JP2003030411A - System for incentive - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system or incentive which introduces many persons to join, further motivates and urges a member introduced to do shopping at a member store and in addition, gives even a member belonging to the lowest hierarchy (the last joining member) an opportunity to be able to be a member belonging to the highest hierarchy. SOLUTION: This system is provided with a basic data management system 100 for managing introduction relations among members, a purchase data management system 200 for managing purchase amounts by the members, a participation degree data management system 300 for managing the participation degree of a member customer in various activities designated by a head office, a ranking decision system 400 for deciding ranking relations among member customers on the basis of purchase amounts and the participation degree, and a subordination data management system 500 for deciding a subordination among the members for associating each member with a hierarchical structure type on the basis of at least the member subordination, and calculates an incentive of each member on the basis of purchase amounts of subordinate members specified by the purchase amounts of a member himself and the subordination among the members to decide the incentive for each member.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an incentive system for organizing a customer such as a consumer as a member and returning a predetermined profit to the customer according to the purchase amount of the customer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an incentive system is called a point card system, etc., and has been used as a means for promoting purchase by consumers. This system comprises a member organization consisting of members, retailers (member stores), and the secretariat, and the consumers are prescribed according to the purchase amount of the products and services (hereinafter referred to as products) purchased by the retailers. The points are accumulated, and by accumulating the points, predetermined incentives (prize) such as provision of goods and discounts are given, thereby promoting the purchase at consumers' stores. However, the conventional point card system, when giving incentives, gives a large amount of incentives by lottery, makes the content of the incentives attractive products, and gives a large discount when purchasing the next product. Although there are various varieties of granting methods and contents, basically, the points are only accumulated based on the purchase amount of the members themselves. Therefore, for consumers, although they joined the membership organization, more than product purchase,
There was no way to increase the points. Looking at this from the member stores and the secretariat side, it is only the secretariat and the member stores that mainly act for the purpose of increasing membership or improving the sense of belonging to the member organization and activities other than consumption activities, and consumers Will not be able to actively participate because of the increase in members, the improvement of the sense of belonging to the member organization, and activities other than consumption activities. Therefore, in addition to purchasing goods, it opens up a way for consumers to gain greater incentives through their activities, and at the same time provides a more attractive incentive system for consumers.
It is desired for the secretariat and the member stores to develop a system that effectively uses consumers for activities other than consumer activities, such as increasing the number of members or increasing the sense of belonging to member organizations. Moreover, the conventional point card system relies only on the sales profit based on the purchase at the member store of the consumer as the resource for giving the incentive. In other words, it only returns a few percent of the sales profit at the member store to the consumer, and if the profit of the member store is not reduced, the consumer cannot be given a greater incentive.

[0003]

The object of the present invention is to provide a customer such as a consumer with an opportunity to obtain a greater incentive by a method other than the purchase of a product. It is to provide a system for determining incentives that can be effectively used for an increase or an awareness of belonging to a member organization and an activity other than a consumption activity. More specifically,
Depending on the customer member's participation in various activities designated by the secretariat for various reasons such as introduction of a new member by the customer member, consumption activity by the introduced member, and sponsorship or sponsorship by the secretariat, It aims to provide a system for incentives that can give a large incentive. Another object of the present invention is information about relationships and connections between customers, including information directly related to actual consumption activities, and information about customer participation activities in various activities sponsored by the secretariat ( It is intended to provide a system for managing incentives that can obtain marketing information). Another object of the present invention is to change the subordination relationship between customers in a member organization if a predetermined condition is satisfied, regardless of the relationship between the customer introduced by the customer and the customer's parent-child relationship. Even so, it is intended to provide a system for managing incentives that are always given the opportunity to belong to the upper hierarchy. In other words, we do not provide a system for incentive management that can give all customer members the opportunity to belong to a higher hierarchy and continuously give the customer members the motivation to use the system. Is to Another object of the present invention is to provide a system for managing incentives that can give a greater incentive to a customer without reducing the profit of a member store.

[0004]

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention is a member organization constituted by a member introducing and joining a new member, and in an incentive system provided with means for determining an incentive to give to a member, A means for inputting the relationship of introduction between members, a means for inputting the purchase amount by the member, a means for inputting the degree of participation of the member in various activities designated by the secretariat, and at least the purchase amount and the degree of participation mentioned above. A hierarchy relation determining means for determining the hierarchy relation of the members based on at least the hierarchy relation, and a dependency relation determining means for determining the dependency relation between the members relating at least the hierarchy relation of the members to each other, and at least each of the members themselves The incentive of each member is calculated based on the purchase amount of the above and the purchase amount of the subordinate member specified from the above-mentioned entered subordination relationship between members. By providing an incentive for the system being characterized in that a determining means for determining incentive to be given to each member and, to solve the above problems. According to the invention of the present application, since the order relation determining means for determining the order relation of the members based on the purchase amount and the degree of participation is provided, the order increases depending on the degree of purchase and participation at the member store. And, since it is equipped with a dependency relationship determining means hierarchy that determines the dependency relationship among members that associates each member in a hierarchical structure based on this hierarchy relationship, it is possible to obtain a large incentive by increasing the hierarchy. Will be more likely. On the other hand, this degree of participation may be browsing the homepage of the Internet designated by the secretariat, cooperating in questionnaires, or participating in events, but participants in these projects are Any increase will increase the value of the business sponsored by the secretariat as an advertising medium and the quality of marketing information accumulated in the secretariat. According to the invention as set forth in claim 2, there is provided a membership organization constituted by customer members, dealer members, and the secretariat, each member introducing a new member and joining the membership.
In an incentive system having means for determining at least an incentive to be given to a customer member, a means for storing a referral relationship between members, a means for storing a purchase amount by a customer member at a shop member, and a secretariat A means for memorizing the degree of participation of the customer member in various activities, a ranking relationship determining means for determining the ranking relationship of the customer member based on at least the purchase amount and the degree of participation described above, and at least each member based on the ranking relationship of this member. Dependency relationship determining means for determining the subordination relationship between members, which is related to the hierarchical structure, means for determining incentive resources originating from the store based on the purchase amount by the customer member at the store member, and office work such as advertisement income amount The amount of income earned based on the activities of the Bureau, other than the above-mentioned income from the dealers that is the source of incentive resources Based on the amount of income, determine at least the incentive resources to be given to the customer members from the means for determining the incentive resources originating from the secretariat, the incentive resources originating from the dealer, and the resources including the incentive resources originating from the secretariat. Based on the means, at least the purchase amount of each customer member himself / herself at the shop member, and the purchase amount of the customer member lower than the customer member, which is specified by the subordination relationship between the customer members, the incentive resources are provided to the customer. An incentive characterized by including means for calculating an allocation rate of each customer member when allocating among members, and determination means for determining an incentive to be given to each customer member from the allocation rate and the above-mentioned incentive resources. The following virtuous cycle is created by using the system. That is, each member will actively purchase at member stores in order to raise the rank, and will actively participate in the business sponsored by the secretariat. As a result, sales revenue at member stores will increase due to an increased sense of belonging to the member organizations, and revenue at the secretariat will increase as the advertising medium of the business sponsored by the secretariat increases and the quality of marketing information accumulated by the secretariat increases. This will lead to an increase in incentive resources originating from dealers and incentive resources originating from the secretariat. Therefore, the incentive to be distributed to each member increases, and it becomes possible to operate the organization with a large amount of incentive. This will further increase the number of members, increase the sense of belonging to the member organization, and improve the participation level, which will increase the sales revenue of member stores,
A virtuous cycle will be repeated, leading to an increase in incentives for each member and an increase in the income of the secretariat. In the invention of claim 2 described above, at least the purchase amount of each customer member himself / herself at the shop member and the purchase amount of the customer member lower than the customer member specified by the subordinate relationship between the customer members. And means for calculating the distribution rate of each customer member when allocating the incentive resources among the customer members, and a determining means for determining the incentive to be given to each customer member from the distribution rate and the above incentive resources. The distribution rate is
The distribution rate may be calculated based on the purchase price and the degree of participation instead of using only the purchase price.
In addition, in the order relation determining means for determining the order relation of the customer members, the purchase record and the degree of participation, and if necessary, the purchase amount and degree of participation of the introducer (the target member introduces and joins the membership). The member's performance is obtained as a ranking determination point based on the member's purchase amount and participation level, and the ranking is determined by this ranking determination point, and in the means for calculating the distribution rate, the distribution of each member based on this ranking determination point The rate may be calculated. In addition, in the present invention, it is desirable to quantify the degree of participation of customer members in various activities designated by the secretariat, so that the degree of participation becomes a form that is easily used as marketing information and its effective use Can be promoted.

[0005]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 shows an overview of the entire system, which comprises a basic data management system 100, a purchasing data management system 200,
Participation level data management system 300, order determination system 400, dependency relationship data management system 500, source determination system 600, incentive determination system 7
00, a publication system 800, and an incentive execution system 900. That is, this system determines at least the incentive to give to a customer member in a member organization composed of a customer member, a store member, and a secretariat, and each member introduces a new member and joins. And a means for storing a subordination between members associated with a specific customer member as a subordinate member of another specific customer member, a means for storing the purchase amount of the customer member at a store member, and a secretariat Means for storing the degree of participation of the customer member in various activities designated by the above, at least a ranking relationship determining means for determining the ranking among the members based on the above-mentioned purchase amount and participation degree, and at least based on the ranking relationship of the customer member , Compare the ranks of the customer members in the above-mentioned memorized subordinate relationship, and associate the low rank customer members as the lower rank members of the high rank customer members. By changing, the dependency relationship determining means for determining the dependency relationship between the customer members and the purchase amount by the customer member at the store member are memorized, and the incentive resources originating from the store are calculated based on this sale amount. And the amount of income obtained based on the activities of the secretariat, such as the amount of advertising revenue, other than the income that is the source of the incentives originating from the above-mentioned retail store, and based on this amount of income, A means for calculating and determining incentive resources originating from the secretariat, and a means for calculating at least incentive resources to be given to customer members from sources including incentive resources originating from the dealer and resources originating in the secretariat. , At least below the customer member's own purchase amount at the shop member and the customer member's subordinate relationship specified above. Means for calculating the distribution rate of each customer member when allocating the incentive resources among the customer members based on the purchase amount of the customer member of, and the incentive to give to each customer member from this allocation rate and the above-mentioned incentive resources And a determining means for determining.

[Overall] Basic data management system 100
Manages information related to referrals among members and manages basic data of customers and dealers. This data includes not only the relationship between the customer and the dealer,
Contains data about referral relationships between customers. In the following description, a member refers to at least one of a customer (customer member) and a store (store member). The purchase data management system 200 is a system that manages the purchase amount and the purchase record of the members at the store, and manages the data of the consumption activity such as the purchase amount when the customer performs the consumption activity at the store. Is. The participation level data management system 300 is a system that manages the results of the level of participation of members in various activities sponsored by the secretariat. When members participate in activities specified by the secretariat, It manages actual data. The ranking determination system 400 is a system that determines the ranking of the degree of contribution of a member to a member organization based on, for example, consumption activities by members and achievements of activities other than consumption activities. More specifically, the purchase amount record by the member managed by the purchase data management system 200, the record of the participation activity by the member managed by the participation level data management system 300, and the member managed by the basic data management system 100. It is a system that determines the rank of members based on a comprehensive performance evaluation of the performance of purchasing and participation activities based on referral relationships. The subordination relationship data management system 500 is a system that determines subordination relationships between members. More specifically, the basic data management system 100
The referral relationship, that is, the parent-child relationship between the members managed by is compared by the order determination system 400, and the higher parent order is specified as the child, regardless of the existing parent-child relationship, and the subordinates between the members are determined. It is a system that determines relationships. The resource determination system 600 is a system for determining a resource for an incentive given to a customer member. The incentive decision system 700 is a system for deciding an incentive to be returned to members. More specifically, according to the purchase amount by the member managed by the purchasing data management system 200, the data regarding the subordination between members determined by the dependency relationship data management system 500, and the source of the incentive determined by the resource determination system 600. , A system that determines the incentives to be returned to members. The publication system 800 is a system that publishes the determined incentive and simultaneously advertises, and is provided mainly through a server (web server) on a network such as the Internet. The incentive execution system 900 provides a means for finally returning the determined incentive to the member. These systems are configured by using hardware resources such as computers under the control of the secretariat. This hardware resource includes a central processing unit and a storage unit, and the information of the database in the following description is stored in the storage unit. In addition, the various types of information do not necessarily have to be stored in a database, and the database in the following description can be implemented simply as a storage unit for storing predetermined information.

[Basic Data Management System] As shown in FIG. 2, a basic data management system 100 is a system for managing basic data of customers and dealers, and means 101 for inputting basic information of members. It is configured by a computer system including 102 and databases 110 and 120 that store and manage the information. The means for inputting the basic information of the member can be considered by distinguishing between the customer information input means 101 and the store information input means 102, but the hardware resources can also be implemented as one unit. obtain. The database can be considered as a customer information database 110 and a store information database 120, but the hardware resources may be integrated.

[Customer Information] The customer information includes customer attribute information 111, customer-to-customer relationship information 112, and customer-to-store relationship information 113. The customer attribute information 111 includes information for identifying the individual customer and information for the destination of the incentive given to the individual customer. Specifically, the name or name, address, age, postal code, Bank account number, cash card number,
An electronic mail address or the like is given, an ID number is given to each customer, and a password is given as necessary, and the customer is managed by the database 110. The customer-to-customer relationship information 112 is information that identifies by which customer the customer has joined. Newly enrolled customers can also introduce other customers to enroll, so that the customers can be organized in a tree-like hierarchical structure. That is, this information associates the members with each other. The information 113 on the relationship between the customer and the store is information that identifies which store the customer has joined by introducing. The incentive can be given only to the customer or both the customer and the store. In the latter case,
It is also possible to determine the incentive for the store and the incentive for the customer with one system. In this case, all the members are associated with each other by the information 112 and 113 of the above two relations. In particular, since it is considered that the first customer enrollment is often enrolled by the introduction of the store, the store is often systematized as the highest member of the whole store.

[Distributor Information] The distributor information 120 includes distributor attribute information 121 and information 122 on the relationship between the distributor and the secretariat. As the attribute information 121 of the store,
It shall include information that identifies the dealer, information on the destination of the incentive given to the dealer, and information on the billing destination for expenses to the dealer. Specifically, name or name, address, age , A postal code, a bank account number, a cash card number, and the like. Each store is given an ID number, and if necessary, a password and is managed by the database 120. The information 122 on the relationship between the dealer and the secretariat can include information on the communication means between the dealer and the secretariat as well as the contract between the dealer and the secretariat.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2, a card issuing means 130 and a mail processing means 140 can be added to the basic data management system 100. [Card Issuing Means] The card issuing means 130 issues a card 150 in which information including at least information for identifying a customer such as an ID number is recorded. From the customer information database 110, the customer attribute information 111 and the customer are recorded. And a customer relationship information 112, means for selecting information to be recorded on the card from the customer relationship information 113, etc., and means for outputting the selected information to the card issuing machine 131. Including. The card issuing machine 131 issues the card 150 in which the information input from the card issuing means 130 is recorded based on the instruction of the card issuing means 130.

[Mail Processing Unit] The mail processing unit 140 is
It is a means to output the address for sending the mailed item to the customer or the store. For example, in order to mail the card 150 to a customer, the name and address information may be acquired from the customer information database 110, and the information may be printed on an address sticker or envelope for output. Also, when sending the necessary documents to the dealer, the name or name and address information is acquired from the dealer information database 120,
It can be implemented as a means for outputting.

[Subscription procedure] In the subscription procedure, however, the following procedure is performed. When the customer joins, the customer A fills in the above-mentioned information on the member application form 115, and the store B collects it and sends it to the secretariat C. Alternatively, the customer A directly sends the member application form 115 to the secretariat C. Store B
Enter the above information in the membership application form and submit it to Secretariat C
Then, the secretariat office inputs these pieces of information into the computer from the customer information input means 101 to generate the database 110. Next, the card issuing means 130
As a result, while the card 150 in which the above necessary information is recorded is issued, the mailing processing means 140 outputs the mailing address of the card 150 so that the issued card 150 can be mailed to each customer. To do. In the procedure for joining a store, the above-mentioned information is entered in the membership application form and sent to the secretariat. At the secretariat, this information is input to the computer from the store information input means 102, The database 120 is generated. At this time, when the secretariat needs to send a document to the store, the mail processing means 140 outputs the address of the mailing address of the store so that the required document can be mailed.

[0013] The customer and dealer registration procedures are carried out by email or LA on the Internet or the World Wide Web.
It can also be performed through a computer network such as an online network including N. In that case, the above information is input from the computer of the customer or the store, and the information is sent to the computer of the secretariat via the network. In the secretariat, a database is generated from these pieces of information, an ID number is given to each customer or store, a password is given if necessary, and the database 120 manages the ID number and password. Alternatively, the shop is notified by e-mail or mail. Further, as a means for the customer to perform the procedure for joining, it may be a virtual store on the network, or a website such as a homepage on the network such as the Internet established by each store or the secretariat. Good.

[Purchasing Data Management System] Next, the purchasing data management system 200 manages a purchase amount and a purchase record that occur when a customer purchases individual products. This will be described with reference to FIG. First, the purchase data management system 200 in the secretariat will be described. The purchase amount input processing means 201 for inputting information (for example, an ID number) for identifying a customer who made a purchase and purchase amount information, and purchase history information. Purchase record input processing means 202 for inputting
And a purchase amount and purchase record database 210 generated by this information. In addition, information on the purchase amount is managed in the purchase amount and purchase record database 210 as indispensable information. In addition, information on the purchase date and time and at which store the purchase occurred (purchase occurrence) It is also possible to add information about the entire purchase record, such as information on retailers) and information on purchased items, and store such information in association with information that identifies the customer who made the purchase. Further, in the purchase amount input processing means 201, not only simple input but also whether or not incorrect data is input (for example, whether or not an ID number that does not exist is input, a negative purchase amount that cannot occur is input). It is also possible to perform a confirmation process (whether or not there is), and the error list 203 may be generated.

[System in a store] Next, a system in a store will be described. When a customer purchases a product in the store, the ID number recorded on the card 150 presented by the customer is read by a card reader or the like. Or means for specifying the customer by inputting by listening to the customer's name or ID number, and means 212 for specifying the purchase amount purchased by the customer. And more preferably, it is provided with a means 212-B for specifying the purchase record of the customer such as the shop, the purchased product, the purchase date and time, and the like. This system can also be performed by using an existing POS system, and the store cash register POS terminal 213 installed at the store stores information for identifying the customer and the purchase amount and purchase record of the customer. input. In addition to this information, information that identifies the purchased product in the existing POS system,
Enter the date and time of purchase. The information input by the means 211 for specifying the customer, the means 212 for specifying the purchase amount, and the means 212-B for specifying the purchase record are sent to the POS system server 214 and accumulated in the database 215 for product management in the store. At the same time, it is sent to the purchase amount input processing means 201 and the purchase result input processing means 202 of the secretariat via a computer network including a LAN and the like to generate a purchase amount and purchase result database 210. Therefore, the purchase amount input processing means 201 of the secretariat can also be implemented as a means for receiving (receiving and receiving) the information specifying the customer from the store, and the purchase record input processing means 202 is for the store. Can be implemented as a means for accepting (receiving and accepting) information regarding the customer's purchase such as information for specifying the customer from the customer, information on the customer's purchase record, and, if necessary, information on the purchase date and time. It should be noted that when the POS system is used in combination and the retail store does not wish to disclose information identifying the purchased product to the secretariat, it is not necessary to send this information to the secretariat.

The above purchase data management system 200 is
It is also possible to use a computer network. Results of purchasing products from virtual stores on the network, or from homepages established by each store or the secretariat (information specifying the customer who made the purchase (for example, ID number) and the purchase amount and purchase record information) Purchase amount input processing means 201 and purchase record input processing means 20 directly or indirectly
2, the purchase amount and purchase record database 210 may be generated based on this information.

[Participation Level Data Management System 300] Next, the participation level data management system 300 will be described. The participation level data management system 300 manages the participation level record of each customer in various activities sponsored by the secretariat. This will be described with reference to FIG. This system includes means 301 for specifying a customer who specifies and inputs a customer who has participated in participation activity, and means 302 for specifying a participation activity record for specifying and inputting the activity record that the customer participated in. A participation activity record processing unit 310 for determining the participation record for each customer based on the input information, and a participation activity record database 320 generated by these pieces of information. The means 301 for specifying the customer is a means for inputting information for specifying the customer such as the customer's ID number, and the means 302 for specifying the result of the participation activity is a means for specifying and inputing the activity result of the participation of the customer. is there. The form of the information to be input can be variously changed, and information for specifying the name and type of the activity record and the number of participations of the specified activity record, etc. are input as necessary. At this inputting stage, a person may digitize and input the type of activity and the number of times, but at the inputting stage, the name for identifying a specific activity record and the number of times may be inputted as necessary. . Participation activity record processing means 3
Although 10 may perform the process of associating the inputted customer information with the information on the activity record, the participation record may be quantified at this stage and specified as the participation level of each customer. In addition, in the participation activity record processing means 310, not only simple input but also whether or not incorrect data is input (for example, whether or not an ID number that does not exist is input, or an activity record that cannot occur is input). Whether or not) may be confirmed, and the error list 340 may be generated. Furthermore, the participation level data management system 300
Can also be performed using a computer network. For example, bulletin boards and emails on the network,
Participating directly or indirectly in the result of distributing questionnaires, ideas, opinion requests, etc. on the website established by the secretariat (information specifying the customer who made the distribution (eg ID number) and information on the distribution (activity) results) The activity record processing means 310 may be used to generate the participation activity record database 320 based on this information.

[Order Determination System 400] Next, the order determination system 400 will be described. The ranking determination system 400 is a system that determines the ranking ranking among customers based on the customer's consumption activities and the performance of activities other than the consumption activities. This will be described with reference to FIG. This system comprises means 410 for deciding the purchase record of each customer, means 420 for deciding each customer's participation in various activities sponsored by the secretariat, and means for deciding the purchase record and participation degree of the introduced customer. 430 and a ranking database 440 determined by these means. The means 410 for determining the purchase record is based on the purchase record result of each customer in a predetermined period (appropriate period such as one month or one year) stored in the purchase amount and purchase record database 210.
It is a means of totaling these and digitizing and confirming the purchase record within a predetermined period. That is, from the information stored in each purchase amount and purchase record database 210, information on the purchase amount associated with each piece of information that identifies the customer who made the purchase is detected, and calculation such as summing the purchase amounts is performed to obtain a numerical value. Turn into. In the simplest case, the total purchase amount within a predetermined period may be obtained, but predetermined points are determined in advance according to the purchase conditions such as the type of product purchased and the time, and points are added to the purchase amount of each product. A means for changing the purchase amount according to the purchase condition may be added, such as calculating the total amount after multiplication.

Means 420 for determining the degree of participation of each customer
Is a means for determining the degree of participation based on the result of the participation activity record of the customer in a predetermined period (appropriate period such as one month or one year) stored in the participation activity record database 320. Specifically, the points to be given to each participation activity record are determined and stored in advance, and this is compared with the participation activity record of each customer to determine the degree of participation to each customer. For example, give 3 points for participating in the event designated by the secretariat, 2 points for answering the questionnaire, 1 point for browsing the website, etc. The degree of participation is determined by totaling the points over a predetermined period, and it is desirable to quantify it. That is, from the information stored in the participation activity record database 320, the information on the participation activity record associated with each piece of information specifying the customer is detected.
When this participation activity record is stored in advance as a numerical value, the degree of participation is calculated by performing calculations such as obtaining the total. If the participation activity record is not a numerical value, the detected participation activity record is quantified by collating it with the points given to each of the previously stored participation activity records, and the obtained values for the specified period are totaled. The calculation is performed to calculate the degree of participation. The digitized degree of participation may be stored in the participation activity record database 320, or may be digitized in advance in the participation activity record processing means 310. The points given to determine the degree of participation can be determined as follows. For example, in the case of participation in an event, it can be determined as follows. That is, points = fee received by the secretariat from the event organizer / (number of customer members of the system x
Participation rate). Then, the participation rate is a value obtained by multiplying this numerical value by 100, with the total number of people who participated in the event as the denominator, and the number of people who participated by this system (people input as participation activity results) as the numerator. This makes it possible to clarify the number of participants by this system and evenly distribute the profits earned by the secretariat of this event to the members. Also, for the event organizer or the like, the number of participants etc. can be confirmed by using this system, and the utility value of this system can be directly judged. Therefore, it is desirable that each degree of participation specifically specifies various activities designated by the secretariat and is stored in the participation activity record database 320 in association with the specified activities. The means 430 for determining the purchase record and the degree of participation of the introducer uses the database 110 of customer information managed by the basic data management system 100 (and the database 120 of store information as necessary).
This is a means for identifying a lower-level member introduced by a customer member himself (for example, a directly lower-level customer member), referring to the purchase record and participation level of the specified lower-level customer member, and determining the result as an introducer record. . For the purchase record and participation level of the lower-level customer members, the results (numerical values of purchase record and participation level) determined and stored by the means 410 for determining the purchase record and the unit 420 for determining the participation level are used. do it. Specifically, the customer information database 110 (and, if necessary, the store information database 120) is used to detect and identify the subordinate members introduced by each customer member, and the purchase of the identified subordinate members is performed. Numerical values of the results and the degree of participation are detected from a storage unit such as the participation activity result database 320. At that time, the same value of the lower-ranked customer members may be summed up as it is to be the introducer achievement, but the total of the same value is 5
A predetermined calculation may be performed, such as multiplying a predetermined coefficient, if necessary, using the same value as a reference, such as 0% as the introducer record. The subordinate members refer to the achievements of subordinate members (introduction of introduction, grandchildren's members and introductions of introductions, grandson's grandson members, etc.) of two or more stages, not limited to the values of the immediate subordinates. Alternatively, the coefficient may be changed depending on the stage. It should be noted that a separate determination means may be constructed without using the purchase record and the degree of participation described above. The order determination system 400 substitutes a purchase history, a degree of participation, and each introducer's history into a predetermined calculation formula to calculate,
Overall performance (contribution of customer members to the member organization, that is,
The ranking determination points) are obtained, and the ranking (ranking) of the members is determined in descending order of performance. Then, these pieces of information are stored and stored in the ranking database 440. The ranking determination system 400 does not need to assign the ranking as a natural number such as the ranking from 1 to 100, but the total achievement (contribution degree of the customer member to the member organization, that is, ranking determination). You may stop at obtaining the concrete numerical value of (point). In this case, in the dependency relationship data management system 500 described below, the higher ranking determination points are identified as upper members, and the ranking determination points are identified as lower members. The step of comparing decision points may be performed. In addition, in the order determination system 400,
The record of participation can be changed and implemented in various ways, and only one of the purchase record of each customer and the degree of participation of each customer in various activities sponsored by the secretariat is taken into consideration. You may do it. Further, the specific gravity at the time of taking into consideration may be one in which the weight is heavy and the other is light, and the specific gravity may be taken into consideration.

[Dependency Data Management System 500] The dependency data management system 500 is a system for determining the dependency relationship between members at a certain point of time. More specifically, the order database (440) managed by the order determination system 400 identifies the order of members (rank among members) at a certain time (point n). Next, by comparing the referral relationship between members by the basic data management system 100, that is, the parent-child relationship, of the two members having a parent-child relationship, the one with a higher ranking order is the upper member, and the lower one is the lower member. By specifying, the subordination relationship between members at a certain time (n time) is specified regardless of the parent-child relationship. Then, in the same way, specify the order of members at time n + 1,
This time, it is checked with the subordinate relationship between the members at the previous n time point, that is, the parent-child relationship at the n time point, and the higher rank order is specified as the higher rank member, and the lower rank order is specified as the lower rank member. By repeating this process, the subordination relationship between members at a new (n + 1) time point is specified at any time. As a result, regardless of the introduction relationship of the members, that is, the parent-child relationship between the members, even if the member is the lowest member of the member organization, the opportunity to always belong to the upper member is given if a predetermined condition is satisfied. In other words, one of the features of the system of the present invention is that all the customer members are given the opportunity to belong to a higher hierarchy.

[Outline of processing procedure until determination of subordination]
The outline of the processing procedure up to the determination of the subordination relationship between members will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a specific example of a subordination relationship in a state in which the order of members is not specified, that is, a referral relationship between members, and FIG.
FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a specific example of the subordination relationship after the rank of members is specified in FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the specific example of a relationship. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure up to the subordinate relationship.

More specifically, first, as shown in FIG. 8, a state in which the order among members is not specified, that is, A introduces customers B, C, and D, and that customer B has b1 and C has c1 , C2, and D introduces d1. The subordination relationship (introduction relation tree structure) between members shows a tree structure in which the introduced person is in the upper rank and the introduced person is in the lower rank.

Next, referring to FIG. 9, a certain time (n time)
In the order of members is d1, c2, c1, b1, D,
In the case where C, B, and A (d1 is the highest in order and is sequentially lower in the following) is specified, the process until the dependency is determined will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 9A, the lowest layer group (that is, the group (B, b1) consisting of the lowest layer and the layer immediately above it) (C, c
1, c2), (D, d1)), the higher rank is replaced with the lower rank by referring to the rank order. Specifically, the member with the highest ranking in each group is b
1, c2, d1, so b1 → B, c2 → C, d1 →
The subordinate relationship is exchanged with D. The result is shown in FIG.

Next, the exchange is performed between the person who has risen to the upper hierarchy of the group that has been exchanged and the next higher hierarchy based on the same ranking order as above. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9A, the member having the highest rank in the group (A, b1, c2, d1) in the upper hierarchy is d1, so that the subordinate relationship is changed to d1 → A. .
The result is shown in FIG. Lastly, the replacement is performed based on the same rank order as described above between the person who has descended to the lower hierarchy of the group in which the replacement has been performed and the one lower hierarchy. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9C, the member having the highest rank in the group (A, D) is D, so that the subordination relationship is changed from D to A, and the final membership among the members is changed. The dependency relationship is determined as shown in FIG.

Next, in FIG. 10, FIG. 11, and FIG. 12, after the above, that is, at the time of n + 1, the members are ranked in descending order of e3, e2, e1, A, B, C, D, b1, c.
It is the figure which showed the process until the subordination relationship when it is specified as 1, c2, d1 is determined. In addition, e1, e2
e3 is a new member newly introduced by the members d1, B, and b1.

Specifically, first, as shown in FIG. 10A, (groups (B, e2) in the lowest layer (c2, c)
1, C), (D, A), the members with the highest rank are e2, C, A, so the subordinate relationships are switched to e2 → B, C → c2, A → D ( (See FIG. 10A). Next, group (b1, e3, e
In 2), the member with the highest rank is e3, so the subordination relationship is switched to e3 → b1 (Fig. 10).
(A) and FIG. 11 (a)). Similarly, the group (d1,
Among e3, C, A, and e1), the member with the highest rank is e3, so the subordination relationship is replaced with e3 → d1. (FIG. 11 (A), FIG. 11 (A)) Further, since the member with the highest rank in the group (d1, b1, e2) is e2, the subordination relationship is replaced with e2 → d1 (FIG. 11 (A), FIG. 12 (a)). Finally, the correction B → d1 in the group (B, d1) is performed (FIG. 12).
(A), FIG. 12 (A)), and the subordination relationship between members at the time point n + 1 (FIG. 12 (A)) is determined.

The flowchart of FIG. 13 shows a procedure for repeating the above process and determining the subordination relationship between members at any time. First, in step s601, the ranking of members at the time n is specified from the ranking database 440. Next, in step s602, the subordinate relationship between members based on the basic data management system 100 is compared with the above order. That is, the subordination relationship between members (information about the association between members in which a specific member is subordinated to another specific member in a tree structure so as to be subordinate to another member) is collated with the above order, and the order of rank is determined. Accordingly, the upper and lower hierarchies of the subordinate relationships are exchanged (the processing of reversing the upper and lower relationships is performed in the association between members). As a result, the subordination relationship between the members at time n is determined (step s603). The determined result information is stored in the dependency relation database 510. Next, in step s604, the ranking of the members at the point n + 1 is determined from the ranking database 440. Next, in step s605, based on the dependency relation database 510, the dependency relation between members at the time point n and the above (n
+1) Check the order at the time point, and according to the new order,
The process of replacing the upper and lower hierarchies of the subordination relationship at the time n is performed. As a result, the subordination relationship between the members at time n + 1 is determined (step s606). The determined result information is stored in the dependency relation database 510.

In the above example, while maintaining the hierarchical structure derived from the referral relationship between members, the subordinate relationship is set so that the members with higher ranks are located in the upper ranks based on the ranks among the members. Although it has been decided, an arbitrary new hierarchical structure framework may be provided, and the subordination relationship may be decided so that the higher hierarchy is positioned in the higher hierarchy of this framework. This hierarchical structure is a tree structure created by the secretariat (for example, uniformly,
A tree structure having three children for one parent) may be prepared and stored, and a process of applying members to this structure from the top according to the rank order may be performed.
It can be appropriately changed and implemented.

[Source Determination System 600] Next, the source determination system 600 will be described. The resource determination system 600 is a system for determining the source of the incentive to be given to the customer. As shown in FIG. 4, the means 610 for determining the source of the incentive source of the store and the source of the incentive source of the secretariat are determined. A means 620 and a resource database 63 for recording incentive resources originating from the dealer, incentive resources originating from the secretariat, and total incentive resources determined by these means 620.
With 0 and. As described above, one of the features of the system of the present invention is to have the means 620 for determining the incentive resources originating from the secretariat in addition to the means 610 for determining the incentive resources originating from the store. . Means 610 for Determining Sources of Incentives Originating from the Dealership
Is a means for determining the source of incentives originating from the store based on the amount of sales revenue from the store by the customer,
Specifically, it is a means for performing a calculation process for obtaining the total sum of the purchase amount of the customer in a predetermined period (appropriate period such as one month or one year) stored in the purchase amount and purchase record database 210. Accordingly, arithmetic processing means for multiplying this by a predetermined reduction rate may be added. This reduction rate is
For example, all products can be set to 10% of the purchase amount, but the return rate can be changed according to the type of product and the purchase period. This reduction rate is ultimately
It can also be multiplied at the stage of determining an individual incentive. The means 620 for determining the incentive resources originating from the secretariat is a means for determining the incentive resources based on the sales and profits generated by the activities of the secretariat, and more specifically, it is determined based on the advertising revenue described below. It Of course, arithmetic processing means for multiplying the advertising income by a predetermined return rate may be added. The return rate may be, for example, the total amount (100%) of advertising revenue excluding necessary expenses, but the return rate may be changed according to the business content. This return rate can be multiplied at the stage of finally determining the incentive of the individual.

[Incentive Decision System] The incentive decision system 700 is a system for deciding incentives to be returned to members. More specifically, the purchase amount managed by the purchase data management system 200, the data managed by the subordination data management system 500, and the incentives determined by the resource determination system 600 to provide incentives to the members. It is a system to decide. Here, as one of the features of the present invention, in determining incentives, instead of determining the incentives to be given to each member based only on the purchase amount of each member, the relationship of introduction between members and the rank order of members It can be pointed out that a means for calculating the incentive score of each member is provided with reference to the purchase amount of the subordinate member specified by the above-mentioned subordination relationship specified from. Furthermore, when referring to the purchase amount of the subordinate members in the above-mentioned hierarchical relationship specified by the introduction relationship between the members and the rank order of the members, rather than referring to the purchase amounts of all the subordinate members, It is a further feature of the present invention that an exceptional means is provided so that the purchase amount of the lower member is not referred to when determining the incentive of the upper member. This exceptional means includes means for identifying a subordinate member subordinate to each member based on the introduction relationship between members and the rank order of the members. The means for identifying this subordinate member is directly and / or indirectly introduced by the member. It corresponds to a discriminating means for identifying a member excluding a member who meets a predetermined condition from the members who have been admitted as a subordinate member. In addition, as described above, this embodiment is provided with a correction means for adding some incentive to the upper member when determining the incentive of the upper member who has stopped referring to the purchase amount of the lower member. Is a feature of the system.

Furthermore, when referring to the purchase amount of a subordinate member in a subordinate relationship specified by the introduction relationship between members and the rank order of the members, the member directly below the member introduced by one member (the member one level below) ) As well as the means for referring to the purchase amount of a member (a member of the second or lower hierarchy) introduced by a member directly below the member is also one of the features of the present invention. As a result, the member not only makes an effort to collect members, but also motivates lower-level members to collect members, which can greatly contribute to the increase in members. Moreover, not only the members directly below but also members below the second level will be motivated to purchase at the store, leading to an increase in consumption. Furthermore, instead of referring to the purchase amount of all subordinate members,
One of the features is that the purchase amount of lower-level members who meet the prescribed requirements is provided with exceptional measures that do not take into consideration when determining incentives for higher-level members. Furthermore, as a major feature, because the subordination relationship between members is determined based on the order of members that is determined by predetermined conditions, regardless of the introduction relationship, that is, the parent-child relationship between members, The point is given the opportunity to belong to the members of the upper hierarchy. This eliminates the harmful effect that even high-ranking members can always obtain many incentives without effort, motivates them to introduce new members, and participates in various activities sponsored by the secretariat. Motivates.

[Outline of Processing Procedures until Incentive Determination] An outline of processing procedures up to incentive determination will be described with reference to FIGS. 14 to 16. FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of a specific example of a group for determining an incentive,
FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of a specific example of the group after application of the exceptional means for determining the incentive, and FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure until the determination of the incentive. In step s1, the dependency data management system 5
Customer dependency database 51 managed by 00
A 0 determines the primary group.

[Explanation of Group] Here, in a subordinate relationship, a group means each member and a subordinate member (subordinate member) when directly and / or indirectly subordinate to the member. It is a unit consisting of. A member that is directly dependent means a member that is directly subordinate to the member (a member who has a child relationship), and an indirectly dependent member is a member that is directly subordinate to the member. Further means members subordinate to it (grandchildren, and further members below the great-grandchildren). In addition, to explain with the subordination relationship that is not corrected by the above-mentioned rank order, the group is introduced directly and / or indirectly (in this example, directly and indirectly) by each member and the member itself. When there is a member (subordinate member), it becomes a unit consisting of that subordinate member. In the following explanation, when explaining the relationship between upper and lower sides, the term of the relationship of introduction at the time of admission may be used, but it is correct that the relationship of introduction is modified by the rank order. It means the relationship between upper and lower sides. It should be noted that the order determination system 400 can be applied to only this customer as a component of this group, but in this example,
The following description will be made assuming that the ranking determination system 400 is also applied to the dealer as a member of the group. That is, when the dealer acquires (introduces) a customer by his / her own activity, the dealer becomes an upper member (first-tier member) and the acquired customer becomes a lower member (second member).
Become a member of the hierarchy). When this customer introduces a new customer and becomes a member, the customer becomes a lower member (third-tier member). Here, the members directly introduced by the members are referred to as members directly below.

This group will be described more specifically with reference to FIG. First, in FIG. 14, the highest member a introduces the two members b1 and b2, and the two members b1 and b2 each have one member c.
1, c2 is introduced, and one member c1 introduces three members d1, d2, d3 to join the membership. Assuming that the subordination relationship after correction and replacement by the order is the order of members in the group is a, b1, b.
It should be understood as a subordination relationship when the values are 2, c1, c2, d1, d2, d3. Here, the highest member a is b1, b2, c1, c2, d1, as a member (subordinate member) directly and indirectly introduced by the member a.
It has d2 and d3, and one group (ga) is composed of the member a itself and these subordinate members. Incidentally, among the lower level members, the members b1 and b2 in the next level of the member a are the direct lower level members of the member a. Similarly, each member constitutes one group with the member himself / herself as the first member and the member directly and indirectly introduced. For example, in the member b2, the member b2 itself One group (gb2) is configured by the member c2 directly below. Similarly, the members b1 and c1 also form groups (gb1) and (gc1) in which they are the first member (top member). The lowest members are d1, d2, d3, c2.
And these members constitute one group (gd1), (gd2), (gd3), (gc2) by themselves. Therefore, one group (for example, the group (ga)) includes the plurality of groups described above.

[Step s1] Continuing the description with reference to FIG. 16, in step s1, the group (here, 1
Next group) is determined by the customer dependency database 510 managed by the dependency data management system 500. Here, the primary group is a group composed of one member as the first member and all the subordinate members directly or indirectly subordinate to the first member. In other words, this primary group is
A customer subordination relationship at a certain time point (n time point) is determined by collating with the information 112 of the relationship between the customer and the customer on the basis of the ranking order information (ordering database 440) at a certain time point (n time point) (dependent relationship). Based on the determined subordinate relationship, the data management system 500) identifies a member and subordinate members subordinate to this, and determines the above group. In addition, in the case of processing by this system including the introduction relation between the store and the customer, in addition to the information 112 about the relation between the customer and the customer, the relation between the store and the customer in the store information database 120 is added. It is determined based on the relationship information 113. Therefore, in this case, both databases 110 and 120 can be understood as one integrated database.

[Step s2] Next, in step s2,
By applying the exception of group independence, the secondary group is determined, and the purchase amount of each secondary group is calculated and determined. In the system of the present invention, as described above, a group is formed based on the introduction relationship of members and the ranking order of members, and when determining the incentive of the first member, the purchase amount of the entire group is referred to. In this case, rather than taking into account the purchase amount of all the subordinate members, the purchase amount of the subordinate members having a predetermined requirement is provided with an exceptional means (that is, a determining means) that does not take into consideration the determination of the incentive of the superior member. Step s2 corresponds to this exceptional means, and as an example, a group directly below (a group having a member immediately below one member as the first member) is a predetermined group purchase amount (group When the total number of purchases made by the members of the product exceeds the total), there is a means to exclude the group as an independent group that does not belong to the original group. Further, as another example, there is a means for excluding a layer below a certain layer (for example, 5 layers or less) from the group of the first member, from the group of the first member.

[Step s3] Next, in step s3,
The primary individual incentive is determined based on the purchase amount of the secondary group determined in step s2. This primary individual incentive is processed so that more incentives can be obtained step by step as the purchase amount of the secondary group increases. Many incentives may be to give a certain amount of points within a predetermined range of purchase amount, or to increase the purchase amount by a high return rate as the purchase amount increases. Well, in any case, the arithmetic processing is performed so that more profit is given to the member.

[Step s4] Next, in step s4,
This is a step of determining a secondary individual incentive by modifying the primary individual incentive by an independent group. Apply the group-independent exception in step s2,
When the immediately lower group is made independent, the purchase amount of the secondary group calculated as the secondary group decreases accordingly. As a result, the primary individual incentive determined in step s3 also decreases. However, since it is not preferable to reduce it extremely, the secondary individual incentive is determined by adding and correcting some points to the primary individual incentive based on the purchase amount of an independent group.

[Step s5] Step s5 is a step of finally calculating and deciding the incentive to be returned to the member based on the secondary individual incentive and the incentive resource determined by the resource determination system 600. This source includes not only the source determined by the means 610 for determining the incentive source originating from the dealer, but also the source determined by the means 620 determining the source for incentive source originating in the secretariat. It is also one of the features of.

[Details of Step s2] Based on FIG.
The step s2 will be described in more detail. Step s
In 2 above, as described above, the secondary groups are determined and the purchase amount of each secondary group is calculated and determined. It will be carried out sequentially toward. This is to search the lowest group from the customer dependency database 510 managed by the dependency data management system 500, calculate and determine the purchase amount of the secondary group,
Next, the upper group is searched, and the purchase amount of the secondary group is calculated and determined. The process of determining the secondary group and calculating the purchase amount for each group is called a group confirmation process.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of the group confirmation processing of each group. In step s201, it is determined whether or not there is a lower group than the group to be confirmed. If not, in step s202, the total amount of the individual purchase amount of the first member of the group is calculated, and this total amount is set as the secondary group purchase amount of the confirmation processing target group, and the process proceeds to step s208 described later. If there is a lower group, step s20
At 3, it is determined whether or not all the subordinate groups have undergone the group confirmation processing. If there is a group that has not undergone the group confirmation process, in step s204, an instruction is issued to perform the group confirmation process for the group, and the process returns to the start.
If all the lower groups have undergone the group confirmation processing, the process proceeds to step s205, and it is determined whether or not there is an independent group in the immediately lower groups. If there is an independent group, the process proceeds to step s206, and if there is no independent group, the process proceeds to step s207. Step s206
Then, calculate the sum of the total amount of individual purchases of the first member of the group subject to confirmation processing and the total amount of purchases of the groups directly below and other than the independent group, The secondary group purchase amount of the confirmation processing target group is set, and the process proceeds to step s208 described below. In step s207, the sum of the total amount of individual purchases of the first member of the group subject to the confirmation process and the total amount of purchases of the immediately lower group is calculated, and this total amount is calculated as 2 of the confirmation process target group. The next group purchase amount is set, and the process proceeds to step s208 described below. In step s208, it is determined whether or not the confirmation processing target group satisfies the requirements of a predetermined independent group. The requirement for this independent group is, for example, that the secondary group purchase amount is a predetermined amount (eg, 3
It is a requirement that it is more than 1,000,000 yen). If the requirements are met, the group is identified as an independent group in step s209, and if the requirements are not met, step s210.
However, in any case, the group confirmation processing is completed in step s211, and the processing ends.

[Specific Description Based on FIGS. 14 and 15]
By performing the above process for all groups,
The group is reorganized. FIG. 15 shows an example in which the primary group in FIG. 14 is reorganized into secondary groups. In this example, it is assumed that all members shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 have a purchase amount of 1 million yen, and the requirement for the independent group is that the secondary group purchase amount is 3 million yen or more. It was decided. First,
The lowest members d1, d2, d3, c2 are 1 by themselves
Two groups (gd1), (gd2), (gd3),
(Gc2) is configured. The secondary group purchase amount of these groups is determined in the above step s202.
That is, the total individual purchase amount of the first member of the group is 2
Since it is the next group purchase amount, each one million yen is the second group purchase amount. Since the secondary group purchase amounts are all less than 3 million yen, they are not independent groups, and the secondary groups are formed as they are as independent groups.

Next, the group (gb2) in which the member b2 is the first member is a group (gc2) as a subordinate group.
Although it has 2), since this group (gc2) is a non-independent group, it is calculated in step s207 described above. That is, the sum of the total purchase amount of the first member b2 of the group of 1 million yen and the total purchase amount of the group (gb2) immediately below is calculated to be 2 million yen. Group purchase amount. Since the secondary group purchase amount is less than 3 million yen, the secondary group does not become an independent group but directly constitutes a secondary group as a non-independent group. Next, the group (gc1) having the member c1 as the first member is the group (gd
1), (gd2), (gd3), but member c
Similar to the case of 2, since these groups are all non-independent groups, they are calculated in step s207 described above. That is, the total amount of individual purchases of the first member c1 of the group is 1 million yen, and the groups (gd1), (gd
2), the sum of the purchase amount of (gd3) and the total amount of 3 million yen is calculated, and the total amount of 4 million yen is set as the secondary group purchase amount. Since the secondary group purchase amount is 3 million yen or more, the group in which the member c1 is the first member (gc1)
Will be an independent group.

Next, the group (gb1) in which the member b1 is the first member is a group (gc1) as a subordinate group.
Although it has 1), since this group is an independent group, it is calculated in step s206 described above. That is,
The total individual purchase amount of the first member b1 of the group is 1 million yen, and the total purchase amount of the groups directly below and other than the independent group is 0 yen (in this case, there is no group other than the independent group, and the total amount is 0). The total amount of 1 million yen is used as the secondary group purchase amount of the confirmation processing target group. Since the secondary group purchase amount is less than 3 million yen, the secondary group does not become an independent group but directly constitutes a secondary group as a non-independent group. As described above, the group (gb1) having the independent group in the immediately lower group is the immediately lower group (gc1) before the exception of the group independence of FIG. 14 is applied.
And further lower groups (gd1), (gd
2) and (gd3) are included, and the primary group purchase amount was 5 million yen, but with the independence of the group (gc1), the inclusion relation of the group and the total purchase amount decreased. Although a detailed description is omitted, regarding the group (ga) in which the member a is the first member, the inclusive relationship of the group and the total purchase amount are decreasing due to the independence of the group (gc1). 2 of (ga)
The next group purchase amount is a total of 1 million yen of the individual purchase amount of the first member a of the group, and the group immediately below (gb1),
Total purchase amount of (gb2) (1 million yen + 2 million yen =
(3 million yen) is calculated to be 4 million yen.

[Details of Step s3] Next, the processing of step s3 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. Step s3 is to determine a primary individual incentive based on the secondary group purchase amount determined in step s2. In step s301, a predetermined purchase amount return rate determination table is determined from the secondary group purchase amount. It is used to determine the return rate to the purchase amount. As shown in FIG. 19, the purchase amount return rate determination table includes the secondary group purchase amount range 3
01a and the return rate 301b to the purchase amount used for the secondary group purchase amount in that range.
The higher the secondary group purchasing amount, the higher the rate of return to the purchasing amount. For example, group (g
Since the secondary group purchase amount in a) is 4 million yen,
The return on purchase amount is 7%. Similarly, the group (gb
Since the secondary group purchase amount of 1) is 1 million yen, the return rate to the purchase amount is 5%, and the secondary group purchase amount of the group (gb2) is 2 million yen, so the return rate to the purchase amount is This is 6%, and the secondary group purchase amount of the group (gc2) is 1 million yen, so the return rate to the purchase amount is 5%. Next, in step s302, each secondary group purchase amount is multiplied by the purchase amount return rate determined in step s301 to obtain the group incentive amount for each group. The group incentive amount of the group (ga) is 280,000 yen, which is calculated by 4 million yen x 7%. Similarly, the group incentive amount of the group (gb1) is 50,000 yen, the group incentive amount of the group (gb2) is 120,000 yen, and the group incentive amount of the group (gc2) is 50,000 yen. Then step s
In 303, the secondary group to be processed is
It is determined whether or not there is a secondary group immediately below (excluding independent groups even if it is directly below the primary group). If there is no immediately lower secondary group, the process proceeds to step s304, and the group incentive amount obtained in step s302 is directly used as the primary individual incentive amount. For example, groups (gb1) and (gc
The amount of the first individual incentive in 2) will be 50,000 yen, which is the same as the amount of the group incentive. If there is a secondary group immediately below it, the process proceeds to step s305, and the sum of the group incentive amounts of the secondary group immediately below is subtracted from the group incentive amount obtained in step s302. The amount calculated in this way is the primary individual incentive amount of the first member of the group. For example,
The primary individual incentive amount of the first member b2 of the group (gb2) is 70,000 yen, which is the group incentive amount of the group (gb2) 120,000 yen minus the group incentive amount of the group (gc2) 50,000 yen. The primary individual incentive amount of the largest member a of the group (ga) is the group incentive amount 28 of the group (ga).
From 10,000 yen, the sum of the group incentive amount of group (gb1) and group (gb2) (50,000 yen + 120,000 yen =
It is 110,000 yen after subtracting 170,000 yen.

[Details of Step s4] Next, the processing of step s4 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. Step s4 is a step of determining a secondary individual incentive by modifying the primary individual incentive by an independent group. In step s401, it is determined whether or not any of the groups immediately below the primary group has become an independent group. If there is no independent group, the process proceeds to s402, and the primary individual incentive is directly used as the secondary individual incentive. In the above specific example, the groups are (gb2) and (gc2). Regarding the group (ga), the groups (gb1) and (gb2) immediately below in the primary group are
Since neither is an independent group, the amount of secondary individual incentive for the first member a of the group (ga) is
The amount will be set at 110,000 yen, which is the same as the amount of the first individual incentive. If there is an independent group, the process proceeds to s403. In s403, the amount obtained by multiplying the group purchase amount of the group that has become an independent group by a predetermined modified return rate (for example, 1%) is added to the primary individual incentive, and this is used as the secondary individual incentive. In the above specific example, since the group (gb1) is an independent group of the group (gc1), the secondary individual incentive amount of the first member b1 of the group (gb1) is the group (gb1).
It is determined to be 90,000 yen, which is the sum of the group incentive amount of c1) of 4 million yen multiplied by 1% and 40,000 yen of the group (gb1) group incentive amount of 50,000 yen.

[Details of Step s5] Next, the processing of step s5 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. Step s5 is a step of finally calculating and determining an incentive to be returned to the member based on the secondary individual incentive and the incentive resource determined by the resource determination system 600. In step s501, the ratio between the secondary individual incentive and the incentive resources originating from the store obtained by the means 610 for determining the incentive resources originating from the store is calculated, and this is used as the share ratio (allocation ratio) of the members. To do. In the specific example described above, the total sales amount of the store is equal to the total purchase amount, which is 8 million yen, which is the total purchase amount of 8 persons. Then, for example, since the secondary individual incentive amount of the first member b1 of the group (gb1) is 90,000 yen, the share rate of the member b1 is 9/80.
It becomes 0. In step s502, the share rate of members is
Multiply by the total source (the sum of the incentive source originating from the dealer and the incentive source originating from the secretariat (that is, the incentive source determined by the source determination system 600)). This ultimately determines the incentives for members. In the specific example described above, if the incentive resources originating from the secretariat are 2 million yen, the total amount of incentive resources will be 10 million yen. Multiplying this by the share rate of the member b1 by 9/800 gives 90 / 80,000 yen = 112,500 yen, which is determined as the incentive for the member b1. It should be noted that the share ratio of the members may be multiplied separately by the incentive resources originating in the store and the incentive resources originating in the secretariat to obtain incentives for each origin, and these may be added. .

[Summary of Incentive Decision System]
As mentioned above, incentives for members are decided,
Incentives for members are settled every predetermined period. The unit may be an appropriate period such as one month or one year, and the incentives of the members will be added at any time during that period. Further, the calculation process of determining the incentive of the member may be performed at least once during the settlement period, but the more the number of times, the more the incentive can be confirmed in the middle of the settlement period. It is desirable to do it more than once. Further, there may be provided means for executing arithmetic processing for determining the incentive based on the request of the member. The incentive determining means may be applied only to the customer, and may be applied not only to the customer but also to the retail store. In this case, the dealer is generally positioned as the highest member. In addition, although the entire system is commonly applied, such as using a return-to-purchase rate determination table that is different from that for customers, only a part of the system should be changed to a store-specific method. You can also For example, for the customer, the system in which the step s2 of applying the exception of the group independence and the system s4 of performing the correction by the independent group are not executed but only the store may be executed may be adopted.

[Decision System Database] The above incentive decision system 700 includes a database 710 relating to incentives for storing numerical values and conditions calculated and decided in each step and used. This database contains information that identifies members, such as member numbers and names, primary and / or secondary group purchases, primary and / or
Or secondary personal incentives, final incentives,
Information such as incentives originating from a store and / or a secretariat, a share rate of members, a return rate of purchase amount, etc. is stored.

[Publication System] Next, the publication system 80
0 will be described with reference to FIG. The publication system 800 is a system that publishes the determined incentive and advertises at the same time, and information about the incentive and advertisement information are provided mainly through a server (web server) on a network such as the Internet. That is, the publication system 800 is a means for distributing necessary information regarding incentives and advertisement information from the information in the various databases described above through the network, and the server computer under the control of the secretariat is a hardware. Use as a resource. This publication system 800 includes a customer information database 110, a store information database 120, a purchase amount and purchase record database 210, a participation activity record database 320, a ranking database 440, a dependency database 510, and the above-mentioned incentive database 710.
Further, it is associated with the content database 530 and the mail transmission history database 520. The information regarding the member's incentive such as the member's final incentive and the advertisement information that the advertiser desires to post are generated and recorded based on the information in these databases, and the secretariat through the server computer of the publication system 800. Will be posted on the website, etc.

FIG. 23 is an example of a screen transmitted to the customer side. On that screen, a display 531 of the total performance (rank determination points) during the settlement period of the display target member and the rank (that is, the rank) are displayed. Display 532 is made based on the database of ranking system 400. In the figure, the name of the order determination point is the action point (AP). The displayed rank may be a rank among all members or may be a rank within an appropriate range (for example, a group including a plurality of hierarchies that are in a subordinate relationship to each other). In addition, the best action points (B.
A. As P), the display 533 of the total performance (ranking determination points) of the person with the highest rank may be displayed to increase the motivation of members for purchasing and participating. In addition, the display of the source of incentive resources originating from the dealer during the settlement period 534
And the display of the incentive resources from the secretariat 535
And a display 536 of the total incentive resources are made based on the information in the resource database 630. And
A display 537 of incentives originating from the dealer of the member being displayed, a display 538 of incentives originating from the secretariat, and a display 539 of total incentives are made based on the information of the database 710 regarding incentives. It is also desirable to display the advertisement 540 at the same time. Such a screen transmitted to the customer side can be displayed by entering the password of each customer.

This screen example includes the most desired information of each member, that is, the display 539 of the final total incentive, and each member accesses the network site such as the homepage to see this. The content database 530 is added to this network site.
It is considered that the advertisement effect will be enhanced by displaying the advertisement based on or by linking to the website of the advertiser. Therefore, the secretariat can make a profit with respect to this advertisement posting, and can use it as a resource originating from the secretariat. An e-mail containing the same information can be sent to each member, and the transmission history is recorded in the mail transmission history database 520. In this e-mail, the URL of the website such as the homepage of the advertiser is described. Furthermore, you may advertise using paper media, such as a leaflet and direct mail. Further, in the above example, the incentive is determined based on the purchase amount of the customer, but the incentive may be given to the member depending on the number of accesses to websites such as homepages opened by the secretariat.

[Incentive Execution System] The incentive execution system 900 provides means for finally returning the determined incentive to the member. Specifically, the incentive execution system 900
24, as shown in FIG.
0, a store information database 120, a purchase amount / purchase record database 210, and the above-mentioned incentive database 710. The incentive execution system 900 obtains necessary information from the information in these databases and pays the customer's payment details data 901, the monthly payment report 902, the payment history 903, the billing details data 904 for the dealer, the monthly billing 905,
The billing history 906 is output. This output may be paper output or electronic information. The payment statement data 901 is data for paying the final incentive to the member, and includes information on the customer's bank account and the final incentive. This incentive execution system 900
The financial institution 907 provides an output means for instructing the financial institution 907 to transfer a predetermined amount of cash to a predetermined customer's account based on the information of the final amount of the incentive recorded in the database 710 regarding incentives. Including. In this way, in addition to the transfer of cash, the method can be changed as appropriate, such as the method of discounting the final incentive for the next purchase. To issue discount points, issue discount coupons, record the discount points on the server for transactions on the computer network and deduct from these points at the next purchase, or by email, etc. You can also notify members of discount points.
In addition, the store will be billed for the payment to the secretariat. For example, a predetermined rate (eg 10
%), The payment can be carried out as a means for obtaining the total purchase amount at each store from the purchase amount and purchase record database 210 and a means for multiplying the total amount by a predetermined rate. Depending on the amount of money, a means for issuing a bill and a means for instructing a financial institution to deduct the payment amount from the account of the dealer can be added. When giving an incentive to the dealer, an offsetting means can be added to the means for determining the payment to be paid to the secretariat. That is, the final incentive amount determined as described above and recorded in the database 710 regarding incentives can be subtracted from the amount of payment to add offsetting means for determining the amount of offset payment.

[Search] Information in databases such as the database 710 regarding incentives can be searched by a search means as needed. In particular, the ranking database 440 serves as a clue to measure the customer's performance in consumption activities and activities other than consumption activities, that is, the performance as a consumer, and the dependency relation database 5
In 10, since the parent-child relationship of the group to which those customers belong is changed, the group leader (core customer) can be recognized from a multifaceted angle. As a result, even if the search result is used for marketing, the information can be used in various ways.

[0055]

According to the invention of claim 1 of the present application, in addition to the purchase amount of the member himself / herself, the purchase amount of the subordinate member specified from the order relation of the members determined based on the purchase amount and the degree of participation. In addition to the incentives based on the purchase amount of each member, the purchase amount of each subordinate member is added to the incentive based on the purchase amount of each member. Opportunity to get incentives based on As a result, in addition to being motivated to actively participate in various activities, an opportunity is given to even the lowest rank (the last member to join) to become a member belonging to the highest rank. In other words, since all members are given the opportunity to become members of a higher hierarchy, they are motivated to actively participate in consumers (customers) in multifaceted activities such as consumption activities and activities other than consumption activities. It was possible to provide an incentive system that can be attached. Moreover, while the rank increases depending on the degree of participation, and there is a high possibility of obtaining a large incentive, the degree of participation is to browse the website of the Internet designated by the secretariat, to cooperate with the questionnaire, Participation in events may lead to an increase in the number of participants in these businesses, both of which enhance the value as an advertising medium for businesses sponsored by the Secretariat and the quality of marketing information accumulated in the Secretariat. It leads to that. According to the invention of claim 2 of the present application, in addition to the same effect as the invention of claim 1,
Since it includes means for determining the source of incentives originated by the secretariat based on the amount of income obtained based on the activities of the secretariat such as the amount of advertisement income and the amount of income other than the purchase amount by the customer member in the shop member, Compared to the case of using only the incentive resources originated from the retail store, it is possible to reduce the financial burden on the retail store as well as being able to give back to the customer as an incentive from many sources. The system could be provided. Moreover, in this system, each member can be encouraged to actively make purchases at member stores in order to raise the rank and to actively participate in the business sponsored by the secretariat. As a result, it will lead to an increase in sales revenue at member stores due to an increased sense of belonging to the member organizations, and an increase in advertising revenue at the secretariat due to an increase in value as an advertising medium for the business sponsored by the secretariat.
The resources for incentives originating from dealers and the secretariat will increase. Therefore, the incentives to be distributed to each member will increase, and it will be possible to operate the organization with a large amount of incentives, further increase the number of members, improve the sense of belonging to the member organization, and improve the participation level. A virtuous cycle is repeated, leading to an increase in sales revenue from member stores, an increase in incentives for each member, and an increase in advertising revenue from the secretariat, which is an advantage for the secretariat, member stores, and consumers. We were able to provide a large incentive system for In the invention of claims 3 and 4 of the present application, claim 1 or 2
In addition to the effect of the invention, it is possible to provide a member with an incentive system that does not introduce many introducers and can be a motivation to encourage the introduced member to consume at a store member's store. It is a thing. In addition, in the present invention, it is desirable to quantify the degree of participation of customer members in various activities designated by the secretariat, so that the degree of participation becomes a form that is easily used as marketing information and its effective use Can be promoted. In this way, the degree of participation that consumers actually participate in is made into a form that can be easily used as marketing information, and by giving this information to each company, the company can
You can get useful marketing information based on consumer activity. Then, as compensation for this information and activities, the secretariat can obtain an appropriate income from each company, and the income can increase resources for incentives originating from the secretariat. And the member (consumer)
As the resources for incentives originating from the secretariat grow larger, larger incentives can be obtained as a whole, and the more individual participation by the efforts of each member, the more opportunities to obtain more benefits. Is. This will also give consumers, who were merely the subject of marketing surveys, the opportunity to obtain compensation (incentives) commensurate with their activities. In the invention according to claim 5, means for displaying incentives of members on a website on the network, and advertisement information for advertisement income which is a source of incentives originating from the secretariat are provided on the website. In order to confirm one's own incentives, many websites are attracted by customers in order to confirm their own incentives. It was possible to provide an incentive system that can increase resources for incentives originating from the secretariat by posting advertisements on the site and earning advertising income based on its customer attraction. . In the inventions according to claims 6 and 7, without unduly reducing the interests of the subordinate members,
It was possible to provide an incentive system that also exerts the effect of being able to give incentives to senior members. In the invention according to claim 8, as the purchase amount becomes higher, more incentives can be obtained step by step, which provides an incentive for the customer to consume much at the store member shop. We were able to provide a system for incentives. Claim 9
In the invention described in (1), since the exceptional member does not use the incentive score as the basis for calculating the purchase amount of the subordinate member under the predetermined condition, only the upper member is prevented from receiving many profits forever. The system could be provided. In the incentive determination method according to claim 10, the member may not be introduced to many introducers, and the introduced member may be motivated in order to encourage the member to consume at the store. Even the lowest level member (the last member to join) is given the opportunity to become a member belonging to the highest level. In other words, all customers (members) are given the opportunity to become members of a higher hierarchy, so consumers (customers) actively participate in multifaceted activities such as consumption activities and activities other than consumption activities. It was possible to provide a method of determining incentives that can be motivational. In the invention according to claim 11, in addition to being an incentive to actively participate in various activities, an opportunity to be a member belonging to the highest hierarchy even if it is the lowest hierarchy (member who joined last) A recording medium that records a computer program for incentives that can be motivated to actively participate in consumers (customers) in various activities such as consumption activities and activities other than consumption activities. I was able to do it. In the invention of claim 12 of the present application, even the lowest level member (the member who has joined last) is given the opportunity to belong to the highest level member, and all members are members of the higher level member. Since it has been given the opportunity to become an incentive, it is possible to provide an incentive system that can be motivated to actively participate in consumer activities.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an incentive system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a basic data management system of the system.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a purchase data management system.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a resource determination system.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a participation level data management system.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a ranking determination system.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a dependency relationship data management system.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a specific example of a group for determining a dependency relationship.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a specific example of a group for determining a dependency relationship.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a specific example of a group for determining a dependency relationship.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a specific example of a group for determining a dependency relationship.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a specific example of a group for determining a dependency relationship.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a process up to determination of subordination.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of a specific example of a group for determining an incentive.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of a specific example of a group after application of exceptional means for determining an incentive.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of processing up to determination of incentive.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of a group confirmation process.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart of a process of determining a primary individual incentive amount.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram of a table of return rates on purchase amount.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart of a process for determining a secondary individual incentive amount.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart of a final incentive determination process.

FIG. 22 is a configuration diagram of a publication system.

FIG. 23 is an explanatory diagram of a screen transmitted to the customer side in the publication system.

FIG. 24 is a configuration diagram of an incentive execution system.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 Basic data management system 200 Purchasing data management system 300 Participation level data management system 400 Ordering System 500 Dependency Data Management System 600 resource determination system 700 Incentive Decision System 800 publication system 900 Incentive Execution System

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. In a member organization constituted by a member introducing and joining a new member, in an incentive system provided with means for determining an incentive to be given to a member, input a referral relationship between members. Means, inputting the purchase amount by the member, inputting the degree of participation of the member in various activities designated by the secretariat, and determining the ranking relationship of the members based on at least the above purchase amount and degree of participation Hierarchical relationship determining means, and, at least based on the hierarchical relationship of the members, a subordinate relationship determining means that determines the subordination relationship between the members that associates each member in a hierarchical structure, at least each member's own purchase amount, and the above input The incentive of each member is calculated based on the purchase amount of the subordinate member specified from the subordination relationship between the members, and the incentive given to each member is calculated. An incentive system, comprising: a determining means for determining a centive. 2. A means for determining at least an incentive to be given to a customer member in a member organization which is composed of a customer member, a dealer member and a secretariat, and each member introduces a new member and joins the new member. In an incentive system equipped with, a means for storing the relationship of introductions among members, a means for storing the purchase amount by the customer member at the store member, and a degree of participation of the customer member in various activities designated by the secretariat. Means for storing, order determination means for determining the order relationship of customer members based on at least the above purchase amount and degree of participation, and subordination between members that associate each member in a hierarchical structure based at least on the order relationship of this member Dependency determining means for determining the relationship and for incentives originating from the dealer based on the purchase amount by the customer member at the store member Based on the means of determining the source of funds and the amount of revenue obtained from the activities of the secretariat such as the amount of advertising revenue, and other than the amount of revenue that is the source of incentive resources from the above-mentioned dealer, A means for determining the incentive resources, a means for determining the incentive resources to be given to at least the customer members from the resources including the incentive resources originating from the dealer, and the incentive resources originating from the secretariat, and at least each customer member himself / herself. Each customer when allocating the incentive resources among the customer members based on the purchase amount by the dealer member and the purchase amount of the customer member lower than the customer member specified by the subordination relationship between the customer members A means to calculate the distribution rate of members and a decision to determine the incentive to give to each customer member from this distribution rate and the above-mentioned incentive resources An incentive system characterized by comprising means. 3. The degree of participation of the customer member in various activities designated by the secretariat is quantified, and the subordination determining means at least collates the order relation of the members and the introduction relation among the members. The incentive system according to claim 1 or 2, which is means for specifying a subordination relationship between members. 4. The subordination among members by the ordering relationship determining means collating the purchasing amount and the participation level of the member introduced and enrolled by the member, in addition to the purchasing amount and the participation level of the member itself. The incentive system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a relationship is determined. 5. A means for displaying member incentives on a website on the network, and a means for displaying advertisement information for advertising income, which is the source of incentive resources originating from the secretariat, on the website. The incentive system according to claim 2, further comprising: 6. The means for deciding the incentive is to identify a group within a member organization, assuming that each member and one or more subordinate members, if any, constitute one group. And the step of calculating the group incentive obtained by giving a predetermined return point to the total purchase amount of all members belonging to one group, and subtracting the total amount of individual incentives of the subordinate members belonging to the group. A step of calculating the individual incentive of the member by means of calculating means for sequentially performing the operation from the member of the lowest hierarchy having no lower member to the member of the upper hierarchy. Item 7. The incentive system according to any one of Items 1 to 5. 7. The means for determining the incentive is to identify a group within a member organization, assuming that each member itself and, if the member has a subordinate member, form one group. And the step of obtaining the incentive of the group obtained by giving a predetermined redemption point according to the total purchase amount of all the members belonging to the group for each group, And the step of obtaining the individual incentive of the highest member in each group by subtracting the total amount of incentive of the highest group (directly lower group) from the incentive of each group. The incentive according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein System for bu. 8. The return point is set so that more points are provided stepwise as the purchase amount increases.
Incentive system described in. 9. A subordinate member that is subordinate to each member is identified by checking the referral relationship between members and the rank order of the members, and the members excluding the members who meet predetermined conditions from the subordinate members are regarded as subordinate members. The incentive system according to claim 3, 4, 5 or 6, further comprising: a discriminating means for specifying. 10. A method of determining an incentive to be given to a member in a member organization constituted by a member introducing and joining a new member, wherein the relationship between the members and the amount purchased by the member are displayed on a computer. A step of inputting the order of members specified by a predetermined condition, a step of identifying a subordination relationship between the members by collating the referral relationship between the members and the order of the members, and The purchase amount of each member himself entered above,
And a step of calculating an incentive to be given to each member based on a purchase amount of a subordinate member specified from a subordination relationship between the members, a method of determining an incentive in an incentive system. 11. A recording medium having a program recorded on a computer for determining an incentive to be given to a member in a member organization constituted by a member introducing and joining a new member. The means for storing the relationship between the customer member, the means for storing the purchase amount by the customer member at the store member, the means for quantifying and storing the degree of participation of the customer member in various activities designated by the secretariat, and at least the above purchasing A hierarchy relationship determining means for determining the order relationship of the customer members based on the amount of money and the degree of participation, and a subordination relationship determining means for determining the subordination relationship between the members that associates each member in a hierarchical structure based on at least this order relationship of the members. , At least the purchase amount of each member identified above,
Recording a computer program characterized by realizing a determining means for calculating an incentive of each member and determining an incentive to be given to each member, based on the purchase amount of a subordinate member specified from the subordination relationship between members. Recording medium. 12. A means for deciding at least an incentive to give to a customer member in a member organization composed of a customer member, a dealer member, and a secretariat, each member introducing and joining a new member. In a system for incentives that includes, a means for storing the purchase amount by the customer member at the store member, a means for determining the contribution degree of the customer member to the member organization based on at least this purchase amount, and the above contribution degree. According to the order relation determining means for determining the order relation between the customer members based on the order and the order determined by the order relation determining means, one or more customer members with a lower order are subordinate to the customer members with a higher order. Dependency determining means for determining the dependency of customer members, at least the purchase amount of each member, and the above-mentioned dependency of customer members Incentive for the system being characterized in that a determination means based on the purchase amount of the lower member being al identified to determine incentives given to each member is calculated incentives each member.