JP2008217200A - Accounting system for store and accounting method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an accounting system and method for a store for efficiently performing the order reception and accounting processing of merchandise in a store such as a restaurant. <P>SOLUTION: This accounting system for a store is provided with a sensor 20 in the neighborhood of a table 22 where a customer in a store is seated, and the "order reception state" or "accounting state" of the customer is detected by a sensor 20 with the periphery of the table 22 as a monitor area 21 so that accounting processing can be efficiently, quickly and correctly performed by a POS 40. The transition of the "order reception state" to "accounting state" of the customer is performed according to the movement of the customer himself or herself or a sensor correspondence slip 41 carried by the customer from a table 22 to a register side. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an accounting system and an accounting method, and more particularly, to an in-store accounting system and an accounting method that perform quick and efficient accounting processing by using a sensor provided for each table in a store such as a restaurant or a pub.

  In restaurants (stores) such as restaurants and taverns, of course, the food and drinks provided to customers are of good quality, reasonable prices, and good location conditions. Services such as speed of service are a major factor in success. In other words, promptly responding to customers, providing food and drinks desired in a timely manner, and performing accounting processing promptly and definitely after eating and drinking. As a result, customer repeatability can be expected.

  In a conventional general accounting process in such a restaurant, a process for actually performing the accounting process is artificially performed, and there is a possibility that a human error occurs. Further, in many restaurants, employees respond to customers for management efficiency and other reasons, so it may take time to respond, causing customers to wait.

  Furthermore, when an unskilled employee performs a table order operation of a customer, the customer must wait for the employee's response because he / she does not understand the operation method or is unfamiliar. There was a problem of increasing.

  Several techniques for improving work efficiency in such restaurants and the like have been disclosed. Equipped with sensors that detect customer entry / exit, seat sensors that detect customer seating / leaving, customer contact information switch, seat information input switch, and customer seat information output device for efficient management A store system is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1). In addition, the payment amount of the customer's seat unit provided in the seat where the customer can be seated, the IC chip built in the dish of the product selected by the customer, and the product selected by the customer for each seat. A store system including an information management server to be calculated, and a terminal and a server device used therefor are disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 2). Further, product data is stored in the IC medium of the product dish, the product dish selected by the customer is read by a reading sensor provided in the vicinity of the seat, and the price is displayed on the charge display unit in front of the seat. A management method, a product tray management device, and the like are disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 3).

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-63009 (page 6-7, FIG. 1) JP 2006-139549 A (page 16, FIG. 1) Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 10-234553 (page 3, FIG. 1)

  In the conventional accounting system, since the employee checks the status of multiple tables in the store and the customer's behavior and manages it by performing input operations etc., many employees are required and the work of the employees In particular, troubles due to input mistakes and the like may occur and the customer may not be able to respond quickly. Therefore, there is a possibility that the management efficiency of the store is poor and sufficient satisfaction cannot be given to the customer.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the prior art. By managing the states of a plurality of tables in a store on the POS side, the store accounting system and the accounting can solve or reduce such problems. It aims to provide a method.

  The store accounting system and accounting method of the present invention employ the following characteristic configuration.

(1) In a store accounting system that performs accounting for customers who have ordered products at a table in a store including restaurants and taverns at a POS on the cash register side,
A store accounting system that includes a sensor that uses each table as a monitoring area, detects the movement of a customer from the table to the cash register, and sets the POS in an accounting state to perform accounting processing.
(2) The accounting process is performed based on a sensor correspondence slip communicable with the sensor, and the store accounting according to (1) is shifted to the accounting state by the movement of the customer holding the sensor correspondence slip from the table. system.
(3) The store accounting system according to (1) or (2), wherein the sensor and the POS are connected by a LAN, and the vacant seat state, the order receiving state, and the accounting state of the table are managed by the POS.
(4) The store accounting system according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein a table order terminal including a sensor and a sensor monitoring unit is used.
(5) Store accounting in which customers are guided to vacant tables among a plurality of tables provided in stores including restaurants and taverns, and the accounting processing of products ordered by the customers is accounted for at the POS on the cash register side In the method
Monitoring customers of each table by a sensor having a monitoring area around each table;
Managing the table in the POS on the cashier side as an order received state and an empty seat state depending on the presence or absence of a customer,
Detecting a movement of the customer in the order receipt table from the table to the cashier;
A store accounting method comprising the step of accounting at the POS with the customer table moved to the cashier side as an accounting state.
(6) The store accounting method according to (5), wherein the movement of the customer to the cashier side is detected by a sensor-compatible slip that communicates with a sensor provided in the table.
(7) The store accounting method according to the above (5), wherein the monitoring by the sensor is performed by a sensor monitoring unit provided in a table order terminal.

  According to the store accounting system and the accounting method of the present invention, there are the following practical effects. That is, the vacant seat state, the order receipt state, and the accounting state of each table in the store can be managed on the POS side by the sensor, so that customer service can be performed quickly and efficiently with a small number of employees. In addition, since it is possible to automatically determine the movement of customers from the table to the cashier side, when a customer takes an action for accounting, this action can be automatically detected and the accounting process can be started. It eliminates the dissatisfaction caused by the extra work of the staff, human error, and the work delay and difficulty of operation. Furthermore, it is possible to realize a store accounting system and accounting method having a function capable of eliminating dissatisfaction and operation mistakes by preventing the customer from performing the operation. Further, by adopting the sensor-compatible slip, quick and accurate accounting work can be performed with a small number of personnel.

  Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of a preferred embodiment of a store accounting system and accounting method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  First, FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing a configuration of a preferred embodiment of a store accounting system according to the present invention.

  The store accounting system 10 of the present invention includes a plurality of sensors 20a provided at a plurality of locations (hereinafter collectively referred to as a table) such as tables and counters prepared so that customers can sit and eat. 20b, a LAN (local area network) 30 connected to the plurality of sensors 20a to 20n, and a POS (Point of Sales) terminal 40 connected to the LAN 30.

  Each sensor 20a-20n has monitoring area 21a-21n which covers each table where a customer can sit. Then, it can be monitored by the sensors 20a to 20n whether the customer is seated or vacant in each table. In the specific example of the store accounting system shown in FIG. 1, customers A and C are seated at a table provided with sensors 20a and 20c, and the table of sensor 20b is empty.

  As described above, by installing the proximity sensor 20 for each table in a store such as a restaurant or a pub, the customer state is monitored by the sensor 20 having the vicinity of each table as the monitoring area 21. The sensor 20 is constantly monitoring (sensing) the monitoring area 21, and is configured so that the position of the customer in the monitoring area 21 can be grasped.

  On the other hand, the POS 40 on the upper side constantly monitors the status of each table via the in-store LAN 30. The customer data managed by the POS 40 can be automatically changed by determining the state of the sensor 20. That is, as will be described later, the customer data is managed by the status in the host POS 40, and when the table is vacant, “vacant seat state”, when the customer of the table is seated and accepts an order, “order received state”, customer When accounting after eating and drinking, it manages as “accounting state”.

  When the customer visits the restaurant, the employee is guided to the “vacant seat” table by the employee. At this time, the sensor 20 provided on the table has a reaction and monitors which customer is seated on which table.

  Next, the operation of the store accounting system 10 according to the present invention shown in FIG. 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation when a customer who visits a restaurant or the like sits down at a table. On the other hand, FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation when the customer leaves the table after eating or drinking.

  That is, the operation by the store accounting system 10 of the present invention has two operation patterns when the customer is “seating” and “seating”. First, the former case will be described with reference to FIG. When seated, the sensor 20 installed on the allocated table grasps the customer's condition (number of people in the area). If there are no customers, the table is empty (step A1). Whether or not there are new customers coming to the store is monitored and judged (step A2). When the customer is seated at the table, the corresponding data table in the POS 40 is changed from the “vacant seat state” to the “order receiving state”, and the information of the corresponding sensor 20 is managed by the POS 40 one by one.

  When a customer visits a new store, the sensor information in each table is updated and the information is registered in the POS 40 (step A3). The data status in the POS 40 is searched to search for a vacant seat table (step A4). If there is no vacant table, the customer is waited for and guided (step A5). On the other hand, if there is a vacant table, the customer is guided to the table, and the sensor 20 automatically senses that there is a customer in the vacant table area and changes the table to “order received”. Wait for customer orders (steps A6 and A7).

  Next, the operation at the time of leaving the seat will be described with reference to FIG. If there is a customer around the table based on information from the sensor 20, the process is always in the order received state (step B1). Then, the customer status of the corresponding table is monitored by the sensor 20 (steps B2 and B3). If it is detected that there is no longer a customer A who has been in the sensor monitoring area, the information is notified to the host POS 40 using the LAN 30. When the host POS 40 senses that the customer A is no longer in the area, the sensor information around the POS 40 is confirmed based on the information (step B4).

  That is, the host POS 40 side searches for the customer A by the sensor on the POS 40 side, and determines whether or not it has moved to the vicinity of the POS 40 on the cash register side (step B5). If it can be confirmed that the customer A has moved to the cashier side, it is determined that the customer A is in a state of accounting. For this reason, the data status of the POS 40 is updated (step B6) and changed from “order received” to “accounting state” (step B7). Thereby, smooth accounting of restaurants is performed.

  In addition, it is preferable that an IC tag is incorporated into the sensor correspondence slip 41 created according to the customer's order to form a sensor correspondence slip 41 that can be detected by the sensor, and the tag of the sensor correspondence slip 41 can be monitored by the POS 40 sensor. . By adopting this sensor correspondence slip 41, it becomes possible to more accurately monitor and detect the state of a specific customer.

  Next, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship among the sensor 20, the monitoring area 21, the table 22, and the sensor correspondence slip 41 described above in FIG. As shown by arrows in FIG. 4, the sensor 20 provided in each table 22 is configured to be able to periodically communicate with a tag (IC tag) of the sensor correspondence slip 41. When this sensor correspondence slip 41 leaves the monitoring area 21 of the sensor 20 of the table 22, it is assumed that the customer has finished eating and drinking and wants to pay. In this case, that is, when it is detected that the tag of the sensor correspondence slip 41 has moved away from the monitoring area of the sensor 20 of the table 22, the status of the POS 40 is shifted from “order received state” to “accounting state”.

  Next, another embodiment of the store accounting system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The accounting system of this embodiment is characterized in that a sensor is mounted on a table order terminal. This eliminates the need for employees to perform initialization processing manually or remotely, prevents errors due to work omissions, etc., and speeds up response to customer orders.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of another embodiment of the store accounting system according to the present invention. The store accounting system 50 includes a table order terminal 60 and a POS 70. The table order terminal 60 and the POS 70 are connected by, for example, wireless communication means.

  The table order terminal 60 includes a sensor 61, a sensor monitoring unit 62, an operation processing unit 63, and a communication I / F (interface) 64. The POS 70 includes a customer status monitoring unit 71 and an analysis unit 74.

  In the store accounting system 50, the sensor monitoring unit 62 of the table order terminal 60 monitors the state of the sensor 61, for example, the movement of the customer 80 outside the monitoring area of the sensor 61. Based on the monitoring result of the sensor monitoring unit 62, the operation processing unit 63 is notified of interrupt processing. Upon receiving this notification, the communication I / F 64 is configured to notify the POS 70 of information via the network using, for example, a LAN, and is configured to manage customer information on the POS 70 side.

  The signal notified from the table order terminal 60 to the POS 70 via the communication I / F 64 and the LAN described above includes table information. In the POS 70, information sent from the table order terminal 60 is analyzed by the analysis unit 74. The customer status management unit 71 performs customer management based on the analysis result of the analysis unit 74. When the order status determination unit 72 of the customer status management unit 71 confirms the change from “order status” to “accounting status”, the accounting processing unit 73 performs accounting processing.

  When the table order terminal 60 is in the “order received state”, the sensor 61 constantly monitors the presence of customers around the table. When it is detected that there is no customer in the monitoring area of the sensor 61, an interrupt is generated from the sensor monitoring unit 62 to the operation processing unit 63. When this interruption occurs, the operation processing unit 63 determines that there is no customer in the sensor monitoring area. Then, the POS 70 is notified of a transition notification signal to “accounting state” via the communication I / F 64 and the LAN. On the POS 70 side, when this signal is received, the analysis unit 74 analyzes the received signal and acquires information necessary for shifting to the “accounting state”. Then, the table stored in the customer status management unit 71 or the status of the customer is shifted from “order received state” to “accounting state”, and the accounting processing unit 73 performs accounting processing.

  The preferred embodiments of the store accounting system and accounting method according to the present invention have been described in detail above. However, it should be noted that such embodiments are merely examples of the present invention and do not limit the present invention. Those skilled in the art will readily understand that various modifications and changes can be made in accordance with a specific application without departing from the gist and spirit of the present invention. In addition, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the restaurant of the preferred embodiment described above, and various similar stores that receive and process an order for a product according to an order of a customer in a predetermined place in the store It can also be applied to.

It is a system configuration figure of a 1st embodiment of the accounting system for stores by the present invention. It is a flowchart explaining the operation | movement when a customer sits down in the accounting system for stores of FIG. It is a flowchart explaining the operation | movement when a customer leaves a seat in the accounting system for stores of FIG. It is explanatory drawing in the case of using a sensor corresponding | compatible slip. It is a system block diagram of 2nd Embodiment of the accounting system for stores by this invention.

Explanation of symbols

10, 50 Store accounting system 20, 61 Sensor 21 Sensor monitoring area 40, 70 POS
41 Sensor-compatible slip 60 Table order terminal

Claims (7)

In the store accounting system that performs the accounting process of customers who ordered products at the table in the store including restaurants and taverns at the POS on the cash register side,
A store accounting system characterized by providing a sensor having each table as a monitoring area, and performing accounting processing by detecting the movement of a customer from the table to the cash register and setting the POS in an accounting state.   2. The accounting process according to claim 1, wherein the accounting process is performed based on a sensor correspondence slip communicable with the sensor, and the accounting state is shifted by the movement of the customer holding the sensor correspondence slip from the table. Store accounting system.   3. The store accounting system according to claim 1, wherein the sensor and the POS are connected by a LAN, and the vacant seat state, the order receiving state, and the accounting state of the table are managed by the POS.   4. The store accounting system according to claim 1, wherein a table order terminal including a sensor and a sensor monitoring unit is used. In the store accounting method of guiding a customer to a vacant table among a plurality of tables provided in a store including a restaurant and a tavern, and accounting for the product ordered by the customer at the POS on the cashier side,
Monitoring customers of each table by a sensor having a monitoring area around each table;
Managing the table in the POS on the cashier side as an order received state and an empty seat state depending on the presence or absence of customers,
Detecting the movement of the customer in the order status table from the table to the cashier side;
And an accounting process at the POS with the customer table moved to the cashier side as an accounting state.   6. The store accounting method according to claim 5, wherein the movement of the customer to the cashier side is detected by a sensor correspondence slip communicating with a sensor provided in the table.   6. The store accounting method according to claim 5, wherein monitoring by the sensor is performed by a sensor monitoring unit provided in a table order terminal.

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