JP7638515B2 - Information processing device, rental management program, and rental management method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing device, a rental management program, and a rental management method.

Technology for managing rental items using an information processing device such as a computer is known. Patent Document 1 discloses this type of technology.

Patent document 1 describes a rental management server that is configured to manage a first record that at least associates an investor ID, a material ID, and a contract period after the rental company borrows materials from an investor. The sales management server is equipped with a storage unit that manages a second record that at least associates the material ID of the material to be lent to the re-renter, the investor ID of the investor who owns the material, the re-renter ID of the re-renter, and the rental period after the rental company receives a material lending request from the re-renter, and describes that after the material is returned from the re-renter, the second record related to the returned material is deleted from the storage unit.

JP 2020-173863 A

When an EC (electronic commerce) business operates a rental business, it becomes necessary to secure rental inventory in addition to the inventory of products for sale, and the sales inventory and rental inventory must be managed. Conventional technology has room for improvement in terms of securing rental inventory and making it easier to manage it.

The present invention aims to provide a rental management program and rental management method that can ensure and easily manage rental inventory.

The present invention relates to an information processing device that includes an inventory management unit that acquires external inventory information indicating an inventory of items managed by another management device and updates rental candidate information of items that are candidates for rental based on the external inventory information, a reception processing unit that receives application information indicating an application for renting an item from a user, and a rental processing unit that sets a rental item to be rented from the inventory of items indicated by the rental candidate information based on the application information received by the reception processing unit, and transmits rental setting information to the management device indicating that the rental item has been set.

The rental management program and rental management method of the present invention can facilitate the securing and management of rental inventory.

1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a rental management system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a rental site according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an EC site according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of an information processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention and a functional configuration for executing each process. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a rental process between an EC site and a rental site according to an embodiment of the present invention. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating data linkage between an EC site and a rental site at the start of rental processing in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a reservation process in a rental process between an EC site and a rental site according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a shipping process between an EC site and a rental site according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a return process between an EC site and a rental site according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

[Overall configuration of rental management system]
Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a rental management system S according to this embodiment. The rental management system S shown in Fig. 1 is a system for managing information relating to rental items.

The rental management system S of this embodiment includes a rental management server 1 as an information processing device, and an EC (Electric Commerce) management server 2 as another management device. In this embodiment, the rental management server 1 and the EC management server 2 are operated by different operating companies. However, the rental management server 1 and the EC management server 2 may be operated by the same operating company.

The rental management system S provides web services to users by communicating with n (n is any integer value equal to or greater than 1) client user terminals 3, a rental management server 1, and an EC management server 2 via a network N. The network N is realized, for example, by a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network), the Internet, or a mobile phone network, or a combination of these.

The rental management server 1 is installed, for example, by a rental business that operates the rental management system S. The rental management server 1 is realized, for example, by a computer having server functions. The rental management server 1 creates a rental site, which is a website as shown in FIG. 2.

Figure 2 is an example of a display screen of a rental site according to this embodiment. The display screen of the rental site displays, for example, product images and product descriptions of items to be rented, rental fee information, a calendar showing the dates when the item can be rented, and an "Add to cart" button 5 for making a rental reservation. On the calendar, a "circle" is displayed in the column directly below the display of the dates when the item can be rented. A user selects a date on the calendar where a "circle" is displayed and then presses button 5. Thereafter, a user of the rental site can rent an item displayed on the rental site by going through a prescribed procedure. Furthermore, on the rental site according to this embodiment, the items to be rented can be purchased as second-hand goods.

As shown in FIG. 1, the rental management server 1 can communicate with an affiliated warehouse terminal 4, which serves as a rental inventory management device, via a network N. The affiliated warehouse terminal 4 is used to manage an affiliated warehouse, which is a warehouse of a warehouse company affiliated with the rental business operator. The rental management server 1 can send and receive rental-related information to and from the affiliated warehouse terminal 4. The affiliated warehouse terminal 4 may be a computer installed in the affiliated warehouse, a computer installed in an office located different from the affiliated warehouse, or a portable smartphone, tablet, or notebook computer that can be carried by the person in charge.

The EC management server 2 is installed, for example, by an EC business operator that conducts electronic commerce. The EC management server 2 is realized, for example, by a computer having server functions. The EC management server 2 creates an EC site, which is a website as shown in FIG. 3.

Figure 3 is an example of a display screen of an EC site according to this embodiment. The display screen of the EC site displays, for example, an input field 6 for the product image, product name, model number, price, and the number of items desired to be purchased, an "Add to Cart" button 7 for reserving a purchase, and a "Rent" rental button 8, which will be described later. A user can purchase an item by inputting the number of items desired to be purchased in the input field 6 and pressing button 7 to go through a predetermined procedure. The rental button 8 will be described later.

The user terminal 3 is a computer owned by a user. The user terminal 3 is realized by a general electronic device equipped with an information processing function, such as a smartphone or a personal computer.

In this embodiment, a user can access an EC site established on the EC management server 2 or a rental site established on the rental management server 1 via a user terminal 3 to apply for rental or purchase of a desired item.

In the figure, user terminal 3-1, user terminal 3-2, and user terminal 3-n are shown as n user terminals 3. When describing these n user terminals 3 without distinguishing between them, some of the reference numerals will be omitted and they will simply be called "user terminals 3."

[Hardware configuration of rental management server]
Next, the hardware configuration and functional configuration of this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 4. Here, Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration and functional configuration of the rental management server 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, the rental management server 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, a communication unit 14, a storage unit 15, an operation unit 16, and a display unit 17. The rental management server 1 also includes a bus 18 that connects these units. These units are connected to each other via the bus 18 so that they can communicate with each other.

The CPU 11 executes various processes based on programs recorded in the ROM 12 or programs loaded from the storage unit 15 to the RAM 13. In addition to these programs, the RAM 13 also stores data and other items necessary for the CPU 11 to execute various processes as appropriate.

The communication unit 14 realizes communication with other devices. The other devices are, for example, the EC management server 2, the user terminal 3, the affiliated warehouse terminal 4, etc. This communication is performed via the network N as described above. This communication may be performed via a relay device, or may be performed directly between the devices without the relay device.

The memory unit 15 is composed of semiconductor memory such as DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) and stores various data.

The operation unit 16 is composed of various buttons and externally connected devices such as a keyboard and mouse, and inputs various information according to user instructions.

The display unit 17 is composed of a display and outputs images. The display unit 17 may be integrated with the operation unit 16 using a touch panel or the like.

The above-mentioned hardware configuration is merely an example and is not limiting. For example, the rental management server 1 may be equipped with a speaker that outputs music, sound effects, and voice. Furthermore, the rental management server 1 may also be equipped with an interface into which removable media such as semiconductor memory can be attached, and various data may be read from the removable media via this interface.

[Functional configuration of rental management server]
Next, the functional configuration of the rental management server 1 will be described with reference to Fig. 4. Each functional configuration described below is a functional configuration for executing rental processing among the functional configurations of the rental management server 1. Here, the rental processing is a series of processes for managing commercial transactions related to goods based on a user's request.

When each of these processes is executed, as shown in FIG. 4, the inventory management unit 111, the reception processing unit 112, and the rental processing unit 113 function in the CPU 11. In addition to the operations mentioned below, these functional blocks also perform the calculations required to execute each of these processes and send and receive information between the functional blocks as necessary.

The functional block is realized, for example, by an API (Application Programming Interface) set in the rental site. In this embodiment, the EC site is registered in advance in the rental site's API to exchange data such as IDs. However, the functional block is not limited to a configuration realized by an API. For example, the rental site and the EC site may exchange data such as IDs through the exchange of data in a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file format.

In addition, a management information storage unit 151 is set in one area of the storage unit 15. The management information storage unit 151 stores management information for managing items. Details of this management information will be described later when explaining the rental processing unit 113.

The inventory management unit 111 performs a process of acquiring external inventory information indicating the inventory of items managed by the EC management server 2, and a process of updating rental candidate information, which is information regarding items that are candidates for rental, based on the external inventory information.

The process of acquiring external inventory information will be described. External inventory information is information about products stored in the warehouse of an EC business operator, and includes information about products sold on the EC site and information about the inventory. Product information is set for each type of product, and includes product ID, product name, and inventory quantity. Note that product information is not limited to the information described above.

In addition, information regarding product inventory is set for each stock item. Information regarding product inventory includes, for example, an inventory ID assigned to identify each stock item. However, the inventory information is not limited to the above information, and some of the information may be omitted. On the EC site, commercial transactions are carried out using this external inventory information.

The process of updating rental candidate information will be described. The inventory management unit 111 updates rental candidate information, which is information about rental candidate items, based on external inventory information. The rental candidate information is, for example, information about rental candidates and the corresponding inventory. Furthermore, information about rental candidates is set for each type of rental candidate, and includes product IDs, product names, inventory quantities, etc. Note that information about rental candidates is not limited to the above information.

In addition, information regarding the inventory of rental candidates is set for each stock item. The information regarding rental candidates includes, for example, an inventory ID assigned to identify each stock item. Specifically, in the rental management server 1 according to this embodiment, the inventory management unit 111 sets an inventory ID as identification information for each item in the rental candidate information.

The reception processing unit 112 acquires application information indicating an application to rent an item from the user terminal 3 used by the user. The application information includes a specification of the item to be rented, a specification of the rental period (i.e., the rental date and the return date), the user's name, information regarding the payment of the user's usage fee (e.g., information regarding the user's payment method such as a credit card, electronic payment app, or web money), and the address of the destination to which the item is to be delivered (e.g., the user's home).

In addition, the name, address, payment information, etc. included in the application information may be registered as member information in advance, eliminating the need to send and receive this information each time.

When the reception processing unit 112 acquires application information from the user terminal 3 of the user, the rental processing unit 113 sets the rental item to be rented from among the rental candidate items based on the application information. A rental item refers to an item to be rented to a user.

When a rental candidate item is set as a rental item, the inventory management unit 111 moves the inventory ID and other identifying information of the rental candidate item from the rental candidate information to the rental target information. The inventory ID entered in the rental target information is managed separately from the inventory ID of the rental candidate item. In this embodiment, an item moved to the rental target information is treated as an item for rental. Note that in this embodiment, an item that has been rented once is treated as an item for rental, but it may also be treated as an item for second-hand sale.

The rental processing unit 113 also sends rental setting information indicating that the rental item has been set to the EC management server 2. The rental setting information includes, for example, the product ID and inventory ID of the EC site corresponding to the set rental item, the shipping address of the rental applicant, the rental start date, and other information. Note that the rental setting information is not limited to the information described above. Based on the rental setting information, the EC operator sends the item for sale corresponding to the application to the address corresponding to the application at the time corresponding to the application. In other words, the EC operator sends the product inventory held by the EC operator to the user as the initial rental inventory.

The shipping company that sends the item may be, for example, a shipping company that handles general home delivery services, or a shipping company that is affiliated with the rental company. In addition, when a user requests to return the item that was sent to them, a return slip is created. The return slip contains information such as the pickup date (return date), the address of the pickup location, the item to be picked up, and the address of a warehouse or the like managed by the rental company. The shipping company travels to the address of the user who rented the item on the return date in accordance with the return slip. In addition, the shipping company collects the item and transports it to a warehouse or the like managed by the rental company in accordance with the return slip.

As described above, items returned from rental have identification information included in the rental item information, and are managed as rental items. In other words, the returned items are stored as inventory of rental items at the affiliated warehouse. Therefore, when the inventory management unit 111 accepts a rental of an item that includes rental item information, the rental processing unit 113 makes an order request to the affiliated warehouse terminal 4 corresponding to the affiliated warehouse that stores the inventory of rental items. However, this does not apply when a user applies to rent a new item.

In addition, in this embodiment, the storage location for the inventory of rental items is an affiliated warehouse of an affiliated warehouse company, but this is not limited to this. For example, the storage location for the inventory of rental items may be a company's own warehouse. In addition, in the rental management system S according to this embodiment, rented items can be purchased by submitting a purchase request on the rental site before the rental deadline.

In other words, when the inventory management unit 111 accepts the rental of a rental candidate item while the rental item is stored as inventory in the affiliated warehouse, the rental processing unit 113 may make an order request (send rental setting information) to the EC management server 2. Also, when there is no rental inventory due to lending, the rental management server 1 may select a rental candidate from the product inventory on the EC management server 2.

In this way, when the EC management server 2 and the rental management server 1 are initially linked, rental candidates are selected from the product inventory on the EC management server 2. On the other hand, rental candidates from the second time onwards are selected from the rental inventory on the rental management server 1, since items that have been rented once are kept in rental inventory. In this embodiment, the user can rent the items selected in this way from the comfort of their own home.

The rental processing unit 113 also updates the management information stored in the management information storage unit 151 based on the external inventory information acquired by the inventory management unit 111 and the contents of each application acquired by the reception processing unit 112. This management information includes rental slips, which are data containing information such as inventory status and rental status that indicate the inventory status of each item in the rental management server 1. Note that rental slips are not limited to electronic data and may be issued on paper.

The inventory status information in the rental management server 1 includes inventory status related to rental candidate information and inventory status related to rental target information. Rental slips are generated for each rental reservation when a rental reservation is made. Rental slips are generated to share information about the rental status between the operating company and the user.

The inventory status of the rental management server 1 is set to statuses such as "valid," "reserved," "rented," "moved," "invalid," and "sold."

"Valid" indicates that the inventory data is valid. Valid inventory data means that the inventory data is available for selection when a user makes a rental reservation. An example of a situation in which inventory data is "valid" is when the item is ready to be rented.

"On reservation" indicates that the item indicated by the inventory data has been reserved for rental. When a user makes a rental reservation, inventory data with an inventory status of "On reservation" cannot be selected. Only the user who has reserved an item has the right to rent that item, and other users do not have the right to rent or purchase it.

"Rented" indicates that the item indicated by the inventory data is currently rented to a user. When other users make a rental reservation, they cannot select inventory data with an inventory status of "Rented." When an item is in the "Rented" state, only the user who is currently renting the item has the right to use it, and other users do not have the right to rent or purchase it.

"Moved" indicates that the identification information of the rental candidate item indicated in the inventory data has been moved from the rental candidate information to the rental target information. In other words, when a rental item is returned by a user, the rental processing unit 113 moves the identification information of the returned rental candidate item to the rental target information and changes the inventory status to "Moved."

"Invalid" indicates that the inventory data is invalid. The "invalid" inventory status is set in cases such as when the item indicated by the inventory data is being prepared for the next rental. In this case, too, when a user makes a reservation, inventory data with an "invalid" inventory status cannot be selected.

"Sold" indicates that the item indicated by the inventory data on the rental management server 1 has been sold on an EC site or rental site. For example, the inventory status of inventory data indicating an item sold on an EC site or rental site is changed to "Sold." In this case, too, when a user makes a rental reservation, they cannot select inventory data with an inventory status of "Sold."

The rental processing unit 113 of the rental management server 1 performs rental processing based on the inventory status described above. Furthermore, the inventory status of the rental management server 1 is not limited to these.

The rental status on the rental slip is set to indicate the rental situation, such as "reserved," "rented," "returning," "return completed," "cancelled," or "purchased."

For example, "Reservation in progress" indicates that the current rental status is from the start of reservation to the time of shipping. "Rented" indicates that the current rental status is from the time of shipping to the rental due date. "Returning" indicates that the current rental status is from the start of return to the time of return completion. "Cancelled" indicates that the current rental status is from the time cancellation occurs to the time the next rental is ready. "Purchased" indicates that the current rental status is that the item being rented has been purchased by the user.

However, rental status information is not limited to these. In this embodiment, this information is displayed on the EC site or rental site displayed on the display screen of the user terminal 3.

When the rental status is "reserved," "rented," or "returned," the item is owned by the EC business and has been entrusted with the rental business.

In addition to rental status information, the management information links each item to information about the owner or user of the item, and commercial transaction information such as the contents of management requests, applications to borrow the item, and applications to purchase the item. In addition, for example, image information showing the appearance of the item may also be linked.

In addition, similar to the inventory status of the rental management server 1, the storage unit of the EC management server 2 also stores management information including the inventory status. The inventory status of the EC management server 2 is set to a status such as "valid," "shipped," or "invalid," for example.

"Valid" indicates that the inventory data is valid. Valid inventory data means that the inventory data can be selected when a user purchases an item. An example of a situation in which inventory data is "valid" is when the items to be sold have arrived and are ready for sale.

"Shipped" indicates that the inventory data has been decided to be sold or that it has been decided to be a rental item. In this case, when a user purchases an item, inventory data with an inventory status of "Shipped" cannot be selected.

"Invalid" indicates that the inventory data is invalid. The "invalid" inventory status is set in cases such as when the item indicated by the inventory data is in the process of being delivered. In this case, too, when a user makes a reservation, inventory data with an "invalid" inventory status cannot be selected.

The EC management server 2 performs rental processing based on the inventory status described above. However, the inventory status of the EC management server 2 is not limited to these.

In addition, in this embodiment, a specific code, which is a program, is incorporated into the EC site constructed on the EC management server 2. By incorporating the specific code, the EC management server 2 displays the rental button 8 shown in FIG. 3 on the display screen of the EC site. The user terminal 3 switches the access destination from the EC site to the rental site when the user presses the rental button 8 on the display screen. Thus, when the user presses the rental button 8, the user terminal 3 switches the access destination from the EC site to the rental site. Furthermore, at the rental site to which the access has been switched, the user terminal 3 can input a rental application to the rental management server 1 by user operation.

That is, in this embodiment, the application information is information entered at the rental site to which it is transferred by operating the rental button 8 incorporated in the EC site displayed by the EC management server 2. Note that the rental management server 1 according to this embodiment starts the rental process described below immediately after incorporating the code.

<Rental Processing>
Next, the operation of the rental process executed by the rental management system S will be described with reference to Figs. 5 to 9. Fig. 5 is a flowchart explaining the rental process according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram explaining data linkage between the EC site and the rental site at the start of the rental process according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram explaining reservation processing in the rental process between the EC site and the rental site according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram explaining shipping processing between the EC site and the rental site according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram explaining return processing between the EC site and the rental site according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5, the inventory management unit 111 of the rental management server 1 acquires external inventory information of the EC site via the communication unit 14, and updates the rental candidate information of the rental site based on the acquired external inventory information of the EC site (step S10). That is, the product IDs of the EC site and the rental site are linked and the inventory quantity is shared. However, in the rental management system S according to this embodiment, the inventory quantity that can be provided as rental from the inventory quantity shared in the rental candidate information can be arbitrarily determined. For example, if there are five items in inventory on the EC site and you want to set the upper limit of rental to two, you can set the inventory status of the rental candidate information so that only up to two items are "valid". As a result, the rental management system S according to this embodiment can prevent all five items in inventory on the EC site from being used for rental, and can suppress situations where sales are not possible due to a lack of inventory.

As shown in FIG. 6, the EC site has information about products, such as product IDs, product names, and stock quantities, and information about product inventory, such as inventory IDs, inventory names, and inventory status. The inventory status of the topmost inventory data is "valid," indicating that the item indicated by the topmost inventory data is available for purchase or rental. For the sake of convenience, the following explanation will be given assuming that the number of items in inventory at the start of the rental process is four.

As with the EC site, the rental site also has rental candidate information, which includes information about products, such as product ID, product name, and stock quantity, and information about product inventory, such as inventory ID, inventory name, and inventory status. The inventory status of the top inventory data is "valid," indicating that the item indicated by the top inventory data is available for rental. In step S10, the inventory management unit 111 updates the inventory quantity of the rental site's products to four, matching the inventory quantity of the EC site's products.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1, the user terminal 3 accesses the EC management server 2 via the network N through user operation. As a result, the user terminal 3 accesses the EC management server 2 and displays the EC site built on the EC management server 2 on the display screen. On the EC site, as shown in FIG. 3, when a display screen of products that can be rented is displayed, a rental button 8 for transitioning to the rental site is displayed on the product display screen.

When the user presses the rental button 8, the user terminal 3 switches its access destination from the EC management server 2 to the rental management server 1. That is, the user terminal 3 displays the rental site built on the rental management server 1 on the display screen. This allows the user to apply for rental by performing operations within the rental site displayed on the display screen of the user terminal 3. When a rental item is selected from the items available for rental by user operation, the user terminal 3 transmits rental application information to the rental management server 1.

In the rental management server 1, the reception processing unit 112 receives the transmitted application information as shown in FIG. 5 (step S11). Next, the rental processing unit 113 sets the rental item to be rented from the inventory of items indicated by the rental candidate information based on the rental application information, and transmits rental setting information indicating that the rental item has been set to the EC management server 2 (step S12).

At this time, the rental processing unit 113 generates a rental slip as shown in FIG. 7. The rental status of the rental slip at this time is "Reserved". Product A is also listed on the rental slip, indicating that product A has been reserved. The rental slip shows the name of the item to be rented and the rental status indicating the rental status. Note that the name of the item to be rented may include the names of multiple items if multiple items are rented.

In addition, the rental processing unit 113 changes the inventory status stored in the management information storage unit 151 to "reserved" when the rental slip is generated. This prevents other users from reserving the rental of the item that has been set as a rental item.

In addition, the rental processing unit 113 transmits reservation information as rental setting information to the EC site via the communication unit 14 at the same time as generating the rental slip and changing the inventory status as described above. When the EC management server 2 receives the reservation information, it updates the external inventory information based on the reservation information. That is, the EC management server 2 changes the inventory status of the product set as a rental item to "shipped." This makes it impossible for other users to purchase the item set as a rental item. In addition, the inventory quantity of the product on the EC site is reduced by one, changing from four to three, as the product is treated as having been shipped.

The rental item is then sent to the user by the EC operator based on the received reservation information. At this time, the rental processing unit 113 accesses the management information storage unit 151 as shown in FIG. 8, and changes the rental status on the rental slip to "rented". In addition, the rental processing unit 113 also changes the inventory status in the inventory data on the rental management server 1 to "rented", preventing other users from reserving the rental of the rental item.

Then, the user returns the rental item to the rental business. Specifically, the rental item is stored in an affiliated warehouse. The storage location for the inventory of rental items is the affiliated warehouse of the affiliated warehouse company, but as mentioned above, it is not limited to this and can be the company's own warehouse. At this time, when the rental processing unit 113 acquires information regarding the return from the affiliated warehouse terminal 4, etc., it changes the rental status on the rental slip to "return completed" as shown in FIG. 9. In addition, the rental processing unit 113 moves information such as the ID of the returned rental item from the rental candidate information to the rental target information following the change in rental status.

At this time, the rental processing unit 113 updates the product ID information, etc. of the rental target information based on the rental candidate information, and changes the inventory data of the rental target information to "valid." This allows the user to make a rental reservation for the item that has become the rental target. In addition, as shown in FIG. 9, the rental processing unit 113 accesses the management information storage unit 151 and changes the inventory status of the rental candidate information to "moved," so that it will not be rented out as a new item.

In addition, the inventory quantity of the rental candidate information on the rental site is reduced by one, changing from four to three, as one of the rental candidates becomes a rental item. On the other hand, as one rental candidate is changed to a rental item, the inventory quantity of the rental target information increases by one. In other words, the rental management system S of this embodiment rents to the user the inventory of the EC site as the initial inventory of the rental site for the first rental, and uses the returned product for rental from the second rental onwards.

As described above, the rental management system S according to this embodiment links product inventory information of the EC site with product inventory information of the rental site, and commonizes the inventory of the EC site and the initial inventory of the rental site, thereby making it easier to secure and manage rental inventory.

[Non-limiting aspects of the present embodiment]
Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, this embodiment is merely an example and does not limit the technical scope of the present invention. The present invention can take various other embodiments, and further, various modifications such as omissions and substitutions can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, modifications such as those shown below can be made. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention described in this specification, etc., and are included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and their equivalents.

<Other Modifications>
In the present embodiment, the rental items are managed in stock at a warehouse owned by a warehouse company that is affiliated with the rental site operator, but this is not limited to the above. For example, the rental items may be managed in stock at a warehouse owned by the EC operator.

In this case, when the reception processing unit 112 receives application information for an item in the inventory of the rental target information, the rental processing unit 113 sets a rental item from the items in the inventory of the rental target information. As a result, in the rental management system S of this modified example, the EC business can manage the inventory of items for sale and items for rental, making management easier.

In addition, in the rental management system S according to this embodiment, a mechanism is provided in which an item rented by a user can be purchased by submitting a purchase request before the rental period expires, but it is not necessary to have a mechanism for purchasing an item that is currently rented.

In addition, in the rental management system S according to this embodiment, items for sale are stored in the EC business's own warehouse, and rental items are stored in an affiliated warehouse of a warehouse company affiliated with the rental business, but this is not limited to this. For example, items for sale may be stored in an affiliated warehouse of a warehouse company affiliated with the EC business, and rental items may be stored in a warehouse owned by the rental business.

In addition, in the rental management system S according to this embodiment, the EC site embeds the code for the transfer button, but this is not limited to this. For example, a link to the rental site may be displayed by modifying the program of the EC site.

The above-mentioned series of processes can be executed by hardware or software. In other words, the functional configuration shown in FIG. 4 is merely an example and is not particularly limited. In other words, it is sufficient that the rental management server 1, the EC management server 2, and the user terminal 3 are provided with a function capable of executing the above-mentioned series of processes as a whole, and the type of functional block used to realize this function is not particularly limited to the example of FIG. 4. In addition, for example, the rental management server 1 may be realized by a single server device, but the rental management server 1 may also be realized by multiple server devices working together, such as so-called cloud servers. In addition, one functional block may be configured by hardware alone, software alone, or a combination of these.

The functional configuration in this embodiment is realized by a processor that executes arithmetic processing, and processors that can be used in this embodiment include those that are composed of various processing devices alone, such as single processors, multiprocessors, and multicore processors, as well as those that combine these various processing devices with processing circuits such as ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits) and FPGAs (Field-Programmable Gate Arrays).

When a series of processes is executed by software, the programs that make up the software are installed on a computer or the like from a network or a recording medium. The computer may be a computer that is built into dedicated hardware. The computer may also be a computer that can execute various functions by installing various programs, such as a general-purpose personal computer.

The recording medium containing such a program may be composed of a removable medium distributed separately from the device body in order to provide the user with the program, or may be composed of a recording medium provided to the user in a state in which the program is already installed in the device body. Removable media may be, for example, a magnetic disk (including a floppy disk), an optical disk, or a magneto-optical disk. Optical disks may be, for example, a CD-ROM (Compact Disk-Read Only Memory), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), or a Blu-ray (registered trademark) Disc. Magneto-optical disks may be, for example, a Mini-Disk (MD). Recording media provided to the user in a state in which the program is already installed in the device body may be, for example, the ROM 12 in FIG. 4 in which the program is recorded, or a semiconductor memory included in the storage unit 15.

In this specification, the steps describing the program recorded on the recording medium include not only processes that are performed chronologically according to the order, but also processes that are not necessarily performed chronologically but are performed in parallel or individually. Furthermore, the steps performed by the program recorded on the recording medium may be performed in any order without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

1. Rental management server (information processing device)
2. EC management server (management device)
111 Inventory management section 112 Reception processing section 113 Rental processing section

Claims (9)

an inventory management unit that acquires external inventory information indicating an inventory of an item managed by another management device, and updates rental candidate information of an item that is a rental candidate based on the external inventory information;
a reception processing unit that receives application information indicating an application for rental of an item from a user;
a rental processing unit that sets a rental item to be rented from an inventory of items indicated by the rental candidate information based on the application information received by the reception processing unit, and transmits rental setting information indicating that the rental item has been set to the management device;
An information processing device comprising: The inventory management unit sets identification information for each of the items in the rental candidate information,
2 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the rental processing unit executes a process of transferring the identification information of the item set for the rental item from the rental candidate information to rental target information indicating an inventory of items that have already been rented. The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein when the reception processing unit receives the application information for an item in the inventory of the rental target information, the rental processing unit transmits the rental setting information to a rental inventory management device different from the management device. The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein when the reception processing unit receives the application information for an item in the inventory of the rental target information, the rental processing unit transmits to the management device the rental setting information indicating that a rental item has been set for the item in the inventory of the rental target information. An information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the rental setting information includes information on the shipping destination of the rental applicant. The information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the application information is information input at a rental site to which the application information is transferred by operating a rental button incorporated in a sales website displayed by a sales management device that sells the item. On the computer,
an inventory management function for acquiring external inventory information indicating an inventory of an item managed by another management device, and updating rental candidate information of an item that is a rental candidate based on the external inventory information;
A reception processing function for receiving application information indicating an application for rental of an item from a user;
a rental processing function for setting a rental item to be rented from an inventory of items indicated by the rental candidate information based on the application information received by the reception processing function, and transmitting rental setting information indicating that the rental item has been set to the management device;
A rental management program that executes the following: A rental management method executed by a computer, comprising:
an inventory management step of acquiring external inventory information indicating an inventory of an item managed by another management device, and updating rental candidate information of an item that is a rental candidate based on the external inventory information;
A receiving step of receiving application information indicating an application for rental of an item from a user;
a rental processing step of setting a rental item to be rented from an inventory of items indicated by the rental candidate information based on the application information received in the receiving step, and transmitting rental setting information indicating that the rental item has been set to the management device;
Rental management methods including. The rental management method according to claim 8, further comprising an external inventory information processing step of setting the rental item to be shipped to the user from the external inventory information based on the rental setting information transmitted in the rental processing step, and updating the external inventory information.

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