JP5457417B2 - Electronic commerce server, electronic commerce method, electronic commerce program, and computer-readable recording medium for recording the program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic commerce server, an electronic commerce method, an electronic commerce program, and a computer-readable recording medium for recording the program.

  Conventionally, various products have been sold through Internet shopping malls (virtual shopping streets). Some of the products include a limited number of items sold. However, for such limited products, there are cases where some users cannot purchase the products due to a flood of purchase applications. Various methods have been developed to solve such problems related to concentration of applications. For example, Patent Document 1 below discloses a travel reservation support system that performs inquiry processing to a travel-related website in a priority order based on feature information indicating features of reservation information. This system determines the priority order of inquiries to a travel-related device for reservations or inquiries requested by reservation information based on feature information indicating characteristics of the trip.

JP 2002-31437 A

  Usually, there are those who have a strong desire to purchase products and those who do not. However, it cannot be said that the prior art priority determination method disclosed in Patent Document 1 and the like considers user's enthusiasm. On the store side, there is a speculation that a user who has been looking forward to purchasing a product and a user who has found the product by chance and wants to purchase it will give priority to the former as much as possible.

  Accordingly, the present invention provides an electronic commerce server, an electronic commerce method, an electronic commerce program, and a computer-readable recording medium for recording the program, in which a user with a strong willingness to purchase can preferentially purchase a product. With the goal.

E-commerce server of the present invention, there is provided an electronic commerce server to execute the purchase process of the quotient goods based on a user's operation to the web page of product sales volume is limited, access on a user terminal access to the web page Reference is made to an access information storage means for storing information for each user, and setting means for setting a priority for purchasing a product for each user, wherein the access information is at least one of the access date and time and the number of accesses of the user terminal. And calculating the predicted purchase number of the product corresponding to the web page based on the access status of the user terminal to the web page after the sale of the product, and the predicted purchase number has a predetermined threshold value. determining means for determining a reference time greater than the reference time to set the adjustment period that the start or end point, the user steering in the adjustment period If the accepted, based on the priority of the user corresponding to the user operation, characterized in that it comprises adjustment means for adjusting the purchasing process corresponding to the user operation.

An electronic commerce method of the present invention is an electronic commerce method executed by an electronic commerce server that executes a product purchase process based on a user operation on a web page of a product for which the number of items sold is limited. A setting step for setting a priority for purchasing a product for each user with reference to an access information storage unit that stores access information regarding access to the user terminal for each user. The predicted purchase number of the product corresponding to the web page is calculated based on the setting step, which is at least one of the number of times, and the access status of the user terminal to the web page after the sale of the product. adjustment stage number is a determining step of determining a reference time that exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the reference time and start or end point Set, when receiving a user operation in the adjustment period, and characterized in that it comprises an adjustment step based on the priority of the user corresponding to the user operation, to adjust the purchasing process corresponding to the user operation To do.

The electronic commerce program of the present invention is an electronic commerce program for causing a computer to function as an electronic commerce server that executes a product purchase process based on a user operation on a web page of a product for which the number of sales is limited, Reference is made to an access information storage means for storing access information related to access of a user terminal to a web page for each user, and setting means for setting a priority for purchasing a product for each user, the access information being stored in the user terminal Based on the setting means, which is at least one of the access date and time and the number of accesses, and the access status of the user terminal to the web page after the sale of the product, the predicted purchase number of the product corresponding to the web page is calculated. , starting the predicted cart and a determining means for determining a reference time that exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the reference time Other sets the adjustment period to the end point, when receiving the user operation in the adjustment period, based on the priority of the user corresponding to the user operation, adjusting means for adjusting the purchasing process corresponding to the user operation And making the computer execute.

The computer-readable recording medium of the present invention provides an electronic commerce program for causing a computer to function as an electronic commerce server that executes a product purchase process based on a user operation on a web page of a product for which the number of products sold is limited. A computer-readable recording medium for recording, wherein an electronic commerce program refers to an access information storage unit that stores, for each user, access information related to access of a user terminal to a web page in a computer. Setting means for setting the degree for each user, wherein the access information is at least one of the access date and time and the number of accesses of the user terminal, and the setting means and the user terminal to the web page after the sale of the product The quotient corresponding to the web page based on the access status And of calculating the prediction cart, the predicted cart sets the adjustment period that a determining means for determining a reference time that exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the reference time and start or end point, accepts a user operation in the adjustment period In this case, an adjustment unit that adjusts the purchase process corresponding to the user operation is executed based on the priority of the user corresponding to the user operation .

  According to such an invention, the priority of the product purchase is set based on the access information indicating at least one of the access date / time and the access count of the user terminal. This means that the priority is set based on when the web page is accessed and / or how many web pages are accessed, that is, assuming the user's willingness to purchase the product. means. In addition, a time point at which the number of purchases of the product is predicted to exceed a predetermined threshold is obtained as the reference time, and the purchase process is adjusted based on the reference time and the priority. In this way, by adjusting the purchase process based on the priority in consideration of the time when the predicted purchase number is expected to exceed a certain number, users with strong willingness to purchase can preferentially purchase products. It becomes.

  In the electronic commerce server of the present invention, the adjustment unit may set a predetermined adjustment period including a reference time and adjust the purchase process based on the priority in the adjustment period.

  In this case, a certain period including the reference time is set as the adjustment period, and the adjustment of the purchase process based on the priority is executed in the adjustment period. In this way, by adjusting purchase processing based on priority during a period that includes a point in time when the predicted purchase number is expected to be a certain number or more, it is possible for users with strong purchase intentions to purchase products with priority. Become.

  In the electronic commerce server of the present invention, the threshold may be set based on the initial number of products sold and a predetermined probability that the product will be excluded from purchase candidates.

  In this case, since the threshold value is set based on the initial number sold and the probability (so-called drop rate), the adjustment period can be appropriately set in consideration of the user's behavior when purchasing the product.

  In the electronic commerce server of the present invention, the threshold may be the initial number of products sold.

  In this case, the threshold value can be set easily, and the adjustment period can be set appropriately.

  In the electronic commerce server of the present invention, the determination unit calculates the total number of products currently selected by one or more users as purchase candidates as the predicted purchase number, and when the predicted purchase number exceeds the threshold, May be the reference time.

  Thus, the adjustment period can be appropriately set by setting the reference time based on the total number of products selected as purchase candidates at the current time.

  In the electronic commerce server of the present invention, the determination unit calculates a predicted purchase number based on an increasing tendency of the total number of products selected as purchase candidates by one or more users from the sales start time to the present time, and the predicted purchase number A future time point when the value exceeds the threshold may be set as the reference time.

  Thus, the adjustment period can be appropriately set by predicting the future number of purchases based on the increasing tendency of the total number of products selected as purchase candidates.

  In the electronic commerce server of the present invention, the determination unit calculates the predicted purchase number based on the increasing tendency of the total number of products purchased by one or more users from the sales start time to the present time, and the predicted purchase number is a threshold value. A future time point exceeding the reference time may be used as the reference time.

  Thus, the adjustment period can be appropriately set by predicting the future number of purchases based on the increasing tendency of the total number of products actually purchased.

  In the electronic commerce server according to the present invention, the setting unit gives a higher priority to a user with an earlier access date and time, and when there are a plurality of users with the same access date and time, a user with a higher access count gives a higher priority. As such, priority may be set.

  In this case, since the priority is set based on the access date and time, the more eager user who has accessed the product from an early stage can access the product with priority.

  In the electronic commerce server of the present invention, when the release date of the product is not set, the setting means gives a higher priority to a user with a higher access count, and accesses when there are multiple users with the same access count. The priority may be set so that a user with earlier date and time is given higher priority.

  In this case, if the product release date is undecided, the priority is set based on the number of accesses, so after the product release is announced, the product page is accessed many times to determine the release timing. The more eager user to confirm, the more preferentially the product can be purchased.

  In the electronic commerce server of the present invention, the priority may be a priority order for purchasing a product or a probability that a right to purchase a product can be acquired.

  In this case, the higher the priority, the more reliably the product can be purchased.

  According to the present invention, the priority is set based on the access information indicating at least one of the access date and time and the number of accesses, and the time point (reference time) at which the number of purchases of the product is predicted to exceed a predetermined threshold is set. In consideration, adjustment of purchase processing based on priority is executed. Thereby, a user with a strong willingness to purchase can preferentially purchase a product.

It is a figure which shows the whole structure of the system containing the electronic commerce server which concerns on embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the electronic commerce server shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the electronic commerce server shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of access information. It is a graph for demonstrating an example of the calculation method of an estimated purchase number. It is a graph for demonstrating an example of the setting of an adjustment period. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the electronic commerce server shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the electronic commerce program concerning embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same or equivalent elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  First, the function and configuration of the electronic commerce server 10 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The electronic commerce server 10 is a computer system that provides a web page of an online shopping site to the user terminal T and executes a product purchase process based on a user operation on the web page. As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic commerce server 10 is connected to a plurality of user terminals T via a communication network N. In FIG. 1, three user terminals T are shown, but any number of user terminals T may be used. Examples of the user terminal T include a personal computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, and the like. However, the type of the terminal is not limited and may be anything as long as it has a web browser function.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the electronic commerce server 10 includes, as functional components, an access monitoring unit 11, an access information storage unit (access information storage unit) 12, a determination unit (determination unit) 13, a setting unit (setting unit) 14, And an adjusting unit (adjusting means) 15.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the electronic commerce server 10 includes a CPU 101 that executes an operating system, application programs, and the like, a main storage unit 102 that includes a ROM and a RAM, and an auxiliary storage unit 103 that includes a hard disk. A communication control unit 104 including a network card, an input unit 105 such as a keyboard and a mouse, and an output unit 106 such as a monitor. Each function shown in FIG. 2 reads predetermined software on the CPU 101 or the main storage unit 102, operates the communication control unit 104, the input unit 105, the output unit 106, and the like under the control of the CPU 101. This is realized by reading and writing data in 102 and the auxiliary storage unit 103. Data and databases necessary for processing are stored in the main storage unit 102 and the auxiliary storage unit 103.

  Although FIG. 3 shows that the electronic commerce server 10 is configured by one computer, the functions of the electronic commerce server 10 may be distributed to a plurality of computers. For example, the electronic commerce server 10 may be configured by a computer having a database function (access information storage unit 12) and a computer having other functions.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the access information storage unit 12 is a means for storing, for each user, access information related to the access of the user terminal T to the product web page. The access information associates the user ID that uniquely identifies the user, the product name that identifies the product, the date and time (first access date and time) when the product web page was first accessed, and the number of accesses to the web page. Information. Note that the “product” in the present embodiment is a product whose number of sales is limited.

  An example of access information recorded in the access information storage unit 12 is shown in FIG. Since one user may browse a plurality of product pages, a plurality of access information can be recorded for one user. Moreover, since the web page about one goods may be browsed by several users, several access information can be recorded about one goods (one web page). In the example of FIG. 4, access information related to products X, Y, and Z is recorded for user A, and access information related to users A, B, and C is recorded for product Y.

  The access monitoring unit 11 is means for monitoring and recording the access of the user terminal T to the product web page. Specifically, the access monitoring unit 11 extracts the user ID, the product name, and the access time to the web page from the request signal received from the user terminal T and the web page sent to the user terminal T according to the signal. To do. Then, the access monitoring unit 11 updates the access information in the access information storage unit 12 based on the extracted information.

  Assuming that the access information is recorded as shown in FIG. 4, for example, the access monitoring unit 11 has the user ID “user C”, the product name “product Z”, and the access time “2010/09/01 21:30 When “second” is acquired, the access monitoring unit 11 updates the access count of the access information specified by the user ID and the product name to “6”. At this time, the access monitoring unit 11 does not update the first access date and time. In another example, when the access monitoring unit 11 acquires the user ID “user C”, the product name “product X”, and the access time “2010/09/01 21:30:30”, access monitoring is performed. The unit 11 generates and accesses new access information indicating the user ID “user C”, the product name “product X”, the first access date and time “2010/09/01 21:30:30”, and the access count “1”. The information is stored in the information storage unit 12.

  The access monitoring unit 11 starts to record access information on the web page of the product from the time when a predetermined notification about the product is made. For example, the access monitoring unit 11 may start recording access information regarding a product from the time when the sale of the product is first noticed via a medium (for example, a website, a magazine, a television, an e-mail, etc.). This means that the access information can be recorded before the product is actually sold. Alternatively, the access monitoring unit 11 may start recording access information about a product on the online shopping site provided by the electronic commerce server 10 from the time when a time sale about the product already sold is announced. Good.

  The determination unit 13 calculates the predicted purchase number of the product based on the access status of the user terminal T to the web page of the product after the sale of the product, and determines when the predicted purchase number exceeds a predetermined threshold It is a means to determine as. Here, “after sale of the product” means a time zone after the time when the sale based on the announcement is actually started after a predetermined announcement about the product is made. For example, “after sale of the product” corresponds to the time after the time when the product for which the sale is announced starts to be actually sold or the time when the announced time sale starts.

  First, the determination unit 13 sets a threshold, but the threshold setting method is not limited. For example, the determination unit 13 may set the initial sales number (purchased number) or the remaining inventory number of the product as the threshold value of the product. Alternatively, the determination unit 13 may set a threshold based on the initial number of items sold and the drop rate. Here, the drop rate is a probability that the product is removed from the purchase candidate, that is, a probability that the product put in the shopping basket by the user is removed from the selection target. This drop rate is set in advance based on past product selection trends in online shopping sites. For example, when the initial sales number is 90 and the drop rate is set to 10%, the determination unit 13 sets the threshold value to 90 / (1-0.1) = 100 (pieces). As described above, the determination unit 13 may set a threshold value by adding a drop rate to the initial sales quantity in consideration of a user who gives up purchasing a product on the way. Or the determination part 13 may set a threshold value based on an empirical rule, another calculation model, etc.

  When the threshold value is set in this way, the determination unit 13 calculates the predicted purchase number, and sets the time point when the predicted purchase number exceeds the threshold value as the reference time. The determination unit 13 sets the reference time by one of the following methods 1 and 2. When the purchase number is used as a threshold value, the predicted purchase number is the total number of all products selected by the user as purchase candidates. That is, the determination unit 13 counts products that have already been settled and purchased in addition to the products currently in the shopping cart. On the other hand, when the remaining inventory number is used as a threshold, the predicted purchase number is only the total number of products currently selected by the user as purchase candidates. That is, the determination unit 13 does not count the products that have already been settled and purchased, but counts only the total number of products currently in the shopping cart. The remaining inventory number is a number obtained by subtracting the number of purchased products from the number of purchases.

[Reference time setting method 1]
The determination unit 13 sets the total number of products currently selected as purchase candidates by one or more users on the online shopping site as the predicted purchase number. Here, selecting a product as a purchase candidate means an operation in which a user puts a product into a shopping basket. For example, when five users currently select the product Y one by one and three users select two products Y at the current time, the determination unit 13 sets the predicted purchase number of the product Y to 1 × Calculate as 5 + 2 × 3 = 11 (pieces).

  Subsequently, if the predicted number of purchases exceeds the threshold, the determination unit 13 sets the current time as the reference time, and outputs data indicating the reference time to the adjustment unit 15. Further, the determination unit 13 outputs an instruction signal for instructing the setting of the priority to the setting unit 14. On the other hand, if the predicted number of purchases does not exceed the threshold value, the determination unit 13 does not output the reference time and instruction signal, and therefore the processing of the setting unit 14 and the adjustment unit 15 described later is not performed. The determination unit 13 executes such reference time setting and output for each product.

[Reference time setting method 2]
The determination unit 13 obtains the predicted purchase number of the product based on the increasing tendency of the total number of products selected by one or more users as purchase candidates from the time when the sale of the product actually started to the current time t1. This prediction method will be specifically described with reference to FIG. The horizontal axis of the graph shows the elapsed time from the sales start time t0, and the vertical axis shows the total number of one selected product (one product put in the shopping basket). t1 indicates the current time. The determination unit 13 predicts a future change in the number of sales based on the change in the increase rate from the time t0 to the time t1. When the total number of selected products is changing as shown in FIG. 5 (see the solid line), the determination unit 13 may predict that the total number will increase exponentially (dashed line L1). reference). Or the determination part 13 may estimate that the total number will increase linearly as it is after linearly leveling the increasing tendency (increase tendency in the time slot | zone t0-t1) to the present time (refer broken line L2). . The calculation model used for prediction is not limited to these models.

  When the predicted number of purchases in the future is obtained in this way, the determination unit 13 sets a future time point when the predicted purchase number exceeds the threshold (that is, a time point when the product is expected to be sold out) as a reference time, and indicates this reference time. Data is output to the adjustment unit 15. The determination unit 13 performs the setting and output at the reference time for each product. Further, the determination unit 13 outputs an instruction signal for instructing the setting of the priority to the setting unit 14.

  In this setting method 2, if the sale period of the product is limited and the obtained reference time is a time point in the future from the end point of the sale period, the determination unit 13 outputs the reference time and the instruction signal. Therefore, the processing of the setting unit 14 and the adjusting unit 15 described later is not performed. This is because there is no possibility that the product will be sold out within the sales period, and it is not necessary to limit the user's purchase process.

  The setting unit 14 is a unit that sets the priority for purchasing a product for each user based on access information when an instruction signal is input from the determination unit 13. Ranking of users by priority is performed for each product. In the present embodiment, the setting unit 14 sets the priority by one of the following methods 1 and 2.

[Priority setting method 1]
The setting unit 14 sets the priority so that a higher priority is given to a user whose access date and time is first. At this time, if two or more users have the same initial access date and time, the setting unit 14 sets the priority so that a higher priority is given to a user with a higher access count.

  The case where the priority regarding the goods Y is provided with respect to the users A, B, and C on the assumption of FIG. As for the first access date, the users A and B are “March 10, 2010, 15:00:00”, and the user C is “April 10, 2010, 12:00:00”. And in the users A and B having the same initial access date and time, the user B has more accesses to the web page of the product Y. Therefore, the setting unit 14 gives the highest priority to the user B, the second highest priority to the user A, and the third highest priority to the user C.

  If such a setting method 1 is adopted, the more eager user who has been paying attention to the product early after a predetermined notification about the product (for example, announcement of sale) can be preferentially purchased. It becomes like this.

[Priority setting method 2]
The setting unit 14 sets the priority so that a user with a higher access count is given a higher priority. At this time, if the number of accesses is the same for two or more users, the setting unit 14 sets the priority so that the higher the priority is given to the user whose first access date is earlier. This setting method 2 is used, for example, when the product release date is not set (not announced publicly).

  The case where the priority regarding the goods Z is provided with respect to the users A, B, and C on the assumption of FIG. The number of accesses is “5” for users A and C, and “0” for user B. And in the users A and C with the same number of accesses, the user C accesses the web page of the product Z earlier. Therefore, the setting unit 14 gives the highest priority to the user C, the second highest priority to the user A, and the third highest priority to the user B.

  If such a setting method 2 is adopted, the more eager user who accesses the product page many times after confirming the sale of the product and confirms the timing of the sale, purchases the product with priority. Will be able to.

  Whichever of the setting methods 1 and 2 is used, the type of priority given to each user and specific numerical values may be arbitrarily determined. First, the setting unit 14 may set the priority order in which the product can be purchased as the priority. In this case, the setting unit 14 sets the priority “high” to the upper users of the number corresponding to the number of sales among the users arranged in order of priority, and sets the priority “low” to the other lower users. May be. Further, the setting unit 14 may give the user an order such as 1, 2,.

  Moreover, the setting part 14 may set the probability which can acquire the right to purchase goods as a priority, when determining the purchaser of goods by lottery. For example, for the users arranged in order of priority, the setting unit 14 sets the probability of n people in the highest group Ga to Pa (%), the probability of n people in the next group Gb to Pb (%), and the next group A priority is set such that the probability of n persons of Gc is Pc (%),... (Where Pa> Pb> Pc>...), And the probability that the user of the highest group Ga is selected by lottery is increased. May be.

  The setting unit 14 outputs the priority information of each user set by the above method to the adjustment unit 15 as a list. Therefore, a list is created for each product.

  The adjustment unit 15 is a unit that adjusts the product purchase process based on the reference time input from the determination unit 13 and the priority input from the setting unit 14.

  First, the adjustment unit 15 sets a period (adjustment period) during which purchase processing is adjusted. The adjustment unit 15 sets the adjustment period by one of the following methods 1 and 2 according to the reference time setting method in the determination unit 13.

[Adjustment period setting method 1]
When the determination unit 13 sets the reference time according to the above-described reference time setting method 1, the adjustment unit 15 sets a predetermined adjustment period starting from the reference time (that is, the current time). In this case, the end point of the adjustment period may be arbitrarily determined. For example, 10 minutes after the reference time may be set as the end point of the adjustment period.

[Adjustment period setting method 2]
When the determination unit 13 sets the reference time according to the reference time setting method 2 described above, the adjustment unit 15 sets an adjustment period with the reference time as an end point. In this case, the starting point of the adjustment period may be arbitrarily determined. For example, the adjustment unit 15 may set the current time as the start point of the adjustment period, or may set the start point as a time point (for example, 10 minutes before the reference time) that is a predetermined time after the reference time. Alternatively, the adjustment unit 15 calculates the predicted purchase number using the same calculation model as that of the determination unit 13, and the remaining number obtained by subtracting the predicted purchase number from the initial sales number of the product is equal to or less than a predetermined number (for example, 100 The starting point may be a point of time less than or equal to the number.

  An example of the adjustment period setting method 2 is shown in FIG. For example, when the determination unit 13 obtains the predicted purchase number as indicated by the broken line L1 and sets the reference time t2 based on the predicted purchase number and the set threshold value, the adjustment unit 15 sets the reference time t2 to the reference time t2. By setting the corresponding start point t3, the adjustment period T from time t3 to time t2 is set. The position and length of the adjustment period T depend on the threshold value setting, the transition of the predicted purchase number, and the setting method of the start point t3, which are performed to obtain the reference time (end point) t2.

  Subsequently, the adjustment unit 15 adjusts the purchase process in the adjustment period set by any of the above methods. This adjustment is performed as follows.

  The adjustment unit 15 determines whether or not to execute the settlement process in response to a user operation instructing the settlement process of the product selected as the purchase target (a product placed in the shopping basket). This user operation is, for example, a click operation on a purchase button on a web page displayed on the user terminal T, and a request signal based on this operation is sent from the user terminal T to the electronic commerce server 10.

  The adjustment unit 15 analyzes the request signal and obtains a user ID, a product name, and information indicating a settlement instruction. Subsequently, the adjustment unit 15 refers to the list of corresponding products, acquires the priority of the user ID, and determines whether to accept the request signal sent from the user terminal T and perform the settlement process. .

  For example, when the priority of each user is set as a binary value of “high” and “low”, the adjustment unit 15 executes the settlement process only when the acquired priority is “high”. In this case, a payment-related page (a screen for inputting payment information or a screen for notifying completion of payment) sent from the electronic commerce server 10 in response to the user operation is displayed on the terminal T of the user having the priority “high”. Etc.) is displayed. On the other hand, on the terminal T of the user whose priority is “low”, a page of a busy screen sent from the electronic commerce server 10 indicating that it cannot proceed to the settlement process is displayed. That is, a user who has a high priority for a certain product can surely purchase the product.

  In another example, when determining the purchaser of the product by lottery, if the priority of each user is the probability that the right to purchase can be acquired, the adjustment unit 15 based on the acquired priority, It is determined probabilistically whether or not payment processing should be performed. In this case, a user who has a high priority for a certain product does not always proceed to the settlement process related to the product, but the probability of being able to be selected and settled by lottery is higher than a user who has a low priority. The electronic commerce server 10 transmits, to the user terminal T, a payment-related screen or a web page showing a screen indicating a loss based on the determination of the adjustment unit 15.

  Next, the operation of the electronic commerce server 10 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 7, and the electronic commerce method according to the present embodiment will be described. Hereinafter, the control of the purchase process for the product X will be described on the assumption that the access information collected from the point of time when the predetermined notification about the specific product X is made is stored in the access information storage unit 12. Of course, the electronic commerce server 10 can execute the processes shown in FIG. 7 in parallel for a plurality of types of products.

  When the sale of the product is started, the determination unit 13 sets a threshold value for obtaining the reference time at a predetermined timing (step S11). Subsequently, the determination unit 13 obtains the predicted purchase number of the product X based on the access status of the user terminal T to the web page of the product X from the sales start time, and determines the reference time based on the predicted purchase number and the threshold value. Obtained (step S12, determination step). When the reference time setting method 2 is used, the process of step S12 obtains a predicted purchase number at a future time point (step S121) and determines whether or not the predicted purchase number exceeds a threshold value (step S121). It can be said that the series of processing of step S122) is repeatedly executed while gradually shifting the judgment time point (step S123). In this case, when the predicted number of purchases exceeds a threshold value at a certain time (step S123; YES), that time is set as a reference time (step S124).

  Subsequently, the setting unit 14 sets the priority related to the product X for each user based on the access information related to the product X in the access information storage unit 12 (step S13, setting step). The specific setting method is as described above.

  Subsequently, the adjustment unit 15 sets an adjustment period based on the reference time set by the determination unit 13, and adjusts the purchase process based on the set priority in the adjustment period (step S14, adjustment step). As described above, the adjustment period setting method is not limited to one.

  The electronic commerce server 10 may execute a series of processes shown in FIG. 7 a plurality of times at predetermined time intervals. When the reference time setting method 2 and the adjustment period setting method 2 described above are used, the transition of the predicted purchase number shown in FIG. 5 can change depending on the actual transition from time t0 to time t1, so The adjustment period depending on the transition can also change. Note that the determination unit 13 does not have to count the products for which a certain period of time has elapsed since being put in the shopping basket when determining the total number of the selected products. This is because the probability of purchasing a product decreases after a certain time has elapsed since the product was put in the shopping basket.

  Next, an information providing program for causing a computer to function as the electronic commerce server 10 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The electronic commerce program P1 includes a main module P10, an access monitoring module P11, an access information storage module P12, a determination module P13, a setting module P14, and an adjustment module P15.

  The main module P10 is a part that comprehensively controls the electronic commerce function. The functions realized by executing the access monitoring module P11, the access information storage module P12, the determination module P13, the setting module P14, and the adjustment module P15 are the access monitoring unit 11, the access information storage unit 12, and the determination unit, respectively. 13, the function of the setting unit 14 and the adjustment unit 15.

  The electronic commerce program P1 is provided in a form recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM or a semiconductor memory, for example. Further, the electronic commerce program P1 may be provided via a communication network as a computer data signal superimposed on a carrier wave.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the priority of product purchase is set based on the access information indicating the access date and time and the number of accesses of the user terminal T. This means that the priority is set based on when the web page is accessed or how many times the web page is accessed, that is, assuming the user's willingness to purchase the product. . In addition, a time point at which the predicted purchase number of products exceeds the threshold is obtained as a reference time, and the purchase process is adjusted based on the priority in consideration of the reference time. Specifically, the purchase process is adjusted based on the priority in a certain period (adjustment period) including the reference time. In this way, by adjusting the purchase process based on the priority in consideration of the time when the predicted purchase number is expected to exceed a certain number, users with strong willingness to purchase can preferentially purchase products. It becomes.

  There are various user communication environments such as an optical fiber, a wireless LAN, and ADSL. However, by performing the adjustment as described above, it is possible to reduce unfairness caused by a difference in communication environments. In other words, when purchase applications are concentrated, users using a network with a high communication speed are more advantageous in terms of product purchases regardless of their intention to purchase. By adjusting, the fairness of the purchase application can be kept above a certain level.

  In the present embodiment, a threshold value for determining the reference time may be set based on the initial number of products sold and the drop rate. In this case, the adjustment period can be appropriately set in consideration of the user's behavior at the time of purchasing the product, that is, the behavior of removing the selected product from the purchase target. In the present embodiment, the initial sales quantity of the product may be simply set as the threshold value. In this case, the adjustment period can be set appropriately while setting the threshold value easily.

  The present invention has been described in detail based on the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The present invention can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof.

  In the above embodiment, both the first access date and time and the number of accesses are recorded as access information, but only one of them may be stored in the access information storage means as access information. In this case, the setting means may set the priority of each user after rearranging the users based on either the ascending order of the first access date and the descending order of the number of accesses.

  In the above embodiment, the setting unit 14 sets the priority based on the instruction signal from the determination unit 13, but the setting unit 14 sets the priority in advance and outputs the priority to the adjustment unit 15 regardless of the instruction signal. You may keep it. In this case, when the adjustment unit 15 receives the reference time data from the determination unit 13, the adjustment unit 15 executes the above processing.

  The access information illustrated in FIG. 4 is recorded in the access information storage unit 12 of the electronic commerce server 10, but is not limited thereto, and may be recorded in a cookie of the user terminal T. In this case, for example, in the cookie of the user terminal T of the user A, “product X”, “first access date / time: 2010/06/01 12:30”, “number of accesses: 10”, etc. shown in FIG. Is done.

  In the above embodiment, the electronic commerce server 10 includes the access information storage unit 12, but the access information storage unit may be provided on another server. In this case, the electronic commerce server may access the access information storage means via the communication network N.

  In the above embodiment, the priority is set according to at least one of the access date and time and the number of accesses. However, the setting unit may set the priority using the purchase history. In this case, the setting means compares the purchase history of each user stored in a purchase database (not shown) with the access information, accesses the product web page a predetermined number of times, and selects the product. Identify users who did not purchase. Here, the purchase history is data including a user ID, a purchased product, and a purchase date and time, and the specified user is a person who is estimated to have been unable to purchase the product despite his intention to purchase. Then, the setting unit gives the identified user a higher priority than the other users. Thereby, the priority can be set in consideration of the past purchase mode.

  In the above embodiment, the determination unit 13 calculates the predicted purchase number based on the increasing tendency of the total number of products selected as purchase candidates. However, when the reference time setting method 2 is used, the predicted purchase number is determined by another method. You may ask for. Specifically, the determination unit 13 may obtain the predicted purchase number based on the increasing tendency of the total number of products actually purchased from the sales start time to the present time.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Electronic commerce server, 11 ... Access monitoring part, 12 ... Access information storage part (access information storage means), 13 ... Determination part (determination means), 14 ... Setting part (setting means), 15 ... Adjustment part (Adjustment means) ), P1 ... electronic commerce program, P10 ... main module, P11 ... access monitoring module, P12 ... access information storage module, P13 ... determination module, P14 ... setting module, P15 ... adjustment module, T ... user terminal.

Claims (13)

An electronic commerce server that executes a purchase process of a product based on a user operation on a web page of the product for which the number of sales is limited,
Reference is made to access information storage means for storing access information related to user terminal access to the web page for each user, and setting means for setting the priority for purchasing the product for each user, wherein the access information is The setting means which is at least one of the access date and time and the number of accesses of the user terminal;
Calculate the predicted purchase number of the product corresponding to the web page based on the access status of the user terminal to the web page after the sale of the product, and determine a reference time when the predicted purchase number exceeds a predetermined threshold A determination means;
When an adjustment period with the reference time as a start point or an end point is set and the user operation is accepted during the adjustment period, the user operation corresponding to the user operation is based on the priority corresponding to the user operation. An electronic commerce server comprising adjustment means for adjusting purchase processing. The adjustment means sets a predetermined adjustment period including the reference time, and adjusts the purchase process based on the priority in the adjustment period;
The electronic commerce server according to claim 1. The threshold is set based on the initial number of products sold and a predetermined probability that the product will be excluded from purchase candidates.
The electronic commerce server according to claim 1 or 2. The threshold is the initial number of items sold;
The electronic commerce server according to claim 1 or 2. The determination means calculates the total number of the products currently selected by one or more users as purchase candidates as a predicted purchase number, and when the predicted purchase number exceeds the threshold, the current time is set as the reference time. To
The electronic commerce server according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The determination means calculates the predicted purchase number based on an increasing tendency of the total number of the products selected by one or more users as purchase candidates from the sales start time to the present time, and the predicted purchase number exceeds the threshold value. The future time is the reference time.
The electronic commerce server according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The determination means calculates the predicted purchase number based on an increasing tendency of the total number of the products purchased by one or more users from the sales start time to the present, and a future time point when the predicted purchase number exceeds the threshold Is the reference time,
The electronic commerce server according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The setting means is such that a higher priority is given to a user whose access date and time is earlier, and a higher priority is given to a user who has a higher access count when there are multiple users with the same access date and time. Set priority,
The electronic commerce server according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that When the release date of the product is not set, the setting means gives a higher priority to a user with a higher access count, and the access date is earlier when there are a plurality of users with the same access count The priority is set so that the higher the priority is given to the user,
The electronic commerce server according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that The priority is a probability of acquiring the priority for purchasing the product or the right to purchase the product;
The electronic commerce server according to any one of claims 1 to 9. An electronic commerce method executed by an electronic commerce server that executes a purchase process of the product based on a user operation on a web page of a product for which the number of sales is limited,
A setting step of setting a priority for purchasing the product for each user with reference to an access information storage unit that stores, for each user, access information relating to user terminal access to the web page, wherein the access information is The setting step, which is at least one of access date and time and the number of accesses of the user terminal;
Calculate the predicted purchase number of the product corresponding to the web page based on the access status of the user terminal to the web page after the sale of the product, and determine a reference time when the predicted purchase number exceeds a predetermined threshold A determination step;
When an adjustment period with the reference time as a start point or an end point is set and the user operation is accepted during the adjustment period, the user operation corresponding to the user operation is based on the priority corresponding to the user operation. An electronic commerce method comprising: an adjustment step of adjusting a purchase process. An electronic commerce program for causing a computer to function as an electronic commerce server that executes a purchase process of the product based on a user operation on a web page of the product for which the number of sales is limited,
Reference is made to access information storage means for storing access information related to user terminal access to the web page for each user, and setting means for setting the priority for purchasing the product for each user, wherein the access information is The setting means which is at least one of the access date and time and the number of accesses of the user terminal;
Calculate the predicted purchase number of the product corresponding to the web page based on the access status of the user terminal to the web page after the sale of the product, and determine a reference time when the predicted purchase number exceeds a predetermined threshold A determination means;
When an adjustment period with the reference time as a start point or an end point is set and the user operation is accepted during the adjustment period, the user operation corresponding to the user operation is based on the priority corresponding to the user operation. An electronic commerce program for causing a computer to execute adjustment means for adjusting purchase processing. A computer-readable recording medium for recording an electronic commerce program for causing a computer to function as an electronic commerce server that executes a purchase process of the product based on a user operation on a web page of the product for which the number of products sold is limited. And
The electronic commerce program is stored in the computer.
Reference is made to access information storage means for storing access information related to user terminal access to the web page for each user, and setting means for setting the priority for purchasing the product for each user, wherein the access information is The setting means which is at least one of the access date and time and the number of accesses of the user terminal;
Calculate the predicted purchase number of the product corresponding to the web page based on the access status of the user terminal to the web page after the sale of the product, and determine a reference time when the predicted purchase number exceeds a predetermined threshold A determination means;
When an adjustment period with the reference time as a start point or an end point is set and the user operation is accepted during the adjustment period, the user operation corresponding to the user operation is based on the priority corresponding to the user operation. An adjustment means for adjusting the purchase process;
A computer-readable recording medium.

Images