JP2006302090A - Customer management system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a customer management system can be commonly used in each of retail stores deploying as a chain store while securing the safety of privilege information of a membership. <P>SOLUTION: A server A111 and a plurality of POS registers 151 and 152 are prepared in a store A11 of a trader who deploys supermarkets as a chain system. A server B121 and a plurality of POS registers 251 and 252 are prepared in a store B12. The servers A111 and B121 perform communication data via an internet 31. The server A111 receives data from the POS registers 151 and 152 in its own store or the server B121 of the other store, and accesses the server B121 connected with a member DB-A112 and an actual store DB-A113 in the own store or a member DB-B122 and an actual store DB-B123 in the store B via the internet 31 on the basis of a destination address of the received data which specifies a receiving address of the data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a customer management system that is used in retail stores and the like, and relates to a customer management system that can be used in common in each retail store that develops a chain.

  Conventionally, when operating a customer management system that gives a member a privilege corresponding to a purchased product at each retail store that develops a chain, privilege information such as points is stored in a member card owned by the member, or at the time of purchase, or In general, a method of updating the privilege information in the membership card when using the privilege is employed.

As described above, as an example of a customer management system in which privilege information is written in or read out from a membership card, and privilege information is stored or used, in Patent Document 1, the fare of a transportation facility such as a taxi and a store are used. A public transportation and store common point card system is disclosed that can increase the ability to attract customers at fixed shops such as taxis and stores by granting the number of reward points to the membership card in common with the purchase amount of Yes.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-206176

  However, in the customer management system as described above, there is a problem that the stored contents of the member card may be tampered with, or the member card is lost and the privilege is lost.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a customer management system that can be used in common in each retail store that develops a chain while ensuring the safety of privilege information of members. It is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention proposes the following means.
The invention according to claim 1 is a customer management system that specifies a member by a customer specifying means carried by a customer and gives a member a privilege according to the purchased product when the purchased product is settled. A store server that stores at least member information of members belonging to the store in each chain-developed store, a checkout device that appropriately reads the member information from the customer specifying means, the checkout device, and a store of each store Based on the communication device for communicably connecting the server and the store identification information read from the customer identification means presented by the customer by the payment device, the payment device and the read store identification information A controller for controlling the communication device for communication of the member information with the store server, wherein the customer specifying means includes at least the member information and Shop server storing the serial member information is characterized by comprising a recording means for recording the shop identification information of the installed shop.
According to the present invention, in a trader who develops a chain of supermarkets or the like, customer privilege information is stored on the store side.

The invention according to claim 2 is the customer management system according to claim 1, wherein the store identification information is URL information of a store server.
According to this invention, the address of the server is uniquely determined on the communication line such as the Internet by the URL information of the server provided in the store.

The invention according to claim 3 is the customer management system according to claim 1, wherein the member information includes store identification information of a store that stores the member information of the member.
According to this invention, the number of digits of the member code is reduced by including the store identification information of the store that stores the member information of the member in the member code.

The invention according to claim 4 is the customer management system according to claim 1, wherein when the member performs settlement, the store performance is totaled by a store server of the store where the settlement is performed, and the member performance Is provided with a totaling control means for transferring to a store server specified by the store identification information read from the customer specifying means.
According to this invention, the store performance is stored in the server installed in the store where the settlement has been performed by the tabulation control means, and the member performance is transferred to the server installed in the store to which the member belongs.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to construct a customer management system with high data safety in a chain expansion of a supermarket or the like.
Compared to installing a large-scale server in one location such as the headquarters and managing all member information collectively by the server, the settlement processing is performed without congesting communication between the server and each store. There is an effect that can be performed smoothly.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 2, even when a store increases, there exists an effect which can eliminate the need to change the address of the other party server of the apparatus used until then.

  According to the invention of claim 3, there is an effect that the number of digits of the member code can be reduced and the total cost of the customer management system can be reduced.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 4, the effect which can further suppress the congestion of the process of the server installed in the shop where a member belongs is obtained.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, the customer management system is composed of a plurality of stores A11, stores B12, and the like, for example, in a trader developing a supermarket chain. The store A11 and the store B12 are connected via the Internet 31 (communication device).

  For example, in store A11, server A111 (store server) (control device), member DB (Data Base) -A112, store performance DB-A113, and PLU (Price Look Up) -DB-A (not shown). ) And POS (Point of Sales) registers 151 and 152 (settlement device) are connected to each other via a LAN (Local Area Network).

  The server A111 is installed in, for example, the store A among the stores that develop the chain, and manages the member information of the member registered as a member in the store A that is the own store and the record information of the store A. The member DB-A 112 stores member data (member information) of members registered as members at the store A. Store performance DB-A113 memorize | stores the sales performance in the store A. FIG. The PLU-DB-A stores product data such as product names and prices. The member data includes a member code, name, address, rank, number of acquired points, and member results.

  The server A 111 includes a WWW (World Wide Web) function unit 114 and a terminal communication unit 115. The terminal communication unit 115 connects the member DB-A 112, the store performance DB-A 113, the WWW function unit 114, and the POS registers 151 and 152 to each other via the LAN. For example, TCP / IP is used as the communication protocol. The WWW function unit 114 connects the POS registers 151 and 152 connected via the terminal communication unit 115 to the Internet 31 in order to communicate with servers at other stores.

  The store B12 has the same configuration as the store A11. In the store B, the server B121 (store server) (control device), member DB-B122, store performance DB-B123, PLU-DB-B (not shown), The POS registers 251 and 252 (accounting device) correspond to the server A111, the member DB-A112, the store performance DB-A113, the PLU-DB-A, and the POS registers 151 and 152 in the store A, respectively. The server B121 installed in the store B has the same configuration as the server A111 installed in the store A. Further, the other stores have the same configuration as the store A11 and the store B12, and the stores are connected to each other via the Internet 31.

  Since the POS registers 151, 152, 251, and 252 all have the same configuration, the POS register 151 will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 2, the POS register 151 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 501 that controls each unit of the POS register 151, and a ROM (CPU) that stores programs for realizing various functions of the POS register 151. Read Only Memory) 502, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 503 that temporarily stores data called for the CPU 501 to operate, a display unit 504 that displays the operating state of the POS register 151, and the POS register 151 The operation unit 505 for performing the operation instruction, the deposit / withdrawal unit 506 for depositing / withdrawing, the barcode reader 507, the card reader 508, and the LAN communication unit 509 are configured. These are connected to each other via a bus line 510.
The RAM 503 stores in advance an address assigned to the server A111 (hereinafter, referred to as the address of the server A111) in order to identify a partner that transmits and receives data in the LAN.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the LAN communication unit 509 is connected to the terminal communication unit 115 via the LAN, and connects the POS register 151 to the Internet 31. The card reader 508 reads a member code from a member card described later. A barcode reader 507 scans a barcode attached to a product and reads product data and the like.

  The POS register in the present embodiment is not limited to the configuration of the POS register 151 described above, and can be connected to a LAN to communicate with an external device and has a function of reading a card such as a membership card. For example, a known POS register may be used.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the member card 41 (customer specifying means) stores a member code 411 in which the first half is a store code 412 (store identification information) and the second half is a serial number 413 assigned to each customer. The membership card 41 is used as a means for proving that the customer is a member, and may be a magnetic card, an IC (Integrated Circuit) card, or a card on which a bar code (hereinafter, recording means) is engraved. .

Next, the operation of the customer management system in this embodiment will be described.
First, each part of the customer management system is powered on, and each part is initialized, and the server A111, member DB-A112, store performance DB-A113, PLU-DB-A, and POS registers 151 and 152 are initialized. Communication with is possible. The server A 111 is connected to the Internet 31 as needed.

Here, the operation of the POS register 151 in the store A will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
First, the store clerk scans the member card 41 with the card reader 508, whereby it is determined whether or not the member code 411 has been read from the member card 41 (step Sa1). If the determination is “NO”, that is, if the member code 411 is not read from the member card 41, the non-member customer is accounted for, and the process proceeds to step Sa2, where the store clerk operates the operation unit 505 and the bar. Product registration and settlement are performed using the code reader 507 and the deposit / withdrawal unit 506. And it is transmitted to server A111 which is the server of the sales record own store (step Sa3). At this time, the CPU 501 designates the server A111 by the address of the server A111 stored in the RAM 503 as a partner to which data (sales record) is transmitted in the LAN. And it returns to step Sa1 and the operation | movement by the following steps is performed.

  On the other hand, if the determination in step Sa1 is “YES”, that is, if the membership code 411 is read from the membership card 41, the customer customer is accounted for, and the process proceeds to step Sa4, where the CPU 501 Based on the store code 412 in the member code 411, an address of the data transmission destination is generated. Next, the member data inquiry command for instructing the member data and the member code 411 read from the member card 41 are transmitted to the server designated by the generated address (step Sa5).

  Next, member data including rank and points is sent to the LAN communication unit 509 from the server to which the inquiry command and the member code 411 are transmitted in step Sa5, and the member data is received by the CPU 501 and predetermined in the RAM 503. It is stored in the area (step Sa6).

  Next, the store clerk performs product registration and payment using the operation unit 505, the barcode reader 507, and the deposit / withdrawal unit 506 (step Sa7). At this time, discounts or points are given according to the ranks and points of the members stored in the RAM 503. Then, the sales record is transmitted to the server A111 (step Sa8).

  Next, the purchase data of the current member, data such as newly granted points or consumed points, and the member code 411 are transmitted to the server specified by the address generated in Step Sa4 (Step S4). Sa9) One transaction ends. And it returns to step Sa1 and the operation | movement by the following steps is performed.

Next, the operation of the server A111 in the store A will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
First, it is determined whether or not the server A 111 has received data from the WWW, that is, an external communication line such as the Internet, by the WWW function unit 114 (step Sb1). If the determination is “YES”, that is, if data is received from the WWW, the process proceeds to step Sb2, and it is determined whether or not the received data includes the member code and the above-described member data inquiry command. (Step Sb2). When the determination is “YES”, that is, when the member data of the member specified by the specific member code is inquired from the outside, the member data of the member specified by the received member code is the member DB-A112. (Step Sb3). Next, the member data read from the member DB-A 112 in step Sb3 is transmitted via the WWW to the POS register 151 that inquired the member data. And it returns to step Sb1 and the operation | movement by the following steps is performed.

On the other hand, if the determination in step Sb2 is “NO”, that is, if data for a purpose other than the inquiry for member data as described above is received, the process proceeds to step Sb5, and the received data is the store performance or member performance. It is determined whether or not actual data and membership data are included. If the determination is “YES”, that is, if the record data and the member data are received, the process proceeds to step Sb6 and the received record data is stored in the corresponding area of the member DB-A 112 based on the received member data. And the points are also counted, and the member's performance is updated with the counting result (step Sb6). And it returns to step Sb1 and the operation | movement by the following steps is performed.
On the other hand, if the determination in step Sb5 is “NO”, that is, no data is received from the WWW, the member code and the above-described member data inquiry command are not included in the received data, When the result data is not included, the process proceeds to step Sb7, and processes other than the processes in steps Sb3 to 6 are performed. And it returns to step Sb1 and the operation | movement by the following steps is performed.

  On the other hand, if the determination in step Sb1 is “NO”, that is, if the received data is not data received from the WWW, the process proceeds to step Sb8 and data is received from the POS register 151 installed in the store. It is determined whether or not it has been done (step Sb8). If the determination is “NO”, that is, if the received data is not the data received from the POS register 151, the process returns to step Sb1 and the following steps are performed.

  On the other hand, if the determination in step Sb8 is “YES”, that is, if data is received from the POS register 151 installed in the store, the process proceeds to step Sb9, where the transmission destination address included in the received data is It is determined whether the address is different from the address assigned to itself. If the determination is “YES”, that is, if the received data is data for a server installed in another store, the process proceeds to step Sb10, and the received data is converted into received data via the WWW. It is designated by the destination address included and transferred to a server installed at another store. And it returns to step Sb1 and the operation | movement by the following steps is performed.

  On the other hand, if the determination in step Sb9 is “NO”, that is, if the received data is data for the server A111 installed in the own store, the process proceeds to step Sb11 and is the same as the process in step Sb2. Then, it is determined whether or not the received data includes the member code and the above-described member data inquiry command. When the determination is “YES”, that is, when the member data of the member designated by the specific member code is inquired from the POS register 151 installed in the own store, the reception is performed in the same manner as the processing in step Sb3. The member data of the member specified by the member code is read from the member DB-A 112 (step Sb12). Next, the member data read from the member DB-A 112 in step Sb12 is transmitted to the POS register 151 (step Sb13). And it returns to step Sb1 and the operation | movement by the following steps is performed.

  On the other hand, if the determination in step Sb11 is “NO”, that is, if data for a purpose other than the inquiry for member data as described above is received, the process proceeds to step Sb14, and reception is performed in the same manner as the process in step Sb5. It is determined whether the processed data includes performance data. If the determination is “YES”, that is, if performance data is received, the process proceeds to step Sb15, and based on the received performance data, the performance data of the corresponding area of the store performance DB-A 113 is aggregated, and the member When the code is included in the received data, based on the received member data, the received performance data is totaled in the corresponding area of the member DB-A 112, and the points are also totaled. (. Then, the process returns to step Sb1, and the following steps are performed.

  On the other hand, if the determination in step Sb14 is “NO”, that is, data is not received from the POS register 151, and the member code and the member data inquiry command described above are not included in the received data. If the actual data is not included, the process proceeds to step Sb16, and processes other than the processes in steps Sb12 to 15 are performed. And it returns to step Sb1 and the operation | movement by the following steps is performed.

According to the above-described embodiment, the merchant developing a chain of supermarkets does not store the customer privilege information by the member DB carried by the customer, but by the member DB on the store side, so that data safety is high. A customer management system can be constructed.
Compared with installing a large-scale server at one location such as the headquarters and managing all member information collectively by the server, the communication between the server and the server of each store is not congested. Processing can be performed smoothly.

  Further, according to the above embodiment, since the member code 411 stored in the member card 41 is composed of the store code 412 and the serial number 413 assigned to each customer, the number of digits of the member code is reduced. Can do.

  In the present invention, the means for proving that the customer is a member is not limited to the membership card, but can be carried by the customer, such as a mobile phone with a non-contact IC chip, and the membership code and the store identification information are Any device that can store and read data can be used.

In addition to the store code, URL (Uniform Resource Locator) URL data of a homepage provided in the store server and capable of accessing member data is used as store identification information stored in the customer identification means and stored in the customer identification means. May be. As a result, even when the number of stores increases, it is possible to eliminate the need to change the address of the counterpart server of the device used so far. In this case, it is better to store the URL and the member code separately.
The information only needs to be used for specifying the server, and the server identification code may be used.

The server A111 connected to the POS registers 151 and 152 is not limited to the one having a router function inside, and a router (aggregation control means) may be provided separately outside.
In this case, the router is not limited to the control that the POS registers 151 and 152 separate the transmission destinations of the member results and the store results, and may perform the following control. That is, the store identification information read by the POS registers 151 and 152, the membership code, and the results including the processed points are transmitted to the server A111 in the same store, and the server A111 is based on the received store identification information. If it is addressed data, it is aggregated and updated in its own member DB-A112 and store performance DB-A113. The member data may be transferred to another server as a destination. The store results may include results other than the member results, such as departments, single product results, and the like.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was explained in full detail with reference to drawings, the concrete structure is not restricted to this embodiment, The design change in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention is also included.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the customer management system in one Embodiment of this invention. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a POS (Point Of Sales) register in the embodiment. FIG. It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the membership card in the embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the POS register | resistor in the embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the server in the store in the embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Store A, 12 ... Store B, 31 ... Internet (communication device), 41 ... Member card (customer specifying means), 111 ... Server A (store server) (control device) 112 ... Member DB (Data Base) -A, 113 ... Store performance DB-A, 114 ... World Wide Web (WWW) functional unit (communication device), 115 ... Terminal communication unit, 121 ... Server B (store server) (control device), 122 ... Member DB-B, 123 ... Store performance DB-B, 151, 152, 251, 252 ... POS (Point of Sales) register (Checkout device), 411 ... member code, 412 ... store code (store identification information), 413 ... serial number, 501 ... CPU (Central Processing Unit), 502 ... ROM (Read Only) Memory), 503... RAM (Ran dom access memory), 504... display unit, 505 .. operation unit, 506 .. deposit / withdrawal unit, 507 .. bar code reader, 508 .. card reader, 509. Network) Communication unit, 510 ... Bus line

Claims (4)

A customer management system for identifying a member by a customer identification means carried by a customer and granting a member a privilege corresponding to the purchased product when paying for the purchased product,
A store server for storing member information of members belonging to at least one store in each chain-deployed store,
A checkout device for appropriately reading the member code assigned to the member from the customer specifying means;
A communication device that connects the settlement device and a store server of each store so that they can communicate with each other;
Communication of the member code between the settlement apparatus and the store server identified by the read store identification information based on the store identification information read from the customer identification means presented by the customer by the settlement apparatus A control device for controlling the communication device;
With
The customer specifying means comprises recording means for recording store identification information of a store where a store server storing at least the member information and the member information is installed.
A customer management system characterized by that.   The customer management system according to claim 1, wherein the store identification information is URL information of the store server.   The customer management system according to claim 1, wherein the member code includes store identification information of a store that stores the member code of the member. When the member performs settlement, the store performance is totaled by the store server of the store where the settlement is performed, and the member performance is transferred to the store server specified by the store identification information read from the customer specifying means. The customer management system according to claim 1, further comprising: a totaling control unit that

Images