JP2001319124A - Discount system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To actualize a fully electronic coupon/point system discount. SOLUTION: Shop sites 2 to 4, a coupon site 1, and an end-user terminal 5 are connected by the Internet 10. The coupon site presents coupons of the shop sites obtained from makers and retailers by inviting coupon publishing and coupons unique to the coupon site. Further, members are invited. A member accesses the coupon site from his or her end-user terminal to retrieve a desired article and can obtain coupons. Then the member jumps the picture of the coupon site to the picture of the corresponding shop site and presents the coupons at the shop site to purchase the desired article. The coupon site transmits necessary irreducible personal information on the member to the shop site through inter-server communication. The coupons unique to the coupon site are applicable to the respective shop sites.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to discounts in online transactions, and more particularly, to discounts on goods and services in electronic commerce, so-called B to C (business to consumer).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In commercial transactions, discounts are a powerful means of trading regardless of age, east or west. Among them, coupons that discount a certain amount and reward cards whose discounts increase cumulatively based on purchase results have long been used extensively as clean discount means that eliminate bargaining between sellers and buyers. The coupon is handy because it is delivered to a home or handed over at a store, and a customer who wants to use it can take a discount of a predetermined amount when brought to the store. In addition, the point card is displayed with points added according to the purchase results, and when the predetermined point is reached, when presented at the time of product purchase, a discount of the amount according to the point is received, or exchanged for gift goods, That is the conventional discount method of this kind.

[0003] Today, in Japan, when the takeoff period to the Internet society has been reached, electronic commerce (e-commerce) using a computer network as an infrastructure has been activated, but even in electronic commerce, coupons are effective discount means. Has begun to be used as. In this case, traditionally, the seller presented the coupon on the network,
Customers looking at the offer and trying to redeem the coupon,
The coupon on the screen is printed to make a physical coupon ticket, and the coupon is brought to the store to receive a discount privilege.

[0004]

By the way, e-business including e-commerce is regarded as a major revolution that can be compared with the industrial revolution in the nineteenth century. One of the impacts of e-business on industry is as follows. It is said that there is a reversal of the initiative of sellers and buyers (Toyo Keizai Shimpo, Arthur Andersen: eBusiness). That is, in the conventional relationship between the seller and the buyer, the seller has taken the initiative in the market with overwhelming information on the products and services to be sold. However, with the spread of the Internet, a huge amount of information about products and services
The environment for buyers to freely collect information is being set up, and the information advantage of sellers is rapidly disappearing. That is, the buyer can quickly obtain information on the new seller, new product, advantageous purchasing method, price, etc. through the Internet, and as a result, the reversal from B to C to C to B is performed. That.

In such a business environment, when a company shifts to an e-business, it is difficult to simply shift the conventional business method to IT technology or the Internet.
It will be difficult to achieve the expected results. IT
This is why it is necessary to fully recognize that technology and the Internet are tools, and to build a new business model utilizing these.

[0006] From this viewpoint, when looking at the conventional discount method described above, this method is different from the conventional one in that the coupon that has been handed or delivered is obtained by printing by the user himself. There is no difference that the user brings the coupon to the store.
However, in that case, since the coupon cannot be used unless the customer goes to the store, there is a first problem that it takes time and effort to purchase the product.

[0007] In addition, since the customer can only receive the purchase privilege the next time he purchases the product of the manufacturer or distributor of the purchased product, it is difficult to increase the number of purchase points, and when the validity period of the coupon elapses, the customer gets the purchase privilege. There is a second problem that the used purchase points may not be used effectively.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and a first object of the present invention is to provide a discount system and a discount system in which a customer can use a coupon obtained on the net. It is to provide a discount method.

It is a second object of the present invention to provide a discount system and a discount method capable of acquiring purchase points across manufacturers or distributors.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a discount system for providing at least one shop site for providing a coupon which is an electronic discount voucher and selling goods by the coupon, and the shop site. A coupon site for posting the coupon and mediating the sale is connected to the end user terminal of the member of the coupon site via the Internet, and the coupon site obtains the coupon from the end user terminal by the member. Recognizing, the shop site accepts the purchase of the product by the member from the end user terminal using the coupon site.

A discount system according to a second aspect of the present invention connects at least one shop site for selling products to an end-user terminal via the Internet, and the shop site is added according to the purchase result and the purchase privilege is added. Accepting the purchase of the product by the purchase point from the end user terminal by a given electronic purchase point.

[0012] Purchase points can be used at a plurality of shop sites. The coupon site may issue a common coupon valid for a plurality of shop sites.

[0013] Further, the coupon site may have a settlement function related to the purchase of a product by a member. In this case, the coupon site controls the charging of the shop site in order to ensure fairness between the shop sites when the member purchases the product using the purchase points or the common coupon.

[0014] The coupon site may have a delivery function related to the purchase of a product by a member.

Further, the coupon site may have a function as a portal site.

Further, the coupon site may store personal information and purchase information based on the purchase of the merchandise of the member, and may be used to promote sales in the future. The shop site
The transfer of the purchase information can be applied to the coupon site.

In the present invention, first, the coupon site solicits the posting of a coupon, and posts the coupon of the shop site to which the coupon has been applied. The coupon site recruits members and registers the members who have applied. The coupon site allows the member to obtain the coupon that is being posted. When the member who has obtained the coupon decides to purchase the product, he can access the coupon site and obtain the coupon. Then, the coupon site notifies the shop site accordingly. The shop site accepts the product purchase of the member who purchased the product at a coupon price.

As described above, according to the present invention, discount shopping using coupons is performed entirely electronically, so that customers can enjoy the features of e-commerce even when discounting merchandise.

Further, since the purchase points and the common coupon can be passed to a plurality of shop sites, the customer is released from restrictions on the expiration date and the like, and can enjoy the discount privilege.

[0020]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a connection relationship between elements constituting a business model of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, coupon site 1 and maker A shop site 2
And manufacturer B shop site 3 and retail C shop site 4
And the end user terminal 5 are connected via the Internet 10, and the coupon site management system 6 is connected to the coupon site 1.

[0024] A site (site) originally means a place or a location.
It has come to be known as an Internet term for servers where b-pages and FTP (File Transfer Protocol) are registered. The site in the present invention means a Web site in which a Web page is registered in the light of the above significance, but has a business meaning of a virtual store built on the Internet 10. The coupon site 1 and each of the shop sites 2 to 4 can mutually recognize a communication partner by communication between servers.

The end user terminal 5 is typically a personal computer at present, but is not limited to a personal computer as long as it has a display portion such as a display and some input means. Of course, mobile phones and simple terminals are in the field of view.

The maker A, maker B, and retailer C open a maker A shop site 2, a maker B shop site 3, and a retail C shop site 4 on the Internet 10, respectively, and sell products online. Manufacturer sales are direct sales. The customer launches a web browser on the end user terminal 5 and launches the Internet 10
The user can access each of these shop sites 2, 3, and 4 to purchase products. At that time, the customer can also receive a privilege that can accumulate coupons and purchase points having a cashback meaning in accordance with the usage amount at each of the shop sites 2, 3, and 4 as before.

The coupon site 1 is a constituent element that is a feature of the present invention. The coupon site 1 is established and operated under the sponsorship of the maker A, the maker B, and the retailer C. A, maker B and retail C are sold with discount coupon benefits. Coupons (not physical tickets, hereinafter referred to as “coupons”) are unique to each shop site, are valid only for the shop site, and are common coupons valid for all shop sites. Is provided. The common coupon is set independently by the coupon site 1, and its source is a member registration fee, a commission, and the like.

The coupon site 1 contains merchandise discount coupons for manufacturers A, B and retailers C. The member launches a Web browser on the user terminal 5, accesses the coupon site 1 through the Internet 10, obtains a coupon, jumps to a desired shop site, and uses the coupon that he or she holds to sell the product at a special price. Can be purchased. That is, the member can use the coupon on the Internet 10 to
Purchase products sold at Maker A Shop Site 2, Maker B Shop Site 3, and Retail C Shop Site 4 at the coupon price of Coupon Site 1 which is lower than the price posted on each of these sites. Can be. At this time, if the common coupon is used, the merchandise can be purchased from any of the maker A, the maker B, and the retail C at the privilege price.

Further, a member who purchases a product using the coupon site 1 is given a purchase point according to the product purchase result, and purchases a product from any of the maker A, maker B, and the retail C. Even so, it can be purchased at a privilege price according to the result of the accumulated points. Purchasing points are awarded not only for purchases of products that do not use coupons and purchasing points, but also for purchases using these. However, the purchase points added in that case are based on the purchase price after the discount. in this way,
The member can receive the double benefit of the coupon price and the privilege price based on the points of purchase.

The coupon site operation system 6 performs coupon payout result management, merchandise purchase results / purchase point results management using coupons for each customer, customer purchase characteristic analysis, sales promotion management of special sale products and recommended products, and the like. The coupon site 1 uses the result and the special promotion information from the maker A, the maker B, and the retail C to notify each member of a special sale by e-mail, to expand the sales of the product, and to further purchase Calculate the award price based on the results. In addition, information necessary for the operation of the coupon site 1 is transmitted and received by communication between servers with each of the shop sites 2, 3, and 4.

Coupon site 1 is also a portal site (Portal S) for manufacturers A, B and retail C.
ite). What is a portal site?
It refers to a site that uses a search engine to guide users to sites categorized by keywords, puts advertisements on search screens, and earns money by the number of clicks.
In FIG. 1, only three shopping sites 2, 3, and 4 are shown in order to avoid complication of the drawing, but many shopping sites are often provided for one kind of product. In such cases, the portal
The significance of the coupon site 1 that also functions as a site is great. Furthermore, a role for member acquisition may be provided.

FIG. 2 shows the balance of the coupon site 1.
The sources of income of the coupon site 1 are a coupon publication fee from the maker A, the maker B, and the retail C, a commission and a sales promotion commission according to the coupon use record, and an advertisement fee. Ads will likely be banner ads. The expenditure will be a discount fee according to the coupon site operation cost and the point results. Secure expenditures and profits with the above income.

Next, the business procedure of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be specifically described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First,
The coupon site 1 recruits, on the Internet 10, manufacturers and distributors (retailers and delivery companies) who support the coupon posting (step S1 in FIG. 5). Manufacturers and distributors who saw this on their site and agreed,
This is notified to the coupon site 1 via the Internet. The coupon site 1 lists the coupons of the sponsoring manufacturers and distributors who have applied (S2).

Also, the coupon site 1 recruits members to the customer on the Internet 10 (S3). The customer can use coupon site 1 without registering as a member
Can be accessed. The only thing that cannot be done is to purchase a product using the coupon site 1. After visiting coupon site 1, the customer who finds attractive is Internet
Explorer and Netscape (registered trademark) Comm
A web browser such as a unilator is started, and a member is registered on the coupon site 1 through the Internet 10 (S4). Member registration includes name, address, telephone number,
Input of personal information such as a password is required, and when registration is approved, a member ID is given.

[0033] Regardless of whether the customer is a member or not, the customer sets up a Web browser on his own end user terminal 5,
Through the Internet 10, it is possible to access a shopping site dealing with a desired product, and purchase the product there. At this time, for example, the coupon may be posted on the maker A shopping site 2. However, the coupon can be used only when purchasing the product of maker A. Therefore, if the coupon has an expiration date, then manufacturer A
If the period until the purchase of the product is long, it expires.

However, by using the coupon site 1 as a member, such an opportunity loss can be eliminated and other benefits can be obtained. Members or trial customers,
The coupon site 1 is accessed by a Web browser at the end user terminal 5 of the user. Now, suppose that the member X accesses a homepage of a certain company (supposed to be a maker A). On the end user terminal 5, a discount information screen currently being implemented by the maker A appears.

For example, it is assumed that the maker A has set a coupon as shown in the schematic diagram of FIG. In FIG. 3, A0001 for 5,000 yen discount and A for 10% discount
0002, ◎◎ PC discounts are given data IDs of A0003, and each data ID is a target product,
Data including the details of the privilege, the dealer, the validity period, and the like are associated with each other. As described above, information in which a shop-specific data ID is added to each discount content and detailed information is associated with the data ID is referred to as coupon information. This coupon information is also supplied to the coupon site 1. Member X
By clicking a predetermined location, necessary information such as privilege contents can be obtained. When the member X tries to use the coupon of the personal computer, clicking on a predetermined location causes a coupon obtaining screen to appear.

FIG. 4 shows such a coupon acquisition screen,
An example of the related screen is shown. Referring to FIG. 4, a maker A and a retailer C who sell personal computers are posted on the coupon acquisition screen in this figure. When the member X checks either the maker A or the retail C and clicks the “selection of a purchaser” button, the display jumps to the “maker A shop purchase screen”. This shop purchase screen shows discount information set for each personal computer. The discount information is, for example, ◎◎
Although the price of a personal computer is usually 200,000 yen, the information is that maker A discounts 20,000 yen and retail C discounts 10%. The discount information of the maker A in FIG. 4 is based on the coupon information shown in FIG. Although the discount information of the retail C is not shown, it is based on coupon information corresponding to FIG.

Now, suppose that the member X has decided to purchase a personal computer from the manufacturer A (S5). If the member X clicks the “secure coupon” button on the coupon acquisition screen, the screen jumps to the personal information screen of the member X, and a list of the coupons and points currently held by the member X is displayed on the screen. ing. The member X can confirm the held coupon by looking at this screen. Of the coupons, for example, the maker A coupon of 2,000 yen can be used for the retail C, and the retail C coupon 10,000 yen is used for the manufacturer A.
Can also be used.

The member X has a "maker A shop purchase screen"
By clicking the "Use coupon" button in
Because you will get a 20,000 yen discount coupon from Maker A (S6), use a 20,000 yen discount and a total of 12,000 yen coupon to make a PC with a regular price of 200,000 yen. It can be purchased for 168,000 yen (excluding consumption tax). The member X may click the “OK” button on the maker A purchase screen. Then, the coupon site 1 sends the information that the member X has purchased the personal computer using the coupon A0003 (S7) to the maker A shop site 2 together with the minimum necessary information such as the name, address, and telephone number of the member X. Tell

At the maker A shop site 2, a price of 168,000 yen for the personal computer X is set for the member X based on this information. The member X accesses the maker A shopping site 2 from the end user terminal 5 through the Internet 10, and copies the personal computer to the coupon A.
Offer to buy using 0003. Then
Since the maker A shopping site 2 validates the coupon A0003, the member X can purchase a personal computer for 168,000 yen. Member X is Maker A Shop 2
Pay 168,000 yen. The maker A shop 2 can receive only 168,000 yen instead of 180,000 yen, but the difference of 12,000 yen is a sales promotion fee and a customer asset fee described below.

When the purchase is completed, information is returned from the maker A shopping site 2 to the coupon site 1 stating that "member X certainly used coupon A0003". The coupon site operation system 6 is based on the information that the member X has purchased the personal computer using the coupon A0003. Based on the information that the member X has purchased the personal computer, the coupon payout result management, the product purchase result management using the coupon for each customer, the purchase point result management, and the customer A purchase characteristic analysis is performed (S9). The coupon site 1 gives a special sale notice by e-mail or the like to the selected customer in consideration of the customer's accumulated purchase points and purchase characteristics,
Expand sales of campaign products and special sale products (S10).

In the purchase case described above, the coupon held by the member X has become zero due to the management of the coupon payout results. However, a coupon may be provided from each of the shopping sites 2 to 4 or the coupon site 1. Although the purchase points were not used, for example, 5% of the purchase points are added to the net purchase price of 168,000 yen by the purchase point result management. As a result, in the personal information of Mr. Soramoto in FIG.
Has a total of 13,400 yen.

The above-mentioned purchase record of the member X is obtained by managing product purchase records using coupons for each customer and analyzing customer purchase characteristics.
ssets) as valuable customer assets. It's not just predictions or probabilities, it's raw information that a real purchase was made. The coupon site 1 can promote sales of special sale products and recommended products based on the customer assets. Also, each of the shopping sites 2 to 4 can request the coupon site 1 to transfer customer information within a range that does not violate the privacy of the customer. The retailer C can utilize the customer information for sales promotion, and the manufacturers A and B can utilize it for future product development.

The above explanation is based on the maker A shop site 2.
Was a purchase of a product in
Can of course purchase products from the maker B shop site 3 or the retail C shop site 4 in the same manner.

Also, the member X can purchase goods from the shop sites 2 to 4 by using the coupon without using the coupon or by using the coupon and receiving the discount privilege by the purchase point. The procedure at that time conforms to the case using a coupon. However, the same applies to the case of using common coupons, but in the case of purchase using purchase points, there must be no extreme unfairness between shop sites. For example, member X earns points by purchasing products only from maker A shop site 2,
This is a case in which it is used intensively at the retail C shop site 4. In this case, the sales at the maker A shop site 2 increase, but the discount rate at the retail C shop site 4 increases, and the sales decrease accordingly. The coupon site 1 needs to be managed to reduce such adverse effects.

An effective measure is that the shop site 1 has a settlement (S8). That is, in the above example, the member X pays 168,000 yen not to the maker A shop site 2 but to the coupon site 1.
Coupon site 1 pays 168,000 yen to manufacturer A shop site 2. In this case, for example, the coupon site 1 reduces the maker A shop site 2 by 168,000 yen to reduce it to 163,000 yen so that the maker A shop site 2 does not unreasonably enjoy profits due to the above-described bias. Is controlled, and the difference of 5,000 yen is paid to the retail C shop site 4. If the shop site 1 has a payment, the coupon site 1 only needs to send the personal information of the member X to the shop site, and there is no need to send the payment information.

Having the coupon site 1 have a settlement has the following advantages. In recent years, the opening of shop sites has been activated, but there are many small and weak shop sites. In such a shop site, the payment method is limited to a narrow range, for example, only by postal transfer,
Customers may be confused. If the coupon site 1 has a settlement, such inconvenience can be absorbed.

Further, the manufacturers A and B sometimes give a manufacturer discount. In such a case, if the coupon site 1 has the settlement, the flow becomes smooth.
In the above example, suppose that maker A has set a maker discount of 5% on the personal computer. In this case, the member X is the retailer C
As in the case of the shop site 4, using a coupon of 32,000 yen, the same as in the example. When purchasing a personal computer, it is only necessary to pay 158,000 yen to the coupon site 1. Coupon site 1 pays 168,000 yen to retail C shop site 4, and manufacturer A shop site 2 pays 10,000 yen to retail C shop site 4.

Another utility of the coupon site 1 is a product delivery function. Each shop site 2
4 to 4 make a contract (S8) in which the coupon site 1 handles the delivery of the product purchased by the customer at the shop site via the coupon site 1 (S8). Coupon site 1 knows the information required for delivery, so each shop site 2
Nos. To 4 do not have to arrange delivery each time.

Further, the coupon site 1 can function as a portal site for each of the shop sites 2 to 4. When the member accesses the coupon site 1, the merchandise of each of the shop sites 2 to 4 is accumulated there. The member does not need to access the shop sites 2 to 4 one after another, and can perform efficient shopping.

In the above description, since the manufacturer is referred to, the merchandise may be limitedly regarded as physical from the image. However, the present invention is not limited to a physical product, and is applicable even if the product is information, rights, software, or services.

A program for causing a computer to execute the above-described discount method is recorded on a recording medium such as a semiconductor memory, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, or a CD-ROM, and is read by a computer constituting a coupon site. You may make it perform.
The program controls the computer, solicits posting of coupons, posts coupons of the shop site that has applied, processes recruiting members and registers the members who have applied, and processing of coupons posted by members. The process of permitting the acquisition and the process of notifying the shop site of the acquisition of the coupon by the member when the member who acquired the coupon decides to purchase the product are performed.

[0052]

The first effect of the present invention is that the purchase of goods using coupons and purchase points can be performed only by electronic means through the Internet. As a result, the benefits of e-commerce, which transcends space-time and is characterized by quick shopping, can be enjoyed even at discounts on products.

A second effect of the present invention is that a coupon and a purchase point that can be used in common at a shop site are created, so that a customer is not restricted by an expiration date or the like.

Further, a settlement function and a delivery function are provided,
It is also possible to have a function as a portal site or an invitation site.

As described above, the present invention skillfully utilizes the characteristics of the Internet, which is open and interactive, to create a powerful new business model even in the C to B business era where the initiative of sellers and buyers has been reversed. It is a suggestion.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the balance of a coupon site according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a data structure of a coupon.

FIG. 4 is a screen view of an end user terminal for explaining a product purchase procedure using a coupon.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure for purchasing a product using a coupon.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Coupon Site 2 Maker A Shop Site 3 Maker B Shop Site 4 Retail C Shop Site 5 End User Terminal 6 Coupon Site Operation System 10 Internet

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tamotsu Hiura 5-7-1 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo F-term in NEC Corporation (Reference) 5B049 AA01 AA02 BB11 CC02 CC05 CC08 CC10 CC16 CC36 DD01 EE00 EE02 FF03 GG02 GG04 GG07

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A coupon site that provides a coupon that is an electronic discount coupon and sells products using the coupon, and a coupon site that posts the coupon of the shop site and mediates the sale. Connecting the end user terminal of the member of the coupon site with the Internet, the coupon site authorizes the member to obtain a posted coupon from the end user terminal, and the shop site stores the end user terminal of the member. A discount system that accepts the purchase of the product using the coupon site from a company. 2. The discount system according to claim 1, wherein the coupon site issues a common coupon valid for a plurality of the shop sites. 3. The discount system according to claim 1, wherein the coupon site has a settlement function related to a purchase of a product by the member. 4. The discount system according to claim 1, wherein the coupon site has a delivery function related to purchase of a product by the member. 5. The discount system according to claim 1, wherein the coupon site has a function as a portal site. 6. The shop site according to claim 1, wherein the shop site accepts the purchase of the product at an electronic purchase point to which a purchase privilege is added according to a purchase result. The discount system described. 7. The discount system according to claim 1, wherein the purchase points according to claim 6 are valid at a plurality of shop sites. 8. The coupon site controls billing for the shop site in order to ensure fairness between the shop sites when the member purchases the common coupon or a product using the purchase point of claim 6. The discount system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein: 9. The coupon site according to claim 1, wherein the coupon site accumulates personal information and purchase information based on the member's product purchase, and uses the coupon site to promote sales in the future. Discount system. 10. The discount system according to claim 9, wherein the shop site can apply for the transfer of the purchase information to the coupon site. 11. A coupon site that provides a coupon that is an electronic discount coupon and sells products using the coupon, and a coupon site that posts the coupon of the shop site and mediates the purchase. A discount method in a discount system in which an end user terminal of a member of the coupon site is connected to the Internet, wherein the coupon site recruits posting of the coupon and posts a coupon of the shop site that has applied. A procedure in which the coupon site recruits members and registers a member who has applied; a procedure in which the coupon site authorizes the member to acquire a coupon being posted; and a member who acquires the coupon decides to purchase a product. And the coupon site requests that the member obtain a coupon. A discount method, comprising: a step of notifying the shop site; and a step of accepting, at a coupon price, a product purchase of the member who purchased the product at the shop site. 12. The discount method according to claim 11, wherein the coupon site has a step of managing a use result and an acquisition result of the coupon by the member. 13. A coupon for providing a coupon, which is an electronic discount coupon, and selling at least one shop site for selling merchandise using the coupon, and an end user terminal of the member via the Internet to mediate the sales. In the computer that constitutes the site, the process of recruiting the posting of the coupon and posting the coupon of the shop site that has applied, the process of recruiting the member and registering the member who has applied, A computer-readable record that records a program for performing a process of approving the acquisition of a coupon and a process of notifying the shop site of the acquisition of a coupon by the member when the member who has acquired the coupon decides to purchase the product. Medium.