TW202449702A - Method for providing product information and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a method of providing item information based on a shelf life of an item, the method including identifying a first item provided by an item sales service and having first identification information, checking a remaining shelf life of a plurality of stock keeping units (SKUs) corresponding to the first item in a fulfillment center, allocating a first set of SKUs having the remaining shelf life corresponding to a first condition among the plurality of SKUs as a second item having second identification information, and providing information on the second item to a user terminal using the item sales service.

Description

Method and device for providing product information

The present invention relates to a method for providing item information and a device thereof. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for providing item information based on a storage life of an item and an electronic device thereof.

As the proportion of e-commerce for online purchases of items increases with the development of electronic technology, customers can access e-commerce services and purchase items without going to a shopping mall or market in person. However, a typical e-commerce service sells items on the same platform regardless of the storage life of the items, and manages inventory by discarding expired items. In that case, customers purchase items approaching the expiration date of the items at the same price as items not approaching the expiration date of the items. Also, a large number of items that are difficult to sell due to approaching the expiration date are sold, resulting in losses.

To solve this problem, typical e-commerce services manage the expiration dates of items and sell items approaching their expiration dates at a discounted price lower than the original price. However, while managing items approaching their expiration dates and items not approaching their expiration dates together, inventory management becomes difficult and resources are wasted. In addition, it is necessary to provide items at a more discounted price in terms of providing benefits only to specific members who have subscribed to the service, rather than just clearing items with approaching expiration dates from customers who happen to access the e-commerce service. In this regard, reference may be made to previous documents such as KR 10-2013-0018430A.

At the same time, customers who purchase a specific item with an approaching expiration date want to inquire when they can purchase the item and under what conditions how much benefit they can enjoy in order to facilitate the purchase. Therefore, in order to meet such customer needs, e-commerce services need to intuitively provide information about the purchase of items with an approaching expiration date.

[Technical Objective] One aspect of the present invention is to provide a method and a device for providing item information based on the storage life of an item. The technical aspects of the present invention are not limited to the technical aspects mentioned above, and other technical aspects can be inferred from the following exemplary embodiments.

[Technical Solution] According to one aspect, a method for providing item information based on a storage life of an item is provided, the method comprising: identifying a first item provided by an item sales service and having first identification information; checking a remaining storage life of a plurality of stock keeping units (SKUs) corresponding to the first item in a fulfillment center; allocating a first group of SKUs among the plurality of SKUs having the remaining storage life corresponding to a first condition as a second item having second identification information; and providing information about the second item to a user terminal using the item sales service.

According to another aspect, an electronic device for providing item information based on a storage life of an item is provided, the electronic device comprising: a communication device; a storage device; and a controller configured to control the communication device and the storage device. The controller is further configured to: identify a first item provided by an item sales service and having first identification information via the storage device; check a remaining storage life of a plurality of stock keeping units (SKUs) corresponding to the first item in a fulfillment center via the communication device; assign a first group of SKUs among the plurality of SKUs having the remaining storage life corresponding to a first condition as a second item having second identification information; and provide information about the second item to a user terminal via the communication device using the item sales service.

According to another aspect, a terminal for providing item information based on a storage life of an item is provided, the terminal comprising: a communication device; an output device; and a processor operatively coupled to the communication device and the output device. The processor is configured to: receive information about a first item having first identification information and information about a second item having second identification information from an electronic device via the communication device; provide the information about the first item on a first page via the output device; and generate a second page based on the information about the first item and provide the information about the second item on the second page via the output device. The second item is an item corresponding to a first set of stock keeping units (SKUs) among a plurality of SKUs corresponding to the first item, the first set of SKUs having a remaining storage life corresponding to a first condition.

Details of other exemplary embodiments are included in the detailed description and drawings.

[Effect] According to the present invention, when the remaining storage life of an item with the same attribute is equal to or less than a preset period, the item is managed using the existing information of the item but using separate item identification information, which makes inventory management convenient and resources are used efficiently.

In addition, a page for selling items with an approaching expiration date is separated from a page for selling items with a sufficient remaining storage life, and is provided only to users who meet specific conditions among users authorized to use the item sales service, which encourages service use and intuitively provides discount information for item purchases.

The effects of the present invention are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art according to the description of the patent application scope.

The terms used in the exemplary embodiments have been selected as general terms that are currently used as widely as possible while considering the functions in the present invention, but these may change according to the intention of those skilled in the art, a precedent, the emergence of new technologies, and the like. In addition, in certain cases, there are terms arbitrarily selected by the applicant, and in this case, the meaning will be explained in detail in the corresponding description. Therefore, the terms used in the present invention should be defined based on the meaning of the terms and the entire content of the present invention rather than just based on the names of the terms.

Throughout the specification, unless otherwise stated, when stating that a part "includes" or "comprises" a specific component, it means that other components may be further included, and other components are not excluded. In addition, terms such as "...part", "...module" and the like described in the specification mean a unit for performing at least one function or operation that can be implemented as hardware or software or a combination of hardware and software.

Throughout the specification, the expression "at least one of a, b, and c" may include "only a", "only b", "only c", "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "all of a, b, and c".

The "terminal" mentioned below may be implemented as a computer or a portable terminal that can access a server or other terminals through a network. Here, the computer includes (for example) a notebook computer equipped with a web browser, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, and the like, and the portable terminal is (for example) a wireless communication device that ensures portability and mobility, which may include all types of handheld-based wireless communication devices, including communication-based terminals such as IMT (International Mobile Telecommunications), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), W-CDMA (W-Code Division Multiple Access), LTE (Long Term Evolution), smartphones, tablet PCs, and the like.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail so that those skilled in the art in the art to which the present invention belongs can easily implement the exemplary embodiments. However, the present invention can be implemented in various different forms and is not limited to the exemplary embodiments described herein. In the present invention, an article may refer to a single article or a group of articles of the same type. Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a system of a method for providing item information according to an exemplary embodiment.

1 , a product information providing system may include an electronic device 10, a user terminal 20, and a fulfillment center (FC) 30. In the product information providing system shown in FIG1 , only components related to this exemplary embodiment are shown. Therefore, those skilled in the art in the art to which the present invention belongs will understand that in addition to the components illustrated in FIG1 , other general purpose components may also be further included.

The electronic device 10 and the user terminal 20 can communicate with each other via a network (not shown). The network includes a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a value-added network (VAN), a mobile radio communication network, a satellite communication network and a combination thereof. It is a data communication network in a comprehensive sense, which enables each network component shown in FIG. 1 to communicate smoothly with each other, and can include a wired Internet network, a wireless Internet network and a mobile wireless communication network. For example, the wireless communication may be wireless LAN (Wi-Fi), Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, Zigbee, WFD (Wi-Fi Direct), UWB (Ultra-Wideband), infrared communication (IrDA, Infrared Data Association), NFC (Near Field Communication) and the like, but is not limited thereto.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the electronic device 10 may be a device included in a server for managing information about a first item and a second item provided by an item sales service and information about a stock keeping unit (SKU) stored in the FC 30. In addition, the item information providing system may be a system operated in association with the item sales service.

The electronic device 10 can identify a first item provided by an item sales service, and check information about a plurality of SKUs corresponding to the first item in FC 30. Here, the first item has first identification information, and the item can be classified and managed through the identification information. According to an exemplary embodiment, the electronic device 10 can check the remaining storage life of the plurality of SKUs corresponding to the first item in FC 30. The storage life in the present invention may be a term that refers to an expiration date and a storage life that are generally recommended for items other than fresh agricultural products.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the electronic device 10 may identify SKUs having a remaining storage life corresponding to a first condition among a plurality of SKUs in the FC 30 and designate the SKUs as a first group of SKUs. Then, the electronic device 10 may assign the first group of SKUs as a second item having second identification information. According to an exemplary embodiment, the first identification information and the second identification information are different. The second item is the same item as the first item, but after it is classified as the second item, the second item may be managed using item identification information and a sales cycle that are different from those of the first item. According to an exemplary embodiment, the first condition is a condition in which the remaining storage life among the plurality of SKUs corresponding to the first item is less than or equal to the first period.

According to another exemplary embodiment, when an item status requires quick sales among a plurality of SKUs corresponding to the first item, the SKU may be assigned as the first set of SKUs. For example, if the item is damaged due to movement and storage problems or there is a risk that the quality of the item may decline despite a sufficient storage life, the SKU may be assigned as the second item and the item information may be provided to the user terminal 20.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the electronic device 10 may provide information about the second item to the user terminal 20. The information about the second item may be provided on a page that only sells the second item. For example, the information about the first item may be provided on the first page, and the information about the second item may be provided on the second page, wherein the first page and the second page may be different pages. Moreover, the electronic device 10 may set the second page to be provided only to users who meet a preset condition among users authorized to use the item sales service. According to an exemplary embodiment, the electronic device 10 may generate a second page based on the information about the first item, and may provide information about the second item by providing the second page to the user terminal 20. For example, the electronic device 10 may copy the information of the first item as it is and use it as the information of the second item. However, the procedure for managing and selling the item after changing to the second item is performed using only the information about the second item. For example, the electronic device 10 can separately manage the remaining storage life of the second item, and can also determine the selling price to be different from the selling price of the first item. At the same time, the purchase review information based on the purchase of the first item can be mapped to the first item and managed. Therefore, when the SKU corresponding to the first item is assigned to the second item, the review information about the first item will also be copied through the information copying procedure. However, the purchase review information based on the purchase of the second item after changing to the second item will be managed by mapping only to the second item.

According to an exemplary embodiment, after providing the information about the second item to the user terminal 20, the electronic device 10 may determine whether the remaining storage life of the first set of SKUs corresponds to the second condition in the FC 30. The second condition is a condition in which the remaining storage life among the plurality of SKUs is equal to or less than the second period, and the second period may be shorter than the first period. According to an exemplary embodiment, the electronic device 10 may remove from the FC 30 a SKU among the first set of SKUs that has a remaining storage life corresponding to the second condition.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the electronic device 10 can check the remaining storage life of the plurality of SKUs stored in the FC 30 in real time, and therefore, the inventory status and the remaining storage life of the second item can be changed in real time. For example, a new SKU corresponding to the first condition can be identified, and the second item of the SKU whose remaining storage life corresponds to the second condition can be discarded, so that the inventory status and the remaining storage life of the second item can be changed. Therefore, the second item may not be a bundle of items with the same remaining storage life, but there may be a bundle of multiple items with different remaining storage lives that meet the first condition. Moreover, the inventory status of the second item can change according to the sales of the second item. According to an exemplary embodiment, in addition to the situation where the second item is selected according to an order quantity in FC 30, the inventory status of the second item may also change in response to an order for the second item, identification of a new SKU, or discarding of the item. At the same time, the electronic device 10 may instruct to preferentially select the second item with a shorter remaining storage life in FC 30.

When the second item is sold through the user terminal 20 and the remaining storage life of the plurality of SKUs is checked in the FC 30, the electronic device 10 may update the first set of SKUs. In addition, the electronic device 10 may modify information about the second item based on the updated first set of SKUs and provide the information to the user terminal 20.

The user terminal 20 may receive a purchase request from a user for the second item. Then, the user terminal 20 may transmit the purchase request to the electronic device 10 and provide a shopping cart page including discount information about the second item in response to the purchase request. In this case, the discount information provided on the shopping cart page may include information about a service applied to the purchase of the second item and a discount rate for the second item. Furthermore, the user terminal 20 may transmit the purchase request to the electronic device 10, and the electronic device 10 may transmit a selection request for the first set of SKUs to the FC 30 in response to the purchase request.

According to an exemplary embodiment, when providing information about the second item, the user terminal 20 may provide information about the plurality of second items in the order of the shortest remaining discount period corresponding to the plurality of second items. In addition, the user terminal 20 may provide information about the plurality of second items, including a sales price, a discount rate, and a remaining discount period for each of the plurality of second items. According to an exemplary embodiment, a discount rate for each of the plurality of second items may be set differently over time. For example, the discount rate may increase over time. Moreover, the sales price of each of the plurality of second items may be a price in which a discount rate for each of the plurality of second items is applied to the sales price of the first item. That is, a second item with a shorter remaining storage life can be sold at a price much lower than the selling price of the first item. According to an exemplary embodiment, the remaining discount period is reduced in real time, and the user terminal 20 can display information about a plurality of second items differently depending on whether the remaining discount period is less than or equal to a predetermined time.

FC 30 is a warehouse for storing items, and is a physical space for receiving and storing items, and when an order for an item in stock is received, the corresponding item is picked and prepared for delivery. FC 30 is a space where, when a request is received from the electronic device 10, a worker in FC 30 performs a task of storing or picking up an item in response to the request.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a method of allocating a portion of a first object as a second object according to an exemplary embodiment.

According to an exemplary embodiment, in operation 120, a SKU whose remaining storage life satisfies a first condition may be determined among the plurality of SKUs 110 corresponding to the first item 100. According to an exemplary embodiment, the first condition is a condition in which the remaining storage life among the plurality of SKUs corresponding to the first item is less than or equal to a first period. For example, SKUs having a remaining storage life of 7 days or less are classified as a first group of SKUs, and the SKUs may be allocated as second items.

SKUs having a remaining storage life greater than the first period will remain as SKUs corresponding to the first item 100 (No at operation 120), and SKUs having a remaining storage life less than or equal to the first period will be classified as the first group SKU 130 (Yes at operation 120). Then, the first group SKU 130 may be allocated as the second item 200 and managed using identification information different from that of the first item 100.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a status of a SKU based on a storage time in a FC 30 according to an exemplary embodiment.

According to an exemplary embodiment, a period from the time point 310 when the SKU corresponding to the first item is received into the FC 30 to the time point 320 when the remaining storage life of the SKU satisfies the first condition and thus the SKU is classified into the first group of SKUs and allocated as the second item is referred to as the first item period 330. A period from the time point 320 of being allocated as the second item to the time point 340 when the SKU whose remaining storage life satisfies the second condition in the first group of SKUs is removed from the FC 30 is referred to as the second item period 350. A period from the time point 340 of SKU removal to the expiration date 360 of the SKU is referred to as the disposal period 370. In this case, an item 300 belonging to the first item cycle 330 corresponds to the first item, and information about the item 300 may be provided on a first page (e.g., a general item sales page). When the item 300 belongs to the second item cycle 350, the item 300 is in a state corresponding to the second item, and information about the item 300 may be provided on a second page (e.g., a discounted item sales page). In this case, the item 300 may be sold at a discounted price compared to when it belongs to the first item cycle 330. At the same time, when the item 300 is sold on the second page, the expiration date of the item 300 may be approaching. That is, when the item 300 belongs to the discard cycle 370, the item 300 will no longer be sold and will be removed from the FC 30.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the first condition is a condition for classifying a part of the first item as the second item, and it is a condition in which the remaining storage life among the SKUs corresponding to the first item is less than the first period. The second condition is a condition for removing a part of the second item from the FC 30, and it may be a condition in which the remaining storage life among the first set of SKUs corresponding to the second item is less than the second period. Here, the second period may be shorter than the first period. According to an exemplary embodiment, since the first item and the second item are managed using different identification information, even if the first item and the second item refer to the same item, their prices can be set separately, they can be sold separately, and item order details can be managed individually.

3 , if the shelf life of a particular item 300 is 15 days after the stocking date 310, the first cycle is 7 days, and the second cycle is 3 days, when 8 days have passed since the time point 310 when the SKU was stocked in the FC 30 (time point 320), the SKU corresponding to the item 300 is classified into the first group of SKUs and allocated as the second item. When 4 days have passed since the time point 320 when the first group of SKUs corresponding to the item 300 were allocated as the second item, the SKU corresponding to the item 300 is removed from the FC 30 (time point 340).

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a diagram of an item information providing page according to an exemplary embodiment.

4 may provide information 410 about at least one second item. There may be a plurality of pieces of information 410 about the second item, and therefore, when all information cannot be provided on one screen of the item information providing page 400, information 410 about a plurality of items may be provided by scrolling the screen left and right or up and down.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the item information providing page 400 may provide information 410 about a plurality of second items in the order of the shortest remaining discount period corresponding to the plurality of second items. That is, information may be provided starting from an item having the shortest period for applying a discount.

The information 410 about the second item may include sales information 420 and a remaining discount period 430, and the sales information 420 may include a sales price and a discount rate of the item. According to an exemplary embodiment, the remaining discount period 430 indicates that a remaining period of the corresponding second item can be provided at a discounted price. For each of the plurality of second items, the information 410 about the second item may be displayed differently depending on whether the remaining discount period 430 is less than or equal to a predetermined time. For example, when the remaining period of the applicable discount is 24 hours or less, the remaining discount period 430 may be displayed in a red box. Alternatively, when the remaining period of the applicable discount is more than 24 hours, the remaining discount period may be displayed in a black box 430. Thus, a user using the item sales service may more quickly identify items that are approaching the end of their discounts.

Referring to FIG. 4 , in the information 410 about the second item, the remaining discount period 430 is 24 hours or less, 23:59:59, and therefore it can be displayed in a red box. According to an exemplary embodiment, the remaining discount period 430 can be superimposed and displayed on an image according to the information about the second item. In FIG. 4 , the sales information 420 can include "7,900 Korean Won" which is the sales price of the item, and a discount rate "21%" that produces this price. According to an exemplary embodiment, the discount rate can be highlighted and displayed. For example, the discount rate can be highlighted and displayed in the form of an icon in which numbers are written. Furthermore, the sales information 420 may include price information "10,000 Korean Won" before the discount is applied, and the price information before the discount may be displayed in a blurred manner so as not to stand out from the sales price. Furthermore, the price information before the discount may correspond to the sales price of the first item. That is, the sales price of the second item in the sales information 420 may be a price at which a discount rate is applied from the sales price of the first item. According to an exemplary embodiment, the sales information 420 may be added with a phrase indicating that a discount may be applied to the user if the item is purchased now. For example, the sales information 420 may use a phrase such as "Instant Discount" to inform the user that when the item is purchased immediately, the user can purchase it at a discounted price.

According to an exemplary embodiment, information about the first item may be provided on the first page, information about the second item may be provided on the second page, and the item information providing page 400 may correspond to the second page. According to another embodiment, information about the second item may be provided on the first page together. In this case, the second item may not be provided on the first page throughout the entire salable period of the second item, but may be provided on the first page only during a specific period to be distinguished from the second page.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the information 410 about the second item may be updated in real time according to the sales of the second item, or may be updated periodically according to a cycle of determining the stock status of the second item. For example, when the FC 30 checks the stock status of the item at 7:00 a.m. every day, the information 410 about the second item may be updated at about 7:00 a.m. every day. According to an exemplary embodiment, the information 410 about the second item may be deactivated according to the sales of the second item. For example, the information 410 about the second item may be deactivated if the second item provided on the item information providing page 400 is sold out, if the stock of the second item still exists but the remaining discount period has expired, and because the SKU may be converted to the second item, when a discount is scheduled to be opened, the information 410 about the second item may be deactivated. According to an exemplary embodiment, when the stock of the second item still exists but the remaining discount period has expired, the information 410 about the second item may not be deactivated, but the information may be changed to prevent other orders at a discounted price. When the discount is scheduled to be opened, in a state in which the information 410 about the second item is inactive, the remaining time before the scheduled opening time may be displayed in the form of a time that is counted in real time as in the remaining discount period 430.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a diagram of an item information providing page according to another exemplary embodiment.

5 may provide information 510 about at least one second item. There may be a plurality of pieces of information 510 about the second item, and therefore, when all information cannot be provided on one screen of the item information providing page 500, information 510 about a plurality of items may be provided by scrolling the screen left and right or up and down.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the information 510 about the second item may include sales information 520 and information 530 about a service applied to the purchase of the second item. The sales information 520 may include a sales price and a discount rate of the item, and may further include price information before the discount is applied. According to an exemplary embodiment, the item information providing page 500 of FIG. 5 may correspond to the second page on which the information about the second item is provided. The second page is a page provided to users who meet a preset condition among users authorized to use the item sales service, and may not be a page that can be provided to everyone who uses the item sales service. For example, among users who subscribe to the item sales service, only a merchant member who subscribes to a paid service or a member who subscribes to the item sales service and completes internal user authentication can access the second page providing information about the second item. Therefore, the item information providing page 500 is a page for selling discounted items, and the discount rate applied to the sales price of the second item may not be emphasized and displayed, which is different from the page 400 of FIG. 4 that can also be provided on the first page.

5 , information 510 about a second item may display sales information 520 and information 530 about a service applied to the purchase of the second item at the bottom of an image according to the information about the second item. In FIG. 5 , the sales information 520 may include “11,000 Korean Won”, which is the sales price of the item, and a discount rate “50%” resulting in this price, and may further include price information “22,000 Korean Won” before the discount is applied. The price information before the discount may be displayed blurred to be less conspicuous compared to the sales price, and may correspond to the sales price of the first item. According to an exemplary embodiment, the sales information 520 may add a phrase (such as “Family Offer”) associated with the second page to inform the user that the corresponding item is discounted and is only provided to users with a specific privilege.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the information 530 about the service applied to the purchase of the second item can be emphasized in the form of an icon in which a phrase is written. Referring to Figure 5, the information 530 about the service applied to the purchase of the second item is in the form of "home closing sale" written in a square icon, which indicates that the service has been applied and the corresponding second item can be purchased at a discounted price.

FIG. 6 illustrates a diagram of a shopping cart page according to an order for a second item according to an exemplary embodiment.

According to an exemplary embodiment, a user may purchase a second item on the item information providing pages 400 and 500 as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 , and may immediately move to the shopping cart page 600 after receiving a purchase request for the second item from an electronic device.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the shopping cart page 600 may include purchase condition information 610 and order information 620. The purchase condition information 610 is information indicating a minimum amount condition that must be met to purchase the second item included in the shopping cart, and may be determined based on the sales price of the second item included in the shopping cart. For example, the sum of the sales prices of the second items included in the shopping cart is compared with the minimum amount condition, and the purchase condition information 610 may display the sum of the item prices relative to the minimum amount condition. The purchase condition information 610 may be implemented through a user interface that indicates a value by which the target item price exceeds a minimum amount, such as a progress bar.

The order information 620 may include an item image of the second item, an item name, an expected arrival time when ordering, and a last order time to meet the expected arrival time. In addition, the order information 620 may further include discount information 621 about the second item, and the discount information 621 includes a sales price of the second item, a discount rate, and a sales price before the discount is applied. The sales price before the discount is applied may be the sales price of the first item corresponding to the SKU before being assigned as the second item, and the price of the sales price of the first item with the discount rate applied may be the sales price of the second item. The discount rate may be displayed in the form of an icon, in which the discount rate is written to be emphasized. Moreover, the discount information 621 may further include a phrase (such as "Family Offer") associated with the second page to indicate that the second item is only available for purchase by users with a specific privilege.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the discount information 621 may display information 622 about a service applied to the purchase of the second item as a separate icon. The information 622 about the service applied to the purchase of the second item may be displayed together with the discount information 621 or may be displayed separately in front of the item name of the second item.

7 is a flow chart illustrating a method for providing item information according to an exemplary embodiment. The electronic device may be an electronic device 10 of an item information providing system, and the terminal may be a user terminal 20 of the item information providing system.

In operation S701, a first item provided by an item sales service and having first identification information may be identified.

In operation S702, the remaining storage life of the plurality of SKUs corresponding to the first item may be checked in FC 30. According to an exemplary embodiment, operation S702 may be performed at a specific time. For example, the remaining storage life of the plurality of SKUs may be checked during a time period such as when a user most frequently accesses an item sales service, when an item is newly received, or when logistics is arranged in FC 30. Moreover, operation S702 may be performed at every preset time. For example, the remaining storage life of the plurality of SKUs may be checked once a day at a predetermined time. According to an exemplary embodiment, if there are many SKUs with very little remaining storage life among a plurality of SKUs, the remaining storage life may be checked earlier than a predetermined time. For example, according to the first condition, a SKU with a storage life of 7 days may be allocated as the second item. When the inventory quantity of SKUs with a storage life of 8 days is greater than the expected inventory quantity based on the previous inventory situation, more SKUs may be allocated as the second item by checking the remaining storage life twice a day. In this way, by allocating more first items as second items more quickly, items with an approaching expiration date may be sold quickly.

In operation S703, a first group of SKUs having a remaining storage life corresponding to a first condition among a plurality of SKUs may be allocated as a second item having second identification information. According to an exemplary embodiment, the first condition may be a condition in which the remaining storage life among a plurality of SKUs corresponding to the first item is less than or equal to a first period.

In operation S704, information about the second item may be provided to the user terminal using the item sales service. According to an exemplary embodiment, information about the first item may be provided on a first page, information about the second item may be provided on a second page, and the first page and the second page may be different pages. Information about the second item may be provided only to users who meet a preset condition among users authorized to use the item sales service. According to an exemplary embodiment, a second page may be generated based on the information about the first item, and information about the second item may be provided to the user terminal through the second page.

According to an exemplary embodiment, sales review information about the first item can be recorded on the first page, and sales review information about the second item can be recorded on the second page. For example, when the second item is selected and purchased from the item information providing page 400 or 500 of FIG. 4 or FIG. 5 and a purchase review of the purchased second item is written, the review is managed as a purchase history about the second item.

According to an exemplary embodiment, a purchase request for the second item may be received from the user terminal, and a shopping cart page including discount information about the second item may be provided in response to the purchase request. In this case, the discount information may include information about a service applicable to the purchase of the second item and a discount rate for the second item. In addition, a pick request for the first set of SKUs may be transmitted to the FC 30 in response to the purchase request.

According to an exemplary embodiment, there may be a plurality of second items, and in operation S704, information about the second items may be provided in the order of the shortest remaining discount period corresponding to the plurality of second items. The information about the plurality of second items may include a sales price, a discount rate, and a remaining discount period for each of the second items. According to an exemplary embodiment, the discount rate for each of the plurality of second items is set differently over time, and the sales price of each of the plurality of second items may be a price in which a discount rate for each of the plurality of second items is applied to the sales price of the first item. In addition, the information about the plurality of second items may be displayed differently depending on whether the remaining discount period of the plurality of second items is less than or equal to a predetermined time.

According to an exemplary embodiment, in the case of the second item, the number of items per unit sold at one time may be greater than the number of items per unit sold at one time of the first item. For example, the first item is an item sold in three pieces per bundle, and the second item may be sold in five pieces per bundle. In this way, there is an advantage that items with an approaching expiration date can be quickly cleared.

According to an exemplary embodiment, in operation S704, a SKU having a remaining storage life corresponding to a second condition among the first group of SKUs may be removed from the FC 30. In this case, the second condition is a condition in which the remaining storage life of the SKU of the first group is less than or equal to a second period shorter than the first period. That is, when a predetermined time has passed after the SKU corresponding to the first item is allocated as the second item, the SKU may be discarded at the FC 30.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the first set of SKUs may be updated based on the sale of the second item and the identification of the remaining shelf life of the plurality of SKUs. Then, the information about the second item may be modified based on the updated first set of SKUs. For example, when the second item is sold, the first set of SKUs may be reduced or added, and the FC 30 identifies the remaining shelf life of the new SKU. Thus, there may be a newly allocated second item, and the information about the second item provided through the user terminal may also be modified.

According to an exemplary embodiment, information about the second item can be selected and provided based on information about a user using the item sales service. The user information includes purchase pattern information, and the user information can be information stored in a server or an electronic device that manages the item sales service.

FIG8 is a block diagram illustrating an electronic device for a method of providing item information according to an exemplary embodiment. The electronic device 10 of FIG8 may correspond to the electronic device 10 of FIG1.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the electronic device 10 of the present invention may include a communication device 12, a storage device 14 and a controller 16. The components shown in FIG. 8 are not necessary when implementing the terminal, so those skilled in the art will understand that the electronic device described in the present invention may have more or fewer components than the electronic device listed above. At the same time, in an exemplary embodiment, the controller 16 may include at least one processor.

The communication device 12 may communicate with an external device and may include a transceiver. The external device may be a terminal or a server. The communication technology used by the communication device 12 may include GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), LTE (Long Term Evolution), 5G, WLAN (Wireless LAN), Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity), Bluetooth™, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Infrared Data Association (IrDA), ZigBee, Near Field Communication (NFC), and the like, but are not limited thereto.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the communication device 12 may transmit a command to the FC 30 to check the remaining storage life of the plurality of SKUs corresponding to the first item. Furthermore, the communication device 12 may transmit information about the second item to the user terminal 20. In addition, the communication device 12 receives a purchase request for the second item from the user terminal 20, and may transmit a selection request to the FC 30 or provide the user terminal 20 with a shopping cart page including discount information about the second item.

The storage device 14 can store overall information related to the item sales service. For example, the storage device 14 can store information about the first item and information about the second item. The electronic device 10 can identify the first identification information of the first item and the second identification information of the second item through the storage device 14, and can check the information associated with each item to be provided to the user terminal 20.

The controller 16 may control the overall operation of the electronic device 10 and process data and signals. According to an exemplary embodiment, the controller 16 may identify a first item and cause the FC 30 to check the remaining storage life of a plurality of SKUs corresponding to the first item. In addition, the controller 16 may classify SKUs that meet a specific condition of the remaining storage life into a first group of SKUs and assign the SKUs as second items. The controller 16 may compose pages so that information about the first item is provided on a first page and information about the second item is provided on a second page, and in this case, according to an exemplary embodiment, the second page may be composed based on the information about the first item.

According to an exemplary embodiment, when composing the second page, the controller 16 may display information about the plurality of second items in the order of the shortest remaining discount period corresponding to the plurality of second items. In this case, the information about the plurality of second items may include a sales price, a discount rate, and a remaining discount period for each of the items. The controller 16 may set the discount rate differently over time, and may calculate the sales price according to the changed discount rate.

According to an exemplary embodiment, when the SKU corresponding to the first item is assigned as the second item, the information about the first item may be copied as is and recorded in the storage device 14 as the information about the second item. However, the procedures related to the overall management and sales of the item after the item is changed to the second item may be recorded only as the information about the second item. For example, the controller 16 may separately manage the remaining storage life of the second item, and may determine that the sales price is different from the sales price of the first item. In addition, since the purchase review information based on the purchase of the first item is mapped to the first item and managed, when the SKU corresponding to the first item is assigned as the second item, the review information about the first item may also be copied through the procedure of copying the information. However, purchase review information based on the purchase of the second item after changing to the second item will be managed by mapping only to the second item.

According to an exemplary embodiment, when a purchase request for the second item is received from the user terminal 20 through the communication device 12, the controller 16 may generate a selection request for the first set of SKUs or compose a shopping cart page including discount information of the second item.

Additionally, the controller 16 may check the remaining shelf life of the first set of SKUs and generate an instruction to remove SKUs with a remaining shelf life of less than a specified time period from the FC 30. Thus, items that have not been sold and are approaching their expiration date will be discarded in the FC 30.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the controller 16 checks the sales status of the second item in real time, and identifies the remaining storage life of a plurality of SKUs through the FC 30 in each preset period, so as to update the status of the first set of SKUs corresponding to the second item. Through this operation, the controller 16 can modify the information about the second item provided to the user terminal 20, for example, the inventory status or the sales price.

FIG9 is a block diagram illustrating a user terminal of a method for providing item information according to an exemplary embodiment. The user terminal 20 of FIG9 may correspond to the user terminal 20 of FIG1.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the user terminal 20 of the present invention may include a communication device 22, an output device 24 and a processor 26. The components shown in FIG. 9 are not necessary when implementing the terminal, so those skilled in the art will understand that the terminal described in the present invention may have more or fewer components than the terminal listed above.

As described above with respect to the communication device 12 of FIG. 8 , the communication device 22 can communicate with an external device using a wired/wireless communication technology. According to an exemplary embodiment, the communication device 22 can receive information about an item or a page containing information about an item from an electronic device 10. Furthermore, the communication device 22 can transmit a request input to the user terminal 20 to the electronic device 10, and then receive a response to the request from the electronic device 10.

The output device 24 is used to generate an output associated with a vision, an hearing or a touch, and may include at least one of the following: a display, a sound output portion, a touch module and an optical output portion. The display may be formed as a layered structure with a touch sensor or formed integrally, thereby implementing a touch screen. Such a touch screen may be used as a user input portion providing an input interface between the terminal and the user, and may provide an output interface between the terminal and the user.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the output device 24 may output a first page including information about the first item and a second page including information about the second item. Specifically, on the second page, the information about the second item may be provided in the order of the shortest remaining discount period, and the information about the plurality of second items may be displayed differently depending on whether the remaining discount period is less than or equal to a predetermined time. In addition, the output device 24 may output a shopping cart page according to a purchase request for the second item, and at this time, an icon for emphasizing information about a service applied to the purchase of the second item and an icon for emphasizing a discount rate of the second item are output on the shopping cart page.

The processor 26 can control the overall operation of the user terminal 20 and can process data and signals. According to an exemplary embodiment, the processor 26 can control the operation of the communication device 22 and the output device 24 to provide item information. In addition, the processor 26 can compose a page to be output based on the information about the first item and the second item received from the electronic device 10, or identify the user information so as to provide the page to be output only to a user with a specific privilege. For example, since the second page providing information about the second item can be provided only to users who meet a preset condition among users authorized to use the item sales service, the processor 26 can selectively provide the second page by identifying the user information or receiving the user authorization information through the electronic device 10 to control the output device 24.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the user terminal 20 may further include an input device (not shown) for receiving a response to the item information provided to the user. The input device may include a camera or an image input portion for inputting an image signal, a microphone or an audio input portion for inputting an audio signal, and a user input portion (e.g., a touch key, a mechanical key, etc.) for receiving information from the user. In addition, the input device may include one or more sensors for sensing at least one of the following: information in the terminal, information about the surrounding environment surrounding the terminal, and user information. For example, the input device may include at least one of a proximity sensor, an illumination sensor, a touch sensor, a motion sensor, a finger scan sensor, an optical sensor (for example, a camera), a microphone, and the like. At the same time, the mobile terminal of the present invention can combine and utilize information sensed by at least two or more of these sensors.

The device according to the exemplary embodiments described above may include a processor, a memory for storing and executing program data, a permanent storage device such as a disk drive, a communication port for communicating with an external device, a user interface device such as a touch panel, a key, a button or the like. The method implemented as a software module or algorithm may be stored as a computer-readable program code or program instruction that can be executed on a processor on a computer-readable recording medium. Here, the computer readable recording medium includes a magnetic storage medium (e.g., ROM (read-only memory), RAM (random access memory), floppy disk, hard disk, etc.) and optical reading medium (e.g., CD-ROM and DVD (digital versatile disc)). The computer readable recording medium is distributed on a network computer system so that the computer readable program code can be stored and executed in a distributed manner. The medium can be read by a computer, stored in a memory, and executed on a processor.

The exemplary embodiments of the present invention may be represented by functional block configurations and various processing steps. Such functional blocks may be implemented using various numbers of hardware and/or software configurations that perform specific functions. For example, the exemplary embodiments may employ an integrated circuit configuration that is capable of performing various functions such as memory, processing, logic, lookup tables, or the like by controlling one or more microprocessors or other control devices. Similar to components that can be implemented using software programming or software elements, this exemplary embodiment includes various algorithms implemented using a combination of data structures, programs, routines, or other programmable components and may be implemented using a programming or descriptive language (including C, C++, Java, assembly language, etc.). Functional aspects may be implemented using an algorithm running on one or more processors. In addition, exemplary embodiments of the present invention may employ a typical technique for at least one of electronic environment settings, signal processing, and data processing. Terms such as "mechanism", "component", "component" and "composition" may be used in a broad sense and are not limited to mechanical and physical configurations. Those terms may include the meaning of a series of software routines in conjunction with a processor or the like.

The exemplary embodiments described above are merely examples, and other exemplary embodiments may be implemented within the scope of the claims described later.

10: electronic device 12: communication device 14: storage device 16: controller 20: user terminal 30: fulfillment center 100: first item 110: inventory unit of measure 120: operation 130: inventory unit of measure 200: second item 300: item/specific item 310: time point/stocking date 320: time point 330: first item cycle 340: time point 350: second item cycle 360: expiration date 370: disposal cycle 400: item information provision page/page 410: information 420: sales information 430: surplus discount cycle 500: Item information page 510: Information 520: Sales information 530: Information 600: Shopping cart page 610: Purchase conditions information 620: Order information 621: Discount information 622: Information S701: Operation S702: Operation S703: Operation S704: Operation

FIG. 1 illustrates a system for a method for providing item information according to an exemplary embodiment. FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart for a method for allocating a portion of a first item as a second item according to an exemplary embodiment. FIG. 3 illustrates a diagram for a state of a stock keeping unit (SKU) based on a storage time in an FC according to an exemplary embodiment. FIG. 4 illustrates a diagram for an item information providing page according to an exemplary embodiment. FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram for an item information providing page according to another exemplary embodiment. FIG. 6 illustrates a diagram for a shopping cart page according to an order for a second item according to an exemplary embodiment. FIG. 7 illustrates a flow chart for a method for providing item information according to an exemplary embodiment. FIG8 is a block diagram of an electronic device for providing item information according to a method of an exemplary embodiment. FIG9 is a block diagram of a user terminal for providing item information according to a method of an exemplary embodiment.

S701: Operation

S702: Operation

S703: Operation

S704: Operation

Claims (14)

A method for providing item information of an item in an electronic device, the method comprising: Identifying a first item provided by an item sales service and having first identification information; Checking status information of a plurality of stock keeping units (SKUs) corresponding to the first item in a fulfillment center; Allocating a first group of SKUs among the plurality of SKUs having the status information corresponding to a first condition as a second item having second identification information; and Providing information about the second item to a user terminal using the item sales service, wherein a quantity per sales unit of the second item is greater than a quantity per sales unit of the first item. The method of claim 1, wherein the checking of the status information comprises: checking a first time period and a second time period, during which the item sales service has the highest user access quantity and during which the item is received at the fulfillment center; and checking the status information of the plurality of SKUs during at least one of the first time period and the second time period. The method of claim 1, wherein the status information includes a remaining shelf life of the plurality of SKUs, and the checking of the status information includes: determining a first time period for checking the remaining shelf life based on an inventory quantity associated with the first item at the fulfillment center; and checking the remaining shelf life of the plurality of SKUs in the first time period. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein at the fulfillment center, in response to a quantity of SKUs scheduled to be allocated to the second item being greater than an expected quantity of SKUs based on previous inventory conditions after the first time period from the time the first set of SKUs are allocated to the second item, a step of checking the remaining storage life is performed within a second time period that is shorter than the first time period. The method of claim 1, wherein the information about the first item is provided on a first page, and the information about the second item is provided on a second page, and the first page is different from the second page, wherein providing the information about the second item includes: generating the second page containing the information about the second item based on the information about the first item; and providing the second page to the user terminal. A method as claimed in claim 5, wherein, after generating the second page, purchase review information about the first item is recorded on the first page, and purchase review information about the second item is recorded on the second page. The method of claim 1 further comprises: receiving a purchase request for the second item from the user terminal; and providing a shopping cart page containing discount information of the second item in response to the purchase request, wherein the discount information includes information about a service applicable to a purchase of the second item and a discount rate of the second item. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the information about the second item includes providing the information about the plurality of second items in ascending order of the remaining discount periods corresponding to the plurality of second items, and the information about the plurality of second items includes a sales price, a discount rate, and a remaining discount period for each of the plurality of second items. The method of claim 8, wherein the discount rate of each of the plurality of second items is set differently over time, and the sales price of each of the plurality of second items is a price obtained by applying the discount rate of each of the plurality of second items to the sales price of the first item. The method of claim 3, wherein the first condition is a condition in which the remaining storage life among the plurality of SKUs corresponding to the first item is less than or equal to a first cycle. The method of claim 10, further comprising: After providing the information about the second item, removing the SKUs in the first group of SKUs having the remaining storage life corresponding to a second condition from the fulfillment center, wherein the second condition is a condition in which the remaining storage life of the SKUs in the first group is less than or equal to a second period that is shorter than the first period. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the information about the second item is provided to a user who satisfies a preset condition among users authorized to use the item sales service. An electronic device for providing item information based on a storage life of an item, the electronic device comprising: a communication device; a storage device; and a controller configured to control the communication device and the storage device, wherein the controller is configured to: identify a first item provided by an item sales service and having first identification information via the storage device; check status information of a plurality of stock keeping units (SKUs) corresponding to the first item in a fulfillment center via the communication device; assign a first group of SKUs among the plurality of SKUs having the status information corresponding to a first condition as a second item having second identification information; and provide information about the second item to a user terminal using the item sales service via the communication device, wherein a quantity per sales unit of the second item is greater than a quantity per sales unit of the first item. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium comprising a computer program for executing the method of claim 1.