JP2002367037A - Coupon ticket issuing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically issue a coupon according to the actual result of article purchase of a customer when the customer visits a store and purchase articles. SOLUTION: A host device totals the sales results by customers according to data gathered from accounting terminals. Sales actual result ranking are determined and stored by the customers according to the data of the sales actual results totaled by the customers. Further, the determined sales actual result ranking of a customer identified with an identification code inputted to an accounting terminal is acquired. Then coupon issue control data are sent to the accounting terminal according to the acquired sales actual result ranking. The accounting terminal, once receiving the coupon issue control from the host device, issues a coupon 120 according to the data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coupon issuing system used when a retail store issues a discount coupon to a customer based on the sales performance of the customer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a retail store issues a discount coupon to a customer based on the sales performance of the customer, for example, data of a membership card is read as a customer identification code input means for inputting a customer identification code. Accounting terminal equipped with a keyboard and a scanner as a product registration means for registering a customer's purchased products,
A POS system including a so-called POS (Point Of Sales) terminal and a host device that collects and manages the data of the customer-purchased merchandise registered at the accounting terminal together with the identification code of the customer who purchased the merchandise via communication means. , The host device aggregates sales performance data such as sales amount and points for each customer, and the person in charge artificially determines the sales performance rank for each customer based on the aggregation result. According to the discount coupon was sent to each customer by direct mail.

[0003]

As described above, when a retail store issues a discount coupon to a customer based on the sales performance of the customer, the coupon is conventionally issued to each customer using direct mail. Therefore, sending direct mail was troublesome and expensive. Such a problem can be solved by enabling a customer to automatically issue a discount coupon in accordance with the customer's past purchase results when the customer comes to the store and purchases a product.

[0004] Therefore, the present invention provides a coupon issuing system that can automatically issue a coupon according to the customer's past product purchase results when the customer comes to the store and purchases a product. Things.

[0005]

The invention according to claim 1 of the present application is an accounting system comprising customer identification code input means for inputting an identification code of a customer who purchases a product and product registration means for registering a customer's purchased product. A coupon ticketing system comprising a terminal and a host device for collecting and managing, via a communication unit, data of a customer-purchased product registered at the accounting terminal together with an identification code of a customer who purchased the product, the host device comprising: Means for summing up sales results for each customer based on data collected from the accounting terminal, and determining and storing sales performance ranks for each customer from sales performance data compiled for each customer by the sales performance counting means. Means for determining the rank
Customer rank obtaining means for obtaining the sales performance rank determined by the rank determining means for the customer identified by the identification code input by the customer identification code input means of the accounting terminal, and sales performance obtained by the rank obtaining means While providing coupon ticketing control data for transmitting the coupon ticketing control data to the accounting terminal via the communication means according to the rank, while receiving the coupon ticketing control data from the host device via the communication means on the accounting terminal, The object is to solve the above problem by providing coupon issuing means for issuing a coupon based on the data.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a coupon issuance is provided to the host device according to the first aspect of the present invention for a customer identified by the identification code input by the customer identification code input means of the accounting terminal. It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problem by providing a determination unit for determining whether or not the coupon issuance has been completed, and by not transmitting the coupon issuance control data to the transaction terminal for customers who have already issued a coupon.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a member is recruited at each chain store, and for the customer who has become a member, according to the total purchase amount of the customer at all the chain stores within a preset aggregation period. This is a case where the present invention is applied to a retail store that performs a coupon service event that issues a discount coupon, and the issuance of a coupon is limited to stores that have joined members.

FIG. 1 is an overall view of a coupon ticketing system constructed in a retail store for introducing a coupon service event according to the present embodiment, which mainly comprises a POS system. That is, in each chain store 10A, 10B (only two stores are shown in the figure, there may be three or more stores),
A plurality of POS terminals 11 each functioning as an accounting terminal and a store computer 12 for centrally managing each POS terminal 11 are connected to a LAN as communication means.
(Local Area Network) 13 is connected to a POS system. On the other hand, each chain store 10A, 1
A central office 20 such as a host computer is installed in the headquarters that supervises OB.
And the store computer 12 of each of the chain stores 10A and 10B are connected to an integrated services digital network (ISDN).
Twork) and the like are connected to each other via a communication line 30 so as to freely communicate with each other. The store computer 12 and the head office computer 20 function as host devices of the POS terminal 11.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a main part of the POS terminal 11.
(Central Processing Unit) 41. A ROM in which fixed data such as programs are stored in advance
(Read Only Memory) 42, a RAM (Ra) formed with various memory areas for storing various variable data.
A drive signal is output to an ndom access memory (43), a clock section 44 for measuring the current date and time, a LAN controller 45 for controlling data communication performed through the LAN 13, and an opening mechanism for a drawer 46 for storing cash and the like. I / O port 47, front display 48 for cashier
Controller 49 for displaying data on the display, display controller 5 for displaying data on the customer surface display 50 for the customer
1, a keyboard interface 53 to which a keyboard 52 is connected, a printer interface 55 to which a printer 54 is connected, a card reader interface 57 to which a card reader 56 is connected, and the like. And CPU
41, ROM 42, RAM 43, clock unit 44, LAN
A controller 45, an I / O port 47, display controllers 49 and 51, and an interface 53 of each input / output device;
55 and 57 are connected by bus lines 58 such as an address bus and a data bus to form a control circuit.

The keyboard 52 is provided with a key as a product registration means for inputting a code, an amount, a purchase point, etc. attached to a product purchased by a customer, a closing key for declaring the end of registration of a product purchased by one customer, and the like. This is a keyboard dedicated to the POS terminal.

The printer 54 is a receipt printer that prints a transaction statement with a customer who has purchased a product on a receipt paper and issues it as a purchase receipt.

The card reader 56 reads card data recorded on a membership card 40 (see FIG. 1) issued to a customer who has become a member. As described above, at least the issuing company code indicating the card issuer, the enrolled store code indicating the enrolled store, and the member number as an identification code for identifying the customer are recorded. Here, the card reader 56 functions as a customer identification code input unit for inputting an identification code of a customer who purchases a product.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of the store computer 12.
2, a RAM 63, a clock unit 64, and a LAN controller 6 for controlling data communication performed through the LAN 13.
5. HDD (Hard Disk Dr. functioning as auxiliary storage device)
ive) An HDD controller 67 that controls writing and reading of data to and from the device 66, a communication interface 68 that controls data transmission and reception through the communication line 30, and the like. Then, the CPU 61, the ROM 62, the RA
M63, clock unit 64, LAN controller 65, HDD
The controller 67 and the communication interface 68 are connected by a bus line 69 to form a control circuit.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of the head office computer 20. The CPU 71, the ROM 72,
In addition to the RAM 73 and the clock section 74, an HDD controller 76 for controlling writing and reading of data to and from the HDD device 75, a communication interface 77 for transmitting and receiving data through the communication line 30, a keyboard, a display,
I / O to which various input / output devices such as mouse and printer are connected
An O device interface 78 is provided. And
CPU 71, ROM 72, RAM 73, clock unit 74,
The HDD controller 76, the communication interface 77, and the I / O device interface 78 are connected by a bus line 79 to form a control circuit.

The present embodiment comprising the POS terminal 11, the store computer 12, and the head office computer 20 having such a configuration functions as a coupon issuing system.
Next, as shown in FIG. 6, each chain store 10A, 10B
According to the membership number of the customer who became a member at
As shown in FIG. 7, as shown in FIG. 7, a member master file 81 that stores, in addition to the member's personal information such as the customer's name, address, and telephone number, an enrolled store code indicating the enrolled chain store and current sales performance data. Corresponding to the event number for identifying the coupon service event, the start date and end date of the sales performance data aggregation period in the event, the start date and end date of the coupon ticket issue period, and event detail information printed on the coupon And a coupon master file 82 that stores sales performance lower limit data for each sales performance rank (in the present embodiment, three ranks of A, B, and C) and the number of coupons issued corresponding to the sales performance rank. Has formed. It is assumed that the period from the start date of the sales totaling period to the end date of the ticket issuing period of each coupon service event does not overlap.

The CPU of the head office computer 20
Reference numeral 71 denotes a post-closure process performed after the closing time of each chain store on each business day, which executes the process shown in the flowchart of FIG.

That is, as ST (step) 1, the coupon master file 82 is searched to determine whether or not there is a coupon service event in which the current date measured by the clock 74 is set in the sales totaling period. I do. Then, when it is determined that there is no corresponding coupon service event, it is determined whether or not there is a coupon service event whose next day is set as the start date of the sales totaling period in ST2. If it is determined that there is no corresponding coupon service event, the process proceeds to other post-closing processes.

If it is determined in ST2 that there is a corresponding coupon service event, that is, if it is confirmed in the coupon master file 82 that a coupon service event in which the next day is the start date of the sales aggregation period is set, ST3 is executed. The start date and end date of the sales performance data aggregation period of the coupon service event, the start date and end date of the coupon ticket issuance period, event detail information, the sales performance lower limit data for each sales performance rank, and the sales performance rank The corresponding number of coupons is read from the coupon master file 82, and an event information file 91 having the data structure shown in FIG. 9 is created. Then, if this event information file 91 is transferred to the store computer 12 of each chain store 10A, 10B via the communication line 30, other post-closure processes are executed.

If it is determined in ST1 that a corresponding coupon service event is present, that is, if it is confirmed that a coupon service event whose current date is within the sales totaling period is set in the coupon master file 82, the process proceeds to ST4. Member sales history data is collected from the store computers 12 of the chain stores 10A and 10B via the communication line 30. The member sales history data includes a member number of a customer who has purchased a purchased product registered at each POS terminal 11 to which each store computer 12 is connected via the LAN 13 and sales amount data of the product purchased by the customer. The CPU 71 of the headquarters computer 20 determines that each chain store 1
The sales amount data is totaled for each member number based on the member sales history data collected from the store computers 12A and 10B. Then, the member total number data is added to the sales record data stored in the sales record area of the member master file 81 for each member number, and the member master file 81 is updated. The sales record area of the member master file 81 is cleared to 0 by the start of post-closure processing on the day of the sales totaling period start date. Therefore, in the sales record area of the member master file 81, the purchase amount of the product is accumulated for each customer who has purchased the product in each of the chain stores 10A and 10B during the sales total period. Here, the headquarters computer 20 constitutes a sales result totaling means for totalizing sales results for each customer based on data collected from the accounting terminal (POS terminal 11).

The CPU 71 of the head office computer 20 will now be described.
After updating the sales record area of the member master file 81 in ST5, it determines in ST6 whether or not the sales end period end date of the coupon service event within the current sales total period matches the current date. If they do not match, that is, if the current date is between the start date of the sales aggregation period and the day before the end date, the member number, joining code and sales record data of each customer are read from the member master file 81 as ST7. Then, the member number and the sales result data are grouped by the joining store code, and the store member result file 92 having the data structure shown in FIG. 10 is created. Then, the store-specific member performance file 92 is transferred to the store computer 12 of the corresponding chain store 10A, 10B by the communication line 3.
If the transfer has been made via "0", other post-closure processing is executed.

On the other hand, when the current date coincides with the end date of the sales totaling period, the member number, the joining code, and the sales result data of each customer are read from the member master file 81 and the coupon master file 82 is read. The current date acquires the sales performance lower limit value data of the coupon service event on the end date of the sales aggregation period. And for each customer,
If the sales performance data of the customer is compared with the sales performance lower limit value data to determine the sales performance rank, the member number, the sales performance data, and the sales performance rank are grouped by the enrollment code and shown in FIG. A store-specific member rank file 93 having a data structure is created. Then, this store-specific member rank file 93 is stored in the corresponding chain store 1
The communication line 30 is connected to the store computers 12 of 0A and 10B.
After the transfer, the other post-closure processing is executed.

In the store-specific member rank file 93, "ticket issued" is a flag for identifying whether or not a discount coupon of a corresponding coupon service event has been issued to the customer of the corresponding member number. In the initial stage, it is reset to "0" indicating an unissued ticket. Here, the headquarters computer 20 constitutes a rank determining means for determining the sales performance rank for each customer from the sales performance data totalized by customer by the sales performance totaling means and storing it as the store-specific member rank file 93.

Incidentally, the event information file 91, the member-by-store member record file 92, and the member rank by store, which are transferred via the communication line 30 to the store computers 12 of the respective chain stores 10A and 10B by the post-closure processing in the head office computer 20. The files 93 are respectively overwritten and stored in the HDD device 66 of the store computer 12.

The C of each store computer 12
When the PU 61 receives the card data inquiry message of the membership card 40 read by the card reader 56 of the POS terminal 11 from the POS terminal 11 connected to the LAN 13, the PU 61 executes the member inquiry process shown in the flowchart of FIG. It has become something. In the card data inquiry message, an issuing company code, a member store code, and a member number recorded on the member card 40 are set.

That is, the CPU 61 sets the HD as ST1.
Event information file 91 stored in D device 66
The data of the sales total start date and the end date is read, and it is determined whether or not the current date measured by the clock unit 64 is included in the sales total period from the start date to the end date.
Here, if not included, the data of the ticketing start date and end date of the same event information file 91 is read out as ST2, and it is determined whether or not the current date is included in the ticketing period from the start date to the end date. to decide. Here, if not included, this process ends.

If the present date is included in the sales totaling period in ST1, whether the enrollment code of the card data in the inquiry message matches the own store code preset in the store computer 12 is determined in ST3. Determine whether or not. Here, if they match, the customer who is the owner of the membership card 40 read by the card reader 56 of the inquiry source POS terminal 11 is a customer who has become a member at his own store. Execute each process. If they do not match, the customer has become a member at another store, so ST
The processes of 4 to 7 are not executed.

In ST4, the member-by-store member record file 92 stored in the HDD device 66 is searched by the member number of the card data in the inquiry message, and whether or not the sales record data corresponding to the corresponding member number is 0 is determined. Find out. If the sales record data is larger than 0, the process creates, in ST5, member sales record information for notifying the customer of the cumulative purchase amount that is the sales record data up to the present time. If the sales performance data is 0, the process of ST5 is not executed. Next, in step ST6, event detail information, sales performance lower limit data for each rank, and data of the number of issued tickets for each rank are read from the event information file 91, and event guide information for notifying the contents of the coupon to be issued is created. Then, as ST7, the member sales record information and the event guide information created in the processing of ST5 and ST6 are sent to the inquiry source PO.
The data is transmitted to the S terminal 11 via the LAN 13.

After that, the CPU 61 waits for the POS terminal 11 to send the card data of the member card 40 for which the inquiry has been made and the sales data of the sales points and the amount of the customer purchased merchandise. And LA as ST9
If the card data and the sales data are received via N13, member sales history data is created from the member number and the sales amount data of the product in the card data in ST10, and is stored in the RAM 63. finish.
By the way, the member sales history data stored in the RAM 63 is collected by the post-closing process of the head office computer 20. If a command to stop the transaction is received via the LAN 13 while waiting for the sales data, the process is terminated at that time.

On the other hand, if the current date is during the ticketing period in ST2, the enrollment store code of the card data in the inquiry message matches the own store code preset in the store computer 12 in ST11. It is determined whether or not. If they do not match, the inquiry source POS
Since the customer who is the owner of the membership card 40 read by the card reader 56 of the terminal 11 is a customer who has become a member at another store, this process ends.

On the other hand, when the joining store code coincides with the own store code, it is a customer who has become a member at the own store, and is stored in the HDD device 66 with the member number of the card data in the inquiry message in ST12. The member rank file 93 for each store is searched to determine whether the corresponding member number is set. If the corresponding member number is not set, the customer is not a coupon ticketing target, and the process is terminated.

On the other hand, if the corresponding member number is set in the store-specific member rank file 93, it is a customer for which a coupon is to be issued. Check the done flag. Then, if the ticketed flag is set to "1", indicating that the coupon has been issued, this process is terminated.

On the other hand, if the ticketed flag is not set and the coupon has not been issued, the sales record rank corresponding to the corresponding member number in the store-specific member rank file 93 is read out in ST14, and the event information file 91 is read. , The number of coupons issued and the event detail information corresponding to the sales performance rank are acquired. And ST15
In addition to the coupon issuance guide information for notifying that a discount coupon is to be issued, ticketing control data for the number of issued coupons created from the event detail information is transmitted to the inquiring POS terminal 11 via the LAN 13. Here, the store computer 12 is a customer identification code input means (card reader 5) of the accounting terminal (POS terminal 11).
6) a rank obtaining means for obtaining the sales performance rank determined by the rank determining means for the customer identified by the identification code (member number) input by the input means, and a sales performance rank obtained by the rank obtaining means. The coupon issuing control means for transmitting the coupon issuing control data to the accounting terminal (POS terminal 11) via the communication means (LAN 13) accordingly.

After that, the CPU 61 waits for the POS terminal 11 to send the card data of the member card 40 for which the inquiry was made and the sales data of the sales points and the amount of the merchandise purchased. Then, as ST17, L
If the card data and the sales data are received via the AN 13, the store member rank file 9 is stored as ST 18.
The ticketing completion flag corresponding to the member number in the card data of No. 3 is set to "1", and this processing ends. If a command to stop the transaction is received via the LAN 13 while waiting for the sales data, the process is terminated at that time.

By the way, the member record information, event guide information, coupon ticketing guide information, and ticketing control data of coupons for the number of issued tickets are transmitted to the POS terminal 11 of the inquiry source by the member inquiry process of the store computer 12. Is temporarily stored in the RAM 43 until the transaction with the customer who has presented is completed.

Then, the CPU 4 of the POS terminal 11
Reference numeral 1 indicates that the receipt printing process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 13 is executed in response to the input of the closing key for declaring the end of the registration of the product purchased by one customer. That is, CPU4
When the receipt printing process is started, first, ST
As 1, transaction details data such as the name of the product purchased by the customer, the price and the subtotal amount thereof, the tax amount, the total amount including tax, the deposit amount, and the change amount are printed by the printer 54 on receipt paper.

Next, it is determined whether or not event guide information is stored in ST2. When the event guidance information is not stored, it is determined whether or not the coupon ticketing guidance information is stored in ST3. And
If coupon ticketing information is not stored, ST
A receipt indicating the transaction statement information printed in the process 1 is issued as a purchase receipt, and the receipt printing process is terminated.

If it is determined in step ST2 that the event guide information is stored, the event guide information is printed on receipt paper by the printer 54 in step ST4. Next, it is determined whether or not the member sales record information is stored in ST5. If the member sales record information is not stored, a receipt showing the transaction details information printed in the process of ST1 and the event guide information printed in the process of ST4 is issued as a purchase receipt, and this receipt printing is performed. The process ends.

If it is determined in step ST5 that the member sales record information is stored, the printer 54 prints the member sales record information on receipt paper in step ST6. Then, following the transaction statement information printed in the process of ST1, S
A receipt indicating the event guide information printed in the process of T4 and the member sales record information printed in the process of ST6 is issued as a purchase receipt, and the receipt printing process ends.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step ST3 that the coupon ticketing guide information is stored, the printer 54 prints the coupon ticketing guide information on the receipt paper in step ST7. Then, following the transaction statement information printed in the process of ST1, a receipt indicating the coupon ticketing guide information printed in the process of ST7 is issued as a purchase receipt. Further, if the coupon issuance control data of the number of issuance coupons stored together with the coupon issuance guidance information, the printer 54 is driven to print a discount coupon of the number of issuances on receipt paper, and if the coupon is issued as a coupon receipt, This receipt printing process ends.

FIG. 14A shows a purchase receipt 10 issued when there is event guide information and sales performance information.
0, an area 101 indicates transaction details information, an area 102 indicates event guidance information, and an area 103 indicates member sales record information. FIG. 14B shows a purchase receipt 11 issued when a coupon is issued.
0 is an example of a coupon receipt 120. In the purchase receipt 110, an area 111 indicates transaction details information, and an area 112 indicates coupon ticketing guidance information.

In the present embodiment configured as described above, the record shown in FIG. 7 is set in the coupon master file 82, and the current date is the day before the start of the sales aggregation of the coupon service event with the event number "1". Suppose there was. Then, in the post-closure processing in the head office computer 20 on that day, the event information file 9 relating to the coupon service event with the event number “1”
1 is created and transferred to the store computer 12 of each chain store 10A, 10B.

Thus, in each store computer 12, during the period from the next day to the end of the sales totaling of the coupon service event of the event number “1”, the LAN
Each time a transaction is performed with the customer holding the membership card 40 at the POS terminal 11 connected at 13, the processes shown in ST3 to ST10 in FIG. 12 are executed.

That is, a clerk operating the POS terminal 11, a so-called cashier, receives a membership card 40 from a customer who purchases a product and causes the card reader 56 to read the data of the membership card 40.
A card data inquiry message of the membership card 40 is transmitted from the terminal 11 to the store computer 12. As a result, the store computer 12 determines whether or not the customer is a customer who has joined at the own store based on the join store code in the card data. If the customer is a customer who has joined at their own store, if the customer already has product sales at any of the chain stores 10A and 10B, member sales record information and event guide information for that customer are created. , To the POS terminal 11.

In the POS terminal 11, when the cashier finishes the registration of the purchased product by the customer and inputs the closing key, the receipt printing process shown in FIG. 13 is executed. In this case, since the member sales record information and the event guide information have been sent from the store computer 12, the purchase receipt 100 having the pattern shown in FIG. 14A is issued. Thereby, the purchase receipt 10
The customer who has received 0 can grasp the contents of the coupon and the service event that are currently being carried out, as well as the total purchase amount that is the sales performance data of the customer up to the previous time. Therefore, the customer's willingness to purchase can be increased from the receipt print information, and sales can be promoted.

In the POS terminal 11,
After the closing key is entered, the sales data of the sales points and the amount of the purchased merchandise are transmitted to the store computer 12 via the LAN 13 together with the card data of the member card 40 of the customer. As a result, in the store computer 12, the member sales history data including the member number and the sales amount data in the card data is stored and stored.

In this way, the member sales history data stored in the store computer 12, that is, the member number and sales amount data of the customer who purchased the product at the store on the current business day, are executed by the head office computer 20 after each store closing. The post-closure process is performed and collected by the headquarters computer 20 via the communication line 30. Then, the sales amount data is accumulated on the member master file 81 for each member number. That is, the sales amount data of each customer who purchased the product at all the chain stores 10A and 10B during the sales aggregation period of the coupon service event is aggregated for each customer. Until the last day before the sales summary period of the coupon service event,
Membership record file 9 for each store on the head office computer 20
2 are created and the corresponding chain stores 10A, 1 respectively
0B is transmitted to the store computer 12. In the store computer 12, member sales record information is created based on the data of the store-specific member record file 92.

In the headquarters computer 20,
In the post-closure process on the last day of the sales aggregation period in the ongoing coupon service event, the sales performance rank of each customer is determined based on the sales performance lower limit data in the coupon service event. For example, if the ongoing coupon service event is the event with the event number "1", the sales performance rank (A) is given to customers whose sales performance data (cumulative purchase amount) is 3000 yen or more and less than 5000 yen. The sales performance rank is determined to be "B" for a customer of 5,000 yen or more and less than 10,000 yen, and the sales performance rank is determined to be "C" for a customer of 10,000 yen or more. Then, a store-specific member rank file 93 is created, and the corresponding chain store 10 is created.
A and 10B are transmitted to the store computer 12.

Thereafter, the ticket issuance period for the ongoing coupon service event occurs, and during this period, when a customer whose sales performance rank has been determined makes a purchase at a store to which the customer has joined, the number of tickets issued according to the customer's sales performance rank Is printed and issued by the printer 54 of the POS terminal 11 using receipt paper. For example, if the ongoing coupon service event is the event with the event number “1” and a customer with a sales performance rank of “B” purchases a product during the ticket issuance period, a ticket of rank “B” is issued. Since the number of sheets is set to three, FIG.
A purchase receipt 110 having the pattern shown in FIG. 3B and a coupon receipt 120 spelled out with three coupons are printed and issued. As a result, the customer who has received the coupon receipt 120 can use the discount coupon to shop at a later date. Further, since the coupon ticketing guidance information 112 is printed on the purchase receipt 110 together with the transaction details information, it is possible to prevent a customer who has received the purchase receipt 110 from forgetting to receive the coupon receipt 120.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when a customer visits a store and purchases a product, a discount coupon can be automatically issued according to the customer's past purchase performance of the product. Compared with the conventional method using e-mail, there is almost no human load, so that labor can be greatly reduced, and the cost can be greatly reduced.

In the above-described embodiment, the coupon issue guide information 112 is printed on the purchase receipt 110.
Even if the display is output on the front display 48 and the customer display 49, the customer and the cashier can be alerted, and the receipt of the coupon receipt 120 can be more reliably prevented from being forgotten.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the sales performance totaling means and the rank determining means are configured in the head office computer 20 and the rank obtaining means and the coupon ticketing control means are configured in the store computer 12. It may be provided in one computer, for example, the store computer 12. By doing so, the coupon issuing system of the present invention can be applied to a single retail store that is not a chain store. In addition, it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0052]

As described in detail above, claims 1 and 2 of the present application are provided.
According to the invention described above, when a customer visits a store and purchases a product, a coupon can be automatically issued according to the customer's past purchase results of the product, and the labor and cost required for issuing the coupon Can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a coupon issuing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing card data of a membership card used in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of the POS terminal according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of the store computer according to the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is an exemplary block diagram showing a main part configuration of a head office computer according to the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a data configuration of a member master file included in the head office computer in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary view showing a data configuration of a coupon master file included in the head office computer in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a C of the head office computer according to the embodiment;
The flowchart which shows the principal part of the post-closing process which PU performs.

FIG. 9 is an exemplary view showing a data configuration of an event information file created by the head office computer in the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an exemplary view showing a data structure of a store member record file created by the head office computer in the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an exemplary view showing a data structure of a store-specific member rank file created by the head office computer in the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a main part of a member inquiry process executed by the CPU of the store computer in the embodiment.

FIG. 13 shows a C of the POS terminal in the embodiment.
5 is a flowchart showing a main part of a receipt printing process executed by a PU.

FIG. 14 is a view showing an example of a print pattern of a receipt printed and issued from a POS terminal in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... POS terminal (accounting terminal) 12 ... Store computer 20 ... Head office computer 40 ... Member card 81 ... Member master file 82 ... Coupon master file 91 ... Event information file 92 ... Store member performance file 93 ... Store member rank file 100 , 110 ... purchase receipt 120 ... coupon receipt

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An accounting terminal comprising customer identification code input means for inputting an identification code of a customer who purchases a product and product registration means for registering a customer's purchased product, and a customer purchase registered at the accounting terminal. A host device that collects and manages the data of the product together with the identification code of the customer who purchased the product via communication means, and the host device summarizes the sales results for each customer based on the data collected from the accounting terminal Means for summarizing sales results, rank determining means for determining and storing sales performance ranks for each customer based on sales performance data totalized for each customer by the sales performance summing means, and input by means of a customer identification code input means of the accounting terminal. Rank acquisition means for acquiring the sales performance rank determined by the rank determination means for the customer identified by the identified identification code; A coupon ticketing control means for transmitting coupon ticketing control data to the transaction terminal via the communication means in accordance with the sales performance rank acquired by a step, wherein the transaction terminal transmits the data from the host device to the communication means. A coupon issuing means for issuing a coupon based on the coupon issuance control data via the coupon issuing system. 2. The host device further comprises a determination unit for determining whether or not a coupon has been issued for the customer identified by the identification code input by the customer identification code input unit of the checkout terminal. 2. The coupon issuance control data is not transmitted to the accounting terminal in response to the request.
The coupon ticketing system described.