JP2002259845A - Physical distribution network system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make an efficient merchandise sales transaction by use of a communication network. SOLUTION: A transaction intermediation server includes a first storage means for storing information about the merchandise desired by a seller for a sales transaction; a second storage means for storing delivery charge information for delivering the merchandise corresponding to the merchandise information, from the seller to a buyer; a first control means for transmitting the merchandise information for display on a terminal device used by the buyer; and a second control means for transmitting to the terminal device used by the seller the delivery charge information corresponding to the merchandise for which the sales transaction was established, in order to let the seller designate the delivery company who delivers the merchandise for which the sales transaction was established between the seller and the buyer.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a distribution network system using a communication network, and more particularly to mediating a merchandise transaction between a seller and a buyer and timely distributing the merchandise for which the transaction has been established. The present invention relates to a logistics network system having a transaction mediation server (agent server) that enables it.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional logistics system, when a sale of goods is made between a seller and a buyer, the seller decides the most suitable shipping company (based on a delivery fee table distributed by a plurality of shipping companies). Usually, the carrier that offers the lowest fare is selected. Alternatively, the seller checks delivery charges with a plurality of shipping companies by telephone and selects the most appropriate shipping company.

[0003] A transportation company that receives a selected delivery request collects merchandise to be bought and sold from a seller through a predetermined business office, and then delivers it to the buyer.

[0004]

In such a logistics system, it is not only time-consuming for a seller to find an optimal transportation company, but also it is troublesome. In addition, the buyer is inevitable to wait for a long time before obtaining the desired product for which the sale has been completed.

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to provide a transaction mediation server and a transaction mediation method that enable efficient product sales transactions using a communication network.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a transaction mediation server that mediates the sale of goods between a seller and a buyer, and enables timely delivery (including collection) of the goods that have been sold. An object of the present invention is to provide a transaction mediation method.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a transaction mediation server of the present invention comprises: first storage means for storing merchandise information of a trade transaction object desired by a seller; A second storage unit for storing delivery fee information for delivering a product corresponding to the product information from the seller to the buyer; a first for transmitting the product information to be sold and displayed for display on a terminal device used by the buyer; Control means; and using the delivery fee information corresponding to the product for which the sale transaction has been completed in order to allow the seller to specify a shipping company that delivers the product for which the sale transaction has been completed between the seller and the buyer. And second control means for transmitting to the terminal device.

[0008] A transaction brokering method according to the present invention includes a step of storing merchandise information of a trade transaction object desired by a seller; and a delivery fee information for delivering a commodity corresponding to the merchandise information of the sale transaction object from the seller to the buyer. And transmitting the merchandise information to be sold and displayed on a terminal device used by the buyer; and a shipping company that distributes merchandise for which a sales transaction has been established between the seller and the buyer. Transmitting the delivery fee information corresponding to the merchandise for which the sales transaction has been completed to a terminal device used by the seller in order to allow the seller to designate the seller.

[0009] In the transaction intermediation method according to the present invention, the transportation company designated by the seller collects the goods for which the sales transaction has been completed from the seller through the nearest business office of the seller, and delivers the goods to the buyer. The method further includes a step.

[0010] The transaction intermediation method of the present invention further comprises a step of collecting a commission from the seller and the carrier, and a step of collecting a commodity price and a delivery fee from the buyer.

[0011] In the transaction mediation server or the transaction mediation method according to the present invention, the delivery fee information includes information on the transportation company, the weight or type of the product to be traded, and the delivery area or delivery distance of the product to be traded. Varies according to at least one.

[0012]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Configuration of Physical Distribution Network System] Referring to FIG. 1 showing the configuration of a physical distribution network system according to an embodiment of the present invention, in the physical distribution network system 1, an IP (Inte
rnet Protocol) In addition to the transaction mediation server (agent server) 3 owned by the transaction mediator, an Internet service provider (ISP: In)
A mail server 4 owned by the Internet service provider, a server 5 owned by the transport company A, and a server 6 owned by the transport company B are accommodated through communication lines.

The IP communication network 2 includes terminal devices (sales office terminal devices) 7 owned by a plurality of business offices of each transportation company, and terminal devices (seller terminal devices) owned by the seller.
8 and a terminal device (buyer terminal device) 9 owned by the buyer are accommodated through communication lines.

The agent server 3 owned by the trading intermediary agent, the server owned by the transport company A (the transport company A server) 5, and the server owned by the transport company B (the transport company B)
The server 6 is a server computer (Web server), and includes a central control device, a main storage device, a hard disk device as an external storage device, a display device as a display device, a keyboard and mouse as input devices, and a communication interface. However, the illustration of this configuration is omitted here.

The sales office terminal device 7, the seller terminal device 8, and the buyer terminal device 9 as Web clients are
It can be realized by a computer equipped with a browser (for example, a personal computer), a display device as a display device such as a central control device, a main storage device, a hard disk device as an external storage device, a keyboard and a mouse as input devices, and Although it is composed of a communication interface and the like, illustration of this configuration is omitted here.

The mail server 4 manages transmission and reception of various information between users. The transport company A server 5 and the transport company B server 6 can deliver, for example, delivery fee information and fee billing information relating to the delivery fee of the product to the agent server 3 through the IP communication network 2.

The agent server 3 communicates with the transport company A server 5 and the transport company B via the IP communication network 2.
The delivery fee information obtained from the server 6 can be delivered to the seller terminal device 8 as a delivery fee table. Here, the delivery fee information can take different forms according to at least one of a shipping company, a weight or a type of a product to be traded, and a delivery area or a delivery distance of the product to be traded.

The IP communication network 2 is an HTTP (Hype)
r HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) transmitted in accordance with a predetermined protocol such as Text Transfer Protocol
e) Transmit information (content data) such as a document format.

[Operation of Distribution Network System] Next, the operation of the distribution network system 1 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. In the following description of the operation, the intervention of the IP communication network 2 will be omitted except when particularly limited.

In the physical distribution network system 1 using the IP communication network 2, the agent server 3 owned by the transaction intermediary mediates the merchandise transaction between the seller and the buyer, and delivers the merchandise for which the transaction has been established. In a timely manner.

The transaction intermediary collects the delivery fee information of the products distributed by the transport company A server 5 and the transport company B server 6 by the agent server 3 and stores it in a database (hard disk device) DB as a delivery fee table. Keep it.

Further, the transaction broker uses the agent server 3 to collect the sale information of the merchandise that the seller wants to sell and store it in the database DB. Strictly, the seller transmits the sale information of the product desired to be registered in the database DB to the agent server 3 owned by the transaction intermediary through the seller terminal device 8.

The buyer searches for sale information of the product on the Web page provided by the agent server 3 through the buyer terminal device 9, and when the product to be purchased is found, the seller uses electronic mail (E-mail) or telephone. To check the stock status and price of the product.

When conditions such as the selling price and the buyer's desired delivery date for the target product match between the seller and the buyer, a product sales transaction is established.

When a merchandise sale transaction is established between the seller and the buyer, the seller uses the seller terminal device 8 to distribute the delivery charges distributed by the shipping companies A and B stored in the database DB from the agent server 3 to the agent server 3. Get the table,
Based on this shipping rate table, the best shipping company (here,
Select the shipping company B) offering the lowest fare.

This selection (designation) is performed by the seller clicking on the mouse and inputting predetermined data using the keyboard on the distribution fee table display screen (the transportation company selection screen 30 shown in FIG. 3) displayed on the seller terminal device 8. Is carried out.

Here, the transportation company selection screen 30 for displaying the delivery charge table will be described with reference to FIG.

The transportation company selection screen 30 is prepared for each of the transportation companies A and B. The transportation company selection screen 30 of each transportation company
This indicates that the delivery fee varies depending on the distance or area (prefecture), the weight of the product, or the product type.

The transportation company selection screen 30 shown here as an example shows a delivery fee relating to the product type b of the transportation company B (for example, headlights, tail lamps, carburetors, computers, drive shafts, and the like).

The charge column 31 at the center of the screen has a form in which a delivery charge is shown at the intersection of a matrix of area (prefecture) information as distance information.

On the transportation company selection screen 30, "desired product collection date" 32 and "desired delivery date" 33, which are respectively input by the seller, are provided, and a transmission permission to the transportation company B is designated. "OK" button 34 is provided.

On the transportation company selection screen 30 described above,
When the seller clicks the [OK] button, order information for requesting collection and delivery of the product to the corresponding shipping company is transmitted. In this example, since carrier B was selected,
The order information is transmitted from the seller terminal device 8 to the shipping company B server 6.

The transportation company B that has received the collection / delivery request collects the merchandise to be traded from the seller through the nearest sales office located in an area near the seller, and then delivers it to the buyer. Note that the shipping company B uses the e-mail to
Sends order information to the office terminal device 7 to request collection and delivery of the target product.

In the physical distribution network system 1 described above, when the physical distribution of the merchandise to be traded is completed, the transportation company B applies a fee (can be offset with the collection / delivery fee) to the brokerage company based on a settlement method such as a bank transfer. Deposit.

Further, the settlement of the commodity price and the collection / delivery fee to be paid by the buyer to the seller and the shipping company B is mediated by a transaction intermediary using a bank transfer or the like. The seller is the We provided by the agent server 3 owned by the trading intermediary.
Since the sale information of the merchandise is provided to the buyer using the page b, the commission as a contract subscriber is paid to the transaction intermediary.

[Modification] The processing in the above-described embodiment is provided as a computer-executable program, and can be provided via a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a floppy (registered trademark) disk, and further via a communication line. is there.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Efficient product sales transactions can be promoted using the communication network.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to mediate a merchandise transaction between the seller and the buyer, and to timely deliver the merchandise for which the sales transaction has been established.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a distribution network system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a physical distribution network system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a shipping company selection screen displaying a delivery charge table.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Logistics network system 2 IP communication network 3 Agent server 4 Mail server 5 Transport company A server 6 Transport company B server 7 Office terminal device 8 Seller terminal device 9 Buyer terminal device 30 Transport company selection screen for displaying a delivery charge table DB database

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A first storage means for storing merchandise information of a trade transaction object desired by a seller; and a delivery fee information for delivering a commodity corresponding to the merchandise information of the trade transaction object from the seller to the buyer. Second storage means for transmitting; and first control means for transmitting the merchandise information to be sold and displayed on a terminal device used by the buyer; and merchandise for which a sales transaction has been established between the seller and the buyer. And a second control means for transmitting the delivery fee information corresponding to the product for which the sales transaction has been completed to a terminal device used by the seller in order to allow the seller to specify a shipping company that delivers the product. 2. The delivery fee information differs according to at least one of the following: the shipping company, the weight or type of the product to be traded, and the delivery area or delivery distance of the product to be traded. The transaction mediation server described. 3. A step of storing merchandise information of a trade transaction target desired by the seller; a step of storing delivery fee information for delivering a product corresponding to the merchandise information of the trade transaction target from the seller to the buyer; Transmitting the merchandise information to be sold and displayed on a terminal device used by the buyer; and causing the seller to designate a shipping company that delivers merchandise for which a sales transaction has been established between the seller and the buyer. Transmitting the delivery fee information corresponding to the product for which the sales transaction has been completed to a terminal device used by the seller. 4. The delivery fee information differs according to at least one of the following: the shipping company, the weight or type of the product to be traded, and the delivery area or delivery distance of the product to be traded. The transaction mediation method described. 5. The shipping company designated by the seller,
4. The transaction intermediation method according to claim 3, further comprising a step of collecting goods from the seller, for which the sales transaction has been completed, from the seller through a sales office nearest to the seller, and delivering the goods to the buyer. 6. The transaction intermediation method according to claim 5, further comprising a step of collecting a commission from the seller and the shipping company, and a step of collecting a product price and a shipping fee from the buyer.