JP7585588B2 - How to match product producers with consumers - Google Patents

Description

Application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act Announced at the following conference on September 4, 2018. "ICC Summit Kyoto 2018" Westin Miyako Hotel Kyoto Published on the following website on November 13, 2018. https://pro.tabechoku.com/ https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000011.000025043.html

The present invention relates to a method for matching producers and consumers, which is provided by a server terminal that acts as an intermediary between a producer terminal associated with a producer of a product and a consumer terminal associated with a consumer who purchases the product.

Conventionally, there has been an increase in methods of providing products in which information about the producers of products, particularly food ingredients such as vegetables, is disclosed to the consumer or orderer, and the product is provided in a format in which the consumer or orderer can directly see the face of the producer.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a method for matching a cultivation contract between an orderer and a producer, in which secondary information such as information on organic cultivation and information with a photo of the producer is disclosed to the orderer, and the orderer can refer to information other than the bid price to decide on the purchase of the product.

Patent No. 5954715

However, Patent Document 1 is an invention that takes into special consideration the circumstances of producers, such as allocating production equally among multiple producers based on the producer with the lowest production capacity when there are multiple producers for an order from an orderer, and it remains difficult to ensure fairness between consumers and producers.

The present invention aims to provide a system that provides high-quality food ingredients directly to consumers from food producers such as farmers. In particular, it aims to provide food ingredients that meet the needs of consumers.

In one aspect of the present invention, a method for matching producers and consumers is provided by a server terminal that acts as an intermediary between a producer terminal associated with a producer of a product and a consumer terminal associated with a consumer who purchases the product, which are connected via a network, and selects candidate producers, transmits information about the selected candidate producers to a consumer terminal, accepts a request from the consumer terminal to confirm the producer, and requests the producer terminal associated with the producer to ship the product.

The present invention provides a system that allows high-quality food ingredients to be provided directly to consumers from food producers such as farmers. It also makes it possible to provide food ingredients that meet the needs of consumers.

1 is a block diagram showing a matching system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the server terminal 100 of FIG. 1 . FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the consumer terminal 200 of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of consumer data stored in the server 100. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of producer data stored in the server 100. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of product data stored in the server 100. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of transaction data stored in the server 100. 4 is an example of a flowchart relating to a matching method according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen for preference information displayed on a consumer terminal. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing another example of the input screen for preference information displayed on the consumer terminal. 5 is an example of a flowchart relating to a preference information update process according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 13 is another example of a flowchart relating to the update process of preference information according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 10 is an example of a flowchart relating to a matching method according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiment described below does not unduly limit the contents of the present disclosure described in the claims. Furthermore, not all of the components shown in the embodiment are necessarily essential components of the present disclosure.

(Embodiment 1)
<Configuration>
1 is a block diagram showing a matching system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The system 1 is composed of a consumer terminal 200 associated with a consumer who wishes to purchase a product such as vegetables or foodstuffs (hereinafter referred to as a "product") and who will purchase the product, and a producer terminal 300 associated with a producer who produces and provides the product, and a server terminal 100 that acts as an intermediary between the consumer terminal 200 and the producer terminal 300.

The server terminal 100, the consumer terminal 200, and the producer terminal 300 are connected via a network NW. The network NW is composed of the Internet, an intranet, a wireless LAN (Local Area Network), a WAN (Wide Area Network), etc.

The server terminal 100 is a device that receives information related to producers and information related to products from producers through the producer terminal 300, and performs matching processing between producers and consumers based on consumer preference information received through the consumer terminal 200, and may be, for example, a general-purpose computer such as a workstation or personal computer, or may be logically realized by cloud computing. In this embodiment, for convenience of explanation, one server terminal is shown as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this and multiple servers may be used.

As described above, the consumer terminal 200 is a consumer who wishes to purchase and actually purchases a product, and is therefore an information processing device such as a personal computer or tablet terminal owned by the consumer who uses the services provided by the server terminal 100, but may also be configured as a smartphone, mobile phone, PDA, etc.

As described above, the producer terminal 300 is a producer that provides information related to producers and information related to products and sells products, and is an information processing device such as a personal computer or tablet terminal owned by a producer who uses the services provided by the server terminal 100, but may also be configured as a smartphone, mobile phone, PDA, etc.

In this embodiment, the system 1 is described as having a server terminal 100, a consumer terminal 200, and a producer terminal 300, and a consumer or producer of a product uses the consumer terminal 200 and the producer terminal 300, respectively, to operate the server terminal 100. However, the server terminal 100 may be configured as a stand-alone system, and the server terminal itself may have a function for the consumer or user of the product to operate it.

Figure 2 is a functional block diagram of the server terminal 100 in Figure 1. The server terminal 100 includes a communication unit 110, a storage unit 120, and a control unit 130.

The communication unit 110 is a communication interface for communicating with the consumer terminal 200 and the producer terminal 300 via the network NW, and communication is performed according to a communication protocol such as TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol).

The storage unit 120 stores programs for executing various control processes and functions in the control unit 130, input data, etc., and is composed of a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), etc. The storage unit 120 also has a storage unit 121 that stores various data related to consumers of products, a producer data storage unit 122 that stores various data related to producers of products, a product data storage unit 123 that stores various data related to products, and a transaction data storage unit 124 that stores transaction data such as product orders. The storage unit 120 can also temporarily store data communicated with the consumer terminal 200 and the producer terminal 300. A database (not shown) storing various data may be constructed outside the storage unit 120.

The control unit 130 controls the overall operation of the server terminal 100 by executing the programs stored in the memory unit 120, and is composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), etc. The functions of the control unit 130 include an instruction reception unit 131 that receives instructions from the consumer terminal 200 or the producer terminal 300, a consumer data management unit 132 that refers to and processes various data related to consumers, a producer data management unit 133 that refers to and processes various data related to producers, a product data management unit 134 that refers to and processes various data related to products, and a transaction processing unit 135 that processes transactions such as product orders. The instruction reception unit 131, consumer data management unit 132, producer data management unit 133, product data management unit 134, and transaction processing unit 135 are started by the programs stored in the memory unit 120 and executed by the server terminal 100, which is a computer (electronic calculator).

The instruction receiving unit 131 receives instructions from the consumer terminal 200 or the producer terminal 300 via the communication unit 110 when a user who is a consumer or producer makes a specific request (by entering a keyword, pressing an icon, etc.) via a user interface such as a web screen provided by the server terminal 100 and displayed on the consumer terminal 200 or the producer terminal 300.

The consumer data management unit 132 manages and processes various data related to consumers (e.g., basic information about the consumer, payment information, subscription plan, preference information, and transaction history, etc.).

The producer data management unit 133 manages and processes various data related to producers (e.g., basic information, payment information, product information, transaction history, and evaluation information, etc.).

The product data management unit 134 manages and processes various data related to products (e.g., product information, producer information, tag information, etc.).

The transaction management unit 135 performs processing related to product transactions, such as ordering products.

Figure 3 is a functional block diagram showing the consumer terminal 200 of Figure 1. The consumer terminal 200 includes a communication unit 210, a display operation unit 220, a storage unit 230, and a control unit 240.

The communication unit 210 is a communication interface for communicating with the server terminal 100 via the network NW, and communication is performed according to a communication protocol such as TCP/IP.

The display operation unit 220 is a user interface used by the consumer to input instructions and display text, images, etc. according to input data from the control unit 240, and is composed of a display, keyboard, and mouse if the consumer terminal 200 is configured as a personal computer, and is composed of a touch panel, etc. if the consumer terminal 200 is configured as a tablet terminal. This display operation unit 220 is started up by a control program stored in the memory unit 230 and executed by the consumer terminal 200, which is a computer (electronic calculator).

The storage unit 230 stores programs for executing various control processes and functions in the control unit 240, input data, etc., and is composed of RAM, ROM, etc. The storage unit 230 also temporarily stores the contents of communication with the server terminal 100.

The control unit 240 controls the overall operation of the consumer terminal 200 by executing the programs stored in the memory unit 230, and is composed of a CPU, GPU, etc.

The server terminal 100 may be configured to have the display operation unit function, in which case the consumer terminal 200 may not be included.

The functional configuration of the producer terminal 300 is essentially the same as that of the consumer terminal 200, so a description of it will be omitted.

Figure 4 shows an example of consumer data stored on server 100.

The consumer data 1000 shown in FIG. 4 stores various data related to the consumer. For the sake of convenience in the explanation, FIG. 4 shows an example of one consumer (a consumer identified by consumer ID "10001"), but information on multiple consumers can be stored. As various data related to the consumer, for example, basic information on the consumer (consumer's name, address, email address, SNS account information, etc.), payment information (credit card information registered by the consumer), information on the plan subscribed to by the consumer (for example, plans S, M, L, etc. determined according to the number of vegetables to be shipped as a package) and frequency of shipping (weekly, biweekly, monthly, etc.), preference information described below, and information related to transaction history are stored.

Figure 5 shows an example of producer data stored in server 100.

Producer data 2000 shown in FIG. 5 stores various data related to producers. For ease of explanation, FIG. 5 shows an example of one producer (a producer identified by producer ID "20001"), but information on multiple users can be stored. As various data related to producers, for example, basic information about the producer (name, address, email address, SNS account information, etc.), payment information (account information for transferring sales, etc.), product information (product name, product ID, etc.), transaction history, and evaluation information related to the producer and product received from consumers are stored.

Figure 6 shows an example of product data stored on the server 100.

Product data 3000 shown in FIG. 6 stores various data related to products such as vegetables. For ease of explanation, FIG. 6 shows an example of a product (a product identified by transaction ID "30001"), but information on other products can be stored. Product data 3000 stores, for example, product information (product name or product package name, product or package contents, price (not limited to this in the case of a flat-rate system), and product or package description, etc.), producer information of the product (producer name, producer ID, etc.), and tag information that is linked to the product or package and identifies the product category or consumer preferences.

Figure 7 shows an example of transaction data stored on server 100.

The transaction data 4000 shown in FIG. 7 stores various data related to transactions such as ordering products such as vegetables. The transaction data 4000 stores information such as a "transaction ID" that identifies the transaction, a "consumer ID" that identifies the consumer who ordered the product that is the subject of the transaction, a "producer ID" that identifies the producer who produces and provides the product, a "product ID" that identifies the product that is the subject of the transaction, the "price" of the product (not required in the case of a flat-rate system), the "shipping date" when the producer shipped the product, and the "scheduled delivery date" when the product will be delivered to the consumer.

<Processing flow>
A process flow of a method for matching consumers and producers executed by the system 1 of this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 8. Fig. 8 is an example of a flowchart relating to the matching method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

To use this system 1, the consumer and/or producer accesses the server terminal 100 using the internet browser of the consumer terminal 200 and the producer terminal 300, and if it is the first time using the service, they input the consumer basic information, producer basic information, etc. mentioned above, and if the consumer or producer already has an account, they can log in after undergoing a specific authentication, such as entering an ID and password, to use the service. After this authentication, a specific user interface is provided via a website or the like, and the process proceeds to step S101 shown in FIG. 7.

First, in the process of step S101, the server terminal 100 accepts preference information from the consumer terminal 200. For example, the instruction accepting unit 131 of the control unit 130 of the server terminal 100 receives the preference information from the consumer terminal 200 via the communication unit 110, and stores the received preference information in the consumer data storage unit 121 of the memory unit 120. Preference information can take various forms, but as one example, the server terminal 100 provides survey information for generating preference information to the consumer terminal 200, and the consumer can input the preference information through a survey screen displayed on the screen of the consumer terminal 200.

Figures 9 and 10 show some examples of preference information input screens displayed on the consumer terminal.

First, as shown in FIG. 9, the consumer can select or input preference information such as the consumer's preference for Japanese/Western food (for breakfast), whether or not they make lunch boxes, the composition/number of family members, how often they cook, the cooking method (preparation/time-saving cooking/trying new recipes, etc.), whether or not large vegetables need to be cut, and preferences for spring/summer and fall/winter vegetables.

As shown in FIG. 10, the consumer can also select or input preference information such as vegetables that the consumer dislikes, allergies, preferences for cultivation methods (use/non-use/degree of use of chemical fertilizers), product content preferences (breakdown of leafy vegetables and root vegetables), preference for traditional vegetables, preference for defective products, etc.

In the process of step S102, the server terminal 100 selects candidate producers based on the preference information and provides the selected producer information to the consumer terminal 200. For example, the consumer data management unit 131 of the control unit 130 of the server terminal 100 refers to the preference information of the consumer data stored in the consumer data storage unit 121, and the product data management unit 133 refers to the product data stored in the product data storage unit 123 based on the preference information. When referring to the product data, if the consumer's preference information includes, for example, a cooking method such as "I often prepare food in advance" and favorite vegetables such as "potatoes" and "onions," the tag information is used to search for long-lasting vegetables and products such as "potatoes" and "onions," and products that match the tag information included in the consumer's preference information are identified. The producer data management unit 132 then refers to the producer data stored in the producer data storage unit 122 using the identified product as a key, and identifies the producer who provides the product. Here, the server terminal 100 can select one or more candidate producers. In addition, when selecting candidate producers, the server terminal 100 can preferentially select producers who have not been matched with other consumers or the current target consumer in the past. The producer information provided by the server terminal 100 to the consumer terminal 200 can include, for example, basic information such as the producer's name, region, and face photo, as included in the producer data 2000 shown in FIG. 6, as well as information related to the product or product package provided by the producer (for example, a package consisting of carrots, onions, potatoes, leafy vegetables, and salad vegetables), and an introduction of the producer's commitment. The server terminal 100 can also select a producer who can deliver a product that meets the consumer's needs based on information such as the harvest situation and plan obtained from the producer. Here, the server terminal 100 can select candidate producers based only on the plan the consumer subscribes to (e.g., plan S, M, L, etc., determined according to the number of vegetables to be shipped as a package) and shipping frequency (weekly, biweekly, monthly, etc.), as mentioned above, without relying on preference information.

Furthermore, through machine learning or the like, the server terminal 100 can select producers that have been selected by other consumers who have similar preference information provided by the consumer when selecting a producer. In this case, a producer can also be selected based on whether the consumer ultimately selected that producer or gave a positive evaluation. The server terminal 100 can also identify keywords by natural language analysis of the preference information input by the consumer in free text, and select a producer based on the identified keywords.

Furthermore, with an emphasis on matching consumers with producers, the service provider operating the server terminal 100 can provide only product packages to consumers, rather than individual products, and leave it up to the producer to decide the product contents to be included in the product package, for example, by aligning them with the timing of vegetable harvesting. In this case, if it is difficult to provide the contents of the product package to the consumer in advance, the service provider can provide product information that has been provided to that consumer or other consumers in the past, rather than providing the product information that will actually be provided to the consumer, or, if it is possible to notify the producer of the contents of the product package in advance, provide that product information.

Next, in step S103, the server terminal 100 checks whether a request to change the selected producer has been received from the consumer terminal 200. Here, the consumer terminal 200 receives candidate producer information from the server terminal 100, and can check information related to that producer on the screen of the consumer terminal 200. After checking the producer information through the consumer terminal 200, the consumer can either confirm that the producer is acceptable, or request to change from that producer to another producer. Also, if the server terminal 100 selects multiple candidate producers, the consumer can select one of the multiple producers.

In step S103, if the consumer does not change the producer and the server terminal 100 receives a request from the consumer terminal 200 to confirm the producer, the process proceeds to step S104. If the consumer wishes to change the producer and the server terminal 100 receives a change request, the process returns to step S102 and the server terminal 100 performs the producer selection process again.

In step S104, the server terminal 100 performs processing to request the producer terminal 300 to ship the product or product package. Specifically, the transaction processing unit 135 of the server terminal 100 references the consumer's basic information in the consumer data 1000 via the consumer data management unit 132, generates information such as the shipping destination's name and address, and sends a shipping request message to the producer terminal 300 along with the desired delivery date/time and shipping frequency. If the consumer specifies an individual product or product package, the product information is also sent. When the producer terminal 300 receives the shipping request, it ships the product or product package directly to the consumer without going through the business operator that operates the server terminal 100. In this way, by realizing direct transactions between the producer and the consumer without going through an intermediary business operator, the burden on the business operator is reduced while fresher products can be delivered from the producer to the consumer.

The transaction processing unit 135 also generates a transaction ID to identify this transaction, stores information such as the consumer ID identifying the consumer purchasing the product, the producer ID providing the product, the product ID identifying the product, and the price if a price is set for each transaction as transaction data in the transaction data storage unit 124, and updates the shipping date information and the scheduled delivery date when it is confirmed that the product has been shipped by the producer. It can also update the receipt date when it is confirmed that the consumer has received the product.

In addition, in step S105, the server terminal 100 can receive evaluation information about the producer from the consumer terminal 200 that has received the product from the producer. As evaluation information, it is possible to receive information such as messages from consumers to the producer, word-of-mouth information, and rating information (for example, a scaled rating from one star to five stars). The server terminal 100 can perform processing to display the evaluation information received from the consumer terminal 200 on a web page that displays producer information, etc.

As described above, by carefully selecting producers and matching consumers with producers, a relationship of trust can be built between the consumer and producer, and the psychological distance between them can be reduced. This provides a system for providing high-quality ingredients directly from farmers to consumers. In addition, because consumers can change candidate producers, it is possible to match with producers that better meet the consumer's needs and provide preferred ingredients. Furthermore, by carefully selecting producers based on preference information, a highly accurate matching method can be provided.

(Variation 1)
Fig. 11 is an example of a flowchart relating to a preference information update process according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the matching method shown in Fig. 8, the preference information acquired from the consumer can be updated, and matching between the consumer and the producer can be measured based on the updated preference information. An example of the preference information update process will be described below.

First, in step S201, the server terminal 100 accepts a request to change the preference information from the consumer terminal 200. For example, the instruction acceptance unit 131 of the control unit 130 of the server terminal 100 receives the changed preference information from the consumer terminal 200 via the communication unit 110. The process of changing the preference information in the consumer terminal 200 can be executed, for example, by the consumer performing a predetermined login operation on the service website, and then using a function for changing the consumer's preference information contained in a personal page or the like. The screen for changing the preference information can be a screen for inputting preference information as shown in Figures 9 and 10. When the consumer completes inputting the changes to the preference information, the changed preference information is sent to the server terminal 100, and the server terminal 100 receives it.

In step S202, the server terminal 100 performs a process of updating the preference information. For example, the consumer data management unit 132 of the server terminal 100 can update the preference information of the consumer data 1000 as shown in FIG. 4 by storing the received preference information in the consumer data storage unit 121 of the memory unit 120.

As a result, the server terminal 100 can match producers that match the consumer's latest preferences based on the updated preference information.

(Variation 2)
Fig. 12 is another example of a flowchart relating to the update process of the preference information according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the matching method shown in Fig. 8, the preference information acquired from the consumer can be updated, and the matching between the consumer and the producer can be measured based on the updated preference information. Another example of the update process of the preference information will be described below.

First, in step S301, the server terminal 100 accepts evaluation information of the producer from the consumer terminal 200. For example, the instruction receiving unit 131 of the control unit 130 of the server terminal 100 receives the evaluation information of the producer from the consumer terminal 200 via the communication unit 110. The input process of the evaluation information in the consumer terminal 200 is, for example, when a consumer receives a product such as a package of vegetables from a producer and posts a message to the effect that the product has arrived, or when the consumer rates the producer or the contents of the product on a five-point scale. A message can also be entered and posted in free text. The producer can also enter and post evaluation information at any time. When the consumer has completed entering the evaluation information, the evaluation information is sent to the server terminal 100, which receives it.

As described above, the server terminal 100 updates the consumer's preference information based on the evaluation information, and if the evaluation is low, for example, the server terminal 100 can match a different producer from the next time onwards. This makes it possible to match producers that suit the consumer's latest preferences.

(Embodiment 2)
In this embodiment, the consumer is assumed to be a user who is particular about ingredients, such as a restaurant chef, and matching is performed with producers who provide ingredients such as meat and vegetables as products. Here, the basic system configuration of this embodiment and the functional configuration of the server terminal 100 and the consumer terminal 200/producer terminal 300 are the same as those of the first embodiment, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted. Figure 13 is an example of a flowchart relating to a matching method according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

First, in the process of step S401, the server terminal 100 accepts an ingredient request from the consumer terminal 200. For example, the instruction acceptance unit 131 of the control unit 130 of the server terminal 100 receives the ingredient request from the consumer terminal 200 via the communication unit 110, and stores the received ingredient information in the consumer data storage unit 121 of the memory unit 120. The requested content may take various forms, but examples include information such as the name of the ingredient, the ingredient's purpose and amount, the ingredient's (vegetables, etc.) cultivation method (use/non-use/degree of use of chemical fertilizers), and the budget.

In step S402, the server terminal 100 selects candidate producers based on the food ingredient information and provides the selected producer information to the consumer terminal 200. For example, the consumer data management unit 131 of the control unit 130 of the server terminal 100 refers to the food ingredient information of the consumer data stored in the consumer data storage unit 121, and the product data management unit 133 refers to the product data stored in the product data storage unit 123 based on the food ingredient information. When referring to the product data, if the consumer's food ingredient information includes information such as "organic ingredients," "3 kg of salad vegetables," and "budget 5,000 yen," products such as salad vegetables (e.g., "lettuce" and "cabbage") are searched for based on the tag information. Then, the producer data management unit 132 uses the identified product as a key to refer to the producer data stored in the producer data storage unit 122 and identifies the producer who provides the product. At this time, the producer who can ship the product can be identified by referring to the cultivation information of the product (e.g., harvest time). Here, the server terminal 100 can select one or more candidate producers. In addition, when selecting candidate producers, the server terminal 100 can also preferentially select producers who have not been matched with other consumers or the current target consumer in the past. The producer information provided by the server terminal 100 to the consumer terminal 200 can include, for example, basic information such as the producer's name, region, and face photo, as included in the producer data 2000 shown in FIG. 6, as well as information related to the product or product package provided by the producer (for example, a package consisting of carrots, onions, potatoes, leafy vegetables, and salad vegetables), and an introduction of the producer's commitment, etc. In addition, the server terminal 100 can select a producer selected for another consumer similar to the food ingredient information provided by the consumer through machine learning or the like when selecting a producer. In this case, the producer can be selected based on whether the consumer ultimately selected the producer or gave a positive evaluation. The server terminal 100 can also identify keywords from the food ingredient information entered by the consumer in free text by natural language analysis, and select a producer based on the identified keywords.

Next, in step S103, the server terminal 100 checks whether a request to change the selected producer has been received from the consumer terminal 200. Here, the consumer terminal 200 receives candidate producer information from the server terminal 100, and can check information related to that producer on the screen of the consumer terminal 200. After checking the producer information through the consumer terminal 200, the consumer can either confirm that the producer is acceptable, or request to change from that producer to another producer. Also, if the server terminal 100 selects multiple candidate producers, the consumer can select one of the multiple producers.

In step S403, if the consumer does not change the producer and the server terminal 100 receives a request from the consumer terminal 200 to confirm the producer, the process proceeds to step S104. If the consumer wishes to change the producer and the server terminal 100 receives a change request, the process returns to step S102 and the server terminal 100 performs the producer selection process again.

In step S404, the server terminal 100 accepts an ingredient selection request from the consumer terminal 200. For example, the instruction acceptance unit 131 of the control unit 130 of the server terminal 100 receives the ingredient selection request from the consumer terminal 200 via the communication unit 110, and stores the received selected ingredient information in the consumer data storage unit 121 of the memory unit 120. For example, a consumer selects ingredients (e.g., "lettuce" and "cabbage") that they wish to request the producer to ship through a survey screen displayed on the screen of the consumer terminal 200, and requests the shipment, whereby an ingredient selection request is sent from the consumer terminal 200 to the server terminal 100.

In step S405, the server terminal 100 performs processing to request the producer terminal 300 to ship the selected product. Specifically, the transaction processing unit 135 of the server terminal 100 references the consumer's basic information in the consumer data 1000 via the consumer data management unit 132, generates information such as the shipping destination name and address, and sends a shipping request message to the producer terminal 300 along with the desired delivery date/time, product and quantity, and shipping frequency. When the producer terminal 300 receives the shipping request, it ships the product directly to the consumer without going through the business operator that operates the server terminal 100. In this way, by realizing direct transactions between the producer and the consumer without going through an intermediary business operator, the burden on the business operator is reduced while fresher products can be delivered from the producer to the consumer.

The transaction processing unit 135 also generates a transaction ID to identify this transaction, stores information such as the consumer ID identifying the consumer purchasing the product, the producer ID providing the product, the product ID identifying the product, and the price if a price is set for each transaction as transaction data in the transaction data storage unit 124, and updates the shipping date information and the scheduled delivery date when it is confirmed that the product has been shipped by the producer. It can also update the receipt date when it is confirmed that the consumer has received the product.

The server terminal 100 can also receive evaluation information about a producer from a consumer terminal 200 that has received a product from that producer. As evaluation information, it can receive information such as messages from consumers to producers, word-of-mouth information, and rating information (for example, a scaled rating from one star to five stars). The server terminal 100 can perform processing to display the evaluation information received from the consumer terminal 200 on a web page that displays producer information, etc.

As described above, by carefully selecting producers based on the food information required by consumers and matching consumers with producers, it is possible to build a relationship of trust between the consumers and producers and to reduce the psychological distance between them. This provides a system whereby high-quality food ingredients can be provided directly to consumers from producers such as farmers. In addition, because consumers can change candidate producers, it is possible to match consumers with producers who better meet their needs and provide them with their preferred food ingredients.

In the above first and second embodiments, products such as vegetables and food ingredients are exemplified, but products can also include meat and fish. In addition to directly delivering a personalized package of recommended products in a certain category, such as vegetables, it is also possible to directly deliver, for example, a personalized package consisting of products across multiple categories, such as vegetables, meat, and fresh fish, to a certain consumer.

Although the disclosed embodiments have been described above, they can be embodied in various other forms and can be implemented with various omissions, substitutions, and modifications. These embodiments and variations, as well as omissions, substitutions, and modifications, are included in the technical scope of the claims and their equivalents.

1 Matching system 100 Server terminal, 110 Communication unit, 120 Storage unit, 130 Control unit, 200 Consumer terminal, 300 Producer terminal, NW Network

Claims (6)

A method for matching producers and consumers, which is provided by a server terminal that mediates between a producer terminal related to a producer of a product and a consumer terminal related to a consumer who purchases the product, the method comprising the steps of:
The server terminal is
receiving consumer preference information regarding the product from a consumer terminal;
storing the preference information;
Selecting candidate producers to provide the identified products based on the preference information ;
Transmitting the selected candidate producer information to the consumer terminal;
receiving a request from the consumer terminal to identify the producer;
requesting a producer terminal associated with the producer to ship the identified product;
Matching method. 2. The matching method according to claim 1, wherein the product is an ingredient, and the server terminal identifies tag information corresponding to the ingredient stored in a memory unit of the server terminal based on the preference information, identifies the ingredient based on the identified tag information, and selects a producer providing the ingredient as the candidate producer. The matching method according to claim 1, further comprising accepting a change request from the consumer terminal for the candidate producer. The matching method according to claim 1, wherein evaluation information about the producer is received from the consumer terminal. The matching method according to claim 4 , further comprising updating the preference information based on the evaluation information. The matching method according to claim 5 , further comprising the step of selecting a producer based on the updated preference information.