Server apparatus, information providing program, recording medium recording information providing program, information providing method, terminal device, terminal program and recording medium recording terminal program

• US 9,665,872 B2
• Filed: 03/11/2011
• Issued: 05/30/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rakuten Group, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Rakuten, Inc. (Rakuten Group, Inc.)
• Inventors: Sugiyama, Mari, Tokunaga, Hiroyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): ZURITA, JAMES H
• Application Number:
  US13/510,418
• Publication Number:
  US 20120233017A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,272 Days
• Field of Search: 705 261, 705 271
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

Provided is a server apparatus capable of flexibly providing provision information of a store in accordance with a time range when the store can be used by a user. The server apparatus, on the basis of store information including at least any one of position information of a store which provide a product or service, use time information of the store and attribute information of the store, and user time range information user time range information indicating a vacant time range of a user, determines a combination in which the user can use the stores within the time range indicated by the user time range information, and transmits the provision information of the store in the determined combination to a terminal device of the user.

Claims

1. A server apparatus to which a store terminal of a store is accessible via a communication network, comprising:

at least one memory operable to store code;

at least one processor operable to read said code and operate as instructed by said code, said code including;

store information storing code that causes the at least one processor to store, in a store information storage, store information that is uploaded by the store terminal of each store via the communication network, the store information of the store including use time information of the store that includes time zones in which a product or a service is available to the user according to different attributes of the user, wherein the store information storage further stores, per store, provision information related to a product or a service provided by each of the stores;

time range information acquiring code that causes the at least one processor to acquire user time range information indicating a vacant time range of a user;

attribute information acquiring code that causes the at least one processor to acquire attribute information of the user indicating at least one attribute of the user, the at least one attribute including at least one of an age and a gender of the user;

use time information acquiring code that causes the at least one processor to acquire use time information, which is determined according to the attribute information of the user, by referring to the store information storage which stores the store information including the use time information;

store combination determining code that causes the at least one processor to determine a combination of stores which the user can use within the vacant time range indicated by the user time range information based on the acquired use time information, the acquired attribute information of the user, and the acquired user time range information; and

provision information transmitting code that causes the at least one processor to transmit the provision information of the stores in the determined combination, to a terminal device of the user via the communication network.

2. The server apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the store information storage further stores store time range information indicating a vacant time range of the store, and

the store combination determining code causes the at least one processor to determine the combination of the stores having the vacant time range of the store which at least partially overlaps the vacant time range of the user, based on the vacant time range of the user indicated by the acquired user time range information and the vacant time range of the store indicated by the store time range information.

3. The server apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:

use history information acquiring code that causes the at least one processor to acquire a past use time in which the user used the store in a past, wherein

the use time information acquiring code causes the at least one processor to acquire the use time information of the stores, based on the attribute information and the acquired past use time.

4. The server apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising schedule information acquiring code that causes the at least one processor to acquire schedule information of the user by using an application for managing the schedule information of the user,

wherein, when it is determined that there is no scheduled activity for a certain time period from the acquired schedule information, the time range information acquiring code causes the at least one processor to acquire the user time range information as the certain time period.

5. The server apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the store information further includes position information of the stores, and the server apparatus further comprises:

position information acquiring code that causes the at least one processor to acquire position information of the user from the terminal device,

wherein the store combination determining code causes the at least one processor to determine the combination of the stores which the user can use within the vacant time range of the user, based on the acquired user time range information, the acquired position information of the user and the position information of the stores.

6. The server apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the store information further includes position information of the stores, and the server apparatus further comprises:

area information acquiring code that causes the at least one processor to acquire area information indicating an area in which the user moves,

wherein the store combination determining code causes the at least one processor to determine the combination of the stores which the user can use within the vacant time range of the user, based on the acquired user time range information, the acquired area information and the position information of the stores.

7. The server apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the store information further includes attribute information of the stores, and the server apparatus further comprises:

use condition information acquiring code that causes the at least one processor to acquire use condition information comprising at least one of a purpose, a theme and a genre in which the user uses a plurality of stores,

wherein the store combination determining code causes the at least one processor to determine the stores matching at least one of the purpose, the theme and the genre indicated in the use condition information as the stores included in the combination, based on the acquired use condition information and the attribute information of the stores.

8. The server apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising departure store information acquiring code that causes the at least one processor to acquire departure store information indicating a store which the user wishes to use first within the vacant time range of the user,

wherein the store combination determining code causes the at least one processor to determine the combination of the stores including the store indicated by the acquired departure store information as a departure store.

9. The server apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the store combination determining code causes the at least one processor to redetermine a combination of the stores which the user can use within a remaining time of the vacant time range of the user after a certain time passes, and

the provision information transmitting code causes the at least one processor to transmit provision information of the stores in the redetermined combination, to the terminal device of the user.

10. The server apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising:

use recognizing code that causes the at least one processor to recognize use of the provision information of the stores in the determined combination; and

remaining time calculating code that causes the at least one processor to calculate the remaining time based on the recognized use time and the vacant time range of the user,

wherein the store combination determining code causes the at least one processor to redetermine the combination of the stores which the user can use within the remaining time at a timing of calculating the remaining time.

11. The server apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the provision information further includes benefit information indicating a benefit which the user gets from the stores.

12. The server apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

use history information acquiring code that causes the at least one processor to acquire a past use time in which the user used the store in a past, wherein

the use time information acquiring code causes the at least one processor to acquire the use time information of the stores, based on the attribute information and the acquired past use time.

13. The server apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising schedule information acquiring code that causes the at least one processor to acquire schedule information of the user by using an application for managing the schedule information of the user,

wherein, when it is determined that there is no scheduled activity for a certain time period from the acquired schedule information, the time range information acquiring code causes the at least one processor to acquire the user time range information as the certain time period.

14. The server apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the store information further includes position information of the stores, and the server apparatus further comprises:

position information acquiring code that causes the at least one processor to acquire position information of the user from the terminal device,

wherein the store combination determining code causes the at least one processor to determine the combination of the stores which the user can use within the vacant time range of the user, based on the acquired user time range information, the acquired position information of the user and the position information of the stores.

15. The server apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the store information further includes position information of the stores, and the server apparatus further comprises:

area information acquiring code that causes the at least one processor to acquire area information indicating an area in which the user moves,

wherein the store combination determining code causes the at least one processor to determine the combination of the stores which the user can use within the vacant time range of the user, based on the acquired user time range information, the acquired area information and the position information of the stores.

16. The server apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the store information further includes attribute information of the stores, and the server apparatus further comprises:

use condition information acquiring code that causes the at least one processor to acquire use condition information comprising at least one of a purpose, a theme and a genre in which the user uses a plurality of stores,

wherein the store combination determining code causes the at least one processor to determine the stores matching at least one of the purpose, the theme and the genre indicated in the use condition information as the stores included in the combination, based on the acquired use condition information and the attribute information of the stores.

17. The server apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising departure store information acquiring code that causes the at least one processor to acquire departure store information indicating a store which the user wishes to use first within the vacant time range of the user,

wherein the store combination determining code causes the at least one processor to determine the combination of the stores including the store indicated by the acquired departure store information as a departure store.

18. The server apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the store combination determining code causes the at least one processor to redetermine a combination of the stores which the user can use within a remaining time of the vacant time range of the user after a certain time passes, and

the provision information transmitting code causes the at least one processor to transmit provision information of the stores in the redetermined combination, to the terminal device of the user.

19. The server apparatus according to claim 18, further comprising:

use recognizing code that causes the at least one processor to recognize use of the provision information of the stores in the determined combination; and

remaining time calculating code that causes the at least one processor to calculate the remaining time based on the recognized use time and the vacant time range of the user,

wherein the store combination determining code causes the at least one processor to redetermine the combination of the stores which the user can use within the remaining time at a timing of calculating the remaining time.

20. The server apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the provision information further includes benefit information indicating a benefit which the user gets from the stores.

21. An information providing method in a server apparatus to which a store terminal of a store is accessible via a communication network, comprising:

a step of, at the server apparatus, storing, in a store information storage, store information that is uploaded by the store terminal of each store via Internet network, the store information including use time information of the store that includes time zones in which a product or a service is available to the user according to different attributes of the user, wherein the store information storage further stores, per store, provision information related to a product or a service provided by each of the stores;

a step of, at the server apparatus, acquiring user time range information indicating a vacant time range of a user;

a step of, at the server apparatus, acquiring attribute information of the user indicating at least one attribute of the user, the at least one attribute including at least one of an age and a gender of the user;

a step of, at the server apparatus, acquiring use time information, which is determined according to the attribute information of the user by referring to the store information storage which stores the store information including the use time information;

a step of, at the sever apparatus, determining a combination of stores which the user can use within the vacant time range indicated by the user time range information based on the acquired use time information, the acquired attribute information of the user, and the acquired user time range information; and

a step of, at the server apparatus, transmitting the provision information of the stores in the determined combination, to a terminal device of the user via the communication network.

22. An information providing system comprising a store terminal of a store and a server apparatus to which the store terminal is accessible via a communication network, the server comprising:

at least one memory operable to store code;

at least one processor operable to read said code and operate as instructed by said code, said code including;

store information storing code that causes the at least one processor to store, in a store information storage, store information that is uploaded by store terminal of each store via the communication network, the store information of the store including use time information of the store that includes time zones in which a product or a service is available to the user according to different attributes of the user, wherein the store information storage further stores, per store, provision information related to a product or a service provided by each of the stores;

attribute information acquiring code that causes the at least one processor to acquire attribute information of a user indicating at least one attribute of the user, the at least one attribute including at least one of an age and a gender of the user;

time range information acquiring code that causes the at least one processor to acquire user time range information indicating a vacant time range of the user;

use time information acquiring code that causes the at least one processor to acquire use time information, which is determined according to the attribute information of the user by referring to the store information storage which stores the store information;

store combination determining code that causes the at least one processor to determine a combination of the stores which the user can use within the vacant time range indicated by the user time range information, based on the acquired use time information, the acquired attribute information of the user, and the acquired user time range information; and

display control code that causes the at least one processor to control to display provision information of the stores in the determined combination on a terminal device of the user through the communication network.

23. A server apparatus to which a store terminal of a store is accessible via a communication network, comprising:

at least one memory operable to store code;

at least one processor operable to read said code and operate as instructed by said code, said code including;

time range information acquiring code that causes the at least one processor to acquire user time range information indicating a vacant time range of a user;

store combination determining code that causes the at least one processor to determine a combination of stores which the user can use within the vacant time range indicated by the user time range information based on store information of each of stores which provide a product or service and the acquired user time range information, wherein the store information includes at least any one of position information of the stores, use time information of the stores, and attribute information of the stores, and wherein the store information is uploaded by the store terminal of each store via the communication network;

provision information transmitting code that causes the at least one processor to transmit provision information of the stores in the determined combination, to a terminal device of the user via the communication network, the provision information being related to a product or a service provided by each of the stores;

use recognizing code that causes the at least one processor to recognize use of the provision information of the stores in the determined combination; and

remaining time calculating code that causes the at least one processor to calculate a remaining time in the vacant time range based on the recognized use time and the vacant time range,

wherein the store combination determining code causes the at least one processor to redetermine the combination of the stores which the user can use within the remaining time at a timing of calculating the remaining time, and

wherein the provision information transmitting code causes the at least one processor to retransmit provision information of the stores in the redetermined combination, to the terminal device of the user via the communication network.

24. An information providing method in a server apparatus to which a store terminal of a store is accessible via a communication network, comprising:

a step of, at the server apparatus, acquiring user time range information indicating a vacant time range of a user;

a step of, at the sever apparatus, determining a combination of stores which the user can use within a vacant time range indicated by the user time range information based on store information of each of stores which provide a product or service and the acquired user time range information, wherein the store information includes at least any one of position information of the stores, use time information of the stores, and attribute information of the stores, and wherein the store information is uploaded by the store terminal of each store via the communication network;

a step of, at the server apparatus, transmitting provision information of the stores in the determined combination, to a terminal device of the user via the communication network, the provision information being related to a product or a service provided by each of the stores;

a step of, at the server apparatus, recognizing use of the provision information of the stores in the determined combination;

a step of, at the server apparatus, calculating a remaining time in the vacant time range based on the recognized use time and die vacant time range;

a step of, at the server apparatus, redetermining the combination of the stores which the user can use within the remaining time at a timing of calculating the remaining time; and

a step of, at the server apparatus, retransmitting provision information of the stores in the redetermined combination, to the terminal device of the user via the communication network.