JP2001283072A - Customer service system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a customer service system by which points held by a member are exchanged for a really desired merchandise or a service to increase the number of customers. SOLUTION: The points obtained by the member are exchanged for the points held by an enterprise such as a virtual store managed by another enterprise, a real store or a credit company providing a settlement means. Then the points are exchanged for the merchandise desired by the member so that the sales of the store and the settlement enterprise which provide the points is promoted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a customer service system for managing the number of points of use of a user registered as a member for each member and providing each member with a service corresponding to the managed number of points of use. The present invention relates to a system capable of improving customer service and supporting promotion of another customer service system by exchanging points with a customer service system that manages points.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a game store or the like, a registered player is registered in a computer as a member, and various information providing services are provided to each registered member. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 7-51458 discloses a game system in which a player having an account deposits game media acquired in the account, draws out the game media from his / her own account, and can play the game at a game table. A management device is disclosed. With this technology,
Each member registered in the member management apparatus can withdraw and play this coin when visiting the same store at a later date. In addition, the technology described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-162062 is used in a customer service that manages the number of use points of a user registered as a member for each member and provides a service corresponding to the managed use point number to each member. A cyber mall that forms a virtual shopping street on the Internet, and a product corresponding to the use point can be ordered to any virtual store in the cyber mall via the Internet while managing the use points of the member. It is like that.

[0003]

However, according to the technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-51458, when each member exchanges coins for a prize, the store must select from prizes prepared in advance. Therefore, there is a problem that the options are limited. In addition, there is a problem that only the member management device of the store where each member first registered can draw out the coins. Also, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
The technology described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 162062 is disclosed in
The problem of 1458 is solved by making it possible to efficiently select a prize in each virtual store in the cyber mall,
Means are provided for transmitting the score to a predetermined virtual store and ordering a product. However, since the use of the score is limited to the virtual shops in the cyber mall, there is a problem that the options are similarly limited unless the cyber mall increases the number of virtual shops. In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-16206
The technique of Japanese Patent Publication No. 2 has a problem that the Internet does not have a virtual shop and points cannot be used in an actual shop.
Furthermore, there is a problem that only virtual shops that sell goods are targeted, and cannot be targeted for information services, credit card companies, and services of other electronic money companies.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to provide a customer service system capable of solving the above-mentioned problems and exchanging points possessed by members with goods and services that are truly desired, thereby increasing the ability to attract customers.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a customer service system for managing the number of users registered as members for each member.
By exchanging the use points with points of virtual shops and real shops operated by other individuals and companies, a management server capable of ordering a product corresponding to the use points to a store to which the points are exchanged is provided. It is characterized by the following.

In a second aspect of the present invention, the customer management server includes means for exchanging points issued by virtual shops and real shops operated by other individuals and companies into points managed by each member, and use of members. A means for contributing to the promotion of virtual shops and real shops operated by other individuals and companies by providing means for rewarding members with gift certificates and the like when the points reach a predetermined point It is characterized by.

In a third aspect of the present invention, the customer management server stores the points of the users registered as members in a credit card company, a convenience store, and other electronic money services which provide settlement means handled in a general virtual store. It is characterized in that the company providing the settlement means has means for promoting the use of its own settlement means by returning to the points issued by the company.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a customer service system and elements related to all embodiments. Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention is used in a customer service system A10 (management server) for delivering advertisement mail, a virtual store B50 using the Internet, a real store C70 without a virtual store, and a virtual store on the Internet. The credit card company D60 that operates the settlement service will be specifically described as an example. The customer service system A shown in FIG. 1 includes a connection unit 10a for connecting to the Internet 40, and Internet users 20 and 30 using points.
Member management unit 10b that manages the number of issued points, a point management unit 10c that manages the number of issued points for each member, an advertisement mail distribution unit 10d that manages the distribution of advertisement mail, and an advertisement mail distribution that manages the number of advertisement mail distribution Number management unit 10e
Consists of

The customer service system A10 connects the Internet user 20 and the access from the Internet user 30 via the Internet 40 to the connection unit 10a.
Accept in. When the Internet user 20 and the Internet user 30 are registered as members of the customer service system A10, they are managed by the member management unit 10b. The member of the customer service system A10 registers the field of interest by himself in a database in the customer service system A10, and receives a mail sent from the advertisement mail distribution unit 10d. The number of advertisement mails distributed is managed by the advertisement mail distribution number management unit 10e for each member and each distribution requester. Members who receive the distribution can get points according to the action of receiving the distribution and accessing the homepage by a link (hereinafter referred to as a URL) from the distributed advertisement mail, and all points are managed by the point management unit 10c. ing. The customer service system A10 is connected to the virtual store B50 via the Internet 40.
And an Internet user 20 that is connected to a credit card company D60 and a real store C70, and performs online shopping by a combination with each of them.
A service is provided to Internet users 30 who only shop at actual stores.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration in which the Internet user 20 uses the virtual store B50 to select a product according to the score. The Internet user 20 goes through the member management unit 10b to receive the advertisement mail from the customer service system A10. The Internet user 20, which has received the advertisement mail from the advertisement mail distribution unit 10d, is given a score from the point management unit 10c by himself / herself clicking on the URL in the mail.
Internet user 20 receives 1
Assuming that points are given and 10 points are given by clicking the advertisement destination put on the advertisement, the Internet user 20 has obtained 11 points, and the point management 1
0c manages that the current score of the Internet user 20 is 11 points. Internet user 20
Clicks transmitted from the customer, so-called access commands, also go through the customer service system A.

The virtual store B50 affiliated with the customer service system A10 similarly has a connection unit 50a for managing connection to the Internet, a member management unit 50b, and a point management unit 50c. The virtual store B50 is provided in a server computer different from the customer service system A10 serving as a management server. However, a plurality of virtual stores may exist for one server computer. Absent. When a small virtual store is operated, it can be configured to operate in the customer service system A10 as a management server. In short, the present invention relates to a system in which, when a large number of virtual stores are established on a plurality of server computers, one of them is assigned to the role of a management server, or a dedicated management server is provided to perform online transactions. Any configuration may be used. The merchandise selection section 50d is provided in the virtual store B50.
And a product purchase unit 50e, which allows the user to select a product and purchase the selected product. The Internet user 20 exchanges his current score of 11 with a product corresponding to the score and pays one store from various virtual stores including a virtual store B50 affiliated with the customer service system A10. Choose. If it is decided to exchange the product for the virtual store B50, the customer accesses the virtual store B with the 11 points obtained by the customer service system A10, and accesses the virtual store B to select the product 5
A product is selected using 0d, and a product purchase operation is performed using the product purchase unit 50e. When selecting a product, the virtual store B obtains information necessary for sending the product from the user, and delivers the product to the user B. At this time, the virtual store B50 has means for discounting the product using the point management unit 50c, or purchasing the product using a predetermined point as a currency. When the points and the goods of the customer service system A10 are exchanged, the commodity price required for the exchange is recorded as a customer collection cost from the customer service system A10 side and paid to the virtual store B50.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a mechanism for exchanging points of Internet users between the customer service system A10 and the virtual store B50. The member management unit 10b of the customer service system A10 has a database for managing registered member data. The member database record 10f indicates a record of a certain user. The member database record 10f includes a member name, a user ID, an address, and a telephone number. Similarly, the member management unit 50b of the virtual store B50 also has a database for managing data of members registered in the virtual store B, and also has a member database record 50f. One record of the member database 50f includes a member name, a user ID, an address, and a telephone number. The point 1 owned by the Internet user 20
In order to use one point in virtual store B, first, virtual store B
, And the contents of the record in the member database 10f of the Internet user 20 and the record 50f of the virtual store B must match. The Internet user 20 instructs the customer service system A to exchange points using the Web browser 20a.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure for exchanging points between the customer service system A10 and the virtual store B50 from the customer service system A10 side. First, the customer service system A10 is an HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) which is a general Internet protocol.
ol), the member database record 10f of the Internet user to be used is transmitted to the virtual store B (step 401). When the virtual store B50 finds a match in the member database record 50f in the transmitted member database record 10f, it returns a normal code indicating that points can be exchanged and returns the next transmission data. Return the session code to prepare for. Member database record 5
If no matching code is found in 0f, an abnormal code indicating that there is no matching code is returned (step 402). Customer service system A10 is virtual store B
If the return code from 50 is a normal code, the point management database record 10g is transmitted together with the session code received from the virtual store (step 402, step 404). If the return code from the virtual store B50 is an abnormal code, the fact that the points could not be exchanged because of the abnormal code is transmitted and displayed to the Internet user 20 (step 403).

When the normal code is returned as the transmission result of the point management database record 10f, the customer service A10 subtracts the acquired points described in the member database record 10f from the point management unit 10c (step 406). . Here, the user can also specify how many points to use. When the abnormal code is returned from the virtual store B50, the fact that the points cannot be exchanged is displayed to the Internet user 20 (step 403). By the above steps, the point of the customer service system A10 is changed to the virtual store B5.
Thus, the Internet user 20 can make a discount or purchase a product on the virtual store B50 according to the score. The amount of the discount or the purchase of the merchandise generated at the virtual store B50 is recorded as a customer collection cost of the customer service A10, and the customer service A10 sends the virtual store B
Paid to 50.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration in which the Internet user 30 uses the physical store C70 to exchange goods according to points. The Internet user 30 is awarded one point by receiving the advertisement mail from the customer service system A10, as in the embodiment of FIG. Therefore point management 1
0c manages the Internet user 30 as one point. The Internet user 30 instructs the customer service A10 to exchange one point for possession with a product of a store of the real store C not subscribing to the virtual shopping mall, cyber mall, or the like. At this time, customer service A10
Records one point of the Internet user 30 in the point management unit 10c as a point to be exchanged with the actual store C.
The actual store C70 accesses the customer service system A10 using the Web browser 70a and inputs a user ID and a password for the actual store C70, so that the Web browser screen 600 shown in FIG. 6 can be referred to. On the Web browser screen 600, the exchange points of the Internet user 30 instructing to exchange the merchandise for the product of the actual store C50 are displayed (601), and the point exchange button 602 is pressed on the actual store C50 side to exchange the points. Accept. When the point exchange button is pressed, the Web browser screen 6
10 is displayed. The Web browser screen 610 is a commodity voucher to be mailed to the Internet user 30, and is 611.
Indicates that the consideration given to the score of the Internet user 30 is "1000 yen". The gift certificate includes a serial number 612. Is displayed to prevent unauthorized use multiple times. The actual store C70 prints the Web browser screen 610, mails it to the Internet user 30, and can use it later as a commodity voucher at the actual store C70. When the commodity voucher is used by the Internet user 30, the amount is recorded as a customer collection cost on the customer service system A10 side, and is paid from the customer service A10 to the actual store C70.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration in which the Internet user 20 acquires points issued by the virtual store B50 from the customer service A10 and purchases a product from the virtual store B50. What differs from the first embodiment is the virtual store B
50 has means for actively conducting sales promotion activities, and the payment required for discounting and exchanging products occurs at the virtual store B50. The virtual store B50 uses the points corresponding to the amount to be recorded as sales promotion expenses by the customer service system A.
Replace with 10. The exchange instruction is issued from the virtual store B50 side. The flow of the processing required for the exchange of points is the same as the flowchart shown in FIG. When the points are exchanged from the virtual store B50, the customer service system A10 actively promotes the points to the Internet user 20 as a method of using the points.

FIG. 8 shows a screen that promotes the use of points to the Internet user 20 in accordance with the point exchange from the virtual store B50 in the customer service system A10. The screen 800 shows the virtual store B5
The use of a score of 0 indicates that profit is large (801). This announcement may change from day to day or hourly. Instead of simply displaying the information, the member may be notified by an advertisement mail and direct mail. The point is provided (exchanged) to the customer service system A10 side for the purpose of sales promotion from the virtual store B50 side, and the customer service system A10 having high customer attraction ability
Means for calling into the virtual store B50 from the Internet.

FIG. 9 shows that the credit card company providing the settlement means exchanges points and the Internet user 3
0 is a diagram showing a configuration in which points are used in the actual store C70. In FIG. 9, points are exchanged from the virtual store B, and the virtual store has the required amount, whereas the credit card company D60 that provides the settlement means instructs exchange of points. The Internet user 30 obtains points by advertising mail on the customer service A10. When the score obtained by the Internet user is 10, and the credit card company has provided 10 points to the customer service system A10 as a point exchange instruction, the customer service system A10 displays a screen 1000 shown in FIG. Is presented to the Internet user 30. The Internet user 30 clicks the display 1001 indicating the exchange with the point of the credit card company D to obtain the point 10 obtained on the customer service A10.
The points can be reduced to the points issued by the credit card company D60. The Internet user 30 can use the points obtained by exchanging the points with the credit card company D60 to obtain the merchandise at the actual store C70, and the credit card company D60 sends the amount corresponding to the payment at the actual store C70 to the Internet. Pay to the actual store C70 on behalf of the user 30.

According to the above-mentioned mechanism, the credit card company D70 can use the customer service system A10 capable of attracting customers to promote the benefits of its own credit card, acquire new credit card members,
The use of credit cards can be promoted.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, in a customer service system for providing services based on the number of points used by members, companies providing settlement means such as other virtual shops, real shops, and credit card companies By providing a mechanism for exchanging points with points, the following effects can be obtained. Means for exchanging points with other virtual shops and real stores are provided to the members so that the products truly desired by the members can be obtained by discounting or exchanging points, so that it is possible to increase the number of customers in the customer service system. Using a customer service system that has the ability to attract customers, it is possible to increase the number of customers at the store by instructing point exchange from other virtual stores and real stores and paying the price. By using a customer service system that has the ability to attract customers, it is possible to promote the use of the settlement means by instructing a point exchange from a credit card company or the like that provides the settlement means and paying the price.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a customer service system and related components according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment using a virtual store and a customer service system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining association between a virtual store and members of a customer service system. You.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an outline of a case where points are exchanged from a customer service system to a virtual store B;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram for explaining an embodiment using an actual store C and a customer service system A;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a screen used when an actual store exchanges points.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram for describing an embodiment in which a point exchange is instructed from a virtual store.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of the customer service system when a virtual store exchanges points.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram for explaining an embodiment in which a credit card company instructs a point exchange.

FIG. 10 is a screen example of a customer service system when a credit card company exchanges points.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 customer service system A, 10a connection unit, 10
b: Member management unit, 10c: Point management unit, 10d: Advertising mail distribution unit, 10e: Advertising mail distribution number management unit, 1
0f: Member database record, 10g: Point management database record, 20: Internet user (member), 20a: Web browser, 30: Internet user (member), 30a: Web browser, 40 ...
Internet, 50: virtual store B, 50a: connection unit,
50b: Member management unit, 50c: Point management unit, 50d
... Commodity selection unit, 50e. Commodity purchase unit, 50f. Member database record, 50g. Point management database record, 60. Credit card company D, 60a. Connection unit, 60b. Membership management unit, 60c.
70: actual store C, 70a: web browser, 600: point exchange screen for actual store C, 601: exchange target user information, 602: point exchange button, 610: commodity voucher screen, 611: voucher amount for Internet user 30 Information, 612: voucher serial number, 800: point promotion target store sales information screen, 801: sales target store information, 1
000: settlement means providing company sales promotion information screen, 1001: sales promotion target company information.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Takeshi Sekiya 6-81 Ouecho, Naka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture In-house Hitachi Software Engineering Co., Ltd. 81 Hitachi Software Engineering Co., Ltd. In-house F-term (reference) 5B049 BB11 BB46 BB49 CC02 CC05 CC08 CC36 CC39 DD04 EE01 EE05 EE23 EE28 FF03 FF04 GG01 GG04 GG07

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A customer service system in which a registered client computer user connected via a communication line issues a business transaction request and a plurality of server computers perform a computer-based online transaction that services said request. A management server and a virtual store for managing the client computer in any of the plurality of server computers, wherein the management server is provided with a virtual store by a user of the client computer via the management server. Each time a server computer is accessed, an access use point is assigned, the assigned use point is managed and recorded for each of the client computers, and the use point recorded for each client computer is assigned to the access point. , Use point use request Customer service system, characterized in that to provide a service that corresponds to the case where there was on each client computer user. 2. The customer service system according to claim 1, wherein the management server has received a use point use request from a user of the client computer to a use point recorded for each client computer. A customer service system for instructing a virtual store corresponding to a case to provide a service. 3. The customer service system according to claim 1, wherein the management server receives a use point use request from a user of the client computer to an actual store other than the virtual store. A customer service system for exchanging a commodity voucher possessed by the actual point with the use point and sending the commodity voucher to a user of the client computer. 4. The customer service system according to claim 1, wherein the management server receives a use point use request from a user of the client computer to an actual store other than the virtual store. The customer pays for the actual store and instructs the user of the client computer to send the commodity voucher in order to acquire the commodity voucher for the use point. Service system.