Patent Application
20220027821
The present invention relates to a management system for widely managing shipment or delivery of products or commodities, for example, and more specifically to a commodity delivery management system for flexibly operating shipment or delivery of commodities in a retail industry or an online shopping industry.
Conventionally, a technique for performing inventory management of products or commodities, for example, to shorten a transport time period and optimize a transport path of each of the products or the commodities, for example, to improve a transport efficiency has been provided.
For example, a product shipment management system for preventing a quantitative deviation from occurring in an inventory status of multiple kinds of products in a delivery warehouse for each sales area, eliminating a product transport between delivery warehouses as much as possible, and shortening a forwarding time period of transport means to improve a transport efficiency has been proposed (Patent Literature 1).
Specifically, Patent Literature 1 discloses a product shipment management system including inventory management means, order receiving management means, shipment management means, product assignment/allocation means, a terminal apparatus provided in each of a plurality of sales outlets, and a communication line for connecting these, a plurality of delivery warehouses being provided as a whole by providing the delivery warehouse for each area of the sales outlet that sells multiple kinds of products, the multiple kinds of products that have been subjected to make-to-stock production in a production plant being carried into each of the plurality of delivery warehouses, an inventory status of the products carried into each of the plurality of delivery warehouses being stored in the inventory management means, the product assignment/allocation means assigning, when the sales outlet transmits an order for the product received from a customer to the order receiving management means based on the receiving of the order, an inventory product of the kind corresponding to the order for the product depending on the inventory status stored in the inventory management means, and the shipment management means updating a content of the inventory management means, in which the product assignment/allocation means checks whether or not the product ordered by the customer exists in the inventory status stored in the inventory management means, assigns, when an inventory product inventoried beyond a predetermined period exists, the inventory product to the receiving of the order from the customer, sorts, when the inventory product does not exist, inventory products stored by the inventory management means in the delivery warehouse for each area of the sales outlet to which the customer has placed the order by inventory period, and assigns the inventory product inventoried for the longest inventory period to the receiving of the order from the customer.
A distribution management system for setting a substantially optimum conveyance path through actual time information for a load and a number of standby works of an automatic warehouse and an occupancy rate of a conveyance facility has also been proposed (Patent Literature 2).
Specifically, Patent Literature 2 discloses a distribution management system for calculating an estimated conveyance time period from a departure place to an arrival place and selecting an optimum conveyance path, the distribution management system including a conveyance instruction management unit that receives and manages layout information and actual time work information for a load and a number of standby works of an automatic warehouse for each unit link, and an optimum path generation unit that receives the layout information and the actual time work information in a predetermined cycle in the conveyance instruction management unit to calculate estimated conveyance time periods through modeling and selects a conveyance path having the minimum estimated conveyance time period among results as an optimum conveyance path.
A technique for estimating shipment of a parcel, for example, to presumptively ship the parcel to a geographical area of a destination has also been proposed (Patent Literature 3).
Specifically, Patent Literature 3 discloses a system including a first computer system for a company configured to identify a geographic area of a destination to which a parcel including one or a plurality of commodities is shipped to perform final delivery to a delivery address and a second computer system configured to communicate with the first computer system via a network, the system being configured such that the parcel is shipped to the geometrical area of the destination by a moving company other than the company without the delivery address being completely designated at a time point of the shipment, and the first computer system transmits the complete designation of the delivery address to the second computer system, in which the shipment of the parcel includes contracting with the moving company and physically providing the parcel to the moving company, the second computer system is configured to assign the delivery address to the parcel while the parcel is being transported in response to receiving of the complete designation of the delivery address, the parcel to be shipped for which the delivery address has not been completely designated at the time point of the shipment cannot be delivered to any delivery address at the time point of the shipment, and the parcel can be delivered to the delivery address by the moving company as a result of receiving the complete designation of the delivery address.
However, in a recent online shopping industry or the like, competition among short-time delivery services has been activated, and a further system improvement for delivering a commodity in a short time has been requested. Further, as a delivery service has been enriched, a further improvement of a commodity delivery management system capable of flexibly dealing with a demand at the time when a customer is absent at a delivery destination, a fine demand of a delivery time (including a redelivery time) even at the time when a customer is not only absent but also at home, and the like.
A commodity delivery management system according to an embodiment of the present invention is a commodity delivery management system including a management server that manages shipment of a commodity to a customer's home from one or more bases, in which the management server includes a front end for performing electronic commerce of the commodity by an order from a customer terminal of the customer's home, and when the commodity is ordered from the customer terminal via the front end, the ordered commodity is shipped from the base, and the commodity is delivered to the customer's home, notifies the customer terminal of a scheduled arrival time of the commodity at the customer's home, and receives an instruction to deliver the commodity after a delay of a predetermined time period from the scheduled arrival time from the customer terminal that has received the notification and manages the instruction.
A commodity delivery management system including a management server that manages shipment of a commodity to a customer's home from one or more bases, in which the management server includes a front end for performing electronic commerce of the commodity by an order from a customer terminal of the customer's home, and when the commodity is ordered from the customer terminal via the front end, the ordered commodity is shipped from the base, and the commodity is delivered to the customer's home, performs processing for either
(1) inquiring of the customer terminal, when a customer is absent and a person other than the customer is present at the customer's home, whether or not the commodity may be delivered to the person other than the customer or
(2) inquiring of the customer terminal whether or not the commodity may be delivered to the customer's home immediately before or when the customer comes home or immediately after the customer comes home, to receive and manage an instruction from the customer terminal that has received either one of the inquiries.
A commodity delivery management system according to an embodiment of the present invention, for example, produces an effect of being able to flexibly deal with delivery designation when a customer is absent and being able to make fine delivery designation or the like even if the customer is at home.
A commodity delivery management system or the like according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Although in the following embodiment of the present invention, a delivery target is a commodity for convenience of description, the present invention is not limited to this, but is also applicable to a baggage as long as it is not unreasonable in view of the spirit of the invention.
The respective numbers of the distribution centers 11 to 13 and the nearest bases 14 to 16 are not limited to the numbers, but can include any number of centers and any number of distribution bases. For easy understanding, the present invention will be described below along a model illustrated in
Although the present invention is not limited to this, a feature example of the facility in the commodity distribution management system according to the embodiment of the present invention includes at least the two types of facilities. As a basic concept example, the nearest base according to the embodiment of the present invention is provided as a geographic base that can deliver commodities to the customer's home within a predetermined time period in addition to a distribution center as a conventional distribution base.
Specifically, the nearest base is a delivery base specific to the present invention provided such that commodities or the like can be delivered to a customer in a short time, and a distribution network provided with the nearest base constitutes one of basic concept examples of the present invention.
As illustrated in
A path for directly delivering commodities or the like to the customer's home from each of the distribution centers 11 to 13 may be provided, which is not illustrated in
In
Similarly, a nearest area 150 represents an area to which commodities or the like can be delivered within a predetermined time period (e.g., 30 minutes, one hour, etc., which may be several hours) from the nearest base 15, and the same area schematically includes the customer's homes 151, 152, 153, and 199. A nearest area 160 represents an area to which commodities or the like can be delivered within a predetermined time period (e.g., 30 minutes, one hour, etc., which may be several hours) from the nearest base 16, and the same area schematically includes the customer's homes 162, 163, 164, 165, and 199.
In the same drawing, the customer's home 199 is also included in both the nearest area 150 and the nearest area 160 by way of example. This means that commodities or the like can be delivered to the customer's home 199 within a predetermined time period from both the nearest base 15 and the nearest base 16 (e.g., commodities or the like can be delivered in 35 minutes from the nearest base 15 to the customer's home 199, and commodities or the like can be delivered in 40 minutes from the nearest base 16 to the customer's home 199).
Although the present invention is not limited to this, commodities to be handled can be provided with two types of sections “stock commodities” and “non-stock commodities” in a commodity distribution management system according to the embodiment of the present invention. The commodity sections are separated depending on whether a routine demand from a customer within a nearest area of a nearest base is high or low. The commodities each having a high routine demand from the customer within the nearest area of the nearest base are respectively partitioned as the stock commodities, and are managed such that the predetermined number of commodities are always available in the nearest base even if not ordered by the customer.
On the other hand, the non-stock commodities are delivered to the nearest base from the distribution center and are delivered to a customer's home in the nearest area at a time point where they are ordered by the customer (or may be directly delivered to the customer's home from the distribution center).
“Stock commodities” and “non-stock commodities” are selected on a system for each nearest area depending on whether a routine demand within the nearest area is high or low, and thus are not uniformly determined depending on a commodity section (a household electric appliance, a book, a cosmetic product, etc.). However, as a general tendency, household electric appliances such as a refrigerator and a large-sized television may be partitioned into the non-stock commodities, and daily necessaries such as shampoo and toilet paper may be partitioned into the stock commodities. The stock commodities geographically and temporally vary depending on an area or a situation such as a situation immediately after an annual event or an earthquake.
“Stock commodities” and “non-stock commodities” in the present specification are defined below.
Stock commodities: The stock commodities are commodities that have been each repeatedly demanded in a short period from a customer within a nearest area. Examples include daily necessaries and consumables. In the embodiment of the present invention, the stock commodities are commodities to be managed such that the predetermined number of commodities are always stocked in a nearest base.
Non-stock commodities: The non-stock commodities are commodities other than the stock commodities. Typically, the non-stock commodities are commodities delivered from a distribution center at a time point where they are ordered by a customer. Examples include a high-quality commodity such as a large-sized household electric appliance or a camera.
The present invention does not necessarily need the above-described commodity sections, and is not limited to these even if “stock commodities” and “non-stock commodities” are separately described in the following embodiment (may be alternatively referred to as normal commodities).
In the above description, a portion described as “a commodity or the like can be delivered within a predetermined time period from a nearest base” or “when there is no inventory”, for example, can be judged by management of a time period (estimated time period) required for delivery and an inventory quantity of commodities or the like at a base. Although an entire configuration example of the commodity delivery management system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to
Therefore, each of the paths illustrated in
The alternative routes are alternatively adopted depending on a traffic condition of the moment, and the adopted alternative route can be designated for a specific delivery facility (base) or delivery means (delivery vehicle).
In the commodity delivery management system according to the embodiment of the present invention, sales management of commodities or the like is also performed. The commodity delivery management system according to the embodiment of the present invention also operates simultaneously with a store POS cash register or a mail-order sales (electronic commerce) system not illustrated, and manages actual sales results in a store and actual sales results through mail order for each customer. As a database therefor, databases (D1) to (D8), as described below, are included in the management server in the embodiment. References and update requests from various terminals can be made.
A customer management database is a database in which items relating to a customer are registered, in which personal information such as a name, an address, and a telephone number of the customer and appended information such as held points and a nearest base are registered.
(D2) Commodity Management Database
A commodity management database is a database in which items relating to a commodity are registered, in which a commodity name, a commodity code associated with a JAN code, and the like are registered and managed.
An inventory management database is a database for managing a commodity inventory for each base, and appropriately cooperates with the commodity management database, and a required table is derived and extracted.
A warehouse management database is a database for managing a commodity inventory to be stored in a warehouse in a distribution center or the like.
A sales management database is an actual result management database relating to sold commodities for each base or store.
A stock candidate commodity database is a database derived and extracted from the commodity management database and the inventory management database, and a specific extraction example will be described below.
A stock desire commodity database is a stock desire commodity database for each customer and for each nearest base derived from the commodity management database, the inventory management database, and the customer management database. A specific example of extraction will be described below.
A stock commodity database is a database for performing stock commodity inventory management for each nearest base derived from the commodity management database, the inventory management database, and the customer management database. A specific extraction example will be described below.
In a nearest base, a distribution system including the commodity delivery management system according to the embodiment of the present invention plays the following roles (system operations and works by workers such as a staff within the base are collectively listed).
(1) Storage and sorting of target stock commodities and update management of the target stock commodities.
(2) Delivery processing to be performed when the target stock commodity is ordered by a customer within a nearest area (picking and destination labeling of the ordered commodity).
(3) Temporary storage and delivery to a customer's home to be performed when a non-stock commodity ordered by the customer within the nearest area is delivered from a distribution center (typically, the non-stock commodity is delivered to a nearest base with destination labeling completed).
(4) Together packaging delivery of the non-stock commodity and the stock commodity ordered by the customer within the nearest area (if the non-stock commodity and the stock commodity are together packaged and delivered, together packaging work and destination labeling work are performed in the nearest base).
(5) Redelivery to be performed when the customer within the nearest area was absent, although the non-stock commodity and the stock commodity have been delivered to the customer.
(6) Simultaneous delivery of a stock commodity additionally ordered at the time of the redelivery in the above item (5).
In the embodiment of the present invention, delivery from the distribution center to the nearest base is performed as a business operation within the same business operator, and is not entrusted to another home delivery business operator or the like. For example, the business operator delivers target commodities approximately several times per day by delivery of its own within the business.
As illustrated in
The access point means a radio for mutually connecting wireless terminals such as a PC and a smartphone and connecting the wireless terminals to another network. Typically, the access point is a device that operates with a communication protocol of a first layer (physical layer) and a second layer (data link layer) in an OSI reference model.
The mobile phone, the portable information terminal, or the tablet at the time point of filing of the present application may have a similar processing capability (a communication processing speed, an image processing capability, etc.) as that of the personal computer (PC), and should be said as a small computer.
A program or software required for the embodiment of the present invention is generally installed or stored in an HDD, an SSD, or the like in a storage unit in the PC or the portable information terminal. The program or the software is read into a memory in the storage unit, as needed, as a software module of its whole or part and is operated and executed in a CPU when executed.
Alternatively, a browser-based computer or portable information terminal can also be adopted. In this case, a program is distributed to the terminal from another server or computer, as needed, and is executed by a browser on the terminal.
A hardware configuration of the management server 21 can basically adopt a PC (described below with reference to
In
The modules are appropriately connected to one another via a communication bus and a power feed line (the lines are collectively represented as a wire connection 399 appropriately divided for convenience in
A program or software to be executed on the management server 300 required for the embodiment of the present invention is generally installed or stored in a hard disk drive, an SSD (solid state drive), a flash memory, and the like constituting the storage unit 302. The program or the software is read into a memory in the storage unit 302, as needed, as a software module of its whole or part and is operated and executed in the CPU 301 when executed.
The operation and the execution need not necessarily be performed in a central processing unit such as the CPU 301, and can also be performed using an auxiliary operation apparatus such as a digital signal processor (DSP) not illustrated.
The display 222 includes a multi-touch input panel, and touch input position coordinates on the touch input panel are transmitted to a processing system (CPU) of the tablet terminal 22 via an input device interface (not illustrated) and are processed. The multi-touch input panel is configured to be able to simultaneously sense a plurality of contact points for the panel. The detection (sensor) can be implemented using various methods, and is not necessarily limited to a contact sensor. For example, an instruction point for the panel can also be extracted using an optical sensor. Further, as the sensor, a capacitive sensor that senses contact of a person's skin can also be used in addition to a contact type sensor and an optical sensor.
The tablet terminal 22 can also include a microphone and a speaker, which do not appear in
In
The sensor unit 509 may include a GPS sensor module for identifying a position of the tablet terminal 500 (22). Signals respectively detected by the image sensor such as a CMOS, the infrared sensor, and the like constituting the sensor unit 509 can be processed as input information in the input unit 501.
A program or software to be executed on the tablet terminal 500 required for the embodiment of the present invention is generally installed or stored in a hard disk drive, an SSD (solid state drive), a flash memory, and the like constituting the storage unit 502. The program or the software is read into a memory in the storage unit 502, as needed, as a software module of its whole or part and is operated and executed in the CPU 503 when executed.
The operation and the execution need not necessarily be performed in the central processing unit 503 such as the CPU, and can also be performed using an auxiliary operation device such as a digital signal processor (DSP) not illustrated.
Although the present invention is not limited to this, stock commodities to be stocked (inventoried) in a nearest base can be judged or determined in the commodity distribution management system according to the embodiment of the present invention. Here, details thereof will be described.
Although the stock commodities are selected on the system for each nearest area depending on whether a routine demand within the nearest area is high or low, as described above, more specifically, the stock commodities are selected in a flow of (1) selecting stock candidate commodities, (2) excluding the stock candidate commodities that are production-ended or sale-ended from among the stock candidate commodities, and (3-A) further accepting a stock and registration request by a customer himself or herself from among the stock candidate commodities or (3-B) performing stock and registration by automatic determination.
Particularly, examples of the selection of the stock candidate commodities in the above-described item (1) include (1-A) selection of stock candidate commodities by analyzing actual sales result data and (1-B) selection of stock candidate commodities based on commodity management information. The foregoing will be specifically described in order below.
The processing for selecting stock candidate commodities is performed by analyzing actual sales result data stored in the past (recorded in a sales management DB), setting an automatic extraction logic for extracting commodities that are repeatedly demanded from a customer (a predetermined number of orders are placed from a customer within a predetermined period), and selecting the stock candidate commodities in a nearest base based on the automatic extraction logic (a concept of extraction logic generation processing will be described below with reference to
The processing for selecting stock candidate commodities is performed by extracting books in series and uncompleted and software commodities versioned up among the commodities purchased in the past (recorded in the sales management DB) by a customer. Commodities in series and respective version numbers of the commodities are recorded in the commodity management DB.
2. Processing for Excluding Candidate Commodities that are Production-Ended or Sale-Ended
The exclusion processing is processing for excluding a candidate commodity an inventory status of which is in a supply impossible state such as “end of production” or “end of sales” from candidates. Such information is recorded for each commodity in the commodity management DB, and is updated every time the specific commodity is production-ended or sale-ended.
Even a candidate commodity that is indicated as sale-ended in the inventory status, for example, but can be ordered from a manufacturer or the like (such information can also be managed for each commodity in the commodity management DB) can also be controlled not to be excluded.
The registration processing is to stock and register stock candidate commodities by providing candidate commodity information extracted in the items up to the above-described item 2 onto a customer terminal and causing a customer to select the candidate commodity information. Typically, the customer selects, from among the stock candidate commodities, the commodity that is desired to be delivered in a short time (e.g., 30 minutes or one hour) when ordered via the customer terminal, and stocks and registers the commodity.
Although the registration processing will be further described in detail with reference to
The registration processing is to pick up commodities that are in high demand and commodities that are high in repeat purchase rate from the viewpoint of a commodity delivery management system operator and automatically register the commodities in stock commodities even if the customer does not stock and register the commodities. Criteria of the high demand and criteria of the repeat purchase rate can be appropriately set by the system operator. The registration processing can be flexibly operated by performing registration common to all nearest bases or performing registration different for each area or for each nearest area, for example.
In step S604, it is judged whether or not among the candidate commodities extracted in step S602 and step S603, there is any candidate commodity being production-ended or sale-ended. If the answer is Yes, the processing proceeds to step S605. In step S605, processing for excluding the candidate commodity is performed. Specifically, processing is performed by referring to the commodity management DB or the like in the management server 21. If it is judged that a candidate commodity can be ordered from a manufacturer or the like by referring to a flag separately managed by the commodity management DB or the like, for example, the candidate commodity can also be prevented from being excluded (It is judged that the answer is No in step S604).
In step S606, it is judged whether or not processing for registering a commodity desired to be stocked by the customer has been performed for the stock candidate commodities presented at a terminal of the customer. If the registration processing has not been performed, the processing proceeds to step S608. However, if the processing for registering the commodity desired to be stocked by the customer has been performed (Yes in step S606), the processing proceeds to step S607. In step S607, processing for stocking and registering the designated stock candidate commodities is performed. Specifically, in the management server 21, the stock registration processing is performed by updating the commodity management DB or the like or updating the stock commodity management table for each nearest base extracted from the commodity management DB.
Then, in step S608, automatic determination processing set from the viewpoint of the commodity delivery management system operator, and it is judged whether or not there are candidate commodities to be stocked and registered in light of such automatic determination criteria. If the answer is Yes in step S608, the processing proceeds to step S609. In step S609, processing for stocking and registering the stock candidate commodities satisfying the automatic determination criteria is performed. Specifically, in the management server 21, the stock and registration processing is performed by updating the commodity management DB or the like in the management server 21 or updating the stock commodity management table for each nearest base extracted from the commodity management DB.
If the answer is No in step S608, or if step S609 ends, the processing proceeds to step S610. In step S610, processing ends as a flow of processing for determining or processing for registering the stock commodities to be stocked in the nearest base.
The commodity delivery management system according to the embodiment of the present invention in
The front system 710 is a software module that performs a transaction or a procedural mediation between the backbone system 720 and the WEB site 702 directed toward the customer terminal and the terminal application 703 such as the customer terminal in the commodity delivery management system according to the embodiment of the present invention, and operates on the management server 21 or another server. The front system 710 includes as its sub-modules a commodity recommendation logic 711 that recommends a commodity to the customer terminal or the like, an action log logic 712 that tracks a commodity to be browsed or ordered, for example, from the customer terminal, and a logic 713 composed of another processing system.
The backbone system 720 includes a sales management processing system 721 including a sales management DB, a warehouse management processing system 722 including a warehouse management DB, an inventory management processing system 723 including an inventory management DB, a customer management processing system 724 including a customer management DB, a commodity management processing system 725 including a commodity management DB, and other processing systems 726 including other DBs.
In
In the data analysis 742, various data analyses are performed for the data warehouse 741. Although the present invention is not limited to these, the data stored in the data warehouse are a large amount of integration business data generally rearranged in a time series, and association among various items is analyzed. Association among elements that have not been clear in conventional simple aggregation, for example, “men in their 40s and 50s who buy fitness goods in the weekend may together buy associated books” and “daily necessaries such as a waterproof spray sells best the day before a rainy day” is clarified from sales data at the store 701.
In the extraction logic generation processing 743, an extraction logic is generated from the following viewpoints (A) to (C) as an example.
When actual sales results for each commodity are aggregated from a large amount of actual sales result data and customer data, for example, rearranged in a time series to perform ranking processing or the like, commodities repeatedly purchased in any period can be extracted every purchaser.
It is judged from data such as actual sales result data and customer data whether or not there is a number of times of purchase of a commodity at a predetermined frequency or more during a predetermined period based on data such as actual commodity purchase results, customer information, and commodity information for each customer in a store or a WEB site that performs electronic commerce, for example, to determine that the commodity is a commodity repeatedly purchased and determine that the commodity is a commodity that tends to be repeatedly purchased if there are actual results in which a specific customer has purchased a predetermined number or more of the commodities at a predetermined frequency or more during a predetermined period.
(B) Commodity that Tends to be Purchased Together with Another Commodity
When a combination of commodities simultaneously purchased for each customer is analyzed based on a large amount of actual sales result data rearranged in a time series, for example, the commodities can be extracted as a combination of a specific commodity that tends to be purchased together with another commodity and a commodity to be together purchased, for example.
(C) A Commodity that Tends to be Purchased Even Relatively Alone.
The commodities can be extracted from a large amount of actual sales result data rearranged in a time series, for example.
As to the foregoing items (B) and (C), a sales growth rate is analyzed by aggregating the number of sales for each commodity, for example, from actual commodity purchase results and actual commodity browsing results, customer information, commodity information, and the like in a store or a WEB site that implements electronic commerce, a page view increase rate by counting a details page browsing of the commodity is analyzed, a single purchase rate, and a repeat purchase rate of the specific commodity, a simultaneous purchase rate, and the like are analyzed, whereby it can be determined that the commodity the numerical values are respectively predetermined values or more is a commodity having a specific tendency. The determined commodity, together with identifiers and rank values respectively representing its tendency and degree, is recorded and managed in the commodity management DB or a stock commodity management table for each nearest base extracted from the commodity management DB.
Each of logic determinations respectively illustrated in the foregoing items (A) to (C) is not always performed from a fixed viewpoint, but is generated from actual sales result data in the past, for example, and is appropriately determined by an alternative logic if it includes analysis extraction criteria along each of parameters (various types of items) of stock candidate commodities.
In the commodity automatic extraction 744, automatic extraction processing of commodities based on the generated extraction logic is performed. A commodity group automatically extracted is stored as stock candidate commodities in the stock candidate commodity DB or the table 750.
Then, an example of processing for registering a commodity desired to be stocked by a customer will be described in detail with reference to
When processing is started in step S801 illustrated in
Then, the processing proceeds to step S803. In step S803, in-inventory stock candidate commodity information is distributed to a user terminal by starting the commodity recommendation logic 711 or the like, for example, in the front system 710, whereby the candidate commodities are presented or recommended. In step S804, the presence or absence of a stock commodity narrowing-down request or a registration request from a customer on a user terminal is waited for. If the answer is No in step S804, the processing proceeds to step S803. In step S803, the processing ends as the flow (or the processing may be restored to step S804 as a request waiting). However, if the answer is Yes in step S804, the processing proceeds to step S805. In step S805, the stock candidate commodities are narrowed down, as needed, based on the registration request information requested from the customer. In step S806, processing for registering a commodity desired to be stocked, which has been requested from the customer, is performed. In step S807, the stock candidate commodity DB or the table 750 is updated based on the commodity desired to be stocked, which has been registered based on the request from the customer, the processing ends as the flow (step S808).
Further, when a customer desires to register the commodity A as a stock commodity for the customer, a registration button 935 is provided such that the commodity A can be registered as “My stock”. Commodity information registered in “My stock” by the customer can be confirmed upon shifting to a confirmation screen not illustrated when a button 921 denoted as “To My stock” in the same drawing is pressed (on a My stock configuration screen, respective edition buttons for switching between active and non-active registration states, deregistration (deletion), and the like, can also be provided, although not illustrated.
In
Accordingly, one feature of the present invention is that in electronic commerce in the commodity delivery management system according to the embodiment of the present invention, commodities can be confirmed upon presentation of in-inventory stock candidate commodities on the WEB site 702 directed toward the customer terminal and/or the terminal application 703 such as the customer terminal and the commodities desired to be stocked in a nearest base can be selected, registered, and edited from among the confirmed commodities. A mechanism for ensuring stock commodities in the nearest base will be described below with reference to
An inventory quantity of stock commodities for each nearest base is estimated based on information about commodities desired to be stocked for each nearest base. Specifically, a demand prediction model for estimating an inventory quantity of stock commodities to be ensured for each nearest base is generated based on data such as past actual purchase results, customer information, and commodity information, to estimate an inventory quantity for each of the stock commodities (the inventory quantity is also referred to as a regular quantity. The regular quantity is also referred to as a minimum necessary number of commodities to be always ensured in the nearest base).
If the inventory quantity of the stock commodities for each nearest base is below the inventory quantity (regular quantity) estimated in STEP 1, as described above, an automatic order is placed with a backbone system from the nearest base to replenish the inventory.
In the backbone system, the regular quantity for each stock commodity is managed for each nearest base estimated in STEP 1, and the automatic order placed in STEP 2 is processed, as needed, to instruct a distribution center to carry stock commodities into the nearest base (inventory and procure the stock commodities).
In
In the same drawing, the information about a group of commodities desired to be stocked are accepted in the analysis environment 1020 from the stock desire commodity database 1010, and a demand prediction model is generated based on an analysis data warehouse 1021 within the analysis environment 1020 (1022). Demand prediction is performed (1023) based on the information and the model, and prediction information are transmitted to the backbone system 1030 and coordinated with one another within the backbone system 1030.
In the backbone system 1030, the demand prediction information transmitted from the analysis environment 1020 is considered, and stock commodity inventory quantity information table 1031 for each nearest base is checked, and is updated, as needed (the stock commodity inventory quantity information table 1031 is included in a stock commodity database for each nearest base or is derived and generated, as needed).
Then, in the backbone system 1030, an instruction to inventory and precure target commodities (1032) is sent to the distribution centers 11 to 13 based on the updated stock commodity inventory quantity information table 1031 (a nearest base to which the target commodities are to be procured is also designated for each target commodity). In the designated distribution centers 11 to 13, delivery (1040) is performed to inventory and procure the target commodities to the designated nearest base 1050.
At this time, in the embodiment of the present invention, it should be noted that the number of commodities to be inventoried and procured is estimated to be relatively larger than the number of commodities desired to be stocked, which are recorded in the stock desire commodity database 1010. Specifically, for the commodities desired to be stocked in the nearest base, if the total number of the commodities desired to be stocked is 500, the number of stock commodities to be inventoried and procured to the nearest base from the distribution center by the backbone system 1030 is adjusted such that the inventory quantity in the nearest base exceeds 500 (adjusted to increase by approximately several percents as an example).
On the other hand, the nearest base 1050 can also be configured such that an increase/decrease transition of each of stock commodities in inventory is managed and an automatic order is placed for the stock commodities the inventory quantity of which decreases to be below the regular quantity individually with the backbone system.
In
For example, in the table 1110a , the stock candidate commodities A, B, X, and Z are recorded as being desired and required to be stocked from a customer (a flag is set as a “O” mark in
In such a situation, an example of information displayed on a customer terminal having a customer's home within an area nearest to the nearest base “Shinjyuku 1” as an address is illustrated in
In the presentation column 1122, a commodity name (and a commodity image, if necessary), a price, a provided point at the time of purchase, and an inventory quantity are displayed for stock commodities that can be delivered to the customer in a short time by way of example. A number of orders (its initial value is set to zero and can be a set value that can be operated to increase or decrease by a customer or a user) is also displayed. In the same drawing, orders are respectively placed for the commodity A and the commodity B (this state is a temporary state until an order button 1124, described below, is pressed) by way of example.
In a presentation column 1123, the commodity B the inventory quantity of which is zero, although desired and required to be stocked by the customer and the commodity C picked up by automatic extraction not illustrated (note that the ensured inventory quantity is zero), together with a message “now in preparation”, is presented.
The order button 1124 is a button in which order procedure processing is performed for commodities the number of orders of which is set to one or more when pressed after the number of orders of each of the commodities is set.
In the embodiment described with reference to
As to a content of each of commodities to be displayed in the commodity display column 1250, a commodity name 1252, together with a commodity image 1251, is presented, and a normal price and a sales price 1253 are also presented for a commodity A by way of example. Further, an estimated arrival time 1254 for a case where the commodity A is ordered now is displayed. A provided point 1255 at the time of purchase is also presented.
When the customer desires to order the commodity A, the customer can shift the screen to an order procedure screen not illustrated, for example, by pressing an order button 1256 on the screen.
In
A commodity name 1332, together with a commodity image 1331 of the commodity D, is presented by way of example in the commodity display column 1330, and a scheduled delivery time 1341 and an estimated arrival time 1342 of the commodity D are displayed in a communication column 1340 below the commodity display column 1330.
Further, in
A content of each of the commodities to be displayed in the commodity display column 1350 is similar to the content of each of the commodities to be displayed in the commodity display column 1250 described with reference to
When the customer desires to order the commodity A, the customer can shift the screen to an order procedure screen not illustrated, for example, by pressing an order button 1356 on the screen.
Although only the commodity C is displayed in the commodity display column 1350 in the same drawing, the present invention is not limited to this. More commodities can also be presented by scrolling means and page forward means not illustrated. Narrowing-down based on a desired commodity genre or commodity category can also be performed by inputting a search keyword or the like in a search column not illustrated in the same drawing.
By a transition button not illustrated, the screen illustrated in
On the redelivery application screen 1405, there is a guidance column 1410 including a name of a person in charge of delivery and a message “I brought back product because you were absent” by way of example, and a commodity display column 1420 of a commodity to be delivered is arranged below the redelivery application screen 1405. In the commodity display column 1420, a commodity name 1422, together with a commodity image 1421 of a commodity E, is presented by way of example.
In
The instruction button 1433 is an instruction button for issuing a redelivery instruction according to redelivery setting (a content set on the screen). When the button is pressed, the screen can be shifted to a redelivery setting screen not illustrated by way of example.
In a lowermost column illustrated in
[Scene in which Stock Commodity in Nearest Base is Delivered in Short Time]
At the time t1 illustrated in
The base terminal in the nearest base that has received the delivery instruction issues a shipment preparation instruction, shipment preparation in the nearest base is made at the time t2 to the time t3 (step S1504), and the ordered stock commodity is delivered toward the customer's home at the time t3 (S1505).
[Scene in which Additional Order for Stock Commodity is Received After Non-Stock Commodity is Ordered]
At the time t4 illustrated in
The base terminal of the distribution center that has received the delivery instruction issues a shipment preparation instruction, a shipment preparation at the distribution center is performed from the time t5 to a time t6 (step S1513), and the ordered non-stock commodity is delivered toward the nearest base at the time t6 (S1514).
Although the non-stock commodity shipped toward the nearest base from the distribution center at the time t6 arrives at a time t10, as illustrated in the same drawing, a processing operation then described is performed during that time.
At a time t7, a notification that the ordered non-stock commodity has just been shipped is made, and a guidance of additional order receiving is transmitted toward the user terminal (customer terminal) from the management server 21 (step S1515). As the guidance, the guidance described with reference to
Then, at a time t8, an additional order for a stock commodity is placed with the management server 21 from the user terminal (customer terminal) via a guidance screen described with reference to
At this time point, the non-stock commodity shipped from the distribution center at the time t6 has not arrived at the nearest base. In the nearest base, a shipment preparation of the stock commodity the delivery of which has been designated is made from the time t9 to the time t11 (step S1520).
At the time t10 while the shipment preparation of the stock commodity is being made in the nearest base, the non-stock commodity shipped from the distribution center arrives at the nearest base (step S1519). In the nearest base, together packaging work of the non-stock commodity that have arrived and the stock commodity is performed.
Finally, the non-stock commodity and the stock commodity that have been together packaged are shipped toward the customer's home from the nearest base at the time tll (step S1521).
[Scene in which when Stock Commodity is Redelivered from Nearest Base, Additional Order for Another Stock Commodity is Received]
At a time t30 illustrated in
The base terminal of the nearest base that has received the delivery instruction issues a shipment preparation instruction, a shipment preparation in the nearest base is made at the time t31 to a time t32 (step S1604), and the ordered stock commodity is delivered toward the customer's home at the time t32 (S1605).
At a time t33, the stock commodity shipped from the nearest base arrives at the customer's home (step S1606). However, a delivery notice is left in a mailbox because a customer is absent (step S1607), and the stock commodity is brought back once to the nearest base (step S1608).
At a time t34, a guidance for receiving an additional order, together with an absence guidance, is transmitted to the customer terminal from the management server 21 (step S1609). As the guidance, the guidance described with reference to
Then, at a time t35, an additional order for the other stock commodity is placed with the management server 21 from the user terminal (customer terminal) via the guidance screen described with reference to
At a time t37, the stock commodities together packaged are shipped toward the customer's home from the nearest base (step S1614).
To implement a variation of order receiving/delivery described with reference to
Then, referring to
On a screen 1700 illustrated in
1704 represents a current location of the commodity to be delivered, and 1705 represents a position of a delivery destination of the commodity. In the same drawing, a distance (1.5 km) to the delivery destination and an estimated arrival time period (13 minutes) are displayed.
Note that as one feature of the present invention, an instruction box 1703 for issuing an instruction to make the commodity arrive a predetermined time period (five minutes, ten minutes, 30 minutes, etc.) behind schedule is displayed.
In the embodiment of the present invention, the instruction box 1703 can be displayed at the time of a guidance immediately before completion of delivery. In the embodiment of the present invention, in the instruction box 1703, time periods other than the illustrated time “5 min” (“10 min”, “30 min”, etc., as an example) can also be displayed to be selectable.
If an instruction is issued from the instruction box 1703, the instruction can be issued by turning on a check box as illustrated in the box 1703 or using other means (pressing other instruction buttons or the like not illustrated) as an example.
Accordingly, there is an advantage in that when the commodity is delivered after waiting a predetermined time period from the scheduled arrival time by the instruction box 1703, a receiver may not panic immediately after taking a bath or before taking a bath, for example, even while currently at home.
A notice box 1706 indicating that to the same customer to which the commodity is to be currently delivered, there is another commodity scheduled to be delivered is illustrated in a lowermost column of the screen 1700. The “other commodity scheduled to be delivered” may be conveyed by the same delivery as the commodity that is being currently delivered, or may be sent by separate delivery at a later date because it has just been charged.
In the embodiment of the present invention, the customer can display its details on a screen or the like not illustrated by pressing a check button on the notice box 1706. When the customer desires to receive the commodity together with the commodity that is being currently conveyed by separate delivery (later delivery), the customer can issue an instruction to together receive the commodities (such delivery is referred to as “collective delivery”, “together delivery”, etc., for convenience).
In the embodiment of the present invention, when the customer desires (issues an instruction) to select “collective delivery”, the screen can be shifted to a details instruction screen (
In the embodiment of the present invention, the pop-up 1901 can be notified in many scenes in steps S1505, S1521, S1605, S1614, etc.
In the embodiment of the present invention, the pop-up 2001 can be notified by the scene in step S1609 or the like as an example.
In the embodiment of the present invention, the pop-up 2011 can be notified by many scenes during commodity delivery.
In the embodiment of the present invention, the pop-up 2021 can be notified when a delivery source or the like is congested, for example.
As illustrated, on the screen 2100, a current date display column 2101, a commodity display column 2102 of commodities currently scheduled to be delivered to a customer (the display column is configured to be scrollable leftward and rightward and many commodities can be confirmed by scrolling by way of example. The display column can also be shifted to a commodity description column not illustrated by pressing each of commodity icons, for example), and instruction columns 2103 to 2108 to be used when a customer is absent are illustrated.
The instruction column 2103 is an instruction column to be used when an instruction to change a receiving time period (including a date) is issued. When the receiving time period is changed, the instruction column 2103 (any position of the instruction column 2103, a mark in a right column as an example of a case where a designated position is provided within the same column) is tapped, to display a time designation screen or a pop-up screen as illustrated in
The instruction column 2104 is a column that can be used by a customer having a home-delivery box. If a commodity may be placed in the home-delivery box when the customer is absent (if hand delivery is not required), the switch 21041 in the same column is turned on (it is a design matter and is indifferent which of left and right positions is ON. The same applies hereinafter).
The instruction column 2105 is a column to be used by a customer who may have a commodity left at an entrance of a house when absent. If the customer may have the commodity left at the entrance of the house when absent, a switch 21051 in the same column is turned on.
In another embodiment of the present invention, when the switch 21051 in the same column is turned on, and a deliverer has left a commodity to be delivered at an entrance of a house of a customer at a delivery destination, the deliverer can shoot a place where the commodity has been left to transmit an image obtained by the shooting to a terminal of the customer.
The instruction column 2106 is a column to be used when there is another requirement. The foregoing will be specifically described below with reference to
The instruction column 2107 is a column to be mainly used when a customer directly consults with a deliverer associated with a commodity to be delivered (typically, a deliverer who is delivering the commodity) by phone or the like (including a chat in addition to the phone). If the instruction column 2107 is used, the column is tapped, to shift the column to a screen (
The instruction column 2108 is a column for issuing an instruction as to whether or not a packaging container (a cardboard box as an example) used at the time of current or previous commodity conveyance is recovered. If the recovery is required, a switch 21081 in the same column is turned on. For a commodity packaged in a packaging container that can be recovered this time and delivered, the packaging container that has been designated to be recovered is recovered (brought back) after the delivery.
In another embodiment of the present invention, a predetermined packaging container used at the time of previous commodity conveyance and placed at an entrance of a house is recovered at the above-described timing.
When a details instruction as to a commodity delivery method is ended, a change request can be confirmed by pressing a change request (change confirmation) button 2109. A changed requirement is transmitted to the management server 21 as an example, and is reflected on commodity delivery management.
In the embodiment of the present invention, after the button 2109 is pressed, only change requirements may be listed, pop-up displayed, and configured to make confirmation by an OK button (confirmation button).
On a screen 2200, a time input column 2201 and auxiliary input buttons 2202 to 2204 for an input time are illustrated.
The auxiliary input button 2202 is a button for issuing an instruction to perform delivery at a time (about) inputted to the time input column 2201. When the button is pressed, an instruction to desire delivery in a range of predetermined time periods (e.g., five minutes or 10 minutes) before and after the time inputted to the time input column 2201 is issued.
The auxiliary input button 2203 is a button for issuing an instruction to perform delivery at a time (after) inputted to the time input column 2201. When the button is pressed, an instruction to desire delivery after the time inputted to the time input column 2201 is issued. When the button is pressed, control can also be performed such that a time input column “before” for indicating by what time delivery is desired at the latest is automatically displayed or switched.
The auxiliary input button 2204 is a button for issuing an instruction to perform delivery at the time (before) inputted to the time input column 2201. When the button is pressed, an instruction to desire delivery by the time inputted to the time input column 2201 is issued.
The auxiliary input buttons 2202 and 2204 are pressed, and a time period within the same delivery is designated, control can also be performed to promote direct consultation by phone with a delivery window, a delivery person, or the like by displaying a screen (not illustrated) “Consult by phone”.
On a screen 2250, a comment column 2251, a cancel button 2252, and a calling button 2253 are illustrated.
In the comment column 2251, a communication destination with a window person or a delivery person associated with a commodity is displayed, and it is indicated that calling to the communication destination is possible.
The cancel button 2252 is a button to be pressed when calling is canceled. When the button is pressed, the calling is canceled, and the screen 2250 is shifted to another screen.
The calling button 2253 is a button for performing calling. When the button is pressed, calling to a communication destination displayed in the comment column 2251 is performed.
Although the foregoing has been described on the premise that calling by phone is performed on the screen 2250, a communication method to a person in charge at a window or a person in charge of delivery is not limited to the phone, but may be messaging such as a chat.
In
In the comment column 2301, a message for inquiring, when only a customer himself or herself is absent, although someone is at home at a delivery destination (i.e., a family of the customer is at home), whether or not a commodity may be delivered to a person at home other than the customer, is displayed.
The non-permission button 2302 is a button to be pressed when permission is not given to the above-described inquiry. When the button is pressed, the non-permission of the inquiry is transmitted to the management server 21 or the like, and is recorded and managed as a customer's desire.
The permission button 2303 is a button to be pressed when permission is given to the above-described inquiry. When the button is pressed, the permission of the inquiry is transmitted to the management server 21 or the like, and is recorded and managed as a customer's desire.
In the embodiment of the present invention, a content inputted to the screen 2300 is recorded and managed in the management server 21 or the like, and a commodity is handled to meet a customer's desire at the time of delivery of the commodity.
In
In the comment column 2351, a message for inquiring whether or not a commodity may be delivered by turning on a GPS function of a customer terminal and waiting for a timing at which a customer comes home is displayed. In this case, a home destination (an address or a position) of the customer is previously registered in the management server 21 or the like.
The non-permission button 2352 is a button to be pressed when permission is not given to the above-described inquiry. When the button is pressed, the non-permission of the inquiry is transmitted to the management server 21 or the like, and is recorded and managed as a customer's desire.
The permission button 2353 is a button to be pressed when permission is given to the above-described inquiry. When the button is pressed, the permission of the inquiry is transmitted to the management server 21 or the like, and is recorded and managed as a customer's desire.
In the embodiment of the present invention, a content inputted to the screen 2350 is recorded and managed in the management server 21 or the like, and a commodity is handled to meet a customer's desire at the time of delivery of the commodity. More specifically, when the permission button 2353 is pressed and a customer's desire indicating the permission of the inquiry is recorded and managed, the GPS function of the customer terminal is controlled to be turned on by the management server 21 or the like under commission from the customer, to start to track a current position of the customer via the customer terminal, and performs an adjustment on the delivery side, when there is a commodity to be delivered to the customer's home, such that the commodity can be delivered immediately before or when the customer comes home or immediately after the customer comes home.
Although the embodiment of the commodity delivery management system or the like has been described above based on specific examples, an implementation as a recording medium having a program recorded thereon (an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a CD-RW, a magnetic tape, a hard disk, or a memory card as an example), for example, in addition to a method or a program for implementing a system or an apparatus can be taken as the embodiment of the present invention.
The embodiment of the program is not limited to an application program such as an object code to be compiled by a complier and a program code to be executed by an interpreter, but may be a form of a program module or the like to be incorporated into an operating system.
Further, the program can also be configured such that all processes need not necessarily be performed in only a CPU on a control substrate but some or all of the processes are performed by another processing unit (a DSP, etc.) mounted on an extension board or an extension unit added to the substrate, as needed.
All of constitutional requirements described in the present specification (including the claims, the abstract, and the drawings) and/or all steps in disclosed methods or processes can be combined in any combination excluding a combination in which these features are mutually exclusive.
Each of the features described in the present specification (including the claims, the abstract, and the drawings) can be replaced with an alternative feature serving an identical purpose, the same purpose, or a similar purpose unless otherwise clearly contradicted. Therefore, each of the disclosed features is only an example of a series of same or equivalent comprehensive features unless otherwise clearly contradicted.
The present invention is not limited to any of the respective specific configurations of the above-described embodiments. The present invention can be extended to all of new features described in the present specification (including the claims, the abstract, and the drawings) or their combinations or steps of all described new methods or processes or their combinations.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2019/036455 | 9/18/2019 | WO | 00 |
