JP2002358442A - Method and system for price management - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a price management system which can speedily indicate the limit amount of discount and increase price competition power up to a maximum. SOLUTION: A server and a terminal transmit data to manage the price of an article and this method includes a step for receiving negotiation price data on a specified article from the terminal, a step for generating answer data according to the received negotiation price data and discountable data set by articles, and a step for sending the answer data to the terminal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a price management method, a management system, and a program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, prices are negotiated at the time of sale of expensive goods such as automobiles.

[0003] The discount rate of automobiles is fluctuating. For example, the timing of launching a new car as a product, the popularity of products of the same industry, the consumption trend, the automobile tax delivery date (April), or the balance with the company's accounting period, etc. Factors. In general, the higher the grade of a product and the more accessories there are, the greater the apparent discount rate can be. However, not all accessories have the same discount rate, and there are many cases where individual accessories need to be individually examined.

[0004] Furthermore, the discount limit may differ depending on the performance of the sales office or the person in charge, and it is difficult to uniformly manage such a complicated discount amount in a printed material or the like.

[0005]

Since it is almost impossible to disseminate accurate discount information to all sales persons and counters, it is almost impossible for sales persons at the site to sell the sales price (the discount amount). ) Can not have a definitive standard, and excessive discounts can be made, or discounts can be too reluctant to miss business opportunities.

[0006] Conventionally, there is also a problem that since the contacts between the sales persons are not tight, for example, excessive competition between the same affiliated sales companies is caused. The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method and system for appropriately managing commodity prices including discount data.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a price management method and a price management system capable of promptly instructing a person in charge of a discount limit of a product and maximizing price competitiveness. I do.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method in which a server transmits data to and from a terminal and manages the price of a product, wherein the server receives negotiation price data of a specific product from the terminal. The method includes the steps of generating answer data based on the received negotiation price data and discountable data set for each product, and transmitting the answer data to the terminal.

A second invention is characterized in that, in the first invention, the negotiated price data is a scheduled discount amount of the product, and the discountable data is a discountable amount of the product.

[0010] In a third aspect based on the second aspect, in the step of generating the answer data, the scheduled discount amount and the discountable amount are compared. It is characterized by generating answer data indicating that the price data is appropriate.

[0011] In a fourth aspect based on the second aspect, in the step of generating the answer data, the scheduled discount amount and the discountable amount are compared, and if the scheduled discount amount exceeds the discountable amount, the negotiated price is determined. It is characterized by generating answer data indicating that the data is inappropriate.

A fifth invention is characterized in that, in the first invention, the negotiated price data is a planned sale price of the product, and the discountable data is a lower limit price of the product that can be sold.

[0013] In a sixth aspect based on the fifth aspect, in the step of generating the answer data, the planned sales amount is compared with the lower limit of salable, and if the planned sales amount is equal to or larger than the lower limit of salable, And generating response data indicating that the negotiation price data is appropriate.

[0014] In a seventh aspect based on the fifth aspect, in the step of generating the answer data, the planned sales amount is compared with the lower limit of salable, and if the planned sales amount is less than the lower limit of salable, And generating answer data indicating that the negotiation price data is inappropriate.

In an eighth aspect based on any one of the first to seventh aspects, a step of receiving negotiation data from the terminal is further added, and in the step of generating the answer data, the received negotiation price data and product It is characterized in that answer data is generated based on discountable data set for each and bargainable data set for each negotiation person.

In a ninth aspect based on the eighth aspect, the negotiation charge data is set for at least one of an individual in charge and a group to which the charge belongs.

According to a tenth invention, in any one of the first to ninth inventions, the discountable data set for each product is set for each negotiation stage. In an eleventh aspect based on the fourth or seventh aspect, when the response data indicating the improperness is generated, the server transmits the response data to a manager terminal of a manager having price determination authority. It is characterized by including a step.

According to a twelfth aspect, in the eleventh aspect,
The method further includes the step of receiving corrected answer data from the manager terminal, and the step of transmitting the answer data to the terminal includes transmitting the corrected answer data to the terminal in charge of negotiations as answer data.

According to a thirteenth aspect, in any one of the first to twelfth aspects, the answer data includes a discount limit of the product. The fourteenth invention relates to the first to first aspects.
In any one of the thirteenth aspects, the method includes a step of encrypting the answer data and displaying the encrypted answer data on a terminal.

According to a fifteenth aspect, a step of receiving negotiation price data of a specific product from a terminal, a step of generating answer data based on the received negotiation price data and discountable data set for each product, And transmitting to the terminal.

[0021] A sixteenth invention is a system for managing data prices by transmitting data between a terminal and a server,
The terminal includes input means for inputting negotiation price data of a specific product, first transmission means for transmitting the negotiation price data to a server, first reception means for receiving response data from the server, and received response data. And a display unit for displaying the price of the item. The server stores a discountable amount for each product, and a second unit for receiving negotiation price data from the terminal.
Price comprising: receiving means; answer data generating means for comparing the received negotiation price data with the discountable amount to generate answer data; and second transmitting means for transmitting the answer data to the terminal. Management system.

The person in charge of negotiations may be not only an outside sales person, but also a contact person, and in some cases, a person in charge of the service department. The negotiator can be recognized by the ID used when the terminal logs in to the server.

[0023] The terminal may be provided with a function that prevents the user from inputting a discount amount that is equal to or greater than a preset maximum discount amount on a price input screen of the terminal. The data of the maximum discount amount may be stored in the terminal or on the server. The negotiator knows that the discount is excessive due to the inability to input the discount amount, and urges the person in charge to reconsider the discount amount.

When the negotiator is operating the terminal, it is considered that a negotiation is in progress. Therefore, it may sometimes be inconvenient that the discountable amount (discount limit) appears on the price input screen. Therefore, there is an advantage that the customer can avoid having to know the discount limit by encrypting and displaying the discount limit on the screen. Specifically, there are a method of replacing a number with a character and a method of using a metaphor.

The discount limit in the storage means can be set by giving a stage to the discount limit at each stage of the negotiation. By setting the discount limit in the stage and gradually reducing the discount, the customer is eventually satisfied with a small discount.

Communication between these computers can be realized by a local area network or public telephone network using Ethernet, or a private wireless network.
As the storage means, a high-speed hard disk is preferable, but a MO (Magneto-optical D) is used.
It is also possible to employ removable media such as isk) and Zip.

[0027]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The price management method and system according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the embodiments shown in FIGS.

FIG. 1 is an overall block diagram showing a system for displaying a discount limit on a terminal possessed by the salesperson 4 when the salesperson 4 is negotiating with the customer 5.
The sales rep 4 has a notebook personal computer as the terminal 1 and a mobile phone 6, and the sales rep 4 conducts negotiations using the price input screen of the terminal 1 shown in FIG. The terminal 1 has a PHS card 1a (first transmitting means, first transmitting means).
Receiving means) is inserted, and can communicate with the host computer (server) 2 through a public line. Also, the terminal 1 has an MPU (Micro Pro
sessing Unit) and RAM (Random)
Access Memory), ROM (Read)
Only memory), storage device such as hard disk, and input device (input means) such as keyboard, mouse, etc.
And a display device (display means) which is a liquid crystal display.

The host computer 2 is located in a business office or the like, and has an MPU (including a motherboard, a video card, etc.) 20, a product type, and a storage unit for storing a discount limit set for each negotiation step (storage unit). Means) A high-speed hard disk (using a high-speed (20 Mbps) transfer method by ULTRA WIDE SCSI) or the like, which is three barrels, a RAM 21 and a ROM 22

An Ethernet (registered trademark) 24 is connected to the MPU 20 via an I / O 23. The Ethernet 24 is connected to a public telephone line 27 via a dial-up router 26 (second transmitting means, second receiving means). Further, the MPU 20 has a display 25, a keyboard (not shown), a data backup MO and a DVDROM via a video card (not shown).
(Not shown) are connected.

FIG. 2 shows a screen for estimating an automobile in the terminal 1, and from the top, there are entry fields for a car name, a model, an accessory, a vehicle body price, an accessory price, and a discount amount. There is an answer column below the discount amount input column. In the model input field, a so-called "full model" composed of alphabets and numerals of about 7 to 10 digits may be input, so that the input of the vehicle name may be omitted.

As the negotiation proceeds, data is filled in from the upper column, the discount amount is entered in the discount amount input column, and when the confirmation icon is pressed with the cursor 1b, the terminal 1 performs automatic dialing and the dial-up router 26 And to the host computer 2 via the public telephone line 27.

Here, the MPU 20 displays the same screen as that of FIG. 2 on the display 25, compares the amount entered in the discount amount input column with the data in the storage unit 3, and has entered the answer column from the discount limit amount. Discount amount (179,000
Displays the value (margin) minus the yen.

In FIG. 2, AB is displayed in the answer column, but the discount limit is encrypted (for example, 1 to 10 are described as A to J). Therefore, in this example, A
Indicates 1 in the thousands place, B indicates 2 in the thousands place, and indicates that 12,000 yen is a margin (margin for discount).

It should be noted that here, 192,000 is displayed in the column of the discount amount.
If a yen is entered, the margin will be minus 1000 yen, exceeding the limit. In such a case, the data is transmitted to the terminal of the person (manager) 30 who has the authority to determine the price. The terminal of the administrator 30 has the same configuration as the host computer 2. The administrator terminal is
The host computer 2 itself can be used. Then, when data is transmitted to the administrator terminal, the administrator 30 is notified of the fact. As the notification method, various modes such as automatic calling of the mobile phone 31 possessed by the administrator 30 and transmission of an e-mail to the mobile phone 31 are set. When the discount limit is exceeded, a notification to the administrator 30 may be displayed on the screen of the terminal 1 simultaneously with the notification to the administrator 30.

Here, when the administrator 30 is contacted,
In some cases, a discount may be approved by this person, but if the discount is unacceptable, the fact is transmitted to the terminal 1 side. As a result, the terminal 1 displays various characters indicating that the discount amount is improper, such as displaying characters such as [impossible] or moving characters such as animals on the screen. Encourage reconsideration.

If the manager is away from the online terminal, he / she cannot be contacted immediately. Send an e-mail.

The above operation will be described in more detail with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. FIG. 3 shows processing on the terminal 1 side, and FIG. 4 shows processing on the host computer 2 side. First, the MPU of the terminal 1 determines whether or not an ID for specifying the person in charge has been input from the person in charge of sales (step 101). The ID of each person in charge may be set and stored in advance for each terminal owned by each person in charge. The positive branch of step 101 moves to step 102, and the negative branch forms a loop of step 101.

Next, the terminal 1 determines whether or not data specifying a specific vehicle type such as a vehicle name and a model has been input (step 102). The positive branch of step 102 moves to step 103, and the negative branch forms a loop of step 102.

Further, the terminal 1 determines whether or not data indicating the stage of the current negotiation (negotiation stage data) has been input (step 103). The negotiation stage data is data indicating, for example, three stages from the beginning to the end of a negotiation and indicating which stage the current negotiation is in. The terminal 1 includes an [initial stage], a [middle stage] ,
Entered as [final stage]. The positive branch of step 103 proceeds to step 104, and the negative branch
3 is a loop.

Next, terminal 1 determines whether or not the current negotiation price data has been input (step 104). The affirmative branch of step 104 moves to step 105, and the negative branch forms a loop of step 104. Step 10
The order of the processes from 1 to 104 may be changed as appropriate.

Then, in step 105, the terminal 1
A host computer (server) 2 for each input data
Send to the side. Here, the description of the processing on the terminal 1 side will be interrupted, and the processing on the host computer 2 will be described based on FIG.

In the MPU 20 of the host computer 2,
It is determined whether various data (data transmitted in step 105 of FIG. 3) from terminal 1 has been received (step 201). The positive branch of step 201 is the same as step 202
The negative branch becomes a loop of step 201.

In step 202, the host computer 2 generates answer data based on the received data and the data read from the storage unit 3. That is, MP
U20 calculates, based on the product specific data and the negotiation stage data, the discountable amount of the product in the negotiation stage,
Read from the storage unit 3. Next, the MPU 20 reads a correction value set for each person in charge based on the specific data of the person in charge. This correction value is a value for correcting the discountable amount (reference value reduction amount) read from the storage unit 3. For example, if the correction value is plus 20,000, 20,000 yen is added to the reference value reduction amount. This amount is the amount that can be discounted by the person in charge. The correction value is minus one.
If it is 0000, it is 10,000 from the reference discount.
The amount obtained by subtracting the yen is the amount that can be discounted by the person in charge.

This correction value can be set for each group (for example, sales office) to which the person in charge belongs. And
As the correction value, for example, a positive correction value is set in order to improve the sales performance in the area under the jurisdiction of the person in charge (the group). Further, for example, when the sales performance in the area under the jurisdiction of the person in charge (the group) is strong, a negative correction value can be set in order to further increase the profit. Further, the correction value can be determined based on a residual discount amount obtained by subtracting the used discount amount from the total discount amount of the person in charge (the group) set in the predetermined period. This correction value can be set as a percentage of the reference discount. Further, the positive correction value may be applied only to the final stage of the negotiation.

Then, the MPU 20 compares the corrected discountable amount with the received negotiation price data (scheduled discount amount). If the amount obtained by subtracting the negotiation price data from the discountable amount is positive, the MPU 20 creates response data (for example, the value of the discount margin) indicating that the negotiation price data is appropriate, and transmits the response data to the terminal 1. (Steps 203 and 204), and the process ends.

On the other hand, if the negotiation price data exceeds the discountable amount, the MPU 20 creates data indicating that the negotiation price data is inappropriate (for example, “impossible”),
The response data is transmitted to the administrator terminal together with the data (steps 203 and 205). Here, the administrator who has the authority to determine the price creates correction answer data (“appropriate” or “impossible”) on the administrator terminal and transmits it to the host computer 2. It should be noted that the corrected answer data may be created by the administrator's own judgment, or the corrected answer data may be created by the administrator's approval of new answer data created based on a program incorporated in the administrator's terminal. You can also. Further, the inappropriate response data may include an excess discount.

The MPU 20 determines in step 206
It is determined whether or not the corrected answer data transmitted from the administrator terminal has been received.
In step 07, the received correction answer data is transmitted to the terminal 1, and the process is terminated. The negative branch of step 206 is a loop of this step.

Next, returning to the description of the processing on the terminal 1 side in FIG. Step 10 after step 105
At 6, the terminal 1 determines whether or not the response data (including the corrected response data) has been received from the host computer 2, and displays the response data on the screen of the terminal 1 when the response data has been received (step 107), and a series of processing ends.

The answer data is displayed on the terminal 1 as encrypted data which cannot be understood by the customer as described above. As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to promptly specify a different discount limit depending on the item to be sold or the person in charge of sales, and to maximize price competitiveness.

Further, since a person (manager) having the authority to determine prices can grasp the discount status in real time, it is possible to easily manage prices between dealers in the same series.

Further, even when the person having the authority to determine the price is not online, the sales person can be instructed by telephone or e-mail. Further, the discount limit stored in the storage unit can be set at each stage of the negotiation by giving the discount limit a step, so that it is possible to sell at an appropriate price while obtaining customer satisfaction.

[0053]

According to the price management method and the management system of the present invention, it is possible to appropriately manage the commodity price including the discount data.

Further, it is possible to promptly instruct the person in charge of the discount limit of the commodity, and to maximize price competitiveness.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a price management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary front view showing a display screen of the terminal according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating processing of the terminal according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary flowchart showing the processing of the host computer in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Terminal (negotiator side terminal) 2 Host computer (server) 3 Storage part (storage means) 20 MPU

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. A method in which a server transmits data to and from a terminal and manages the price of a product, comprising the steps of: receiving negotiation price data of a specific product from the terminal; A price management method, comprising: generating answer data based on discountable data; and transmitting the answer data to a terminal. 2. The price management method according to claim 1, wherein the negotiated price data is a scheduled discount amount of the product, and the discountable data is a discountable amount of the product. 3. The step of generating the answer data,
3. The price according to claim 2, wherein the discounted amount is compared with the discountable amount, and if the discounted amount is equal to or less than the discountable amount, answer data indicating that the negotiation price data is appropriate is generated. Management method. 4. The step of generating the answer data,
3. The price according to claim 2, wherein the discounted amount is compared with the discountable amount, and if the scheduled value exceeds the discountable amount, answer data indicating that the negotiation price data is inappropriate is generated. Management method. 5. The price management method according to claim 1, wherein the negotiated price data is a planned sale price of the product, and the discountable data is a lower limit of the product available for sale. 6. The step of generating the answer data,
6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the planned sales amount is compared with the lower limit of available sales, and if the planned sales amount is equal to or greater than the lower limit of available sales, response data indicating that the negotiated price data is appropriate is generated. Price management method. 7. The step of generating answer data,
6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the estimated sales amount is compared with the lower limit of available sales, and if the estimated sales amount is less than the lower limit of available sales, answer data indicating that the negotiation price data is inappropriate is generated. The price management method described. 8. The method according to claim 8, further comprising the step of receiving negotiation charge data from the terminal. In the step of generating the answer data, the received negotiation price data and the discountable data set for each product and the negotiation charge data set for each negotiation charge are set. 8. The price management method according to claim 1, wherein answer data is generated based on discountable data. 9. The price management method according to claim 8, wherein the negotiation charge data is set for at least one of a charge person and a group to which the charge person belongs. 10. The price management method according to claim 1, wherein the discountable data set for each product is set for each negotiation stage. 11. The method according to claim 11, further comprising the step of, when the response data indicating that the data is invalid is generated, transmitting a response data to a manager terminal of a manager having a price determination authority. The price management method according to 4 or 7. 12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising the step of receiving corrected answer data from the manager terminal. The step of transmitting the answer data to the terminal includes transmitting the corrected answer data to the terminal on the negotiation charge side as answer data. The price management method according to claim 11, wherein: 13. The price management method according to claim 1, wherein the answer data includes a discount limit of the product. 14. The price management method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of encrypting the answer data and displaying the encrypted answer data on a terminal. 15. A step of receiving negotiation price data of a specific product from a terminal, a step of generating answer data based on the received negotiation price data and discountable data set for each product, and transmitting the reply data to the terminal. And a program that causes the server to execute the steps. 16. A system for managing the price of a product by transmitting data between a terminal and a server, the terminal comprising: input means for inputting negotiation price data of a specific product; and transmitting the negotiation price data to a server. A first transmission unit for transmitting; a first reception unit for receiving response data from the server; and a display unit for displaying the received response data. The server stores a discountable amount for each product. Means, second receiving means for receiving negotiation price data from the terminal, answer data generating means for generating the answer data by comparing the received negotiation price data with the discountable amount, and transmitting the answer data to the terminal. And a second transmission unit.