JP2006318163A - Point service system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a point service system for promoting a customer who has visited a store, and purchased merchandise to visit the store again, and for promoting a new customer to visit the store at the same time. <P>SOLUTION: A point service system 100 is provided with a POS register 10 installed in a store and a management server 20 connected to the POS register. Personal information and the number of points for customers registered as members and personal information and the number of points for the other customers are stored so as to be associated with each other in the management server. The POS register issues a receipt on which a point number associated with the applied number of points is written, and transmits the number of points and the point number to the management server. When an electronic mail on which the point number is written is transmitted, the management server adds a portion of the applied number of points to the number of points of the customer, and adds the residual portion of the applied number of points to the number of points of the other customers. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a point service system that issues a point number according to the purchase price of a product purchased by a customer at a store and provides a predetermined privilege service such as a discount on the product according to the number of points. The present invention relates to a point service system capable of effectively promoting sales of products by not only revisiting customers who have purchased products but also encouraging new customers to visit the store.

  Conventionally, as part of customer service, for customers who purchased products at stores, the number of points according to the purchase price was issued, and discounts on products were acquired according to the number of points acquired by the customer, or the accumulated amount acquired There is known a point service system that provides a privilege service that presents a specific product when the number of points exceeds a certain value. Such a point service system is expected to provide customers with privilege services according to the number of points, thereby incentivizing customers to purchase and keeping the customer as a regular customer.

  Here, conventionally, as means for issuing points, for example, the number of service tickets corresponding to the purchase price is distributed, a paper card given to the customer is stamped according to the purchase price, or a magnetic card It is known to store the number of points according to the purchase price.

Recently, with the explosive spread of mobile phones, various systems that use mobile phones as alternative means for membership cards made of paper cards and magnetic cards have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2004-356676 A

  However, the point service system that has been proposed in the past is focused on encouraging the customer to return to the store by giving points to the customer who purchased the product by visiting the store. There is a problem that it is not considered much about urging visitors. In other words, the points acquired by the customer can be used when the customer visits the store next time, and although the effect of prompting the customer to revisit is obtained, the new customer visits the store and purchases the product. Since the benefits of giving points cannot be obtained unless the customer is purchased, there is a problem that the new customer cannot be particularly encouraged to visit the store for the first time.

  For example, Patent Document 1 describes that the number of points is given to other point members (claim 5 of Patent Document 1). However, the present of the number of points from one customer (point member) to another customer (other point member) is executed for the first time when one customer inputs the mobile phone number and the number of present points of the other customer. (Patent Document 1, page 3, paragraph 0011, etc.) and depends on the intention of one customer. In other words, if one customer does not want the present of the number of points to another customer, the present of the number of points to the other customer is not executed, and the other customer's visit (especially the first visit) is encouraged. It is not possible.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem of the prior art, and not only encourages the re-visit of customers who have visited the store and purchased the product, but also promoted the sales of the product by encouraging new customers to visit the store. It is an object of the present invention to provide a point service system capable of effectively promoting the above.

  In order to solve such a problem, the present invention includes a POS (Point Of Sale) register installed in a store and a management server connected to the POS register, as described in claim 1. A point service system provided, wherein the management server includes personal information including at least an email address and a personal identification number for the customer registered as a member, the number of points acquired by the customer, and other information registered by the customer. Personal information including at least an e-mail address for the customer and the number of points acquired by the other customer are stored in association with each other, and the POS register stores the number of points corresponding to the purchase price of the product purchased by the customer. Is issued, and at least a receipt describing a point number associated with the calculated number of points is issued, and The number of points and the point number associated with the number of points are transmitted to the management server, and an email describing the point number is transmitted from the client terminal of the customer to the management server with the customer's email address as the transmission source. Thus, the management server updates and stores a part of the number of points associated with the transmitted point number to the number of points acquired by the customer stored in association with the e-mail address of the transmission source. And adding the remaining part of the number of points associated with the transmitted point number to the number of points acquired by other customers stored in association with the sender's e-mail address, By entering the customer's PIN and the number of points used by the customer into the POS register, Management server is to provide a point service system characterized by subtracting to update stored points described above using a number of points acquired of the customer stored in association with the personal identification number.

  According to such an invention, the management server not only stores the personal information about the customer registered as a member and the number of points acquired by the customer, but also stores information about other customers registered by the customer. Personal information and the number of points acquired by the other customer are stored in association with each other (immediately after the customer registers as a member, the number of points acquired by the customer and other customers is stored as 0). Then, the number of points according to the purchase price of the product purchased by the customer is given by the POS register (a receipt describing the point number associated with the number of points according to the purchase price), a part of which is It is added to the number of points acquired by the customer, and the remaining part is added to the number of points acquired by the other customer and is updated and stored in the management server. That is, a part of the points acquired by the customer is forcibly given to other customers regardless of the intention of the customer. Therefore, according to the point service system according to the present invention, not only the customer who visits the store and purchases the product, but also encourages the visit of another customer (new customer) to whom the points are given. It is possible to effectively promote the sale of goods.

  In the point service system according to the present invention, in order to execute customer membership registration (storage of personal information about the customer and other customers registered by the customer in the management server), for example, from the client terminal of the customer Access to a predetermined member registration web page provided by the management server, enter personal information of the customer including at least an e-mail address and a personal identification number, and other customers that the customer desires to register (for example, the customer) It is sufficient to configure such that the input information is stored in the management server in association with each other by inputting at least an e-mail address of a friend or relative of the user. In addition, as a client terminal of a customer, a mobile phone having an e-mail transmission / reception function can be preferably used. In addition to the number composed of alphanumeric characters having a predetermined number of digits, the point number (and e-mail address) represented by a two-dimensional barcode such as a QR code as the point number described on the receipt It is also possible to adopt. When the point number is composed of alphanumeric characters, etc., it is necessary to visually read the number and enter it in the e-mail, whereas the point number (and e-mail address) is expressed in a two-dimensional barcode For example, since it is only necessary to read the image of the two-dimensional barcode with a camera and a mobile phone equipped with a two-dimensional barcode reading function and send an e-mail, it is not only convenient but also has a point number and an e-mail. It is also preferable in that an address input mistake can be prevented. Furthermore, the phrase “product” in the present invention is used as a broad concept including not only products sold at stores but also services received at stores.

  Here, conventionally, in order to encourage customers who have given points to revisit early, a predetermined expiration date that can be used for the granted points is established, and if used within the expiration date, the expiration date is set for the remaining points. There is a case where the operation of extending is adopted. However, since the expiration date provided in the past is not extended unless the customer to whom the points are given is used, the points given to customers who could not come to the store within the expiration date for various reasons become invalid. As a result, there is a concern that the customer's willingness to visit the store will no longer be able to obtain the privilege service. On the other hand, if no expiration date is set, early revisiting cannot be effectively promoted.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, as described in claim 2 of the claims, the management server includes the number of points acquired by the customer and the number of points acquired by the other customer, respectively. The expiration date that can be used according to the acquisition date of the other customer is stored, and from the client terminal of the other customer registered as a member, the email address of the other customer is used as the transmission source of the product purchased by the other customer. By sending an e-mail describing the point number associated with the number of points calculated according to the purchase price to the management server, the management server stores other information stored in association with the e-mail address of the transmission source. The customer's point number of the customer's point of validity is updated and stored, and the customer's stored in association with the other customer's email address is stored. Preferably arranged to expire even extend to updating and storing for Into number.

  According to such a preferable configuration, the number of points calculated according to the purchase price of the product purchased by the other customer from the client terminal of the other customer registered as a member, using the email address of the other customer as the transmission source By sending an e-mail describing the point number associated with the e-mail to the management server, not only the expiration date for the number of points of other customers but also the customer's e-mail address stored in association with the e-mail address of the other customer The expiration date for the number of points is also extended and stored. That is, even if the customer does not use the point within the expiration date, the expiration date is extended for the customer's point as long as the other customer associated with the customer uses the point. . Therefore, if the customer himself / herself does not use the points within the expiration date, the customer's willingness to visit the store is less likely to be lower than when the customer's points are uniformly invalidated, and the points acquired by the customer are invalid. It can be expected that the customer asks the other customer to visit the store on his / her own and use the points instead. For the store side, since the expiration date is extended in exchange for the visit of another customer (use of points), the profit of the visit of the other customer is obtained, and there is no early revisit of the customer himself / herself Both have the advantage of not causing any significant disadvantage.

  According to the point service system of the present invention, it is possible not only to revisit a customer who has visited a store and purchased a product, but also to encourage another customer who has been given points to visit the store. Can be promoted.

  Hereinafter, a point service system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a point service system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the point service system 100 according to the present embodiment uses a POS register 10 installed in each of a plurality of stores A to X, and an telecommunications line (in addition to a dedicated line, the Internet is used for the POS register 10). And a management server 20 connected via N1. In the present embodiment, each POS register 10 installed in each of a plurality of stores A to X is connected to the management server 20, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a single A single POS register 10 installed in a store or a plurality of POS registers 10 installed in a single store may be connected to the management server 20.

  In the management server 20, through the member registration procedure described later, personal information including at least an e-mail address and a password for the customer registered as a member, the number of points acquired by the customer, and the customer registered Personal information including at least an e-mail address for another customer and the number of points acquired by the other customer are stored in association with each other.

  Hereinafter, the procedure of the customer member registration procedure in the point service system 100 according to the present embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, each store A to X has a member recruitment pamphlet in which an e-mail address for member registration is described, together with an explanation describing the procedure for member registration, benefits that can be obtained by the member, and the like. . When a customer who has read the pamphlet (hereinafter referred to as “customer A” as appropriate) desires to register as a member, the mobile terminal carried by the customer A (in this embodiment, a mobile phone capable of sending and receiving e-mails) T By sending a so-called blank mail to the e-mail address described in the pamphlet, the blank mail is transmitted to the management server 20 via the telecommunication line (Internet) N2. The management server 20 described the URL for accessing a predetermined member registration web page provided by the management server 20 for the e-mail address of the empty mail transmission source by receiving the empty mail. Reply to email. The customer A receives the e-mail transmitted from the management server 20 at the mobile terminal T, and clicks the URL described in the e-mail, whereby the member registration web page is displayed on the mobile terminal T. . The web page contains personal information including at least the customer's e-mail address and the personal identification number selected by the customer, and other customers that the customer wishes to register (hereinafter referred to as “customer ii” as appropriate). An input field for inputting personal information including at least an e-mail address is provided. The customer A enters the personal information of the customer A and the customer B's personal information in the input field, and the individual information thus entered and the number of points acquired by the customer A and the customer B (points at the time of membership registration) Are stored in the management server 20 in association with each other. As described above, membership registration of the customer A (storage of personal information about the customer A and other customer B registered by the customer A in the management server 20) is performed.

  In addition, as personal information of the customer A stored in the management server 20, each store AX, such as a mobile phone number, address, name, gender, age, occupation, etc., in addition to an e-mail address and a personal identification number, promotes sales of products. It is possible to appropriately select customer information necessary for achieving this, and an entry field corresponding to each information may be provided on the member registration web page. Further, when the customer B has already performed the membership registration procedure during the membership registration process of the customer A (when the personal information of the customer B is already stored in the management server 20), the member of the customer A Based on the customer's email address entered during the registration procedure, the customer's personal information stored in the management server 20 is searched, and the customer's personal information extracted by the search and the customer's personal information The personal information of the customer A input by the member registration procedure is associated with each other and stored in the management server 20. On the other hand, if Customer B has not yet completed the membership registration process during Customer A's membership registration process, as described above, Customer A's personal information and Customer B's personal information entered by Customer A ( At least the customer's email address) is associated and stored in the management server 20, while the management server 20 is configured to send an email prompting the member registration procedure to the customer's email address. It is preferable. Then, the customer B who has received the e-mail performs the same member registration procedure as that of the customer A, so that the personal information of the customer B other than the e-mail address (password, mobile phone number, address, name, The sex, age, occupation, etc.) are also stored in the management server 20 in association with the personal information of the customer A.

  In the present embodiment, the URL for accessing the member registration web page provided by the management server 20 by sending a blank mail to the e-mail address described in the pamphlet during the member registration procedure of the customer A However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the URL for accessing the member registration web page is described in a pamphlet, and the mobile terminal T It is also possible to adopt a configuration that directly accesses a web page. Alternatively, a two-dimensional barcode such as a QR code representing a URL for accessing a member registration web page is described in a pamphlet, and a portable terminal T having a camera and a two-dimensional barcode reading function is used. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the member registration web page is accessed by reading the image of the two-dimensional barcode.

  When the customer A executes the member registration procedure as described above, the management server 20 creates a member web page dedicated to the customer A. Such member web pages include a history of points granted to customer A (dates when points were granted, points given on each date, total points acquired to date, etc.) The e-mail address etc. of customer B registered by Party A is described. The customer's e-mail address is sent with an e-mail describing the URL of the member's web page dedicated to customer A, and customer A accesses the URL as necessary, It is possible to browse.

  After the customer A executes the membership registration procedure, the POS register 10 calculates the number of points according to the purchase price of the product purchased by the customer A, and at least a receipt describing the point number associated with the calculated number of points. The point number and the point number associated with the point number are transmitted to the management server 20 via the telecommunication line N1. Then, the management server 20 stores the transmitted point number and the point number in association with each other.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a receipt 11 issued by the POS register 10 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the receipt 11 according to the present embodiment displays a breakdown of the products purchased by the customer A at the store (in the example shown in FIG. 2, food and drink at the store) and the purchase price (price). 11A and the number of points corresponding to the purchase price of the product purchased by the customer A (in this embodiment, 10% of the purchase price is given as points, in the example shown in FIG. Of the purchase amount of 1000 yen, 100 is the number of points according to the purchase amount), and the number of points given to the customer A is displayed (in the example shown in FIG. 2, “Currently acquired coupon 80” is displayed) ) And an e-mail address for applying (adding to the number of points of customer A stored in the management server 20) the number of points given to customer A is displayed (in the example shown in FIG. Coupon application cou Display field 11C displayed as “@ fight.co.jp” and a point number associated with the number of points given to the customer A are displayed (in the example shown in FIG. 2, “coupon number TEA12345678” is displayed. "" Means a store name, "12345678" means a random number), a display field 11E displaying the e-mail address and the point number in a QR code, and a member registration procedure. There is provided a display field 11F displaying a URL for accessing a predetermined web page provided by the management server 20 in order to change the personal information of the customer A registered at the time or to cancel the membership registration. .

  The customer A who sees the receipt 11 transmits an e-mail describing the point number displayed in the display column 11D of the receipt 11 from the portable terminal T to the e-mail address displayed in the display column 11C, thereby An e-mail describing the point number is sent to the management server 20 with the e-mail address as the sender. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of the mobile terminal T that transmits an e-mail. As shown in FIG. 3, in the present embodiment, the e-mail address (cou@fight.co.jp) displayed in the display field 11C of the receipt 11 is input to the e-mail transmission destination field T1, and the e-mail address. The point number (TEA12345678) displayed in the display column 11D of the receipt 11 is input to the subject column T2, and the text input column T3 is configured to transmit a blank e-mail. If the customer's mobile terminal T has a camera and QR code reading function, the mobile phone T can also read the QR code displayed in the display field 11E of the receipt 11 to send an e-mail address field. The e-mail address is automatically input to T1 and the point number is automatically input to the subject field T2, and an e-mail having the same contents as described above is transmitted to the management server 20.

  The management server 20 adds the e-mail to the number of points acquired by the customer A stored in association with the e-mail address of the transmission source (e-mail address of the customer A) during the above-described membership registration process of the customer A. A part of the number of points associated with the point number transmitted by is added and updated and stored. In other words, the management server 20 extracts the same point number as the point number transmitted by the electronic mail from the portable terminal T from the point numbers transmitted and stored from the POS register 10 as described above, The number of points stored in association with the extracted point number is extracted. Then, the management server 20 adds a part (80% in this embodiment) of the extracted points to the points acquired by the customer A stored in the management server 10 and updates and stores them. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the number of points corresponding to the purchase price of the product purchased by the customer A at the store is 100, and 80%, which is 80%, is added to the number of points acquired by the customer A. Will be.

  On the other hand, as described above, the management server 20 associates the point number acquired by the customer B stored in association with the sender's email address (customer's email address) in association with the transmitted point number. The remaining part of the remaining number of points (20 points in the example shown in FIG. 2) is added and updated and stored.

  As described above, according to the point service system 100 according to the present embodiment, a part of the points acquired by the customer A is forcibly given to the customer B regardless of the intention of the customer A. Become. Therefore, it is possible not only to encourage the visitor who visited the store to purchase the product, but also to encourage the visitor of the customer to whom the points are given, and to effectively promote the sale of the product. .

  In the present embodiment, the management server 20 gives points to the customer A and the email addresses of the customer A and B in order to notify the customer A and the customer B that points have been granted and to encourage the customers to visit the store. An e-mail notifying that it has been received (the e-mail of the customer B is also notified that a part of the points has been given from the customer A) is transmitted.

  When using the points acquired by the customer A, the PIN number of the customer A and the number of points to be used by the customer A are input to the POS register 10. In the present embodiment, the telephone number of the mobile terminal T of the customer A is also input in order to reliably authenticate the customer A who wants to use the points. Note that the customer's personal identification number and the phone number of the portable terminal T are input to the POS register 10 by, for example, pressing a predetermined numeric keypad (not shown) installed at a position separated from the POS register 10. If it comprises, it is preferable at the point which the confidentiality of each said number (especially PIN code) improves. Further, the number of points that the customer A wants to use may be input by pressing the key provided in the POS register 10 with the number of points that the store clerk has heard through verbal exchange with the customer A. Alternatively, by pressing a predetermined button on the touch panel installed at a position separated from the POS register 10, the customer's PIN code and the mobile terminal T's telephone number and the customer's point number to be used are input. It is also possible to configure such that the input information is transmitted to the POS register 10.

  The customer's PIN code and the mobile terminal T's telephone number input to the POS register 10 as described above are transmitted to the management server 20 and stored in the management server 20 when the customer registers as a member as described above. If it matches any one of the combination of the personal identification number and the mobile phone number, the customer A is authenticated as a regular member. Then, the management server 20 obtains the number of points acquired by the customer A stored in association with the PIN number of the customer A, which is input to the POS register 10 and transmitted to the management server 20. Subtract from and update and store. As described above, the customer A can use the acquired points, and the number of points stored in the management server 20 is subtracted by the amount used. The same applies when using points acquired by Customer B (however, Customer B must register as a member in order to use points acquired by Customer B). In the present embodiment, the telephone number of the mobile terminal T of the customer A is also input in order to reliably authenticate the customer A who intends to use the points. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, it is possible to authenticate the customer A by entering only the PIN number of the customer A. That is, if the entered password matches any of the passwords stored in the management server 20, a configuration may be adopted in which the customer A is authenticated as a regular member.

  Note that the point service system 100 according to the present embodiment has the following configuration as a preferable configuration. In other words, the management server 20 stores usable expiration dates corresponding to the respective acquisition dates for the number of points acquired by the customer A and the number of points acquired by the other customer B. Then, an electronic device in which a point number associated with the number of points calculated according to the purchase price of the product purchased by the customer B is transmitted from the customer B's mobile terminal T registered as a member is sent from the customer B's email address. By sending the mail to the management server 20, the management server 20 extends the expiration date for the number of points of the customer B stored in association with the sender's email address (customer B's email address). In addition to updating and storing, the expiration date of the number of points of the customer A stored in association with the customer's e-mail address is also extended and stored.

  According to such a preferable configuration, even if the customer A does not use the points within the expiration date, the expiration date is extended for the customer A's points as long as the customer B associated with the customer A uses the points. Will be. Therefore, the customer's motivation to visit the store is less likely to be lower than the case where the customer's points are invalidated uniformly by not using the points within the expiration date, and the points acquired by the customer are invalid. In order to prevent this, a case where the customer A asks the customer B to visit the store instead of himself and use the points can be expected. For the store side, since the expiration date is extended in exchange for the visit of the customer B (use of points), the benefit of the visit of the customer B is obtained, and even without the customer's own early revisit There is an advantage that no disadvantage occurs.

  In the point service system 100 described above, when the personal information of the customer A registered as a member is changed or the member registration is canceled, it is described in the display column 11F (see FIG. 2) of the receipt 11 described above. It is only necessary to access the web page with the URL and input the change contents of the personal information on the web page or press the member registration release button.

  In addition, other customers that can be registered when the customer is registered as a member are not limited to individuals such as friends and relatives of the customer, but for example, charitable organizations such as “UNICEF” and “Japanese Red Cross” Can be registered as a customer. That is, if the e-mail address or the like of the charitable business organization is registered as the personal information of the customer B, it is possible to give a part of the number of points given by the customer A to the customer B by purchasing the product. As a result, each time the customer purchases a product, he / she donates a certain point to the charity so that he can enjoy the role of charity. We can expect motivation to increase. In addition, as described above, an email notifying that a part of the points has been granted from the customer A is sent to the customer's email address. It can also be expected that a thank-you email will be sent (or it can be configured to send a thank-you email to the customer back from the management server 20 instead of the customer B). As a result, it is expected that the customer's willingness to purchase will further increase.

  In the point service system 100 according to the present embodiment, the number of other customers that can be registered when the customer A registers as a member is not limited to one (or one group), and a plurality of other customers can be registered. It is also possible to do.

  Further, other customers registered when the customer B registers as a member are not limited to the customer A at all. That is, it is possible to register another customer B when the customer A registers as a member, while registering another customer B different from the customer A when the customer B registers as a member. By allowing such registration, it is expected that the number of customers who use the point service system 100 is increased, and as a result, sales of products can be effectively promoted.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a point service system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a receipt issued by the POS register shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of the mobile terminal shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... POS register 11 ... Receipt 20 ... Management server 100 ... Point service system N1, N2 ... Telecommunications line

Claims (2)

A point service system comprising a POS register installed in a store and a management server connected to the POS register,
The management server includes personal information including at least an e-mail address and a password for a customer registered as a member, the number of points acquired by the customer, and at least an e-mail address for other customers registered by the customer. The personal information it contains and the number of points acquired by other customers
The POS register calculates the number of points according to the purchase price of the product purchased by the customer, issues a receipt describing at least the point number associated with the calculated number of points, and also calculates the number of points and the number of points Sending the point number associated with to the management server,
By transmitting an email describing the point number from the customer's client terminal as the transmission source to the management server, the management server is stored in association with the email address of the transmission source. A part of the number of points associated with the transmitted point number is added to the number of points acquired by the customer and updated and stored, and another customer stored in association with the e-mail address of the transmission source is acquired. Adding the remaining part of the number of points associated with the transmitted point number to the updated number of points,
By inputting the customer's password and the number of points used by the customer into the POS register, the management server subtracts the used points from the customer's acquired points stored in association with the password. The point service system is characterized in that it is updated and stored. In the management server, for the number of points acquired by the customer and the number of points acquired by the other customer, a usable expiration date according to each acquisition date is stored,
The point number associated with the point number calculated according to the purchase price of the product purchased by the other customer from the client terminal of the other customer registered as a member as the transmission source of the email address of the other customer By transmitting the described e-mail to the management server, the management server updates and stores an expiration date for the number of points of other customers stored in association with the e-mail address of the transmission source 2. The point service system according to claim 1, wherein an expiration date for the number of customer points stored in association with the email address of the other customer is also extended and stored.

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