Sales method, sales system, sales processing apparatus, and terminal apparatus

• US 20050091125A1
• Filed: 11/08/2004
• Published: 04/28/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Ikeda, Kiyokazu
• Granted Patent: US 7,184,975 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0625 Directed, with specific intent or strategy
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass

Abstract

An intangible product sales server for selling intangible products and a tangible product sales server for selling tangible products associated with the intangible products cooperate to simplify purchase procedures to be followed by users in purchasing tangible and intangible products in combination.

Claims

1-10. -10. (canceled)

11. A cooperative sales system in which a plurality of servers interconnected via a network cooperatively sell a tangible product and an intangible product associated with each other, said sales system comprising:

a user terminal apparatus connected to said network for transferring and receiving data about the sale with said plurality of servers and displaying and inputting said data based on an operation performed by a user of said user terminal apparatus;

an intangible product sales server connected to said network for transferring and receiving data about the sale of said intangible product with said user terminal apparatus and signing a sales contract with said user about said intangible product; and

a tangible product sales server connected to said network for transferring data about the sale of said tangible product associated with said intangible product with said user terminal apparatus and signing a sales contract with said user about said tangible product, wherein

said user terminal apparatus includes;

terminal communication means for transferring and receiving the data with said plurality of servers;

display means for displaying the data received by said terminal communication means;

operator means for said user to input the data to be transmitted to any one of said plurality of servers; and

terminal control means for controlling said communication means such that said communication means the data with any of said plurality of servers connected to said network based on the operation performed by said user through said operator means and controlling said display means such that the data received from any of said plurality of servers is displayed on said display means,

wherein said intangible product sales server includes;

intangible server communication means for transferring and receiving data with an other device connected to said network;

intangible product data storage means for storing data about said intangible product;

intangible server user information storage intangible product means for storing data about said user supplied from said user terminal apparatus; and

intangible server control means for searching said intangible product data storage means for the intangible product requested by said user based on intangible product purchase request conditions received from said user terminal apparatus through said communication means, acquiring from said other device information about said tangible product associated with the retrieved intangible product, and transmitting said information about said tangible product to said user terminal apparatus; and

wherein said tangible product sales server includes;

tangible server communication means for transferring and receiving data with an other device connected to said network;

tangible product data storage means for storing product data about said tangible product;

tangible server user information storage means for storing tangible product data about said user; and

tangible server control means for controlling said tangible server user information storage means such that information about said user received from said intangible product server is stored into said user information storage means, controlling said communication means such that said communication means searches said tangible product data storage means for a tangible product associated with the data about the intangible product requested by said user received from said intangible product sales server, and transmits data about the retrieved tangible product associated with said intangible product to said intangible product sales server through said network.

12. The cooperative sales system according to claim 11, wherein when a purchase order for said tangible product by said user has been received by said tangible server communication means from said intangible product sales server, said tangible server control means executes a tangible product sales contract process based on the user information stored in said tangible server user information storage means.

15. The cooperative sales system according to claim 12, wherein said tangible server control means transmits said user information to a service providing server connected to said network for installing said tangible product on a vehicle of said user.

16. The cooperative sales system according to claim 15, wherein said tangible server control means selects said service providing server based on said user information stored in said tangible server user information storage means.

17. The cooperative sales system according to claim 11, wherein said intangible product for sale by said intangible product sales server is an automobile insurance product.

18. The cooperative sales system according to claim 17, wherein said tangible product for sale by said tangible product sales server is at least one of a car navigating system and a car safety device to be installed on a vehicle covered by said automobile insurance product.

13-14. -14. (canceled)

19. A product cooperative purchase apparatus connected to a network for purchasing both an intangible product and a tangible product from an intangible product sales server and a tangible product sales server respectively connected to said network, comprising:

communication means for communicating with one of said servers via said network;

display means for displaying data supplied from said intangible product sales server;

operator means for a user of said product cooperative purchase apparatus to input a request for the desired intangible product, the inputted request being transmitted to said intangible product sales server; and

control means for controlling said communication means such that said communication means is connected to said intangible product sales server via said network, controlling said display means such that information about said intangible product is displayed based on data for purchasing said intangible product received from said intangible product sales server and displayed on said display means, and controlling said communication means such that said communication means transmits information for purchasing said intangible product inputted from said operator means to said intangible product sales server.

20. The product cooperative purchase apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said intangible product is an automobile insurance product and said tangible product is at least one of a car navigating system and a car safety device to be installed on a vehicle covered by said automobile insurance product.

21. An intangible product sales apparatus connected to a network connected with a user terminal apparatus and a tangible product sales server for selling a tangible product and for selling an intangible product associated with said tangible product, comprising;

communication means for communicating with an other device connected to said network;

product data storage means for storing data about said intangible product;

user information storage means for storing information about a user of said user terminal apparatus transmitted via said network; and

control means for controlling said user information storage means such that said user information based on a request for purchasing said intangible product and said user information received by said communication means from said user terminal apparatus via said network is stored into said user information storage means controlling said communication means such that the intangible product desired by said user is searched for based on said purchase request, from said product data storage means, information about the retrieved intangible product and data about the tangible product for sale by said tangible product sales server associated with said intangible product is transmitted to said user terminal apparatus via said network.

22. The intangible product sales apparatus according to claim 21, wherein when purchase request information about the tangible product associated with the intangible product desired by said user has been received from an other device via said network, said control means transmits said user information from said user information storage means to said tangible product sales server which sells said tangible product.

23. The intangible product sales apparatus according to claim 21, wherein said control means transmits to said user terminal apparatus link information for linking to said tangible product sales server that sells an intangible product associated with an intangible product approval requested by said user.

24-25. -25. (canceled)

26. A tangible product sales apparatus, connected to a network connected with a user terminal apparatus and an intangible product sales server for selling an intangible product, for selling a tangible product associated with said intangible product, comprising:

communication means for communicating data with an other device connected to said network;

product data storage means for storing data about said tangible product;

user information storage means for storing information about a user received from said other device connected to said network; and

control means for controlling said user information storage means such that based on the basis of intangible product information about the intangible product desired by said user and said user information received from said intangible product sales product server, said user information being stored into said user information storage means, controlling said communication means such that said product data storage means is searched for tangible product information associated with said intangible product, and retrieved product data is transmitted to said other device connected to said network.

27. The tangible product sales apparatus according to claim 26, wherein said control means transmits said retrieved product data to said user terminal apparatus operated by said user to execute a sales process on said tangible product through said user terminal apparatus.

28. The tangible product sales apparatus according to claim 27, wherein when said sales process has been executed on said tangible product, said control means transmits sales information indicative of sales of said tangible product to said intangible product sales server through said communication means via said network.

29. The tangible product sales apparatus according to claim 26, wherein said intangible product is an automobile insurance product and said tangible product is at least one of a car navigating system and a car safety device to be installed on a vehicle covered by said automobile insurance product.