WO2024171367A1

WO2024171367A1 - Information processing system, information processing method, and recording medium

Info

Publication number: WO2024171367A1
Application number: PCT/JP2023/005432
Authority: WO
Inventors: 菜摘森
Original assignee: 日本電気株式会社
Priority date: 2023-02-16
Filing date: 2023-02-16
Publication date: 2024-08-22

Abstract

An information processing system according to the present disclosure comprises: an output means that outputs introduction information that is related to a real store selling an object commodity and that is displayed on a screen of electronic commerce in which the object commodity is sold; a determination means that determines, on the basis of presentation information that is related to viewing of the introduction information and that is presented by a customer at a store to which the customer has visited, whether the customer has shopped at the real store introduced in the introduction information; and a calculation means that calculates, on the basis of the determination result, an introduction fee to be paid by the real store.

Description

Information processing system, information processing method, and recording medium

This disclosure relates to information processing systems, etc.

Various products are sold through e-commerce. Customers have a need to be able to see the actual products being sold. Therefore, customers may view products being sold through e-commerce and then purchase the products at a physical store. Customers may also view the actual products at a physical store and then purchase the products through e-commerce.

Patent Document 1 discloses a store information providing system. In this system, location information of a store displaying products is sent to a customer terminal.

JP 2002-245333 A

If display store information is presented to e-commerce users, customers may purchase products at physical stores, which could result in lower e-commerce sales. Therefore, sellers of products through e-commerce have little motivation to introduce physical stores operated by parties with no relationship to them.

The purpose of this disclosure is to provide an information processing system that supports the introduction of physical stores in e-commerce.

The information processing system according to the present disclosure includes an output means for outputting referral information related to a physical store selling the target product, the referral information being displayed on an electronic commerce screen that sells the target product; a determination means for determining whether the customer has shopped at the physical store introduced in the referral information based on information presented by the customer at the store the customer visited regarding viewing the referral information; and a calculation means for calculating a referral fee to be paid by the physical store based on the determination result.

The information processing method disclosed herein outputs referral information about a physical store selling a target product, which is information displayed on an e-commerce screen that sells the target product, and determines whether the customer has shopped at the physical store introduced in the referral information based on information presented by the customer at the store the customer visited regarding viewing the referral information, and calculates a referral fee to be paid by the physical store based on the determination result.

The program disclosed herein causes a computer to execute a process of outputting referral information about a physical store selling a target product, the referral information being information displayed on an e-commerce screen that sells the target product, determining whether the customer has shopped at the physical store introduced in the referral information based on information presented by the customer at the store the customer visited that the customer viewed the referral information, and calculating a referral fee to be paid by the physical store based on the determination result. The program may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium.

This disclosure can help introduce physical stores to e-commerce.

1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information processing system according to a first embodiment. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of the information processing system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information processing system according to a second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing an example of operation according to the second embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an electronic commerce screen. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a code display screen. FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an information processing system according to a third embodiment. FIG. 13 is a sequence diagram showing an example of operation according to the third embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a pre-registration screen. FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an information processing system according to a fourth embodiment. FIG. 13 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation of the information processing system according to the fourth embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an electronic commerce screen. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a computer.

[First embodiment]
A basic configuration of an information processing system according to the present disclosure will be described as a first embodiment. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of an information processing system 100 according to the first embodiment. The information processing system 100 includes an output unit 101, a determination unit 102, and a calculation unit 103.

The output unit 101 outputs introductory information about a physical store selling the target product, which is information displayed on an e-commerce screen selling the target product. The e-commerce screen is a transaction screen in an online shop or online shopping mall. The introductory information is information that introduces the physical store selling the target product. The introductory information includes the name of the physical store, etc. A customer can check the actual target product by visiting the physical store displayed on the screen. The output unit 101 outputs introductory information about the physical store even if the seller selling the target product on the e-commerce screen is different from the operator of the physical store.

The physical store that a customer visits is referred to as the visited store. The determination unit 102 determines whether the customer has shopped at the physical store introduced in the referral information based on the presented information regarding the viewing of the referral information presented by the customer at the visited store. This allows the determination unit 102 to determine whether the e-commerce screen including the referral information has been displayed to the customer at the visited store. The presented information includes the referral information or is associated with the referral information. In the second embodiment, an example is described in which the presented information is a code including the referral information. Also, in the third embodiment, an example is described in which the presented information is customer identification information associated with the referral information.

For example, if the store visited and the presented information from the customer match the physical store indicated in the presented information, the determination unit 102 determines that the customer has shopped at the physical store introduced in the referral information. If the store visited and the physical store do not match, the determination unit 102 determines that the customer has not shopped at the physical store introduced in the referral information.

In addition to determining whether the customer has shopped at the physical store introduced in the referral information, the determination unit 102 may determine whether the target product has been purchased based on product information of the purchased product purchased by the customer at the store visited. For example, if the target product indicated by the presented information matches the purchased product, the determination unit 102 determines that the target product displayed in the referral information has been purchased. The determination unit 102 may determine whether the target product has been purchased when it determines that shopping has been done at the physical store introduced in the referral information. Alternatively, the determination unit 102 may determine whether the target product has been purchased even when it determines that the physical store introduced in the referral information does not match the store visited.

The calculation unit 103 calculates the referral fee to be paid by the physical store where the referral information is displayed, based on the determination result by the determination unit 102. The calculated referral fee is paid, for example, to the seller who sells the target product on the e-commerce screen where the referral information is displayed. The calculation unit 103 may calculate the referral fee to be paid every predetermined period, such as every month.

If it is determined that the customer has shopped at the physical store introduced in the referral information, a referral fee is paid. For example, the referral fee calculated by the calculation unit 103 increases according to the sales or number of customers who have shopped at the physical store introduced in the referral information. If it is determined that the customer has not shopped at the physical store introduced in the referral information, the referral fee paid by the physical store does not increase.

The calculation unit 103 may calculate the referral fee depending on whether or not the target product has been purchased. The calculation unit 103 may calculate a higher referral fee when the target product has been purchased compared to when the target product has not been purchased. Alternatively, the calculation unit 103 may calculate a higher referral fee when the customer purchases another product that is more expensive than the target product compared to when the target product has been purchased. Alternatively, the calculation unit 103 may perform calculations assuming that no referral fee will be paid when the target product has not been purchased.

As an example, if the target product is purchased, the calculation unit 103 calculates a% (a>0) of the sales of the target product as the referral fee to be paid by the physical store. If the target product is not purchased, the calculation unit 103 calculates b% (a>b>0) of the sales of the purchased product as the referral fee. Alternatively, if the target product is not purchased, the calculation unit 103 may calculate a referral fee according to the number of customers who have presented presentation information indicating the physical store and have not purchased the target product indicated by the presentation information.

If a customer purchases a combination of the target product and a product other than the target product, the calculation unit 103 may calculate the referral fee by multiplying the sales of the target product and the sales of the other purchased products by different percentages.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the information processing system 100 according to the first embodiment.

The output unit 101 outputs introductory information about the physical store selling the target product, which is information to be displayed on the screen of the e-commerce site selling the target product (step S1).

The determination unit 102 determines whether the customer has shopped at the physical store introduced in the recommendation information (step S2). For example, the determination unit 102 makes the determination based on the presented information regarding the customer's viewing of the recommendation information, which is presented by the customer at the store where the customer visited.

The calculation unit 103 calculates the referral fee to be paid by the physical store where the referral information is displayed based on the determination result by the determination unit 102 (step S3).

As a result, the information processing system 100 ends the operation shown in FIG. 2.

According to one embodiment, the determination unit 102 determines whether the customer has made a purchase using the referral information displayed on the e-commerce screen selling the target product. Then, based on the determination result by the determination unit 102, the calculation unit 103 calculates the referral fee to be paid by the physical store where the referral information is displayed. Therefore, the information processing system 100 supports sellers selling products via e-commerce to receive rewards from physical stores even when a customer only browses an e-commerce site and does not purchase a product via e-commerce. The rewards motivate e-commerce sellers to introduce physical stores that are not related to them. Therefore, the information processing system 100 can support the introduction of physical stores where the actual product can be confirmed on the e-commerce screen. Then, the customer can easily obtain information about physical stores selling products.

[Second embodiment]
3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information processing system 110 according to the second embodiment. The information processing system 110 includes an output unit 101, a determination unit 102, and a calculation unit 103. Regarding the configuration of the information processing system 110 according to the second embodiment, a description of the same configuration as that of the information processing system 100 according to the first embodiment will be omitted.

In the second embodiment, it is assumed that the information processing system 100 and the electronic commerce system 20 are operated by the same entity. That is, a case will be described in which the information processing system 110 is realized as one function of the electronic commerce system 20. However, the information processing system 100 and the electronic commerce system 20 may be operated by different entities. The information processing system 110 may be realized as a system separate from the electronic commerce system 20, and may be connected via a communication network.

The electronic commerce system 20 is a system that realizes an online shop or online shopping mall.

The information processing system 110 is communicatively connected to the customer terminal 30, the store system 40, and the store inventory DB (database) 50.

The customer terminal 30 is a terminal used by a customer to display an e-commerce screen. The customer searches for and purchases products by accessing the e-commerce system 20 through the customer terminal 30. The customer terminal 30 is, for example, a smartphone, tablet, or personal computer.

The store system 40 is a system that manages inventory and sales of products at a physical store. The store system 40 may include a POS (Point of Sales) server and a POS terminal. For simplicity, one store system 40 is shown in FIG. 3, but multiple store systems 40 may be provided to manage products sold at multiple physical stores. Each of the multiple stores may be assigned an identifier that uniquely identifies the store.

The store information DB50 stores the inventory status of products at physical stores. For example, the store information DB50 stores the inventory status of multiple physical stores transmitted from each of multiple store systems 40. The inventory status stored in the store information DB50 may be updated at a predetermined time interval, or may be updated in real time based on the sales status at the store. The store information DB50 may store the current inventory status.

In the second embodiment, the output unit 101 outputs introductory information about a physical store selling the target product along with information displayed on the e-commerce screen for the target product. For example, the output unit 101 references the store information DB 50 to generate introductory information about a physical store selling the target product searched for by the customer terminal 30. Then, the output unit 101 outputs the generated introductory information and the information displayed on the e-commerce screen for the target product to the customer terminal 30.

In addition, in the second embodiment, the output unit 101 outputs a code including the displayed referral information. For example, the output unit 101 generates and outputs a two-dimensional code that encodes information identifying the physical store introduced in the referral information. The output unit 101 may generate a code including information on the target product for which the referral information is displayed. The output unit 101 may output an e-commerce screen including both the code and the text referral information to the customer terminal 30. Alternatively, the output unit 101 may output separate screens, a screen including the code and a screen including the text referral information.

The code is presented by the customer at the store as presentation information. The code functions, for example, as a coupon that can be used for shopping at the physical store. The coupon may be usable only for purchasing the target product, or it may also be usable for products other than the target product. By presenting the coupon at the physical store, the customer can receive discounts or benefits such as points. The profit that the customer obtains when purchasing a product other than the target product may be set smaller than when purchasing the target product.

The determination unit 102 receives from the store system 40 the information indicated by the code read at the visited store and the product information of the purchased item. If the physical store indicated by the code matches the visited store where the code was read, the determination unit 102 determines that the customer shopped at the physical store introduced in the recommendation information. This allows the determination unit 102 to determine whether or not a screen containing the recommendation information of the physical store has been displayed to the customer at the physical store.

In addition to determining whether the customer has shopped at the introduced physical store, the determination unit 102 may determine whether the target product for which the introduction information was displayed has been purchased by checking whether the purchased product matches the target product indicated by the code read at the visited store.

The referral fee calculated by the calculation unit 103 may be output to the operator of the electronic commerce system 20. The online shop seller will request the referral fee from the physical store based on the output information. In the case of an online shopping mall, the mall operator and the seller who opens a store in the mall may be different. In this case, the mall operator may request the referral fee from the physical store. The mall operator may distribute the referral fee paid by the physical store to the seller who opens a store in the mall. The calculation unit 103 may also output the calculation result of the referral fee to the store system 40. This allows the operator of the physical store to pay the referral fee to the seller who sells products in the electronic commerce system 20 based on the output information.

FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation of the information processing system 110 according to the second embodiment. For example, the operation of FIG. 4 is started in response to the customer terminal 30 accessing the electronic commerce system 20 and the customer selecting one of the target products from the search results.

The customer terminal 30 sends a request for an e-commerce screen for selling the target product to the e-commerce system 20 (step S101).

The output unit 101 generates referral information about the brick-and-mortar store selling the target product (step S102). Then, the output unit 101 generates a code indicating the target product and the brick-and-mortar store selling the target product (step S103). After that, the output unit 101 outputs information to be displayed on the e-commerce screen, including the generated referral information and code, to the customer terminal 30 (step S104).

The customer terminal 30 displays the e-commerce screen including the referral information and code output from the output unit 101 (step S105). FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the e-commerce screen displayed by the customer terminal 30 in step S105. The e-commerce screen includes the product name, image, price, and other product descriptions of the target product. The customer can purchase the target product at the online shop by pressing the "Add to cart" button D1. The referral information display area D2 displays information about store A and store B that sell the target product. Store A and store B are physical stores where customers can check the actual product.

The customer terminal 30 may display the code output from the output unit 101 in the same area as the display area D2 or in an area scrolled down. Alternatively, the customer terminal 30 may display a code including referral information on the same screen or a different screen in response to a click on a physical store displayed in the display area D2. Figure 6 is a diagram showing an example of a code display screen. For example, when a customer selects store A in the display area D2 of Figure 5, the customer terminal 30 displays the screen of Figure 6. The code in Figure 6 is a coupon code that can be used at store A, and a customer can receive a discount on eligible products by presenting the code at the physical store.

The store system 40 reads the code presented by the customer at the store (step S106). The store system 40 executes the purchase process for the item purchased by the customer (step S107). The purchase process includes, for example, processing related to registering the purchased item in the POS system, applying discounts, settlement, and point allocation. The store system 40 transmits information indicated by the read code and product information of the purchased item to the information processing system 110 (step S108). Note that step S108 may be executed during execution of step S107, or after completion of step S107.

The determination unit 102 determines whether the customer has shopped at the physical store introduced in the recommendation information (step S109). For example, the determination unit 102 determines whether the store where the code was read matches the physical store indicated by the code. At this time, the determination unit 102 may determine whether the target product indicated by the code matches the purchased product.

The calculation unit 103 calculates the referral fee to be paid by the brick-and-mortar store where the referral information is displayed based on the determination result by the determination unit 102 (step S110). The calculation unit 103 transmits the calculation result to the store system 40 (step S111).

This concludes the explanation of the operation example in Figure 4.

According to one embodiment, the determination unit 102 determines whether the customer has shopped at the physical store introduced in the referral information based on the code read at the visited store. Then, the calculation unit 103 calculates the referral fee to be paid by the physical store introduced in the referral information based on the determination result. Therefore, similar to the first embodiment, the information processing system 110 can assist in introducing physical stores where the customer can check the actual product on the e-commerce screen.

[Third embodiment]
Another configuration of the information processing system according to the present disclosure will be described as a third embodiment. The third embodiment can be combined with the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information processing system 120 according to the third embodiment. The information processing system 120 differs from the information processing system 100 according to the first embodiment and the information processing system 110 according to the second embodiment in that the information processing system 120 includes a registration unit 104. The information processing system 120 is also communicatively connected to the referred customer DB 21. Descriptions of the configurations of each system that are the same as those of the first and second embodiments will be omitted.

The referred customer DB21 is a database that stores customer identification information of customers who have viewed referral information about a physical store on the e-commerce screen that sells the target product. The customer identification information is, for example, a points service, a payment service, or a member ID (identifier) of the e-commerce system 20. The points service is, for example, a service that allows points to be accumulated and used at various stores. The payment service is, for example, a service that provides payment by electronic money, credit card, debit card, etc. The customer identification information stored in the referred customer DB21 can be used as presentation information.

The electronic commerce system 20 identifies the customer viewing the electronic commerce screen. The customer identification information of the customer who is the user may be preregistered in the electronic commerce system 20.

The registration unit 104 registers the customer identification information of the customer using the customer terminal 30 on which the referral information is displayed, in association with the displayed referral information. The registration unit 104 may register the referral information and the target product for which the referral information is displayed in the referred customer DB 21, in association with each other. The registration unit 104 may register information in response to the referral information being displayed. Alternatively, the registration unit 104 may register information after receiving a registration request from the customer terminal 30 after the referral information is displayed. If the customer identification information has not been registered in advance in the electronic commerce system 20, the registration unit 104 may receive the customer identification information from the customer terminal 30 along with the registration request.

The output unit 101 may notify the registration unit 104 of which customers the referral information has been displayed to. The output unit 101 may output a code including customer identification information of the customer who viewed the referral information to the customer terminal 30. The code is, for example, a barcode or a two-dimensional code. For example, the code may include information indicating the target product and the actual store for which the referral information has been displayed, as in the second embodiment. The code may function as a coupon.

The customer presents a medium indicating customer identification information at the store they visit. The medium indicating customer identification information is, for example, a point card, a credit card, a debit card, or other medium on which a code is recorded. The medium indicating customer identification information may also be the customer's smartphone. The code including the customer identification information may be a two-dimensional code that the customer presents for cashless payment. The code may also be a code output by the output unit 101.

The determination unit 102 determines whether the customer has shopped at the physical store introduced in the referral information based on whether the physical store introduced in the referral information associated with the presented information, which is the customer identification information read at the visited store, matches the visited store from which the customer identification information was read. For example, the determination unit 102 receives customer identification information presented by the customer at the visited store from the store system 40. The determination unit 102 refers to the referred customer DB 21 and searches for the referral information registered in association with the received customer identification information. If the visited store for which the customer identification information was presented matches the physical store introduced in the referral information registered in association with the customer identification information, the determination unit 102 determines that the customer has shopped at the referred physical store. This allows the determination unit 102 to determine whether or not there is a display history of a screen including the referral information of the physical store for the customer at the visited store.

The determination unit 102 may determine whether the target product for which the referral information is displayed has been purchased. For example, the determination unit 102 may refer to the referred customer DB 21 and determine whether the target product has been purchased based on whether the purchased product matches the target product associated with the referral information.

The output unit 101 may refer to the store information DB 50 and notify the customer terminal 30 of the stock status of the physical store. The output unit 101 outputs a notification to the customer terminal 30 that the stock at the physical store is below a specified level. For example, the output unit 101 may notify the customer of the stock status of the target product at the physical store for which the registration unit 104 has registered the display of the recommendation information. By notifying that the target product is out of stock, the output unit 101 can prevent the customer from heading to the physical store. Also, by notifying that stock is running low, the output unit 101 can encourage the customer to head to the physical store early.

The output unit 101 may output a notification of the display location of the target product in the physical store to the customer terminal 30. In this case, the store information DB 50 may store the display location of the product for each physical store, and the output unit 101 references the store information DB 50 and outputs the display location. This allows the customer to smoothly check the actual target product in the physical store.

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation of the information processing system 120 according to the third embodiment. For example, the operation of FIG. 8 is started in response to the customer terminal 30 accessing the electronic commerce system 20 and the customer selecting one of the target products from the search results.

The customer terminal 30 sends a request for an e-commerce screen selling the searched target product to the e-commerce system 20 (step S201).

The output unit 101 generates referral information about a physical store that sells the target product (step S202). The output unit 101 then outputs to the customer terminal 30 an e-commerce screen that includes the generated referral information and a screen that includes a registration button for accepting a registration request (step S203). For example, the output unit 101 outputs the screens of FIG. 5 and FIG. 9 to the customer terminal 30.

The customer terminal 30 sends a registration request to the information processing system 120 regarding visiting the physical store (step S204). FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a pre-registration screen for operations related to the registration request. For example, if the customer selects store A in display area D2 of FIG. 5, the customer terminal 30 displays the pre-registration screen of FIG. 9. The pre-registration screen includes, for example, the target product, the physical store selling the target product, the inventory status of the physical store, and the benefits to be given to the customer. If the customer decides to see the actual target product at store A, the customer presses button D6. In response to button D6 being pressed, the customer terminal 30 sends a registration request to the information processing system 120.

The registration unit 104 registers the customer who viewed the referral information in the referred customer DB 21 (step S205). For example, the registration unit 104 registers the customer's customer identification information in association with the target product and the physical store for which the referral information was displayed. The registration unit 104 sends a notification to the customer terminal 30 that registration has been completed (step S206).

Note that the output of the screen including the registration button in step S203 and the acceptance of the registration request in step S204 may be performed as necessary. The registration unit 104 may register a customer in response to the display of an e-commerce screen including the referral information on the customer terminal 30 in step S203.

The store system 40 reads the customer identification information that the customer presents at the store (step S207). The store system 40 then executes the purchase process for the items purchased by the customer (step S208). The store system 40 transmits the read customer identification information and item information for the purchased items to the information processing system 110 (step S209). Note that step S209 may be executed during the execution of step S208, or may be executed after step S208 is completed.

The determination unit 102 determines whether the customer has shopped at the physical store introduced in the referral information (step S210). For example, the determination unit 102 determines whether the store where the customer identification information was presented matches the physical store registered in association with the customer identification information. At this time, the determination unit 102 may determine whether the target product registered in association with the customer identification information matches the purchased product.

The calculation unit 103 calculates the referral fee to be paid by the brick-and-mortar store introduced in the referral information based on the determination result by the determination unit 102 (step S211). The calculation unit 103 transmits the calculation result to the store system 40 (step S212).

This concludes the explanation of the operation example in Figure 8.

According to one embodiment, the determination unit 102 determines whether the customer has shopped at the physical store introduced in the referral information based on information associated with the customer identification information. Then, the calculation unit 103 calculates the referral fee to be paid by the physical store introduced in the referral information based on the determination result. Therefore, similar to the first and second embodiments, the information processing system 120 can help provide benefits by introducing physical stores where the actual product can be viewed on the e-commerce screen.

[Fourth embodiment]
In the fourth embodiment, it is assumed that the information processing system 100 is operated by a different operating entity from the electronic commerce system 20. Regarding the configuration of the fourth embodiment, the description of the same configuration as that of the first embodiment will be omitted. Note that the fourth embodiment can also be combined with the second and third embodiments. In the fourth embodiment, the presented information may be a code or customer identification information.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information processing system 100 according to the fourth embodiment. In the fourth embodiment, the information processing system 100 is communicatively connected to a plurality of electronic commerce systems 20-1, ..., 20-x (x is an integer equal to or greater than 2). Each of the plurality of electronic commerce systems 20 realizes a different online shop or online shopping mall. Note that the information processing system 100 according to the fourth embodiment can also be applied to a case where there is only one electronic commerce system 20.

FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation of the information processing system 100 according to the fourth embodiment. For example, the operation of FIG. 11 is started in response to the customer terminal 30 accessing one of the multiple electronic commerce systems 20 and the customer selecting one of the target products from the search results.

The customer terminal 30 sends a request for an e-commerce screen for selling the target product to the e-commerce system 20-1 (step S301). The e-commerce system 20-1 sends a request for introduction information for the target product to the information processing system 100 (step S302). In step S302, the e-commerce system 20-1 may send customer identification information of the user of the customer terminal 30 to the information processing system 100.

The output unit 101 generates referral information about the physical store selling the target product (step S303). The output unit 101 transmits the referral information about the target product to the electronic commerce system 20-1 (step S304). The electronic commerce system 20-1 outputs to the customer terminal 30 a screen for electronic commerce selling the target product, the screen including the received referral information (step S305).

In addition, the output unit 101 may output a code associated with the referral information in step S304. Furthermore, if the information processing system 100 includes a registration unit 104 according to the third embodiment, the registration unit 104 may receive customer identification information and register the customer identification information in association with the referral information in step S303 or after step S305.

The store system 40 reads the presented information presented by the customer at the store (step S306). For example, the store system 40 reads the presented information using a barcode reader, scanner, or camera. The presented information may be transmitted from the customer terminal 30 to the store system 40 using short-range wireless communication. The store system 40 executes a purchase process for the item purchased by the customer (step S307). The store system 40 transmits the read presented information and item information of the purchased item to the information processing system 100 (step S308). Step S308 may be executed during execution of step S307, or after step S307 is completed.

The determination unit 102 determines, based on the presented information, whether the customer has shopped at the physical store introduced in the recommendation information (step S309). Here, the determination unit 102 may determine, based on the presented information and product information of the purchased product, whether the customer has purchased the target product related to the displayed recommendation information.

The calculation unit 103 calculates the referral fee to be paid by the physical store introduced in the referral information based on the determination result by the determination unit 102 (step S310). The calculation unit 103 transmits the calculation result to the electronic commerce system 20-1 (step S311). The calculation unit 103 also transmits the calculation result to the store system 40 (step S312).

This concludes the explanation of the operation example in Figure 11.

According to one embodiment, the information processing system 100 can display introductory information about physical stores that sell target products on the screens of multiple online shops or online shopping malls. The information processing system 100 also manages the inventory status of the physical stores on behalf of the electronic commerce system 20. Therefore, information can be managed more efficiently than when multiple electronic commerce systems 20 each manage the inventory status of a physical store.

[Modification]
The above-described embodiments may be modified in various ways. Modifications will be described below.

A customer may view multiple products online and want to check the actual products at a physical store. At this time, the customer terminal 30 displays an e-commerce screen selling each of the multiple target products, and displays introductory information about the physical stores selling each of the multiple target products on each screen.

The presented information may relate to a combination of multiple target products and a physical store that sells the multiple target products. For example, when the output unit 101 outputs a code as in the second embodiment, product information indicating each of the multiple target products is recorded in the code. Alternatively, when the information processing system includes a registration unit 104 as in the third embodiment, the registration unit 104 links information regarding the multiple target products to customer identification information and registers it.

FIGS. 12A and 12B are diagrams showing examples of screens displayed on the customer terminal 30 when the presented information is configured to be associated with multiple target products.

The screen in FIG. 12A is an e-commerce screen similar to that in FIG. 5, but includes a check box D4. If the customer wishes to check the actual product, he or she checks the check box D4 on the screen for each target product. If the customer wishes to check the checked target product on their own customer terminal 30, they press the confirmation button D5. When the confirmation button D5 is pressed, the customer terminal 30 displays the operation screen in FIG. 12B.

The operation screen in FIG. 12B displays the physical stores that sell each of the multiple products. For example, let us explain the case where a customer checks two target products, "Bag AAA" and "Bag BBB". Store A sells both "Bag AAA" and "Bag BBB". Store B sells "Bag AAA". If the customer decides to see the actual target products at Store A, the customer presses button D6-1. If the customer decides to see the actual target products at Store B, the customer presses button D6-2.

In response to pressing of button D6-1 or D6-2, the customer terminal 30 may display a code indicating the physical store selling the target product. For example, when button D6-1 is pressed, the customer terminal 30 displays two target products sold at store A and a code indicating store A.

In addition, the customer terminal 30 may send a registration request to the information processing system 120 in response to pressing of button D6-1 or D6-2. For example, when button D6-1 is pressed, the registration unit 104 of the information processing system 120 registers the two target products sold at store A and information indicating store A in association with the customer identification information.

This concludes the explanation of the modified example in which recommendation information about multiple target products is displayed.

In each embodiment, the output unit 101 may output the referral information according to the priority of the physical store based on the customer's location information. The closer to the customer, the higher the priority of the physical store may be set. The output unit 101 selects one or more physical stores in order of the physical store with the highest priority. Then, the output unit 101 outputs the referral information related to the selected physical store. The customer's location information is, for example, the delivery address of the customer registered in the e-commerce system 20. Alternatively, the customer's location information may be the location information of the customer terminal 30 measured by a satellite positioning system.

In the second embodiment, the information processing system 110 may manage the number of coupons displayed. An upper limit may be set for the number of coupons to be displayed. The output unit 101 will not output a number of coupons that exceeds the upper limit.

Coupons displayed on the customer terminal 30 may be duplicated and transferred to others. Therefore, there is a possibility that more coupons may be used than the number managed by the information processing system 110. The determination unit 102 may determine whether the number of coupons used exceeds the number of coupons displayed. If the number of coupons used exceeds the number of coupons generated, the calculation unit 103 may calculate a referral fee according to the number of coupons displayed.

In each embodiment, the store system 40 may manage product information and the display positions of the products within the store. The store system 40 may also include a terminal that is installed in the store and displays the display positions of the products. The store system 40 reads the presented information. The store system 40 then displays the display positions within the store of the target products indicated by the presented information. This allows customers to smoothly check the actual target products in the physical store.

In each of the above embodiments, the physical store has been described as paying the referral fee. However, a manufacturing company that manufactures the product and delivers the manufactured product to the physical store may also pay the referral fee on behalf of the physical store.

Next, we will explain modified examples that can be applied when introduction information is displayed on the e-commerce screen about a physical store related to a seller who sells products in the e-commerce system 20. For example, an online shop screen may display introduction information about a physical store operated by an operator who is the same as the seller of the online shop. Also, an online shopping mall screen may display information about a physical store operated by a seller who opens a store.

The output unit 101 may output a different code depending on whether the seller selling the target product on the e-commerce screen on which the referral information is displayed is the same as the operator of the physical store introduced in the referral information. For example, the output unit 101 outputs a code including information indicating whether the seller is the same as the operator of the physical store. Furthermore, when the seller is the same as the operator of the physical store, the output unit 101 may output a coupon code that is more beneficial to the customer than when the seller is different. This allows the e-commerce seller to guide customers to physical stores that are associated with the seller.

The registration unit 104 may register information indicating whether the seller is the same as the operator of the physical store in association with the customer identification information of the customer who viewed the referral information.

The calculation unit 103 may calculate the referral fee to be paid by the physical store depending on whether or not the seller selling the target product on the e-commerce screen on which the referral information is displayed is the same as the operator of the physical store introduced in the referral information. For example, the calculation unit 103 does not increase the referral fee when the seller of the online shop is the same as the operator of the physical store introduced in the referral information. In other words, the physical store does not pay a referral fee to the online shop. Also, for example, the calculation unit 103 may calculate a higher referral fee when the seller of the online shopping mall is different from the operator of the physical store introduced in the referral information compared to when they are the same.

[Hardware configuration]
In each of the above-described embodiments, each component of the

information processing systems

100, 110, and 120 is represented as a functional block. A part or all of each component of the

information processing systems

100, 110, and 120 may be realized by any combination of the computer 500 and a program.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a computer 500. Referring to FIG. 13, the computer 500 includes, for example, a processor 501, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 502, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 503, a program 504, a storage device 505, a drive device 507, a communication interface 508, an input device 509, an input/output interface 511, and a bus 512.

The processor 501 controls the entire computer 500. An example of the processor 501 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit). There is no particular limit to the number of processors 501, and there may be one or more processors 501.

The program 504 includes instructions for implementing each function of the

information processing systems

100, 110, and 120. The program 504 is stored in advance in the ROM 502, RAM 503, and storage device 505. The processor 501 implements each function of the

information processing systems

100, 110, and 120 by executing the instructions included in the program 504. The RAM 503 may also store data to be processed in each function of the

information processing systems

100, 110, and 120.

The drive device 507 reads and writes data from the recording medium 506. The communication interface 508 provides an interface with a communication network. The input device 509 is, for example, a mouse or keyboard, and accepts information input from an administrator or the like. The output device 510 is, for example, a display, and outputs (displays) information to an administrator or the like. The input/output interface 511 provides an interface with peripheral devices. The bus 512 connects these hardware components. The program 504 may be supplied to the processor 501 via a communication network, or may be stored in advance on the recording medium 506 and read out by the drive device 507 and supplied to the processor 501.

Note that the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 13 is an example, and other components may be added, or some components may not be included.

There are various variations in the method of realizing the

information processing systems

100, 110, and 120. For example, the

information processing systems

100, 110, and 120 may be realized by any combination of different computers and programs for each component. In addition, multiple components of the

information processing systems

100, 110, and 120 may be realized by any combination of a single computer and program.

Furthermore, at least a portion of the

information processing systems

100, 110, and 120 may be provided in a Software as a Service (SaaS) format. In other words, at least a portion of the functions for realizing the

information processing systems

100, 110, and 120 may be performed by software executed via a network.

The present disclosure has been described above with reference to the embodiments, but the present disclosure is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. Various modifications that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present disclosure within the scope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the configurations in each embodiment can be combined with each other as long as they do not deviate from the scope of the present disclosure.

Some or all of the above embodiments can be described as follows, but are not limited to the following:

[Appendix 1]
An output means for outputting information displayed on an electronic commerce screen that sells the target product, the information being indicative of a real store that sells the target product;
a determination means for determining whether the customer has shopped at the brick-and-mortar store introduced in the recommendation information based on information presented by the customer at the store the customer visited regarding the viewing of the recommendation information;
and a calculation means for calculating a referral fee to be paid by the brick-and-mortar store based on the determination result.

[Appendix 2]
The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the determining means determines whether the target product has been purchased based on product information of a product purchased by the customer at the store.

[Appendix 3]
The information processing system according to claim 2, wherein the calculation means calculates the referral fee depending on whether the target product has been purchased.

[Appendix 4]
The information processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the output means outputs a notification that the stock of the target product at the physical store is below a predetermined level to the terminal that output the recommendation information.

[Appendix 5]
The calculation means calculates the referral fee depending on whether the seller selling the target product on the e-commerce screen is the same as the operator of the physical store.

[Appendix 6]
The determination means determines whether the customer has shopped at the physical store introduced in the recommendation information based on whether the physical store indicated in the presentation information presented by the customer at the visited store coincides with the visited store.
6. An information processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

[Appendix 7]
The information processing system described in Appendix 6, wherein the determination means determines whether the target product has been purchased based on whether the target product indicated by the presentation information presented by the customer at the visited store matches a purchase product purchased by the customer at the visited store.

[Appendix 8]
a registration means for registering customer identification information of a customer using the terminal on which the referral information is displayed in association with the referral information;
The determination means determines whether the customer has shopped at the physical store introduced in the recommendation information based on whether the physical store introduced in the recommendation information associated with the presented information, which is the customer identification information presented by the customer at the visited store, matches the visited store.
6. An information processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

[Appendix 9]
The information processing system described in Appendix 8, wherein the determination means determines whether the target product has been purchased based on whether the target product associated with the customer identification information presented at the store matches a purchase product purchased by the customer at the store.

[Appendix 10]
Outputting information displayed on an electronic commerce screen that sells the target product, which is introductory information about a physical store that sells the target product;
determining whether the customer has shopped at the brick-and-mortar store introduced in the recommendation information based on information presented by the customer at the store where the customer has visited, regarding the customer having viewed the recommendation information;
The information processing method calculates a referral fee to be paid by the physical store based on the determination result.

[Appendix 11]
Outputting information displayed on an electronic commerce screen that sells the target product, which is introductory information about a physical store that sells the target product;
determining whether the customer has shopped at the brick-and-mortar store introduced in the recommendation information based on information presented by the customer at the store the customer visited, the information being related to the customer's viewing of the recommendation information;
A recording medium that non-temporarily records a program that causes a computer to execute a process of calculating a referral fee to be paid by the physical store based on the determination result.

100, 110, 120 Information processing system 101 Output unit 102 Determination unit 103 Calculation unit 104 Registration unit 20 Electronic commerce system 21 Referral customer DB
30 Customer terminal 40 Store system 50 Store information DB

Claims

An output means for outputting information displayed on an electronic commerce screen that sells the target product, the information being indicative of a real store that sells the target product;
A determination means for determining whether the customer has shopped at the physical store introduced in the recommendation information based on information presented by the customer at the store the customer visited regarding the viewing of the recommendation information;
and a calculation means for calculating a referral fee to be paid by the brick-and-mortar store based on the determination result.
The information processing system according to claim 1 , wherein the determining means determines whether the target product has been purchased based on product information of a product purchased by the customer at the store visited.
The information processing system according to claim 2 , wherein the calculation means calculates the referral fee depending on whether or not the target product has been purchased.
The information processing system according to claim 1 , wherein the output unit outputs a notification that the stock of the target product in the physical store is below a predetermined level to the terminal that output the recommendation information.
The information processing system according to claim 1 , wherein the calculation means calculates the referral fee depending on whether the seller selling the target product on the e-commerce screen is the same as the operator of the physical store.
The determination means determines whether the customer has shopped at the physical store introduced in the recommendation information based on whether the physical store indicated in the presentation information presented by the customer at the visited store coincides with the visited store.
The information processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
The information processing system according to claim 6, wherein the determination means determines whether the target product has been purchased based on whether the target product indicated by the presentation information presented by the customer at the store coincides with a purchase product purchased by the customer at the store.
a registration means for registering customer identification information of a customer using the terminal on which the referral information is displayed in association with the referral information;
The determination means determines whether the customer has shopped at the physical store introduced in the recommendation information based on whether the physical store introduced in the recommendation information associated with the presented information, which is the customer identification information presented by the customer at the visited store, matches the visited store.
The information processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
The information processing system according to claim 8, wherein the determination means determines whether the target product has been purchased based on whether the target product associated with the customer identification information presented at the store matches a purchase product purchased by the customer at the store.
Outputting information displayed on an electronic commerce screen that sells the target product, which is introductory information about a physical store that sells the target product;
determining whether the customer has shopped at the brick-and-mortar store introduced in the recommendation information based on information presented by the customer at the store the customer visited, the information being related to the customer's viewing of the recommendation information;
The information processing method calculates a referral fee to be paid by the physical store based on the determination result.
Outputting information displayed on an electronic commerce screen that sells the target product, which is introductory information about a physical store that sells the target product;
determining whether the customer has shopped at the brick-and-mortar store introduced in the recommendation information based on information presented by the customer at the store the customer visited, the information being related to the customer's viewing of the recommendation information;
A recording medium that non-temporarily records a program that causes a computer to execute a process of calculating a referral fee to be paid by the physical store based on the determination result.