Goods sales management system

• US 6,470,323 B1
• Filed: 06/27/1996
• Issued: 10/22/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Suzuki, Tetsujiro, Kashu, Yuriko
• Primary Examiner(s): Hafiz, Tariq R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Jeanty, Romain
• Application Number:
  US08/671,522
• Time in Patent Office: 2,308 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1, 705/10, 705/14, 705/28, 705/27, 705/22, 705/26, 348/1, 364/401, 235/379, 235/380
• US Class Current: 705/26.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]

Abstract

The present invention relates to a goods sales management system which communicates directly to customers via a communication line. The system manages the transmitting of merchandising notices for the goods to selected customers based on an arrival of goods that will satisfy a previous unsatisfied customer request and based on a customer purchase history. The system includes a customer utilization history memory storing history information indicating the use of the goods sales management apparatus by customers and customer information, a customer extracting process selecting customers to whom the merchandising notices are transmitted on the basis of the utilization history information in the customer utilization history memory and a merchandising notice sending process transmitting the merchandising notices to the customers selected.

Claims

1. A goods sales management apparatus for realizing goods sales management through communication lines, comprising:

customer utilization history memory means for storing utilization history information and customer information, the utilization history information including information indicating a request transaction carried out by a customer using said goods sales management apparatus over a communication line;

customer extraction means for selecting customers to whom a merchandising notice for promoting a purchase of the goods is to be sent based on the utilization history information of said customer utilization history memory means; and

merchandising notice sending means for sending the merchandising notice to the selected customers over corresponding communication lines which are not under the control of said goods sales management apparatus, when a purchasing period, based on a purchase history for each customer, has elapsed, said purchasing period being based on the last date the goods were purchased and a consumption period of those goods.

2. A goods sales management apparatus, comprising:

customer utilization history memory means for storing utilization history information of a use of the goods sales management apparatus by customers and customer information;

customer extraction means for selecting customers to whom a merchandising notice for promoting a purchase of the goods is to be sent based on the utilization history information of said customer utilization history memory means;

merchandising notice sending means for sending the merchandising notice to the selected customers over corresponding communication lines which are not under the control of said goods sales management apparatus, when a purchasing period, based on a purchase history for each customer, has elapsed;

goods selling means for executing processes for selling goods and storing sales information; and

a goods management memory storing a goods identifier and a consuming period of sold goods; and

wherein;

said customer utilization history memory means stores, from said goods selling means, the identifiers of goods purchased by the customers, purchase dates and customer identification information;

said customer extracting means selects customers for whom a period up to the current date from purchasing date stored in said customer utilization history memory means has exceeded a period longer than the consuming period determined by accessing said goods management memory using the goods identifier of said customer utilization history memory means as a key; and

said merchandising notice sending means sends a merchandising notice for promoting purchase of goods to the customers extracted by said customer extracting means.

3. A goods sales management apparatus, comprising:

customer utilization history memory means for storing utilization history information of a use of the goods sales management apparatus by customers and customer information;

customer extraction means for selecting customers to whom a merchandising notice for promoting a purchase of the goods is to be sent based on the utilization history information of said customer utilization history memory means;

merchandising notice sending means for sending the merchandising notice when a purchasing period, based on a purchase history for each customer, has elapsed;

goods selling means for executing processes for selling goods and storing sales information; and

a goods management memory for storing a goods identifier and a consuming period of said goods; and

wherein;

said customer utilization history memory means stores, from said goods selling means, the identifiers of goods purchased by customers, purchase dates and customer identification information;

said customer extracting means determines, when the customer utilization history memory means records that a customer has purchased the same goods for several times, a purchasing period of said goods and selects customers for whom the period up to the current date from a latest purchasing date stored in said customer utilization history memory means has exceeded the purchasing period; and

said merchandising notice sending means sends a merchandising notice for promoting purchase of goods to the customers selected by said customer extracting means over corresponding communication lines which are not under the control of said goods sales management apparatus.

4. A goods management notification process, comprising:

storing a purchase history of goods for customers;

establishing a purchasing period for the goods from the purchase history for each of the customers;

determining when the purchasing period has elapsed since a latest purchase for each customer; and

notifying the customers via a global computer network when the purchasing period has elapsed, the purchasing period comprising a predetermined expected consumption period when the customer has only made a single purchase.

5. A process as recited in claim 4, wherein said establishing sorts customer history responsive to customer name and purchasing date and calculates a mean of the purchasing dates as the purchasing period.

6. A process as recited in claim 4, wherein said determining determines when the purchasing period will expire and said notifying notifies the customers of a pending elapse.

7. A goods management system, comprising:

a storage storing goods transactions information including information indicating a request transaction carried out by a customer using said goods management system through a computer network which is not under the control of said goods management system;

a computer coupled to said storage and preparing merchandising notices for selected ones of customers responsive to the goods transactions information; and

a unit sending the merchandising notices to the selected customers through the computer network which is not under the control of said goods management system when a purchasing period has elapsed, the purchasing period comprising a predetermined expected consumption period when one of the selected customers has previously purchased goods.

8. A goods management process, comprising:

storing goods transactions information including information indicating a request transaction carried out by a customer through a global computer network;

preparing merchandising notices for selected ones of customers responsive to the goods transactions information; and

sending the merchandising notices to the selected customers through the global computer network when a purchasing period has elapsed, the purchasing period comprising a predetermined expected consumption period when one of the selected customers has previously purchased goods.

9. A goods management process, comprising:

storing goods transaction information including information indicating one or more of a request transaction and a purchase carried out by a customer through a global computer network;

preparing product information notices for selected ones of customers based on the goods transaction information; and

sending the product information notices to the selected customers through the global computer network, wherein when the goods transaction information is a purchase, one of the product information notices is sent based on a predetermined expected consumption period of the goods which were purchased.

10. A goods management process, comprising;

storing goods access information including information indicating that a customer has accessed information relating to a specified product through a global computer network;

preparing product information notices for selected ones of customers based on the stored goods access information; and

sending the product information notices to the selected customers through the global computer network, wherein the product information notices remind a selected customer that a product previously purchased by the customer has likely been consumed by the customer.

11. A goods management process as recited in claim 10, wherein the stored goods access information includes goods transaction information including information indicating one or more of a request transaction and a purchase carried out by the customer through the global computer network.

12. A goods management process as recited in claim 10, wherein said preparing includes preparing product information notices about new products related to the stored goods access information.

13. A goods management process according to claim 10, wherein the product information notices include electronic discount coupons.

14. A goods management process according to claim 10, wherein the product information notices include e-mail messages notifying the selected customers of the availability of selected products based on the stored goods access information.

15. A goods management process according to claim 10, wherein the product information notices are e-mail messages.

16. A computer readable storage controlling a computer and comprising a process of:

storing goods access information including information indicating that a customer has accessed information relating to a specified product through a global computer network;

preparing product information notices for selected ones of customers based on the stored goods access information; and

sending the product information notices to the selected customers through the global computer network, wherein the product information notices remind a selected customer that a product previously purchased by the customer has likely been consumed by the customer.

17. A goods management system comprising:

a storage storing goods access information including information indicating that a customer has accessed information relating to a specified product through a computer network which is not under the control of said goods management system;

a computer coupled to said storage and preparing product information notices for selected ones of customers based on the stored goods access information; and

a transmission unit sending the product information notices to the selected customers through the computer network, which is not under the control of said goods management system wherein the product information notices remind a selected customer that a product previously purchased by the customer has likely been consumed by the customer.

18. A computer readable storage controlling a computer and comprising a process of:

storing goods transaction information including information indicating one or more of a request transaction and a purchase carried out by a customer through a global computer network;

preparing product information notices for selected ones of customers based on the goods transaction information; and

sending the product information notices to the selected customers through the global computer network, wherein the product information notices remind a selected customer that a product previously purchased by the customer has likely been consumed by the customer.

19. A goods management system comprising:

a storage storing goods transaction information including information indicating one or more of a request transaction and a purchase carried out by a customer through a global computer network;

a computer coupled to said storage and preparing product information notices for selected ones of customers based on the goods transaction information; and

a transmission unit sending the product information notices to the selected customers through the global computer network, wherein the product information notices remind a selected customer that a product previously purchased by the customer has likely been consumed by the customer.