNS user ID.

[0052] At this time, an arrival notification registration ID for identifying the arrival notification registration data may be issued and recorded in the arrival notification registration management table together with the SNS user ID, product ID, and sales point ID. Note that, although an example in which a table is used for arrival notification registration management will be described in this embodiment, the management format of the data linking the SNS user ID with the product ID and sales point ID for arrival notification registration management is not limited to a table. Once the linking of the customer's SNS user ID with the product ID and sales point ID is complete, the process proceeds to step S410.

[0053] In steps S410 to S412, the user returns to the product details page and a pop-up window appears to notify the user of the completion of registration. When the customer completes product arrival notification registration (associating the customer's SNS user ID with the product ID and sales point ID), the distribution management server 1 identifies the URL of the product details page displayed on the customer user terminal 9b at the time of the start of OAuth, i.e., the URL of the product details page to be included in the response, based on the session information and / or cookies stored in step S402. More specifically, the distribution management server 1 identifies the URL of the product details page to be included in the response by searching for the associated data stored by the related information storage unit 62 in step S402 using the session information and / or cookies related to the customer user terminal 9b that originated the access in step S404. The distribution management server 1 also calculates information (here, a hash value calculated based on the customer's SNS user ID) that can identify the target customer's SNS user ID received from the resource server of the external SNS 8 (step S411). The hash value calculated based on the customer's SNS user ID is then added as a parameter to the URL sent to the customer's user terminal 9b. However, the parameter added to the URL of the product details page here may be any parameter that allows the customer's user terminal 9b to determine that the arrival notification registration has been completed, and is not limited to the example given in this embodiment.

[0054] Once the URL and parameters of the product details page have been determined, the distribution management server 1 sends an arrival notification registration completion response to the customer user terminal 9b, instructing the customer to redirect to the URL of the product details page (step S412). In this embodiment, the arrival notification registration completion response is executed by sending the product details page URL and pop-up information. Upon receiving the arrival notification registration completion response, the customer user terminal 9b displays the product details page with a pop-up in accordance with the product details page URL and pop-up information (parameters added to the product details page URL that allow the customer user terminal 9b to determine that the arrival notification registration has been completed) included in the arrival notification registration completion response, and notifies the customer that the arrival notification registration for the product has been completed.

[0055] Upon receiving the response, the customer user terminal 9b accesses the URL of the product details page in accordance with the redirect instruction included in the response, retrieves the product details page from the server of the online store site, and displays it. As described above, this product details page includes a pop-up display script for "displaying a pop-up indicating that the arrival notification registration has been completed." The customer user terminal 9b executes the pop-up display script to display a pop-up on the display of the customer user terminal 9b, thereby notifying the user that the arrival notification registration has been completed. The processing shown in this sequence diagram then ends.

[0056] 7 is a diagram showing an example of a pop-up notifying the user that the product arrival notification registration has been completed in this embodiment. The pop-up displays a message saying "Registration Complete. Arrival notification has been registered" and a "Close" button. The pop-up may also display, along with the message, a product image of the product for which the arrival notification has been registered, the product name, the store name, the branch name, a "Cancel Arrival Notification Registration" button, and other information. This data can be retrieved from the product database 21 by the distribution management server 1, which receives a request sent by executing a script embedded in the website, and displayed in the pop-up.

[0057] When a customer performs an operation to "cancel arrival notification registration," the customer-side user terminal 9b executes an arrival notification registration cancellation script for canceling arrival notification registration, references the product ID and sales point ID provided on the product details page and the hash value associated with the customer's SNS user ID added as a parameter to the URL of the product details page, executes the arrival notification registration cancellation script, and sends an arrival notification registration cancellation instruction to the distribution management server 1. When the distribution management server 1 receives the arrival notification registration cancellation instruction from the customer-side user terminal 9b, it identifies the SNS user ID corresponding to the hash value associated with the received SNS user ID, and deletes the association between the identified SNS user ID and the received product ID and sales point ID, which is recorded in the arrival notification registration management table.

[0058] 8 is a flowchart showing an outline of the flow of a message delivery process according to this embodiment. The process shown in this flowchart is executed periodically at a preset frequency (for example, once a day at a preset time). However, the execution timing of the process shown in this flowchart is not limited to the examples in this disclosure. The process shown in this flowchart may be executed, for example, when an instruction to deliver a message from an administrator is received.

[0059] When an online store staff member updates inventory information for each sales location on the online store site using the store-side user terminal 9a, the inventory display on the online store site (e.g., "In Stock," "Limited Stock," "Out of Stock," etc. on the product page) changes. The distribution management server 1 obtains the updated inventory information for each sales location by directly referencing the inventory database referenced by the online store and updating the product database 21; by receiving inventory data from the online store's inventory database and acquiring inventory information for each sales location and updating the product database 21; or by crawling or scraping the online store site and referencing the information and updating the product database 21. In this case, the data provided from the online store to the distribution management server 1 includes a sales location list, product information, inventory information for each sales location, etc., and these data may be provided in, for example, CSV format. The distribution management server 1 also stores the inventory information for each sales location obtained from the online store site in the product database 21. That is, the distribution management server 1 stores the inventory quantity for each sales outlet and each product in the product database 21, linking it to a combination of the product ID and the sales outlet ID.

[0060] In step S501, the inventory information is confirmed to be updated. The product information acquisition unit 66 sends a request to the product database 21 to inquire about the availability of updated inventory information (step S501). The request may include the product ID and sales outlet ID of the inquired product. Upon receiving the request, the product database 21 identifies inventory information that has been updated (more specifically, restored to stock) since the last request based on the update time of the inventory information or the response history to the request, and sends a response to the product information acquisition unit 66 notifying the latest inventory information for the product (here, SKU) whose inventory information has been updated. If the request includes the inquired product ID and sales outlet ID, the product database 21 identifies only the inventory information related to the target product ID and sales outlet ID, and sends a response to the product information acquisition unit 66 notifying the identified inventory information. The response may also include the product ID and sales outlet ID related to the inventory information, and the URL of a page (e.g., a product details page) where the target product can be viewed. Processing then proceeds to step S502.

[0061] In steps S502 and S503, inventory information is acquired and a distribution destination is determined. The product information acquisition unit 66 receives the response sent by the product database 21 and saves the inventory information included in the response (step S502). Upon receiving the response, the distribution destination determination unit 67 searches the arrival notification registration management table using the product ID and sales base ID included in the target inventory information as keys, finds the SNS user ID of the customer associated with the combination of the product ID and sales base ID (i.e., the SNS user ID of the customer who has registered the arrival notification for the product), and determines the found SNS user ID as the distribution destination (step S503). Processing then proceeds to step S504.

[0062] In step S504, a message delivery is requested. The delivery request unit 68 transmits a delivery request for an arrival notification based on the inventory information to the external SNS 8 (step S504). Here, the delivery request to the external SNS 8 is made via a message broadcasting API provided by the external SNS 8, and the delivery request includes a delivery source, a delivery destination, and delivery content. The delivery source specifies the SNS user ID of the online store, the delivery destination specifies the SNS user ID of the customer determined in step S503, and the delivery content specifies a notification that the product for which the customer registered an arrival notification has arrived at the specified sales location. In other words, the delivery request unit 68 sends a delivery request to the external SNS 8 specifying only customers who have registered an arrival notification for the target product among those who are registered as friends of the online store on the SNS 8 (users who are permitted to send messages on the SNS).

[0063] FIG. 9 illustrates the content of a message sent to a customer when a product for which the customer has registered an arrival notification arrives. In this embodiment, a standard message such as "We are notifying you that the product has arrived at your desired store" is used to notify the customer that the product for which the customer registered an arrival notification has arrived. However, the notification content is not limited to the standard message shown. For example, the message may be generated by the distribution management server 1 by substituting the product name and other information into a standard phrase or by using AI to generate the message. The notification message may also include the name of the online store, the name of the sales location (e.g., a physical store) where the product arrived, the product name, product images (video / still images), the brand name, the product price, color variations (if any), size, product details (product description), and access to ordering the product. Here, the access to ordering the product may be, for example, a link for calling the sales location from the customer's user terminal 9b, the URL of the product details page, or a link for adding the product to a cart.

[0064] Upon receiving the delivery request, the external SNS 8 delivers a message in accordance with the delivery request. Specifically, the external SNS 8 sends a message containing the delivery content specified in the delivery request as content to the SNS user ID of the customer specified in the delivery request, with the SNS user ID of the online store as the sender. In this way, the online store can automatically deliver information indicating that the product has arrived from the store's SNS account only to customers who have registered for arrival notifications for the product.

[0065] By executing the above-described process, the information processing system disclosed in this embodiment allows a user to register an arrival notification for a product for which the user wishes to receive a notification, and also allows the user to receive a notification when the product for which the notification has been registered arrives. This allows a customer to easily and conveniently register an arrival notification request and then check the product at the store without contacting a staff member, compared to the conventional method of contacting a store staff member at the store to request an arrival notification, and then visiting the store to contact the staff member again after receiving the arrival notification. Furthermore, the information processing system disclosed in this embodiment obtains inventory information, which triggers notifications, by directly referencing the inventory database referenced by the online store to update the product database 21, by receiving inventory data from the online store's inventory database to obtain inventory information for each sales location and updating the product database 21, or by crawling or scraping the online store site to reference and update the product database 21, and thus allows the introduction of a system that notifies customers of product inventory status messages without linking a message delivery system with a product master, inventory quantity, store list, etc.

[0066] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a list of arrival notification registrations in this embodiment. As described above, in this embodiment, the linking unit 65 links the identified SNS user ID with the received product ID and sales outlet ID, and records the arrival notification registration data in the arrival notification registration management table (step S409). Therefore, in this system, the store user can access the arrival notification registration management table via the store user terminal 9a to obtain and refer to the number of arrival notification registrations for each sales outlet and / or each product. Specifically, the search ID identification unit 22 identifies at least one of the product ID and sales outlet ID based on a search key specified by the online store staff that can identify at least one of the product and sales outlet. The registration number acquisition unit 23 searches the arrival notification registration management table based on the product ID and / or sales outlet ID identified by the search ID identification unit 22 to obtain the number of arrival notification registrations that narrow down at least one of the product and sales outlet. 10 shows an example of a file containing the number of arrival notification registrations for each product (SKU) obtained from the arrival notification registration management table by narrowing down the search by date range and sales location (physical store). While FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a list of arrival notification registrations, it is also possible to obtain a list of distribution numbers (the number of arrival notifications actually distributed to customers' SNS user IDs after an arrival notification registration is made) narrowed down using at least one of a product ID and a sales location ID. As with the list of arrival notification registrations, the list of distribution numbers is obtained by identifying at least one of a product ID and a sales location ID based on a search key specified by the online store staff that can identify at least one of a product and a sales location. The search ID identification unit 22 then searches the arrival notification registration management table based on the identified product ID and / or sales location ID to obtain a list of distribution numbers narrowed down to at least one of a product and a sales location.

[0067] According to the system of this embodiment, by having the above-described configuration, it is possible to easily obtain data such as the number of arrival notifications registered for each sales location, which can be used for purchasing products and allocating inventory.

[0068] <First Variation> In the embodiment described above, an example was described in which an online store refers to inventory data and inserts an HTML tag to display an arrival notification request button for sales locations that do not have the target product in stock, but whether or not to display the arrival notification request button may be determined by the distribution management server 1 rather than the online store.

[0069] In this variation, the product's inventory status and the arrival notification request button for receiving arrival notification of the product are displayed on the product details page for each sales location belonging to the online store's group. However, unlike the embodiment described above, in this variation, the online store does not determine whether to display the arrival notification request button. In this variation, the online store inserts an HTML tag into the product details page to display the inventory status and arrival notification request button according to the inventory status stored in the product database 21. This HTML tag is provided by the distribution management server 1 and is used to obtain and display the inventory status and arrival notification request button according to the inventory status stored in the product database 21. When displaying the product details page obtained from the online store, the customer user terminal 9b accesses the URL of the distribution management server 1 included in the HTML tag to obtain and display the inventory status and arrival notification request button from the distribution management server 1. When the distribution management server 1 receives access from the customer user terminal 9b, it references the product database 21 and returns to the customer user terminal 9b a display indicating the product's inventory status for each sales location, such as "In stock," "Limited remaining," or "Out of stock," depending on the inventory status available for sale to the customer at each sales location. Furthermore, for sales locations that, after referencing the product database 21, currently have no inventory of the product available for sale to the customer (zero inventory), the distribution management server 1 returns to the customer user terminal 9b an arrival notification request button along with the inventory display for that sales location. By operating this arrival notification request button, customers viewing the product details page can receive notifications about the status of the product via their SNS accounts.

[0070] However, when the above specifications are adopted, the display of inventory status is also determined by the distribution management server 1, making it difficult for the distribution management server 1 to obtain inventory information for each sales location by crawling or scraping the online store site and update the product database 21. Therefore, in this variation, the distribution management server 1 obtains inventory information for each sales location by directly referencing the inventory database referenced by the online store or by receiving inventory data from the online store's inventory database, and updates the product database 21. In this case, the data provided from the online store to the distribution management server 1 includes a sales location list, product information, inventory information for each sales location, etc., and this data may be provided in CSV format, for example. Furthermore, product information may be obtained by crawling or scraping the online store site, as in the embodiment described above.

[0071] By adopting the above variations, it becomes possible to display store inventory and receive arrival notification requests simply by inserting a simple HTML tag into the product details page.

[0072] <Second Variation> In the embodiment described above, an example was given in which a customer accesses an online store site from the customer's user terminal 9b and makes an arrival notification request by operating an arrival notification request button displayed on the product details page. However, it is also possible to access the distribution management server 1 from the customer's user terminal 9b in accordance with the search results for the target product and target sales base on the store's user terminal 9a, and make an arrival notification request by operating an arrival notification request button displayed on the arrival notification request page provided by the distribution management server 1.

[0073] When a sales location is a physical store, a customer may visit the physical store and find that the desired product is out of stock. In the past, in such cases, the customer would contact a store staff member, who would then obtain the customer's contact information so that the store staff could contact the customer when the desired product arrives at the sales location. The staff would then contact the customer by phone, email, or other means. However, this process is cumbersome and can lead to missed sales opportunities for the store. Furthermore, according to the above-described embodiment, if a customer visits a physical store but finds that the desired product is out of stock, the customer can search for an online store, search for the product in the online store, display the product details page, find the store on the product details page, check the store's inventory, and then click the stock notification request button to register for a stock notification. While this process significantly reduces the burden on the customer and store staff compared to the past, it still requires the customer to perform numerous operations.

[0074] Therefore, in this variation, as described above, the customer accesses the distribution management server 1 from the customer's user terminal 9b in accordance with the search results for the target product and target sales location on the store's user terminal 9a, and the customer makes an arrival notification request by operating the arrival notification request button displayed on the arrival notification request page provided by the distribution management server 1.

[0075] 11 is a diagram showing an example of a store-side product search screen in this variation. The store-side product search screen is a screen that can be displayed by the store-side user terminal 9a accessing the distribution management server 1, and is a screen that can be operated by a staff member to search for the target of an arrival notification request using at least one of a sales base (store), product number, SKU code, and product name as search keys. In the example shown in FIG. 11, the staff member can access the distribution management server 1 and display the store-side product search screen on the store-side user terminal 9a by entering the search key and operating the "Issue 2D barcode" button, thereby causing the distribution management server 1 to execute a search and displaying the search results obtained from the distribution management server 1 on the store-side user terminal 9a.

[0076] The search results display a "Display 2D Barcode" button along with product information, and when a staff member operates this button, a URL is displayed for accessing the distribution management server 1 and displaying an arrival notification request page. This URL specifies the distribution management server 1 as the access destination, and further specifies the product ID and sales location ID of the corresponding product and sales location using parameters, etc. The customer reads the 2D barcode displayed on the store user terminal 9a using the camera of the customer user terminal 9b (although manual input is also acceptable), and causes the customer user terminal 9b to access the URL indicated by the read 2D barcode, thereby displaying an arrival notification request page including an arrival notification request button for the target product and target sales location (store).

[0077] In this embodiment, the URL for displaying the arrival notification request page is displayed in the form of a two-dimensional barcode, but the display format of the URL is not limited to a two-dimensional barcode. For example, if the URL is displayed directly, the customer can input the URL into the customer user terminal 9b using OCR or manually, and cause the customer user terminal 9b to access the URL. Furthermore, the URL (two-dimensional barcode) for displaying the arrival notification request page may be displayed directly in the search results.

[0078] 12 is a diagram showing an example of an arrival notification request page in this variation. The arrival notification request page displays information about the target product, as well as information about the sales location and an arrival notification request button. The arrival notification request page and arrival notification request button are generated by the distribution management server 1, which is accessed by the customer user terminal 9b, in accordance with the product ID and sales location ID specified based on the parameters specified in the URL. The function and specifications of the arrival notification request button provided here are the same as those in the embodiment described above, and therefore will not be described here.

[0079] By adopting the above variations, the steps a customer must take to request an arrival notification are reduced to simply loading a URL and pressing the arrival notification request button, greatly simplifying the process. It also eliminates the need for store staff to obtain customer contact information and contact customers when new stock arrives, improving efficiency.

[0080] The means for accessing the customer user terminal 9b to the URL for displaying the arrival notification request page is not limited to displaying a URL (e.g., a two-dimensional barcode) on the store user terminal 9a. For example, in a customer support service provided by an online store using communication means such as chat, messaging, or e-mail, the product and sales location may be identified in response to a customer inquiry, and if the product is out of stock, a URL for displaying the arrival notification request page may be sent to the customer user terminal 9b via the communication means, thereby accepting the arrival notification request.

[0081] <Third Variation> In the embodiment described above, an example was described in which a user is notified of the arrival of a product at a designated sales location by linking the SNS user ID with a product ID and a sales location ID, but the user identification information linked to the product ID and sales location ID is not limited to the SNS user ID. For example, a store user ID managed by an online store may be used as the user identification information linked to the product ID and sales location ID. Below, the system configuration and processing flow when the store user ID is used as the user identification information will be described, omitting parts common to the embodiment described above as appropriate.

[0082] 13 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a system according to this variation. The system according to this variation includes a distribution management server 1b and a store user terminal 9a, which are connected to a network and can communicate with each other, and is further connected to an online store 8b and a customer user terminal 9b via the network. The hardware configurations of the distribution management server 1b, the store user terminal 9a, the customer user terminal 9b, and the online store 8b are generally similar to those in the embodiment described above, and therefore will not be described here.

[0083] The online store 8b is an e-commerce service provided by an information processing system. The server of the online store 8b receives a request for a web page of the online store 8b from a customer user terminal 9b running an application that allows browsing of the online store 8b, such as an internet browser or an e-commerce application (hereinafter referred to as an "online store app"). The server transmits the requested web page to the customer user terminal 9b and sells the ordered products to the customer. The online store 8b has an inventory database (not shown) for managing product inventory. Furthermore, in this variation, the online store 8b has a user database for managing users.

[0084] 14 is a diagram showing an outline of the functional configuration of the system according to this variation. The distribution management server 1b functions as an information processing device including a product database 21, an access instruction unit 61, a related information storage unit 62, a store user ID acquisition unit 63b, a target ID identification unit 64, a linking unit 65, a product information acquisition unit 66, a distribution destination determination unit 67, a distribution request unit 68b, a search ID identification unit 22, and a registration count acquisition unit 23, by loading a program recorded in the storage device 14 into the RAM 13 and executing it by the CPU 11, which controls each piece of hardware provided in the distribution management server 1b.

[0085] The functions of the product database 21, access instruction unit 61, related information storage unit 62, target ID identification unit 64, linking unit 65, product information acquisition unit 66, distribution destination determination unit 67, search ID identification unit 22, and registration number acquisition unit 23 are generally similar to those of the embodiment described above, except that the store user ID acquired by the store user ID acquisition unit 63b is used instead of the SNS user ID in the processing, and that communication is performed with the online store 8b instead of the external SNS 8 in the processing, and therefore will not be described again.

[0086] If authorization is obtained, the store user ID acquisition unit 63b acquires a store user ID for the online store 8b from the online store 8b.

[0087] The distribution request unit 68b sends a distribution request to the online store 8b for a message notifying the customer that the inventory information for the arrival notification registration related to the product ID and sales base ID has been updated. Here, the distribution request includes at least the distribution destination and distribution content (which may be omitted because the distribution source is the online store). The distribution destination specifies the customer's store user ID, and the distribution content specifies a notification that the product for which the customer registered an arrival notification has arrived at the specified sales base. In other words, the distribution request unit 68 sends a distribution request to the online store 8b specifying only users who are registered as customers of the online store and have registered an arrival notification for the target product.

[0088] The method of delivering messages from the online store 8b is not limited, and may be, for example, a push notification to an online store app, email, or short message system (SMS). For example, if a push notification to an online store app is used as the delivery method, the online store 8b, upon receiving a delivery request, sends a push notification to the online store app that is pre-installed and running on the customer's user terminal, specifying the store user ID. In this case, in order to receive the push notification, the user must have previously logged in to the online store app using the target store user ID. Details of push notifications will not be described here, as conventional push notification technology for applications installed on user terminals can be used.

[0089] Furthermore, for example, when email is used as the delivery method, a message is delivered with the online store's email address specified as the sender and the customer's email address specified as the destination. Here, the customer's email address may be obtained by the online store 8b searching a user database using the store user ID notified by the delivery request unit 68b as a key to find the customer's email address registered in advance. Furthermore, when the customer's email address is used as the store user ID, the online store can use the store user ID notified by the delivery request unit 68b as the destination email address. The method of obtaining the delivery destination is not limited to when email is used, and the same applies when other delivery methods such as a short message system are adopted.

[0090] The detailed processing flow in this variation is roughly the same as in the embodiment described above, except that a store user ID is used instead of an SNS user ID, and an online store 8b is used instead of an external SNS 8 in the arrival notification registration process and message distribution process, so will not be explained here.

[0091] In this variation, an example has been described in which the arrival notification request button is placed on a product detail page and the arrival notification is registered by the user operating the button, but the page on which the arrival notification request button is placed is not limited to the product detail page as described above in the above embodiment. The arrival notification request button may also be placed on the arrival notification request page provided by the distribution management server 1 as described in the second variation and operated by the user.

[0092] <Fourth Variation> In the above-described embodiment or variation, an example has been described in which a customer's contact information is acquired from an external SNS or online store and linked to a combination of a product ID and a sales location ID, thereby notifying the user that a product has arrived at a designated sales location. However, the customer's contact information may be acquired directly from the customer by the distribution management server. Below, the system configuration and processing flow when the distribution management server acquires contact information directly from the customer will be described, while omitting parts common to the above-described embodiment as appropriate.

[0093] 15 is a diagram showing an outline of the functional configuration of the system according to this variation. The distribution management server 1c functions as an information processing device including a product database 21, a user ID acquisition unit 63c, a target ID identification unit 64c, a linking unit 65, a product information acquisition unit 66, a distribution destination determination unit 67, a distribution request unit 68c, a search ID identification unit 22, and a registration count acquisition unit 23, by reading a program recorded in the storage device 14 into the RAM 13 and executing it by the CPU 11, which controls each piece of hardware provided in the distribution management server 1c.

[0094] The functions of the product database 21, the linking unit 65, the product information acquisition unit 66, the delivery destination determination unit 67, the search ID identification unit 22, and the registration number acquisition unit 23 are generally similar to those of the embodiment described above, except that the customer's contact information is used as the user ID instead of the SNS user ID or the store user ID in the processing, and that the user ID is not acquired from the external SNS 8 or the online store 8c in the processing, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted.

[0095] The user ID acquisition unit 63c acquires contact information to be used as a user ID from the customer-side user terminal 9b. In this variation, an example will be described in which an email address is used as the contact information / user ID.

[0096] The target ID specification unit 64c specifies the product ID and sales point ID of the product for which the arrival notification is to be registered by searching the product database based on the information notified from the customer-side user terminal 9b. However, the target ID specification unit 64c may specify the received information as the product ID and sales point ID as is.

[0097] The distribution request unit 68c sends a distribution request to the distribution system (e.g., an email application) for a message in which the organization's contact information is specified as the source of the message and the customer's contact information determined by the distribution destination determination unit 67 is specified as the destination of the message, and the message notifies the customer that the inventory information for the arrival notification registration target related to the product ID and sales base ID has been updated.

[0098] Next, the flow of processing executed in the system according to this variation will be described. Note that the specific content and processing order of the processing described below are an example for implementing the present disclosure. The specific content and processing order may be selected as appropriate depending on the embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0099] When an online store server receives a request for an online store's web page from a customer user terminal 9b running an application that allows browsing of the online store, such as an Internet browser or an e-commerce application, the server transmits the requested web page to the customer user terminal 9b. At this time, the contents of the web page transmitted to the customer user terminal 9b, such as the product name, product image (video / still image), product price, color variations (if any), product details (product description), and an add-to-shop-cart button, are generated and managed by the online store server using data. Conventional technologies may be used to generate and manage this content. In this variation, the web page displays the inventory status of the target product at each sales location.

[0100] In this variation, the arrival notification request button is also displayed for each sales location belonging to the online store's group. After referencing inventory data, the online store inserts an HTML tag into the product details page for a sales location that currently has zero inventory of the product available for sale to the customer, along with the sales location's inventory display. In other words, in this variation, the online store automatically displays the arrival notification request button according to the product's inventory. This HTML tag is used to obtain and display the arrival notification request button provided by the distribution management server 1. When displaying the product details page obtained from the online store, the customer user terminal 9b accesses the URL of the distribution management server 1 included in the HTML tag to obtain and display the arrival notification request button from the distribution management server 1. Customers viewing the product details page can operate the arrival notification request button to receive notifications about the product's status.

[0101] In addition, in this variation, when the customer user terminal 9b accesses the URL of the distribution management server 1 included in the above HTML tag, the arrival notification request button and the customer contact information input field displayed near the button are obtained and displayed from the distribution management server 1.

[0102] 16 is a sequence diagram showing an outline of the arrival notification registration process according to this variation. The process shown in this sequence diagram is triggered when a customer enters their contact information (in this variation, an email address is used as the contact information) into the contact information input field on the customer's user terminal 9b and operates the arrival notification request button.

[0103] The above-described product details page has an arrival notification request button and a contact information input field for registering an arrival notification for a product related to the product details page when the customer wishes to receive an arrival notification (including a re-stock notification).When contact information (an email address in this variation) is entered in the contact information input field and the arrival notification request button is operated, the customer user terminal 9b executes the arrival notification registration start script associated with the arrival notification request button.In this variation, by operating the arrival notification request button, the customer is set as the recipient of arrival notifications for the product for which an arrival notification has been set.

[0104] In steps S601 and S602, an arrival notification request is received, and the contact information, product ID, and sales base ID associated with the arrival notification request are identified. The distribution management server 1c receives the arrival notification request sent from the customer user terminal 9b, which executed the arrival notification registration start script when the customer operated the arrival notification request button displayed on the product details page on the customer user terminal 9b (step S601). At this time, the customer user terminal 9b notifies the distribution management server 1 of the contact information entered in the contact input field, information identifying the product details page on which the operated arrival notification request button is located, information identifying the product corresponding to the arrival notification request button, and information identifying the sales base.

[0105] The target ID identification unit 64c searches the product database based on the notified information to identify the product ID and sales outlet ID of the product for which the arrival notification is to be registered (step S602). However, in this variation of the system, the URL of the product detail page is notified as information for identifying the product detail page, the product ID is notified as information for identifying the product, and the sales outlet ID is notified as information for identifying the sales outlet. Therefore, the received information can be used directly as the product ID and sales outlet ID. That is, the HTML tag of the arrival notification request button includes the product ID and sales outlet ID, and when the customer operates the button, the URL of the product detail page, the product ID, and the sales outlet ID are notified to the distribution management server 1. However, other information, such as the product ID, may be used instead of the URL as information for identifying the product detail page. Furthermore, the product ID may be, for example, an SKU (Stock Keeping Unit, the smallest unit of a product type that is treated as the same product for inventory management purposes) code.

[0106] In step S603, the user ID is linked to the product ID and sales base ID for which a stock notification is to be registered. The linking unit 65 creates stock notification registration data by linking the customer contact information received in step S601 as a user ID to the combination of product ID and sales base ID identified in step S602, and registers the created stock notification registration data in the stock notification registration management table.

[0107] At this time, an arrival notification registration ID for identifying the arrival notification registration data may be issued and recorded in the arrival notification registration management table together with the user ID, product ID, and sales point ID. Note that, although this variation describes an example in which a table is used for arrival notification registration management, the management format of the data linking the user ID with the product ID and sales point ID for arrival notification registration management is not limited to a table. Once the linking of the customer's user ID with the product ID and sales point ID is complete, processing proceeds to step S604.

[0108] In step S604, a pop-up is displayed to notify the customer that the product arrival notification registration has been completed. When the customer completes the product arrival notification registration (associating the customer's user ID with the product ID and sales base ID), the distribution management server 1 sends an arrival notification registration completion response, including pop-up information, to the customer user terminal 9b. Upon receiving the arrival notification registration completion response, the customer user terminal 9b displays a product details page with a pop-up in accordance with the pop-up information (a parameter that allows the customer user terminal 9b to determine that the arrival notification registration has been completed) included in the arrival notification registration completion response, thereby notifying the customer that the arrival notification registration has been completed. The product details page includes a pop-up display script for "displaying a pop-up indicating that the arrival notification registration has been completed." The customer user terminal 9b executes the pop-up display script to display a pop-up on the display of the customer user terminal 9b, thereby notifying the user that the arrival notification registration has been completed. The processing shown in this sequence diagram then ends.

[0109] 17 is a flowchart showing an outline of the flow of a message delivery process according to this variation. The process shown in this flowchart is executed periodically at a preset frequency (e.g., once a day at a preset time). However, the execution timing of the process shown in this flowchart is not limited to the examples in this disclosure. The process shown in this flowchart may be executed, for example, when an instruction to deliver a message from an administrator is received.

[0110] The inventory information update process and the processes from step S701 to step S702 are generally similar to the inventory information update process and the processes from step S501 to step S502 described with reference to FIG. 8, and therefore will not be described again.

[0111] In step S703, the delivery destination is determined. The delivery destination determination unit 67 searches the arrival notification registration management table using the product ID and sales base ID included in the target inventory information as keys, finds the customer user ID (i.e., the customer's contact information; in this variation, an email address) linked to the combination of the product ID and sales base ID, and determines the found contact information as the delivery destination. Then, the process proceeds to step S704.

[0112] In step S704, a message delivery is requested. The delivery request unit 68c sends a delivery request for a stock notification based on the inventory information to the delivery system (here, an email application). Here, the delivery request includes a delivery source, a delivery destination, and delivery content. The delivery source specifies the contact information (email address) of the online store, the delivery destination specifies the contact information (email address) of the customer determined in step S703, and the delivery content specifies a notification that the product for which the customer registered a stock notification has arrived at the specified sales location.

[0113] The delivery system (email application) that receives the delivery request delivers the message in accordance with the delivery request. Specifically, the delivery system sends a message containing the content specified in the delivery request to the contact information (email address) of the online store as the sender and to the contact information (email address) of the customer specified in the delivery request. In this way, the online store can automatically deliver information indicating that the product has arrived only to customers who have registered for arrival notifications for the product.

[0114] In this variation, an example has been described in which the arrival notification request button and contact information input field are placed on a product details page, and the arrival notification is registered by operating the button and input field by the user, but the page on which the arrival notification request button and input field are placed is not limited to the product details page, as described above in the above embodiment. The arrival notification request button and input field may also be placed on the arrival notification request page provided by the distribution management server 1, as described in the second variation, and operated by the user.

[0115] <Fifth Variation> In the above-described embodiment and variation, a technique for notifying users when a product arrives has been described, but the subject of the notification is not limited to the arrival of a product, and various other product-related information may also be used as the subject of the notification. For example, the above-described embodiment and variation may be used for notifying users when a product arrives, as well as for notifying users of restocks, low stock levels, price reductions, product-related post notifications, etc.

[0116] Here, low stock refers to a situation where there is little stock of a product remaining; more specifically, it may mean that the number of products remaining is less than a specified number, or that a store staff member has raised a low stock flag.

[0117] A price reduction refers to a reduction in the selling price of a product, and more specifically, may be a price set lower than a preset reference price, or a price set lower than the previous price. It may also be a price reduction for the entire store, such as a sale notice, rather than a price reduction for an individual product.

[0118] Furthermore, a product-related post refers to a post made by a staff member or customer using the target product. More specifically, it may be a post made to an online store site containing still images or videos taken by the staff member or customer using the target product, comments about the target product, etc. In this variation, the online store site has a function that allows the staff member or customer to post still images, videos, comments, etc. taken by the staff member or customer using the target product, linked to information that can identify the target product (e.g., a product ID). Therefore, the distribution management server 1 can identify posts related to the target product based on the product ID and notify the customer of the product-related post. Furthermore, the post may be further linked to information that can identify the staff member or customer (e.g., the staff member or customer's ID, social media account, etc.).

[0119] Here, the flow of the notification registration process is generally similar to the arrival notification registration process in the above-described embodiment and variations, except that the product information to be notified is not an arrival notification but other product information (e.g., a restock notification, a low stock notification, a price reduction notification, a product-related post notification, etc.) In the above-described arrival notification registration process, the arrival notification is registered by identifying the product ID and sales outlet ID to be registered for the arrival notification, linking them with the user ID of the user to be notified, and recording them in an arrival notification registration management table, etc. In the notification registration process in this variation, the notification is registered by identifying the product ID and sales outlet ID to be registered for the notification, linking them with the user ID of the user to be notified, and recording them in a notification registration management table, etc.

[0120] However, if the product information to be notified is information that does not require specifying a sales outlet (for example, a price reduction for the entire store, a product-related post, etc.), specifying and linking the sales outlet ID may be omitted. In this case, the flow of the notification registration process is generally similar to the arrival notification registration process in the above-described embodiment and variations, except that specifying and linking the sales outlet ID is omitted.

[0121] Also in this variation, the trigger for executing the notification registration process may be the customer's operation of a notification request button displayed on the customer-side user terminal 9 b, and at this time, multiple types of notification request buttons may be displayed on the customer-side user terminal 9 b according to the product information to be notified. For example, a notification request button for notification registration that identifies and links a sales outlet ID and a notification request button for notification registration that does not identify and link a sales outlet ID may be displayed as different notification request buttons, and the customer may operate the desired button to execute the notification registration process according to the product information.

[0122] In this variation, as in the embodiment and variations described above, a message delivery process is executed to notify the user of product information. However, the message delivery process in this variation differs from the message delivery process described using FIG. 8 in that the content of the delivery is not limited to an arrival notification, but varies depending on the updated product information.

[0123] 19 is a flowchart showing an outline of the flow of a message delivery process according to this variation. The process shown in this flowchart is executed periodically at a preset frequency (e.g., once a day at a preset time). However, the execution timing of the process shown in this flowchart is not limited to the examples in this disclosure. The process shown in this flowchart may be executed, for example, when an instruction to deliver a message from an administrator is received.

[0124] When a store staff member updates product information for each sales location on the online store site using the store-side user terminal 9a, inventory information displayed on the online store site (e.g., "In stock," "Back in stock," "In stock," "Low stock remaining," "Out of stock," "Price reduced," "Product-related posts," etc.) changes. The distribution management server 1 obtains the updated product information for each sales location by directly referencing a database referenced by the store (whether online or physical), updating the product database 21, obtaining product information for each sales location from the store's database and updating the product database 21, or updating the product database 21 by crawling or scraping the online store site. In this case, the data provided by the store to the distribution management server 1 includes a sales location list, product information, product information for each sales location, etc., and these data may be provided in, for example, CSV format. The distribution management server 1 also stores the product information for each sales location obtained from the store in the product database 21. That is, the distribution management server 1 stores the stock quantity, price, etc. for each sales outlet and each product in the product database 21, linking them to a combination of a product ID and a sales outlet ID.

[0125] In step S801, the product information is confirmed to have been updated. The product information acquisition unit 66 sends a request to the product database 21 to inquire whether updated product information is available (step S801). The request may include the product ID and sales outlet ID of the inquired product. Upon receiving the request, the product database 21 identifies product information that has been updated since the last request (more specifically, where inventory, price, etc. has changed) based on the update time of the product information or the response history to the request, and sends a response to the product information acquisition unit 66 notifying the latest product information for the product (here, SKU) whose product information has been updated. If the request includes the inquired product ID and sales outlet ID, the product database 21 identifies only the product information related to the target product ID and sales outlet ID, and sends a response to the product information acquisition unit 66 notifying the identified product information. The response may also include the product ID and sales outlet ID related to the product information, and the URL of a page (e.g., a product details page) where the target product can be viewed. Processing then proceeds to step S802.

[0126] In steps S802 and S803, product information is acquired and a distribution destination is determined. The product information acquisition unit 66 receives the response sent by the product database 21 and saves the product information included in the response (step S802). Upon receiving the response, the distribution destination determination unit 67 searches the notification registration management table using the product ID and sales outlet ID included in the target product information as keys to find the SNS user ID of the customer associated with the combination of the product ID and sales outlet ID (i.e., the SNS user ID of the customer who has registered for notifications about the product), and determines the found SNS user ID as the distribution destination (step S803). Then, processing proceeds to step S804.

[0127] In step S804, the content of the message to be delivered is determined. Based on the updated product information acquired in step S802, the delivery request unit 68 determines the content of the message to be delivered, which notifies the customer that the product information for the product registered for notification has been updated at the designated sales location. That is, the delivery request unit 68 determines the content of the message to be delivered if the updated product information acquired in step S802 indicates that the product has arrived, if the product has been restocked, then a restock notification, if the product is low in stock, then a low stock notification, if the product is low in stock, then a price reduction notification, or if the product-related post is a notification that the product-related post has been made (for example, a message stating, "A post using a favorite product has been uploaded," along with a URL where the product-related post can be viewed). Then, processing proceeds to step S805.

[0128] In step S805, a message delivery is requested. The delivery request unit 68 transmits a delivery request for a notification based on the product information to the external SNS 8. Here, the delivery request to the external SNS 8 is made via an API for simultaneous message delivery provided by the external SNS 8, and the delivery request includes a delivery source, a delivery destination, and delivery content. The SNS user ID of the store is specified as the delivery source, the SNS user ID of the customer determined in step S803 is specified as the delivery destination, and the content determined in step S804 is specified as the delivery content. In other words, the delivery request unit 68 makes a delivery request to the external SNS 8 specifying only customers who are registered as friends of the online store on the SNS 8 (users who are permitted to send messages on the SNS) and have registered for notifications about the target product.

[0129] In this variation, an example has been described in which customer contact information is obtained from an external SNS or online store and linked to a combination of a product ID and a sales location ID, thereby notifying the user when a product arrives at a specified sales location. However, the customer contact information may also be obtained directly from the customer by the distribution management server (see, for example, the fourth variation).

[0130] <Sixth Variation> In the above-described embodiment and variations, an example has been described in which a two-dimensional barcode displayed on the store-side user terminal 9a is read using the camera of the customer-side user terminal 9b, and the customer-side user terminal 9b is caused to access the URL indicated by the read two-dimensional barcode, thereby displaying an arrival notification request page including an arrival notification request button for the target product and the target sales outlet (store). However, the means for causing the customer-side user terminal 9b to access the URL for displaying the arrival notification request page is not limited to the two-dimensional barcode displayed on the store-side user terminal 9a. For example, an arrival notification request page including an arrival notification request button for the target product and the target sales outlet (store) may be displayed by using the RFID reader of the customer-side user terminal 9b to read a URL set on an RF tag installed in the store, and then the customer-side user terminal 9b is caused to access the read URL.

[0131] In this case, a URL capable of displaying the arrival notification request button may be directly set in advance on the RF tag installed in the store, or another URL (a first URL described below; in other words, a URL for indirectly accessing the URL for displaying the arrival notification request button via a redirect) may be set which is redirected to a URL for displaying the arrival notification request button (a second URL described below).By setting a URL for redirection on the RF tag, it is possible to direct the customer user terminal 9b to the desired URL and display the arrival notification request button for the appropriate product and / or sales base on the customer user terminal 9b, simply by changing the redirect destination URL set on the server side, without the need to change the RF tag settings each time or to prepare an RF tag for each product in advance.

[0132] Furthermore, multiple RF tags may be installed in a store, and the same URL may be set for each RF tag, or different URLs may be set for each tag. By installing multiple RF tags in a store and setting different URLs for each tag, for example, each staff member may carry an RF tag to which a different first URL is assigned, and when serving customers, each staff member may be set to a second URL corresponding to the first URL of that staff member, thereby making it possible to grasp the number and content of notification registrations for each staff member. For this reason, the first URL may be managed in association with a staff member ID.

[0133] FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating an overview of the redirect setting process according to this variation. The process illustrated in this flowchart is triggered by a sales base staff member requesting a store-side product search screen on the store-side user terminal 9a. Through the process illustrated in this flowchart, the sales base staff member can set the product and sales base to be registered by touching the RF tag in response to a customer's request while serving the customer. The staff member can request the store-side product search screen from a dedicated app running on the store-side user terminal 9a or a management screen displayed in a browser. While this variation describes an example of searching for and setting a product and a sales base, the registration targets that can be searched and set in the redirect setting process are not limited to the examples shown in this variation. The redirect setting process can search for and set redirects for various registration targets, such as staff members, brands, and stores.

[0134] In steps S901 to S906, a combination of a sales location and a product is searched for based on a search key specified by the sales location staff. The store user terminal 9a requests a store product search screen from the distribution management server 1 in response to an operation by the sales location staff (step S901). Upon receiving the access, the distribution management server 1 distributes the store product search screen to the store user terminal 9a in response to the request (step S902). The store user terminal 9a displays the store product search screen and accepts a search key input or selection from the sales location staff (step S903). In response to an operation by the sales location staff (in this variation, an operation of the "Refine" button, described later), the store user terminal 9a transmits the accepted search key to the distribution management server 1 (step S904).

[0135] The distribution management server 1, which has received the search key, searches the product database 21 based on the search key, which can identify at least one of the product and the sales location specified by the sales location staff, to find candidate sales locations and combinations of products that can be sold at those sales locations (step S905).The distribution management server 1 then transmits the search results to the store-side user terminal 9a (step S906).Then, the process proceeds to step S907.

[0136] 21 is a diagram showing an example of a store-side product search screen in this variation. The store-side product search screen is a screen that can be displayed by the store-side user terminal 9a accessing the distribution management server 1, and is a screen that can be operated by a staff member to search for the target of a notification request using at least one of a sales base (store), a product number, an SKU code, and a product name as search keys. In the example shown in FIG. 21, the staff member can access the distribution management server 1 and display the store-side product search screen on the store-side user terminal 9a by entering the search key and operating the "Refine" button, thereby causing the distribution management server 1 to execute a search and displaying the search results obtained from the distribution management server 1 on the store-side user terminal 9a.

[0137] Here, the sales base (store) may be automatically entered in advance into the sales base (store) input field of the search key without any operation by the staff member. The automatically entered sales base may be identified by the distribution management server 1 based on the staff ID or sales base ID of the staff member logged in to the store-side user terminal 9a or the location information of the store-side user terminal 9a, and may be automatically entered in advance into the search page distributed in step S902, or may be automatically entered by the store-side user terminal 9a. Furthermore, as in the above example, if the staff ID is linked to the first URL of the RF tag, information that can identify the staff member, such as the staff ID, may be used as the search key or may be automatically entered.

[0138] In steps S907 and S908, a redirect setting request is sent. The store-side user terminal 9a receives the search results sent from the distribution management server 1 in step S906 and displays the search results to the user. In this variation, an example is described in which the search results are displayed on the store-side product search screen (see FIG. 21), but the search results may also be displayed on a screen other than the store-side product search screen. The search results display a "Tag Setting" button along with product information. When the store-side user terminal 9a accepts the staff member's operation of the "Tag Setting" button (step S907), it sends a redirect setting request to the distribution management server 1 (step S908). Processing then proceeds to step S909.

[0139] In steps S909 and S910, redirection is performed. Upon receiving the redirection setting request, the distribution management server 1 issues a second URL for the combination of sales outlet and product related to the redirection setting request (step S909). In this variation, the second URL is a URL for displaying an arrival notification request button, with information specifying the target of notification from the customer (in this variation, the product ID and sales outlet ID of the corresponding product and sales outlet) specified by parameters, etc. In this variation, the distribution management server 1 identifies the product ID and sales outlet ID based on the information about the product and sales outlet related to the search results specified in the redirection setting request.

[0140] The distribution management server 1 then issues a second URL using the identified product ID and / or sales point ID. After the second URL is issued, the distribution management server 1 saves the combination of the issued second URL and the first URL, thereby setting the second URL as the redirect URL when the first URL is accessed (step S910). The process shown in this flowchart then ends.

[0141] 22 is a sequence diagram showing an outline of the notification registration process according to this variation. The process shown in the sequence diagram is triggered by a customer user bringing the RFID reader of the customer-side user terminal 9b into close proximity with an RF tag installed in the store (e.g., by touching the RFID reader).

[0142] In steps S1001 and S1002, the first URL read from the RF tag is accessed. When a customer user brings the RFID reader of the customer user terminal 9b close to an RF tag installed in the store, the customer user terminal 9b uses the RFID reader to read the first URL from the RF tag installed in the store (step S1001). The customer user terminal 9b launches an application (a general-purpose browser or a dedicated application) for processing the read first URL and accesses the read first URL (step S1002).

[0143] In steps S1003 to S1005, access to the first URL is redirected to the second URL. The distribution management server 1, upon receiving the access, references the URL of the access destination (step S1003). If the URL of the access destination is not the first URL (NO in step S1003), the process shown in this flowchart ends. On the other hand, if the URL of the access destination is the first URL (YES in step S1003), the distribution management server 1 reads the second URL corresponding to the first URL, which was previously set in step S910 of the redirect setting process (step S1004), and notifies the customer-side user terminal 9b of the second URL as the redirect destination (step S1005). Note that, since the sales point ID can be identified based on the first URL at this point, the sales point ID may also be identified based on the first URL. The process shown in this flowchart then ends.

[0144] According to the above-described processing flow, by setting a first URL for redirection in the RF tag, it is possible to simply change the second URL of the redirection destination set on the server side, and to direct the customer's user terminal 9b to the desired URL, without the need to change the RF tag settings each time or to prepare an RF tag in advance for each product, and to display an arrival notification request button for the appropriate product and / or sales outlet on the customer's user terminal 9b.

[0145] <Other Variations> In the above-described embodiment and variations, an example has been described in which the process of obtaining an access token and acquiring a user's resources (steps S405 to S408) is performed by the distribution management server 1. However, the process of obtaining an access token and acquiring a user's resources may be executed by another device. For example, the process of obtaining an access token and acquiring a user's resources may be executed by having the customer-side user terminal 9 b execute a script (program) for executing this process.

[0146] Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, an example was described in which the online store's web page and the arrival notification request button for that web page are generated in different systems, but the online store's web page and the arrival notification request button including the arrival notification request button for that web page may also be generated in the same system.

[0147] In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which an external SNS is used as a message transmission system for transmitting messages, but the message transmission system that can be used for transmitting messages is not limited to the above-described example. For example, an email or a short message system may be used as the message transmission system.

[0148] FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of an arrival notification request page for a variation. As described with reference to FIG. 12 , the arrival notification request page displays information about the target product, as well as information about the sales location and an arrival notification request button. However, multiple arrival notification request buttons may be displayed for each message transmission system used to send a message. In the example shown in FIG. 18 , multiple arrival notification request buttons corresponding to each of the multiple message transmission systems are displayed to allow customers to select their preferred message transmission system from external social networking sites, push notifications to online store apps, email, and short message systems (SMS) and request an arrival notification. This allows customers to select their preferred message transmission system and receive notifications via a method that is convenient for them.

[0149] In the above-described embodiment and variations, a two-dimensional barcode, RF tag, or the like is used to access a URL for displaying an arrival notification request page on the customer user terminal 9b. However, by setting the URL accessed when the request button is pressed in the above-described embodiment and variations (in the above-described embodiment, the OAuth communication destination URL) as the URL accessed by the customer user terminal 9b using the two-dimensional barcode, RF tag, or the like, the customer can start the notification registration process without pressing the request button by simply having the customer user terminal 9b read the two-dimensional barcode, RF tag, or the like. As described above, when performing a redirection such as the sixth variation, by setting the second URL as the URL accessed when the request button is pressed in the above-described embodiment and variations, the customer can start the notification registration process without pressing the request button by simply having the customer user terminal 9b read the RF tag.

[0150] In addition, by appropriately omitting the input of authentication information, the operation of consenting to the transfer of authority, the operation of consenting to adding friends, etc. in the notification registration process according to past operations and settings, the customer can complete notification registration without any additional operations by simply having the customer's user terminal 9b read a two-dimensional barcode or RF tag, etc., and the customer's user terminal 9b can display a message indicating that notification registration is complete.

[0151] 1 Server (information processing device) 9a Store-side user terminal 9b Customer-side user terminal

Claims

1. An information processing system comprising: a linking means for performing notification registration for an online store having multiple sales outlets by recording notification registration data linking a customer ID, a product ID of a product for which the customer wishes to be notified of product information, and a sales outlet ID of one of the multiple sales outlets in a notification registration management table; a product information acquisition means for acquiring product information including the product ID and sales outlet ID that has been updated on a website of an organization related to the product; a delivery destination determination means for searching for the customer ID linked to the product ID and sales outlet ID included in the product information and determining the searched customer ID as a delivery destination; and a delivery request means for transmitting to a message sending system a delivery request for a message in which the customer ID determined by the delivery destination determination means is specified as the delivery destination, and which notifies the customer that product information for the product related to the product ID and sales outlet ID has been updated.

2. The information processing system of claim 1, wherein the customer ID is the SNS user ID of the customer in an external SNS, the distribution destination determination means searches for the SNS user ID of the customer linked to the product ID and sales base ID included in the product information and determines the searched SNS user ID as a distribution destination, and the distribution request means transmits to the external SNS a distribution request for a message in which the SNS user ID of the customer determined by the distribution destination determination means is specified as a distribution destination, and which notifies the customer that product information for the product related to the product ID and sales base ID has been updated.

3. An information processing system comprising: a target ID identification means for, when accessed from a customer's user terminal that has read a URL provided at a sales base, identifying a product ID of a product about which the customer wishes to be notified of product information, based on the URL or another URL redirected from the URL; a linking means for performing notification registration by recording notification registration data linking the customer ID of the customer with the product ID in a notification registration management table; a product information acquisition means for acquiring updated product information including the product ID; a delivery destination determination means for searching for the customer ID linked to the product ID included in the product information and determining the searched customer ID as a delivery destination; and a delivery request means for transmitting to a message sending system a delivery request for a message in which the customer ID determined by the delivery destination determination means is specified as the delivery destination, and which notifies the customer that product information for the product related to the product ID has been updated.

4. The information processing system of claim 1, wherein the customer ID is the SNS user ID of the customer in an external SNS, the distribution destination determination means searches for the SNS user ID of the customer linked to the product ID included in the product information and determines the searched SNS user ID as the distribution destination, and the distribution request means sends to the external SNS a distribution request for a message in which the SNS user ID of the customer determined by the distribution destination determination means is specified as the distribution destination, and which notifies the customer that product information for the product related to the product ID has been updated.

5. The information processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the product information is information relating to at least one of arrival, restocking, low stock, price reduction, and product-related posts of the product.

6. A method in which a computer executes the following steps for an online store having multiple sales outlets: a linking step of performing notification registration by recording notification registration data in a notification registration management table, linking a customer ID of a customer, a product ID of a product for which the customer wishes to be notified of product information, and a sales outlet ID of one of the multiple sales outlets; a product information acquisition step of acquiring product information including the product ID and sales outlet ID that has been updated on a website of an organization related to the product; a delivery destination determination step of searching for the customer ID linked to the product ID and sales outlet ID included in the product information and determining the searched customer ID as a delivery destination; and a delivery request step of transmitting to an external message sending system a delivery request for a message in which the customer ID determined in the delivery destination determination step is specified as the delivery destination, and which notifies the customer that product information for the product related to the product ID and sales outlet ID has been updated.

7. A method in which a computer executes the following steps: when accessed by a customer's user terminal that has read a URL provided at a sales point, a target ID identification step of identifying a product ID of a product about which the customer wishes to be notified of product information, based on the URL or another URL redirected from the URL; a linking step of performing notification registration by recording notification registration data linking the customer ID with the product ID in a notification registration management table; a product information acquisition step of acquiring updated product information including the product ID; a delivery destination determination step of searching for the customer ID linked to the product ID included in the product information and determining the searched customer ID as a delivery destination; and a delivery request step of transmitting to a message sending system a delivery request for a message in which the customer ID determined in the delivery destination determination step is specified as the delivery destination, and which notifies the customer that product information for the product related to the product ID has been updated.

8. A program for causing a computer to function as: a linking means for performing notification registration by recording in a notification registration management table notification registration data linking a customer ID of a customer, a product ID of a product for which the customer wishes to be notified of product information, and a sales base ID of one of the multiple sales bases; a product information acquisition means for acquiring product information including the product ID and sales base ID that has been updated on the website of an organization related to the product; a delivery destination determination means for searching for the customer ID linked to the product ID and sales base ID included in the product information and determining the searched customer ID as a delivery destination; and a delivery request means for transmitting to an external message sending system a delivery request for a message in which the customer ID determined by the delivery destination determination means is specified as the delivery destination, and which notifies the customer that product information for the product related to the product ID and sales base ID has been updated.

9. A program for causing a computer to function as: a target ID identification means for, when accessed from a customer's user terminal that has read a URL provided at a sales base, identifying a product ID of a product for which the customer wishes to be notified of product information, based on the URL or another URL redirected from the URL; a linking means for performing notification registration by recording notification registration data linking the customer ID of the customer with the product ID in a notification registration management table; a product information acquisition means for acquiring updated product information including the product ID; a delivery destination determination means for searching for the customer ID linked to the product ID included in the product information and determining the searched customer ID as a delivery destination; and a delivery request means for transmitting to a message sending system a delivery request for a message in which the customer ID determined by the delivery destination determination means is specified as the delivery destination, and which notifies the customer that product information for the product related to the product ID has been updated.

Images