JPH05298336A - Catalog shopping system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] (Corrected) [Purpose] Convenient storage and handling of catalog media, accurate and easy comparison of catalog products and prices from sales companies, and in turn prevent order mistakes. Allows users to make satisfactory orders. [Structure] An electronic publication medium such as a CD-ROM storing catalog information is driven by the access unit 204, and the operation input unit 2
When the condition for purchasing the product is input from 03, the first product information matching the condition is displayed on the display unit 202. When another medium is loaded in the access unit 204, the disc exchange is detected, the second product information satisfying the above condition is automatically searched from the other medium, and the second product information is displayed together with the first product information. ..

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a catalog shopping system which uses an electronic publication medium such as a CD-ROM as a catalog.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the conventional catalog shopping method,
When the sales company and the user make a contract, the sales company distributes the catalog in the form of books to the user. The user looks at the catalog, selects a desired product, and notifies the sales company of the product number, for example, by means such as telephone or mail. Then, the product is sent from the sales company. After that, or at the same time as the notification of the product number, the user pays the price by automatic withdrawal or transfer by a bank account.

Recently, there is also a method of placing an order using personal computer communication. This method is used for general NET stations (eg PC-VA) by personal computer communication via telephone line.
N, NIFTY serve), move to the forum dedicated to ordering, display the information of the product sold by the host (same as the one written in the catalog) on the screen, and according to that data, the desired product Is the method of selecting. Payment will be made with a preset credit card. As for other shopping methods,
There is also a method of placing an order using a facsimile.

[0004]

The conventional catalog shopping method described above has the following problems.

The user himself or herself searches the catalog in detail according to the product genre desired by the user, the budget, and the like. For this reason, it takes time and oversight to match the budget with the desired product. The catalog is also very thick, which makes it inconvenient to carry. In addition to this, it is extremely inconvenient to compare products of the same genre and compare prices, especially when catalogs from various sales companies are obtained. For example, if a user selects an item from the catalog A and places an order, but then the similar item described in the catalog B matches the user's preference more and the price is lower, the user is not satisfied. May remain.

[0006] Therefore, the present invention is to store the catalog medium,
To provide a catalog shopping system that is convenient to handle, that allows accurate and easy comparison of catalog products and prices from sales companies, prevents order mistakes, and allows users to place orders with satisfaction. To aim.

[0007]

Therefore, according to the present invention, first product information satisfying conditions such as price and payment method desired by a user is displayed from the first electronic publication medium which is currently accessed. When the access target is switched to the other second electronic publication medium from the state of being set, the second product information satisfying the condition is automatically and automatically set to the first product information from the second electronic publication medium. It is provided with a comparison control means for displaying in a state described together with.

[0008]

With the above means, the user can compare the products of the same kind or similar stored in different electronic publication media and the prices thereof on the display unit, and finally specify the purchase request. Therefore, it is possible to prevent order mistakes and make an order that the user is satisfied with.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a basic configuration of a user side terminal of the catalog shopping system. Reference numeral 200 denotes a terminal body, which is provided with a modem 220 including modulation and demodulation means, and can communicate with the host control units 300 of various sales companies through a telephone line. Inside the terminal main body 200, a system control unit 20 for controlling the system
1, a display unit 202, an input unit 203, an electronic publication medium access unit 204, a modem 205 including modulation and demodulation means, a card reading unit 206, and a data storage unit 207 are provided. The modem 204 is connected to the host control unit 300 of various sales companies through a telephone line, and can realize communication between the user side terminal and the host control unit 300 of the sales company.

The display unit 202 displays the contents of an electronic catalog, an operation guide, a graphic display, and the like, and a liquid crystal display device is used, for example. The input unit 203 is realized by disposing, for example, a touch panel on the front surface of the liquid crystal display device, and is controlled by the system control unit 201 so that the display contents correspond to the touch switch input unit. The electronic publication medium access unit 204 is, for example, a CD-
The CD-ROM, which is a part for accessing the ROM, stores the catalog information and is sent from the sales company, and contains information such as the product, its product code, and price. The electronic publication medium access unit 204 is provided with medium identification means for reading the barcode information attached to the CD. Further, a disk exchange detecting means for detecting disk exchange is also provided, and an interrupt signal is given to the system control unit 201. The modem 205 is
A connection state with the host control unit 300 of the sales company is obtained through a telephone line, but if necessary, the system control unit 201 connects to the host control unit of the sales company according to the specification, and transmits / receives data. You can

When the user designates the purchase of a product through the input unit 203, a display requesting the insertion of a card is displayed on the display unit 202, for example. The user inserts his or her own credit card, bank account card, or prepaid card into the card reading unit 206. Then, the card reading unit 206 reads the card information and sends the information to the host control unit 300 of the sales company through the modem 205.
Transmitted to. The sales company checks the card information to determine whether it is possible to debit the bank,
Returns information that is the result of successful or unsuccessful sales.

The system control unit 201 includes a microcomputer, a fixed system program, and a built-in storage unit 221 which is particularly writable and readable. The storage unit 221 is used when it is necessary to change the processing program or processing data of the electronic catalog information.
The system control unit 201 includes a microcomputer, ROM, RAM,
The operation is defined by a ROM program having an EEPROM or the like, which is not rewritable, and a microcomputer program incorporated in the rewritable EEPROM. The ROM stores a program that first reads out necessary data (common header portion) from the CD-ROM and performs actual catalog shopping. In addition, a program for whether to change the contents of the EEPROM (storage unit 221) is also stored.

As a case where it is necessary to change the processing program of the electronic catalog information, for example, addition of contents, reduction of merchandise items, or increased new CD-
There are cases where ROMs have been released, and it is not possible to search for all currently sold merchandise using the programs and data of the CD-ROM owned by the ROM, or when the price has changed. Thus, in this system, the CD
-Fixed information about the ROM and varying information can be handled, and the varying information can be automatically switched to the optimum information.

The calendar information storage unit 222 is composed of a calendar IC whose power source is backed up. Using the calendar information in the calendar information storage unit 222, the system control unit 201 can manage the storage period, the deletion date, etc. of the information in the storage unit 221.

The data storage unit 207 has a built-in RAM and a detachable IC card data reading unit. This data storage unit 207 is different from the built-in storage unit of the system control unit 201, and is rather used for personal information management. The storage unit 207 can store the card company name, purchase amount, installment payment information, etc. of the card read by the card reading unit 206. In this way, by managing the usage status of the credit card, it can be used as personal accounting management information. For example, if a user has multiple credit cards, which card was used to purchase what product, what is the current monthly payment amount, and how much money should be transferred to which bank account? Information can be stored. Then, this information is provided to the system controller 20.
It can also be read out by the program No. 1 and displayed on the display unit 202 for confirmation. It is also possible to transfer these pieces of information to a personal IC card and confirm the information when necessary.

In addition, a monitor 400 such as a television can be connected to the system for displaying in order to enhance the display contents. When carrying out catalog shopping, it is possible to project and view products one after another. Of course, in this case, the video information is also stored in the CD-ROM. The access means of the electronic publication medium is not limited to the CD-ROM, but a magnetic tape, a VTR integrated type, or the like may be used.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the data processing procedure of the comparison control means operating in the product comparison mode. In the product comparison mode, from the state in which the first product information satisfying the conditions such as the price and the payment method desired by the user is displayed from the first CD-ROM which is currently accessed, other first When the access target is switched to the second CD-ROM, the second product information that satisfies the above conditions already input from the second CD-ROM is automatically written together with the first product information. Can be displayed with. The system starts and the product selection process is performed (steps C1 and C2). In this process, for example, when the user inputs the product genre, price, and payment form from the touch switch on the menu screen or the keyboard, the search for the product within the price is started. One or two
One item is retrieved and the accounting information is used to determine if this user is payable. If payment is not possible, the next product and price data are searched. If payment is possible, the product and price are displayed. The user looks at the displayed product and decides whether or not to make the purchase. The product code (or number), price, telephone number of the catalog sales company, delivery date, and other product information at this time are stored in a writable and readable memory.

Next, when placing an order for this product, an ordering operation is performed, and when the processing is finished, an ending operation is performed (steps C3 and C4). It is also determined whether the CD-ROM has been replaced (step C).
5). The detection signal for this purpose is obtained from the disk exchange detection means. If the CD-ROM is replaced, the C
First, the header information (disc information) of the D-ROM is read. This information includes a disc ID and catalog provider information. The catalog provider information includes a catalog provider (code No), a catalog provider (character code for display), a catalog manufacturing date, and a catalog expiration date. In addition, the telephone number information of the catalog provider is also recorded, which is used when the line is automatically connected. In addition, there is fee payment information. The charge payment information includes an available credit company code, installment payment possible information, and the like. Further, there is program update information. The program update information includes a version number, an update program existence flag, an update program address and size, a player update start address and size, and the like. There is also a catalog information start address. These pieces of information are temporarily stored in a writable / readable memory.

Then, it is compared with the header information of the disc before the exchange, and it is judged whether or not the CD-ROM is exactly the same (step C7). This is because the same CD-ROM may be inserted or removed by the user for some reason, or two identical CD-ROMs may be owned.

When it is found that the CD-ROM has been exchanged for another content, the product code stored at the time of determining the product or the information which is the condition for the product search is used, The corresponding product is automatically searched (step C8). With this function, the user does not need to perform key operations such as the product genre, price, and payment method again, and can quickly see the desired product (product to be compared) on the display unit (step C9).

On the display unit, the merchandise information is additionally displayed, and when the user wants to place an order, the order operation key is operated. At this time, when product information from a plurality of catalogs is displayed, guide display is performed so as to perform a selection operation of which catalog product is to be ordered (step C10, step C11). When the product to be ordered is finally decided, a line is automatically connected to the catalog sales company of the product by using the telephone information previously stored, and the order processing is completed (step C1).
2, C13).

In the product search process of step C8, an automatic product search is performed, but the user can operate the operation key of the next candidate so that various similar products can be searched. It has become.
Further, in step C2, the product genre and the desired price have been described as being able to be input, but it is also possible to input a price range as price input.

Further, in this system, by slightly modifying the above processing, it is easy to write a list of products on a plurality of CD-ROMs (of different catalog companies) together and display them. is there.

FIG. 3 shows the display unit 20 related to the above processing.
2 shows a display example and a data format example. When comparing the prices of the same product across multiple catalogs,
As shown in FIG. 3A, the product name and the product are displayed. For example, the name of each disc (CD-ROM) and the price according to this catalog are displayed in a table format. The example of FIG. 3B is a display example in which a large number of product names, selling prices, and the like are written together in a table format.

FIG. 4A shows a data format of a storage unit for temporarily storing product information. When a product is searched for by product code, the product code, disk ID, sales company name,
Information such as the telephone number of the ordering party, the payment method, and the selling price is stored as a set. Further, FIG. 4B is an example of another data format. When searching for products in units of product genre, a plurality of products are searched. Therefore, the product code and the disc I are further classified by product code.
D, the name of the selling company, the telephone number of the orderer, the payment method, the selling price information, etc. are stored as a set.

The above examples are only some examples, and various other data processing methods are possible. Further, with respect to the display content, various forms are possible, and the delivery date and the like may be displayed.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, the storage and handling of the catalog medium is convenient, the comparison of the products and prices of the catalog from the sales company is accurate and easy, and the order error is prevented. This enables the user to make a satisfactory order.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a user-side terminal in an embodiment of the system of the present invention.

2 is a flowchart showing an example of a data processing procedure of the terminal shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a display on a display device shown for explaining the operation of the system of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a data format for explaining the operation of the system of the present invention.

[Explanation of Codes] 201 ... System control unit, 202 ... Display unit, 203 ... Input unit, 204 ... Electronic publication medium reading unit, 205 ... Modem, 206 ... Card reading unit, 207 ... Data storage unit, 221 ... Storage unit, 222 ... Calendar information storage unit,
300 ... Host control unit.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Keiichi Watanabe 3-3-9 Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo Inside Toshiba Abu E., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An access device for driving an electronic publication medium that stores catalog information, a storage unit that stores program data and processing data, and a device for operating the electronic publication medium access device. An operation input unit for giving an operation input, and in response to the operation input from the operation input unit, program data is read from the storage unit, and the electronic publication medium access device and the storage unit are read according to a procedure according to the program data. A system control unit that controls the display content of the display unit, and a first electronic publication medium that is provided in the system control unit and that is currently accessed, from the price desired by the user, the payment method, and the like. From the state where the first product information satisfying the condition of is displayed, another second electronic publication medium can be accessed. And a comparison control means for automatically displaying the second product information satisfying the condition from the second electronic publication medium in a state of being written together with the first product information when the replacement is performed. A featured catalog shopping system.