JP7644618B2 - Product delivery method, product delivery system and product delivery server - Google Patents

Description

Application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act On December 11, 2020, the Logistics Nippon newspaper published an article in Logistics Nippon regarding the development of a service invented by Hidetsugu Ito.

Application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act On February 20, 2020, Mercari, Inc. published an article on this application on its website. 43 other websites published articles on this application.

The present invention relates to a product delivery method, a product delivery system, and a product delivery server for the delivery of products between a buyer and a seller.

In recent years, the spread of so-called CtoC (Consumer to Consumer) platforms has made it easier for individuals to buy and sell goods. However, when buying and selling between individuals, inventory management is often also done by the individual, and individuals who list large quantities of goods in particular face the challenge of securing a place to store the goods in stock.

Patent Documents 1 and 2 propose a system that allows users to utilize free space in a warehouse, and to visually check detailed information, including image information, of each item they have requested to be stored at any time, without having to go to the storage location each time, and to request the removal of items they need at any time.

Patent Document 3 also proposes a system that takes photos of cargo in shipping operations and provides the photos to shippers, allowing them to check the condition of the cargo when it is stored in a warehouse.

Patent Publication 2014-28677 Patent Publication No. 2016-62552 Patent Publication 2017-001821

Incidentally, one of the reasons for the popularity of the above-mentioned CtoC platform is that listing, purchasing, and delivery can all be done easily on the seller's own terminal, etc. However, none of the above-mentioned technologies take into consideration the work of listing products. Also, although there is a process for taking a photo at the warehouse where the product arrives, if that photo were to be used to list the product (i.e., register the product on the CtoC platform, etc.), a new burden would be placed on the warehouse.

The present invention aims to reduce the burden on sellers of securing inventory without making major changes to warehouse operations, and to simplify transactions on the CtoC platform.

According to the present invention,
A product delivery method executed by at least a seller terminal, a buyer terminal, and a delivery management server,
a product listing registration step in which a photo of the product listed is registered in the delivery management server by the seller terminal;
A warehouse arrival product registration step in which a photo of the auction product is taken in a warehouse where the auction product has arrived after being collected by a delivery company that has received a collection request, and the photo is registered in the delivery management server;
an associating step of associating the photo registered in the exhibition product registration step with the photo registered in the warehouse arrival product registration step;
a purchase acceptance step of accepting a purchase request for the associated exhibition product;
A product delivery method is obtained, which includes a shipping request step of, when a purchase request for the exhibited product is accepted from the buyer terminal, making a shipping request to the warehouse to deliver the exhibited product to a delivery destination associated with the buyer terminal.

According to the present invention, in particular, the seller associates the product photos that the seller takes and registers on the CtoC platform with product photos taken by the warehouse of the products that have been put into storage. This configuration reduces the burden on the seller to secure inventory without making major changes to the warehouse's operations compared to conventional methods, and simplifies transactions on the CtoC platform.

1 is a configuration diagram of a delivery management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the sales PF server of FIG. 1 . FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the delivery management server of FIG. 1 . 3 shows a process flow of a delivery management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 4 shows a process flow for each terminal of the delivery management system according to the embodiment of the present invention. 3 shows a process flow within a warehouse in a delivery management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a process flow of a delivery management system according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which only the process of shipping packaging materials from a warehouse is partially extracted. 13 is a screen display example of a buyer side terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. 13 is a screen display example of a buyer side terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. 13 is a modified example of a screen display of a seller side terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. 13 is a screen display example of a seller side terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. 13 is a screen display example of a seller side terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The contents of the embodiments of the present invention will be listed and described below. A delivery management method, a delivery management system, and a delivery management server according to the embodiments of the present invention have the following configuration.
[Item 1]
A product delivery method executed by at least a seller terminal, a buyer terminal, and a delivery management server,
a product listing registration step in which a photo of the product listed is registered in the delivery management server by the seller terminal;
A collection step in which the auctioned products are collected by a delivery company that has received a collection request;
A warehouse arrival product registration step in which a photo of the exhibition product is taken in the warehouse where the collected exhibition product arrives and is registered in the delivery management server;
an association step of accepting, from a seller terminal, an association between the photo registered in the exhibition product registration step and the photo registered in the warehouse arrival product registration step;
a purchase acceptance step for accepting a purchase request for the exhibited product exhibited in the exhibit registration step;
A product delivery method including a shipping step in which, when a purchase request for the exhibited product is accepted from the buyer terminal, a shipping request is made to the warehouse to deliver the exhibited product to a delivery destination associated with the buyer terminal.
[Item 2]
Item 1 is a product delivery method according to the present invention,
The warehouse arrival product registration step includes a step of measuring at least size information of the exhibitor by a predetermined measurement method and providing the size information to the sales PF server,
Product delivery method.
[Item 3]
Item 2 is a product delivery method according to the present invention,
The predetermined measuring method is to take a photograph of the auction item together with a predetermined scale measure in the warehouse.
Product delivery method.
[Item 4]
The product delivery method according to item 1 or 3,
The purchase acceptance step is to make the exhibited product in a provisional listing state in which information about the exhibited product is not disclosed to the buyer terminal and a purchase request is not accepted until the association is established.
Product delivery method.
[Item 5]
A product delivery method according to any one of items 1 to 4,
The exhibition item registration step includes generating an exhibition ID associated with the photo of the exhibition item,
The warehouse arrival product registration step generates a delivery management ID associated with the photo of the arrived auction product,
The associating step associates the exhibition ID with the delivery management ID.
Product delivery method.
[Item 6]
A product delivery system including at least a seller terminal, a buyer terminal, and a delivery management server,
A photograph of the auctioned item taken by the seller terminal is registered in the delivery management server,
The delivery company that received the collection request will collect the exhibited goods,
A photograph of the collected auction item is taken in the warehouse where the auction item arrives and is registered in the delivery management server;
receiving, from the seller terminal, an association between the photo registered by the seller terminal and the photo registered in the warehouse;
A purchase request for the exhibited product related to the photo registered by the seller terminal is made available for acceptance;
When a purchase request for the auctioned product is received from the buyer terminal, a shipping request is made to the warehouse to deliver the auctioned product to a delivery destination associated with the buyer terminal.
[Item 7]
A delivery management server communicably connected to at least a seller terminal and a buyer terminal,
an item registration unit that accepts registration of photos of items for sale taken by the seller terminal;
a warehouse arrival product registration unit that accepts registration of a photo of the exhibition product taken in a warehouse where the exhibition product is collected by a delivery company that has received a collection request and where the collected exhibition product arrives;
an association unit that prompts the seller terminal to associate the photo registered by the auction product registration unit with the photo registered in the warehouse arrival product registration unit;
a shipping request unit that, when receiving a purchase request for the exhibition product for which the association has been completed, acquires delivery destination information and makes a shipping request to the warehouse to ship the exhibition product,
Product delivery server.

<Embodiments of the present invention>
A product delivery system for realizing a product delivery method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the terms "arrival,""warehousing,""outsourcing," and "shipment" may be used as follows, but the definitions of the terms are not limited to these, and the functions, configurations, and effects of the present invention will not be affected even if "arrival" and "warehousing" are taken to be synonymous, and "outsourcing" and "shipment" are taken to be synonymous.
"Receiving": Carrying in goods into a warehouse. "Storage": Storing the brought-in goods in the appropriate place (shelf, pallet, etc., sometimes called "storage location") in the warehouse (after inspection is completed, if inspection is performed). "Issuing": Removing (picking) goods from the storage location. "Shipping": Properly shipping the removed goods (after inspection is completed, if inspection is performed).

＜Overview＞
The delivery management system according to this embodiment is particularly suitable for services in which "items" are transferred between buyers and sellers, such as auction services, EC services, and flea market services. The above-mentioned services may be so-called platform services, or one-to-one sales services such as one-off products. They may also be so-called D2C (Direct to Consumer) services. Furthermore, with regard to transactions, it does not matter whether the product itself is paid for or free of charge.

<Hardware Configuration>
Fig. 1 is a network configuration diagram of a delivery management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1, the delivery management system according to this embodiment is composed of a main terminal 1 of a seller who puts up a product, a buyer terminal 2 of a buyer of the product, a sales PF server 3 that provides a sales platform service (hereinafter referred to as "sales PF") that matches sellers and buyers, a delivery management server 4 that manages the delivery of the seller's products to the buyers, a warehouse terminal 5 operated by a worker at a warehouse where the products are stored, and a network 6 that connects them so that they can communicate with each other.

In this embodiment, the sales PF server 3, seller terminal 1, and buyer terminal 2 are a so-called client-server model system, and the delivery management server 4 provides the delivery management function described below as an API (Application Programming Interface) so that it can be used by the sales PF server.

Network 3 according to this embodiment includes a carrier network for mobile phones or smartphones, and an IP-based computer network. Here, the computer network is used in a broad sense to include the Internet built by interconnected IP networks. The computer network may also include a wireless network built by a wireless base station (e.g., WiFi) not shown. The carrier network and the IP network are connected, for example, via a gateway, but are not limited to this.

<Sales PF Server 3>
The functional blocks of the sales PF server 3 will be described with reference to Fig. 2. The sales PF server 3 has a user registration unit 201, a listing reception unit 202, a listing product provision unit 203, a purchase settlement processing unit 204, an external linkage unit 205, an information notification unit 206, and an association UI unit 207. Note that the functional blocks shown in the figure are merely examples, and functions may be added as appropriate depending on the purpose and needs of the services provided.

The user registration unit 201 registers and manages the login IDs and passwords of users who use the sales PF.

When the listing reception unit 202 receives product information including a photo of the listing product from the seller terminal 1, it generates a listing ID that identifies the listing product and associates it with the photo. In this embodiment, the listing product may be obtained by the seller taking a photo using the camera function of his/her own seller terminal and uploading it.

The product offering unit 203 publishes products that are ready to be published (described in more detail below) among the products that have been listed on the buyer terminal 2.

The purchase settlement processing unit 204 makes direct or indirect settlements between the buyer and the seller for the products purchased by the buyer.

The external linking unit 205 implements functions provided by an external server (e.g., the delivery management server 4) in the sales PF by utilizing the API of the external server.

The information notification unit 206 notifies sellers and buyers about services (e.g., notifications of listing completion, product shipment, etc.).

The association UI unit 207 provides a UI (User Interface) for associating product photos, as described below.

<Delivery management server 4>
The functional blocks of the delivery management server 4 will be described with reference to Fig. 3. The delivery management server 4 includes a listing product registration unit 301, a warehouse arrival product registration unit 302, an association unit 303, a shipping request unit 304, and an external linkage unit 304. As with the sales PF server 3, the functional blocks shown in the figure are merely examples, and appropriate functions may be added according to the contents to be managed and the purpose.

The listing registration unit 301 acquires the information on the listing items from the sales PF server via the API and registers the information in a management database (not shown). This enables the delivery management server 4 to associate and manage the items listed on the service provided by the sales PF server with the seller terminal 1.

The warehouse arrival product registration unit 302 obtains a photo of the product that has arrived at the warehouse from the warehouse terminal 5. The photo is taken by a warehouse worker. At this time, a warehousing ID is assigned to the product that has arrived at the warehouse and the product is associated with and managed.

The association unit 303 provides the seller with a photo of the auction item taken by the seller terminal 1 and a photo taken in the warehouse via the sales PF server 3, and prompts the seller to confirm whether the photos are the same. This causes the auction ID of the auction item registered in the sales PF server 3 to be associated with the inventory ID.

When a request for purchase and delivery of an item is received from the sales PF, the shipping request unit 304 requests the warehouse terminal 5 to ship the item related to the purchase request.

The external linking unit 305 transmits and receives information necessary to link with the sales PF server 3.

Each of the above-mentioned functional blocks can be configured, for example, by hardware provided in a server device, a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), or software. For example, when configured by software, each of the above-mentioned functional blocks 11 to 16 is actually configured with a computer's CPU, RAM, ROM, etc., and is realized by the operation of a program stored in a recording medium such as the RAM, ROM, hard disk, or semiconductor memory.

<Processing flow>
The flow of processing of the delivery management system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 4. When a seller puts up a product for sale, first, a photo of the product to be put up for sale (hereinafter referred to as "exhibition photo") taken using the seller terminal 1 and size information of the product to be put up for sale (delivery size information) are registered in the delivery management server 4 via the sales PF server 3 (via an application provided by the sales PF server 3, etc.) (step S401). Specifically, as shown in Fig. 8, the seller logs in to the sales PF server 3, then activates the camera of the seller terminal 1 to take a photo of the product to be put up for sale, and uploads the taken photo to the sales PF server 3.

The system then sends the size information to a specified delivery company and makes a collection request (step S402). The collection request may be made by the sales PF server 3 or the delivery management server 4. The delivery company that receives the collection request collects the item at the address specified by the seller. At this time, the packaging materials may be prepared by the seller or by the delivery company (see Figure 7 below).

When the collected items arrive at the warehouse, the warehouse worker unpacks the items and takes a picture of the items (step S403). As shown in FIG. 9, the image is taken together with a predetermined scale measure based on the delivery standard (delivery fee). This makes it possible to estimate the cost required to ship the items by looking at the taken photo (hereinafter referred to as the "warehouse photo").

As shown in FIG. 6, when the product is unpacked (step S601), a photo of the product is taken (step S602) and its exact size and weight are measured (steps S603, S604). Then, the location information of the product in the warehouse where it is to be stored is registered (step S605), and the product is stored in a specified position in the warehouse in association with the generated storage ID (step S606). The captured photo is sent from the warehouse terminal 5 to the delivery management server 4 (step S607) and managed together with the storage ID. In this way, the stored product is stored in the warehouse until it is purchased.

Meanwhile, the delivery management server 4 prompts the seller terminal via the sales PF server 3 to associate the listing photo (see Figure 8) with the warehouse photo (step S404).

The association can be made in some way based on the photo registered at the time of listing and the photo sent from the warehouse. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, the warehouse photo 701 and a photo of the product registered by the seller as a listing item can be displayed, and a confirmation button can be pressed. This completes the process of associating the warehouse photo 701 with the listing photo 702.

After the seller registers the product for sale, the sales PF server 3 does not disclose information about the product to the buyer terminal and keeps it in a provisional listing state until the above-mentioned association (see Figure 9) is made. This prevents the product from being purchased before it is in stock.

Once the association is complete, the sales PF server 3 publishes the listed product on a service site (application) managed by the sales PF server 3, and enables other users to make purchase requests and ask questions about the product (step S405).

When a purchase request for the listed item is accepted from the buyer terminal and payment is completed, the delivery management server 4 makes a shipping request to the warehouse to deliver the listed item to the delivery destination associated with the buyer terminal (such as the buyer's home) (step S406).

In more detail, as described above, the information on the listed items registered on the sales PF server 3 is associated with the inventory ID for the actual items stored in the warehouse, so it is possible to identify the inventory ID from the information on the listed items for which a purchase request has been made (e.g., an identifier on the sales PF server 3). In this way, the shipped items are delivered to the buyer.

<Service flow>
The flow of the service by the delivery management system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 5. Note that the description overlapping with the above description may be omitted. As shown in the figure, the seller terminal 1 applies to the sales PF server 3 for the use of the service provided by this system (SQ01). The application method may be selected as one of the delivery options. When the application is made, the sales PF server 3 performs user registration for the seller and the information on the exhibited product (SQ02). Next, the seller can take a photo of the product using the camera function of the seller terminal 1 and register it (SQ03), and also apply for collection (SQ04). At this point, the information on the exhibited product on the service site provided by the sales PF is in a state of non-disclosure to the buyer terminal (i.e., it cannot be purchased) (SQ05). The sales PF server 3 requests the delivery management server 4 to store the product in response to the application for collection (SQ06), and registers the product information in cooperation with the delivery management server 4 (SQ07). At this time, the information on the photograph remains in the sales PF server 3, and information other than the photograph is provided to the delivery management server 4.

After that, the delivery management server 4 generates a warehousing ID (SQ08: more details will be described later with reference to FIG. 8), and the product is delivered from the seller to the warehouse (SQ09). The size and weight of the auctioned product that has arrived at the warehouse are measured (SQ11) in accordance with the warehousing request from the delivery management server 4 (SQ10), and a photo is taken by a warehouse worker and sent to the sales PF server 3 (SQ12). The sales PF server 3 notifies the seller terminal 1 that the auctioned product has been stored in the warehouse (SQ13) and prompts the seller to make the above-mentioned association (SQ14). Once the association is complete (SQ15), the sales PF server 3 publishes the auctioned product (SQ16). This publication allows many buyers registered on the service site to access the information on the auctioned product. After that, when a purchase request is made from the buyer terminal 2 (SQ17), the sales PF server 3 notifies the seller terminal 1 (SQ18). Meanwhile, the sales PF server 3 shares the buyer's delivery address information with the delivery management server 4 (SQ19), which then makes a shipping request to the warehouse (SQ20), after which the product is shipped and delivered to the buyer (SQ21).

As shown in Figure 10, when a seller initially registers an item, the seller's place of residence, "Chiba Prefecture," is registered, and the number of days until packaging etc. and shipping (i.e., the time required for actual shipping) is set to "2-3 days" (this may be set by the seller). On the other hand, when an item is received at a warehouse, the sender is changed to the prefecture of the warehouse where the item was received, and the number of days until shipping is also changed to the number of days set by the warehouse as the number of days available for shipping.

As shown in Figures 11 and 12, the sales PF server 3 displays a message on the buyer terminal 2 saying "Please wait for shipment from the warehouse" after the buyer purchases the product until it is shipped, and after it is shipped from the warehouse, displays a message saying "Shipped from the warehouse."

As shown in FIG. 7, after a photo of the exhibited product is registered, packaging materials for packaging the product may be shipped when the product is collected. Specifically, as shown in the figure, a photo of the exhibited product taken by the seller terminal 1 is registered in the sales PF server 3 (SQ01), and the product information is linked to and registered in the delivery management server 4 via the API (SQ02), which is the same as the flow diagram shown in FIG. 5. The delivery management server 4 requests the warehouse terminal 5, which stores packaging materials suitable for packaging the exhibited product, to ship the packaging materials based on the size information of the exhibited product contained in the product information and the seller's address information, etc. (SQ51). When the warehouse terminal 5 accepts the request, a storage ID for the exhibited product that will eventually be stored is generated at this time, and packaging materials with a shipping slip with address information printed thereon (as the destination of the collected goods) are shipped (SQ51). The seller places the exhibited product in the packaging materials that have arrived and leaves them with the delivery company, so that the product is delivered to the destination warehouse. The warehouse from which the packaging materials are shipped may be different from the warehouse to which the seller's products are delivered (effective use of free space in the warehouse).

The above-described embodiment is merely an example to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention. The present invention can be modified and improved without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it goes without saying that the present invention includes equivalents.

1 Seller terminal 2 Buyer terminal 3 Sales PF server 4 Delivery management server 5 Warehouse terminal 5
6. Network

Claims (7)

A product delivery method executed by at least a seller terminal, a buyer terminal, and a delivery management server,
a product listing registration step in which a photo of the product listed is registered in the delivery management server by the seller terminal;
A warehouse arrival product registration step in which a photo of the auction product is taken in a warehouse where the auction product has arrived after being collected by a delivery company that has received a collection request, and the photo is registered in the delivery management server;
an associating step of associating the photo registered in the exhibition product registration step with the photo registered in the warehouse arrival product registration step;
a purchase acceptance step of accepting a purchase request for the associated exhibition product;
and a shipping request step of, when a purchase request for the exhibited product is received from the buyer terminal, making a shipping request to the warehouse to deliver the exhibited product to a delivery destination associated with the buyer terminal. 2. The product delivery method according to claim 1,
The warehouse arrival product registration step includes a step of measuring at least size information of the auction product by a predetermined measurement method.
Product delivery method. The product delivery method according to claim 1 or 2,
The warehouse arrival product registration step further includes a step of taking the photo in a state in which the auction product and a predetermined scale measure are both captured,
Product delivery method. A product delivery method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Before the association is established, information about the exhibited product is not disclosed to the buyer terminal and the exhibited product is put into a provisional listing state in which no purchase request is accepted.
Product delivery method. A product delivery method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
In the product registration step, a product ID associated with the photo of the product is generated;
In the warehouse arrival product registration step, a delivery management ID is generated that is associated with the photo of the auction product that has arrived,
In the associating step, the exhibition ID is associated with the delivery management ID.
Product delivery method. A product delivery system including at least a seller terminal, a buyer terminal, and a delivery management server,
A photograph of the auctioned item taken by the seller terminal is registered in the delivery management server,
A photograph of the auction item taken in a warehouse where the auction item arrived after being collected by a delivery company that received a collection request is registered in the delivery management server,
Associating the photo taken by the seller terminal with the photo taken in the warehouse;
A purchase request for the associated exhibited product is made available for acceptance;
When a purchase request for the auctioned product is received from the buyer terminal, a shipping request is made to the warehouse to deliver the auctioned product to a delivery destination associated with the buyer terminal .
Product delivery system. A delivery management server communicably connected to at least a seller terminal and a buyer terminal,
an item registration unit that accepts registration of photos of items for sale taken by the seller terminal;
a warehouse arrival product registration unit that accepts registration of a photo of the auction product taken in a warehouse where the auction product arrived after being collected by a delivery company that received a collection request;
an association unit that prompts the seller terminal to associate the photo registered by the auction product registration unit with the photo registered in the warehouse arrival product registration unit;
a shipping request unit that, when receiving a purchase request for the associated exhibited product, acquires delivery destination information and makes a shipping request to the warehouse to ship the exhibited product,
Delivery management server.

Images