JP2010049347A - Coupon information provision device and coupon information provision method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a coupon information provision device for outputting coupon information according to a characteristic of a user, and increasing the number of users by an easy method. <P>SOLUTION: This coupon information provision device receives second medium identification information for identifying a second portable information medium from the second portable information medium of a second user, and first medium identification information read from a first portable information medium by the second portable information medium, stores user information including user master-slave relation information showing that first user identification information for identifying a first user corresponding to the received first medium identification information is associated with second user identification information for identifying the second user corresponding to the received second medium identification information as a slave user, and outputs the coupon information stored according to the number of slave users associated with the second medium identification information received from the second portable information medium. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a coupon information providing apparatus and a coupon information providing method for outputting coupon information indicating a privilege such as a product discount according to the characteristics of a user registered in advance as a member.

Conventionally, a service in which a user presents a coupon using a paper medium or a coupon to be displayed on a mobile phone terminal at the time of purchase of a product at a store and receives a privilege such as a discount according to the content of the coupon is provided. Such coupons are generally distributed to a large number of unspecified users through advertising flyers, Internet sites, etc., and are paid at a fixed price or a fixed discount rate for all users regardless of their characteristics. Benefits such as discounts are given. Such coupons also include coupons that are provided when a user registers his / her account in advance in a membership-based web service or the like.
In Patent Document 1, a member who is already a member of a member-based Internet shop introduces another person to the Internet shop. When another person joins and becomes a member, the introduced member is introduced as a parent member. A technique is shown in which a registered member is a child member, and points are added to the parent member in accordance with the purchase of products at the internet shop by the child member. Patent Document 2 discloses a technology that gives a rank to members of a member system and gives a privilege to a parent member according to a rank that varies depending on the sales amount, the number of child members introduced by the parent member, and the like. .
JP 2002-183568 A JP 2003-108881 A

  However, with coupons using paper media and the like, the discount amount and discount rate by the coupon are constant, and it is difficult to vary the discount rate according to the characteristics of the user. On the other hand, in the method of issuing coupons according to the characteristics of user information registered in advance in the membership system web system, coupons will be provided to an unspecified number of users through advertisement flyers, Internet sites, etc. In order to increase the number of users, a large cost is required.

  This invention was made in view of such a situation, and while outputting the coupon information according to a user's characteristic, the coupon information provision apparatus and coupon information which can expand the number of utilization users by a simple method Providing a provision method.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the present invention provides a first medium identification for identifying a first portable information medium stored in a first portable information medium from a first portable information medium of a first user. A coupon information providing apparatus that is connected to a second portable information medium of a second user for reading information through a network and outputs coupon information indicating a privilege to be given to the second user, and identifies the first user A user information storage unit storing user information including first user identification information, and user information stored in the user information storage unit and indicated as a child user of the second user Coupon information storage unit storing coupon information indicating a privilege to be given to the second user in association with the number, and second medium identification information for identifying the second portable information medium from the second portable information medium When The second portable information medium corresponds to the medium identification information receiving unit that receives the first medium identification information read from the first portable information medium, and the first medium identification information received by the medium identification information receiving unit. The first user identification information for identifying the first user indicates that the first user is a child user of the second user corresponding to the second medium identification information received by the medium identification information receiving unit. A user information registration unit that associates and stores user parent-child relationship information in the user information storage unit, a coupon output request reception unit that receives a coupon information output request corresponding to the second medium identification information, and a coupon output request reception unit The coupon information output for outputting the coupon information stored in the coupon information storage unit according to the number of child users stored in the user information storage unit in association with the second medium identification information received by the Characterized in that it comprises a part, a.

  Further, according to the present invention, the plurality of pieces of user information stored in the user information storage unit constitute a hierarchical structure of parent-child relationships based on mutual user parent-child relationship information, and the coupon information output unit includes second user identification information The coupon information stored in the coupon information storage unit is output in accordance with the number of child users in a predetermined hierarchy associated with.

  Further, according to the present invention, the user information stored in the user information storage unit includes registration date information indicating the date and time when the user information is stored in the user information storage unit. The registration date and time information of the user information corresponding to the child user stored in the user information storage unit in association with the user identification information is stored in the coupon information storage unit according to the number of child users indicating within a predetermined period. The coupon information is output.

  Further, according to the present invention, the user information stored in the user information storage unit includes usage count information indicating the number of times the coupon information output unit has output coupon information in accordance with the second medium identification information included in the user information. The coupon information output unit is included in the coupon information storage unit according to the number indicated by the number-of-uses information corresponding to the child user stored in the user information storage unit in association with the second user identification information. The stored coupon information is output.

  The present invention also provides a second user for reading first medium identification information for identifying the first portable information medium stored in the first portable information medium from the first portable information medium of the first user. The user information storage unit is connected to the second portable information medium via the network and stores user information including first user identification information for identifying the first user, and is stored in the user information storage unit. A coupon information storage unit that stores in advance coupon information indicating a privilege to be given to the second user in association with the number of pieces of user information indicating that the user information is a child user of the second user. A coupon information providing method in a coupon information providing apparatus, wherein a medium identification information receiving unit identifies second portable information medium from second portable information medium, and second portable information. Medium Receiving the first medium identification information read from the first portable information medium, and the user information registration unit corresponding to the first medium identification information received by the medium identification information receiving unit Parent-child relationship information indicating that the first user is a child user of the second user corresponding to the second medium identification information received by the medium identification information receiving unit in the first user identification information for identifying Are stored in the user information storage unit in association with each other, the coupon output request receiving unit receives the coupon information output request according to the second medium identification information, and the coupon information output unit is the coupon output request. Coupon information stored in the coupon information storage unit is output according to the number of child users stored in the user information storage unit in association with the second medium identification information received by the reception unit. A step that, characterized in that it comprises a.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the second medium identification information for identifying the second portable information medium from the second portable information medium of the second user and the second portable information medium are the first one. The first medium identification information read from one portable information medium is received, and the received first user identification information is used to identify a second user corresponding to the received second medium identification information. User information including user parent-child relationship information indicating that the first user identification information for identifying the first user corresponding to the medium identification information is associated as a child user is stored and received from the second portable information medium Since the coupon information stored in accordance with the number of child users associated with the second medium identification information to be output is output, the medium identification read by the user's portable information medium from the portable information medium of another user According to information It is possible to output the Coupon Information. Thereby, for example, a coupon information provider can offer coupon information according to the number of child users, and the user can acquire coupon information according to the number of child users while the user can be expected to be expanded by word of mouth among users for the coupon information provider. Can be provided.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
First, with reference to FIG. 1, the outline | summary of the coupon information provision service provided by the coupon information provision system 1 of this embodiment is demonstrated. The portable information terminal 100-1 used by the user downloads a member application for using the coupon information providing service from the coupon information providing apparatus 400 via the network. Based on the downloaded member application, the portable information terminal 100-1 transmits the user ID such as the medium ID, which is the identification information of the IC chip included in the mobile information terminal 100-1 to the coupon information providing apparatus 400, and the coupon information providing service. Register as a member.

  The coupon information referred to here is information indicating a certain privilege to be given to the user, and for example, information indicating various privileges such as discounts on product prices, discounts, points and prizes can be applied.

  The portable information terminal 100-1 that has downloaded the member application uses a medium ID (Identifier) of an IC (Integrated Circuit) chip provided in a portable information medium such as the portable information terminal 100-2 or the IC card 101-1 of another user. Read out and transmit to coupon information providing apparatus 400. When coupon information providing apparatus 400 receives medium ID of portable information terminal 100-2 or IC card 101-1 transmitted from portable information terminal 100-1, user corresponding to portable information terminal 100-1 receives the medium ID. As the medium ID of the child user.

  Here, for example, the mobile information terminal 100-2 of the child user who becomes a member of the coupon information providing service with the user of the mobile information terminal 100-1 as the parent user downloads the member application from the coupon information providing apparatus 400, A child user can be a parent user of another user. The mobile information terminal 100-2 of the child user transmits the medium ID of the mobile information medium of the other user to the coupon information providing apparatus 400 and becomes the parent user. A user of a medium such as the IC card 101-1 that cannot read the medium ID of another user's portable information medium cannot be a parent user, but can be a member of a coupon information providing service as an associate user. It is.

  When a user who becomes a member of the coupon information providing service visits an actual store where the coupon provided by the coupon information providing service is available, the medium ID of his / her portable information medium is displayed on the kiosk terminal 200 installed in the actual store. To read. The kiosk terminal 200 performs information communication with the coupon information providing apparatus 400, receives coupon information corresponding to information such as user information corresponding to the read medium ID, the number of child users, and usage history of the child users, and is a paper medium. Issue a coupon by

  When a user purchases a product at an actual store, the user can receive a discount on the product corresponding to the coupon by presenting the coupon issued from the kiosk terminal 200. Here, the presented coupon information may be input to a point-of-sale (POS) register 310 in an actual store and transmitted to the coupon information providing apparatus 400 to accumulate information such as a usage history. Alternatively, the IC reader / writer 311 connected to the POS register 310 may read the medium ID of its portable information medium so that the POS register 310 obtains coupon information from the coupon information providing apparatus 400. .

  Next, the configuration of the coupon information providing system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The coupon information providing system 1 includes a portable information terminal 100-1, a portable information terminal 100-2, a kiosk terminal 200, a coupon provider terminal 300, a POS register 310, and a coupon information providing apparatus 400. . Here, FIG. 2 illustrates two portable information terminals 100, ie, the portable information terminal 100-1 and the portable information terminal 100-2, but the coupon information providing system provided by the coupon information providing apparatus 400 is described. 1 may include three or more portable information terminals 100.

  Since the configuration of portable information terminal 100-2 is the same as that of portable information terminal 100-1, the configuration of portable information terminal 100-1 will be described below. The portable information terminal 100-1 is an information terminal used by a user, and can perform information communication with other information devices via a network. Specifically, the portable information terminal 100-1 is assumed to be a computer device including an input unit, an output unit, a control unit, a calculation unit, and a storage unit, such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) and a mobile phone terminal. Here, as the output unit, a display unit, an audio output unit, and the like are assumed. The portable information terminal 100-1 includes a storage unit 110-1, a control unit 120-1, a communication unit 130-1, an IC chip 140-1, and an IC reader 150-1.

  Information necessary for the operation of the portable information terminal 100-1 is stored in the storage unit 110-1, for example, a member application downloaded from the coupon information providing apparatus 400 is stored. The control unit 120-1 controls the operation of the portable information terminal 100-1, and controls each unit included in the portable information terminal 100-1 based on, for example, the member application stored in the storage unit 110-1.

  Communication unit 130-1 performs information communication with coupon information providing apparatus 400 via a wireless network. The IC chip 140-1 is an integrated circuit that performs recording and calculation of information, and includes a medium ID storage unit 141-1. The medium ID storage unit 141-1 stores a medium ID for identifying the IC chip 140-1. The medium ID is, for example, a number that uniquely identifies an IC chip according to the IC chip manufacturer, manufacturing date, and manufacturing number. For example, when FeliCa (registered trademark) is applied to an IC chip, IDm, which is the IC chip manufacturing number, can be applied. The IC reader 150-1 reads information from an IC chip included in another medium.

  The kiosk terminal 200 is also called a multimedia station (MMS), a multimedia kiosk (MMK), etc., and is installed in a consumer electronics mass retailer, a convenience store, a bank, etc., and is capable of bidirectional communication with other information communication devices via a network. It is a possible information communication terminal. The kiosk terminal 200 includes a kiosk terminal ID storage unit 210, an IC reader 220, a communication unit 230, an input unit 240, a display unit 250, and a coupon output unit 260. The kiosk terminal ID storage unit 210 is identification information that identifies the kiosk terminal 200.

  The IC reader 220 communicates with the IC chip detected in the communicable area, and reads information stored in the detected IC chip. The communication part 230 communicates with the coupon information provision apparatus 400 via a network. The input unit 240 is an input device that receives operation information input from the user, and for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, or the like can be applied. The display unit 250 is a display that displays an operation screen of the kiosk terminal 200, information received from the coupon information providing apparatus 400, and the like. The coupon output unit 260 prints coupon information received from the coupon information providing apparatus 400 on a sheet provided in advance, and outputs a coupon.

  The coupon provider terminal 300 is a computer device used by a coupon provider that is provided to a user. The coupon provider terminal 300 can perform information communication with the coupon information providing apparatus 400 via a network. Specifically, the coupon provider terminal 300 is a PC (personal computer) including an input unit, an output unit, a control unit, a calculation unit, and a storage unit. Coupon provider terminal 300 transmits information related to a coupon ticket to be provided to the user to coupon information providing apparatus 400 in accordance with operation information input from the coupon provider.

  The POS register 310 is a register that performs sales accounting at an actual store. The POS register 310 includes, for example, a bar code scanner that reads a bar code of a product, a receipt printer, a display that presents an amount of money to a customer, a touch panel that accepts cash register input, a keyboard, and the like.

  The coupon information providing device 400 is a computer device that outputs coupon information according to user information corresponding to the medium ID of the portable information terminal 100-1, and includes an input unit, an output unit, a control unit, a calculation unit, and a storage unit. A PC (personal computer) or a computer server dedicated device is applied. The coupon information providing apparatus 400 includes a communication unit 410, a service control unit 420, a discount rate calculation unit 430, a coupon information storage unit 440, a user information storage unit 450, and a usage history storage unit 460.

The communication unit 410 performs information communication with the portable information terminal 100-1, the portable information terminal 100-2, the kiosk terminal 200, the coupon provider terminal 300, and the POS register 310 via the network.
The service control unit 420 controls the operation of each unit of the coupon information providing apparatus 400 in the coupon information providing service provided by the coupon information providing apparatus 400. The service control unit 420 performs, for example, HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) communication in response to a website distribution request transmitted from the portable information terminal 100-1, the portable information terminal 100-2, and the coupon provider terminal 300, and the communication unit Web services are provided via 410. The discount rate calculation unit 430 outputs coupon information to the kiosk terminal 200 according to the medium ID read by the kiosk terminal 200 from the portable information terminal 100-1.

  The coupon information storage unit 440 stores coupon information that is output according to the user corresponding to the medium ID of the portable information terminal 100-1. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a data example of coupon information stored in the coupon information storage unit 440. The coupon information includes information such as a coupon ID, an issued kiosk terminal ID, a discount condition, and a discount rate. The coupon ID is identification information for identifying coupon information. The issue kiosk terminal ID is a kiosk terminal ID that identifies the kiosk terminal 200 that issues corresponding coupon information. Thus, for each piece of coupon information, a kiosk terminal that issues the coupon can be determined in advance. Here, a plurality of kiosk terminal IDs may be stored in association with the issued kiosk terminal ID.

  Discount conditions are information which shows the conditions of the coupon information output according to medium ID transmitted from the kiosk terminal 200. FIG. The discount rate is information indicating a privilege given to the user when the discount condition is satisfied. For example, if the discount condition is “the number of child members of the user is 9 or less”, the discount rate is “discount rate 5%”. Also, for example, if the discount condition is “10 or more child members of the user”, the discount rate is “10% discount rate”. For example, if the discount condition is “20 or more child members of the user”, the discount rate is “discount rate 20%”. Here, as such coupon information, coupon information may be stored for each specific product, or different coupon information may be stored for each store or kiosk terminal.

  Another example of coupon information stored in the coupon information storage unit 440 is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, coupon information may be associated with a coupon ID, an issue kiosk terminal ID, and discount conditions, and information indicating a discount amount may be associated.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the user information storage unit 450 stores user information indicating characteristics of a user who is a provision target of a coupon provided by the coupon provider. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of user information data stored in the user information storage unit 450. The user information includes information such as a user ID, a medium ID, a name, an age, a parent user ID, a registration date, and the number of uses. The user ID is identification information for identifying a user who is registered in the coupon information providing service and becomes a member. The medium ID is a medium ID of an IC chip provided in the corresponding user's portable information medium (such as the portable information terminal 100-1 or the IC card 101-1). The name is the name of the corresponding user. The age is the age of the corresponding user. The registration date / time is information indicating the registration date / time when the user information is stored in the user information storage unit 450. The number of times of use is information indicating the number of times that the media ID of the corresponding user's portable information terminal is input to the kiosk terminal 200 and a coupon is issued. Here, the usage count corresponds to usage history information for each user ID stored in a usage history storage unit 460 described later.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the usage history information when the medium ID of the user's portable information medium is input to the kiosk terminal 200 and a coupon is issued is stored in the usage history storage unit 460. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a data example of usage history information stored in the usage history storage unit 460. The usage history information includes information such as a usage user ID, a usage coupon ID, a usage kiosk terminal ID, and a usage date and time. The user ID is the user ID of the user who made the coupon information output request. Use coupon ID is coupon ID of the coupon information output to the corresponding user. The use kiosk terminal ID is a kiosk terminal ID of the kiosk terminal 200 to which coupon information is output. The use date and time is information indicating the date and time when coupon information is output.

Next, with reference to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the operation example of the coupon information provision system 1 in this embodiment is demonstrated.
Here, the medium ID of the portable information terminal 100-1 is “M1”, the medium ID of the portable information terminal 100-2 is “M2”, and the kiosk terminal ID of the kiosk terminal 200 is “K1”. To do. The following steps S1 to S3 show the user member registration process. Communication unit 130-1 of portable information terminal 100-1 connects to coupon information providing apparatus 400, downloads the member application, and stores it in storage unit 110-1 (step S1). The control unit 120-1 of the portable information terminal 100-1 receives user information such as name and age input from the user, and the medium ID (M1) stored in the medium ID storage unit 141-1, and the communication unit 130. -1 to the coupon information providing apparatus 400 (step S2). Communication unit 410 of coupon information providing apparatus 400 receives user information transmitted from portable information terminal 100-1.

  The service control unit 420 of the coupon information providing apparatus 400 generates a user ID (U1) that is unique among the user information stored in the user information storage unit 450, the generated user ID (U1), and the communication unit 410. The user ID is associated with the received medium ID (M1) and stored in the user information storage unit 450. At this time, the service control unit 420 causes the user information storage unit 450 to store the current date and time acquired by the clocking function included in the service control unit 420 as the user information registration date and time (step S3).

  Next, an operation example in which the user of the portable information terminal 100-1 introduces an acquaintance to the coupon information providing service according to the present embodiment will be described. The following steps S4 to S8 show member introduction processing. First, when the portable information terminal 100-1 approaches the portable information terminal 100-2, the control unit 120-1 of the portable information terminal 100-1 downloads the member application stored in the storage unit 110-1 in step S1. Based on this, the medium ID (M2) stored in portable information terminal 100-2 is read (step S4). And the communication part 130-1 of the portable information terminal 100-1 transmits own medium ID (M1) and medium ID (M2) read from the portable information terminal 100-2 to the coupon information provision apparatus 400. (Step S5).

  The communication unit 410 of the coupon information providing apparatus 400 receives the medium ID (M1, M2) transmitted from the portable information terminal 100-1. The service control unit 420 of the coupon information providing apparatus 400 generates a user ID (U2) that is unique among user information stored in the user information storage unit 450, the generated user ID (U2), and the received medium ID (M2) is associated, the parent user ID is the user ID (U1) associated with the medium ID (M1) of the source portable information terminal 100-1, and the current date and time acquired by the timekeeping function provided by the user Is stored in the user information storage unit 450 (step S6). At this time, user information such as name and age corresponding to the user ID (U2) is not stored in the user information storage unit 450.

  Communication unit 130-2 of portable information terminal 100-2 connects to coupon information providing apparatus 400, downloads the member application, and stores it in storage unit 110-2 (step S7). The control unit 120-2 of the portable information terminal 100-2 receives the user information such as name and age input from the user, and the medium ID (M2) stored in the medium ID storage unit 141-2, and the communication unit 130. -2 to the coupon information providing apparatus 400 (step S8). The communication unit 410 of the coupon information providing apparatus 400 receives the user information transmitted from the portable information terminal 100-2 and stores the name of the user information (user ID “U1”) stored in the user information storage unit 450 in step S6. Is stored in the age (step S9).

  Next, an operation example in which the coupon provider terminal 300 registers coupon information related to a coupon to be distributed in the coupon information providing apparatus 400 will be described. The following steps S10 to S12 show a coupon information registration process. Coupon provider terminal 300 accesses coupon information providing apparatus 400 and transmits coupon information in response to the input of operation information from the coupon information provider. Here, the coupon information which the coupon provider terminal 300 transmits to the coupon information providing apparatus 400 is, for example, information indicating a store where a coupon can be issued, discount conditions, and a discount rate.

  The service control unit 420 of the coupon information providing apparatus 400 causes the coupon information storage unit 440 to store the coupon information transmitted from the coupon provider terminal 300 via the communication unit 410. At this time, the service control unit 420 generates a unique coupon ID (for example, “C1”) among the coupon information stored in the coupon information storage unit 440 and stores the coupon ID in the coupon information storage unit 440. At this time, the service control unit 420 causes the coupon information storage unit 440 to store the kiosk terminal ID of the kiosk terminal 200 installed in the store where the coupon transmitted from the coupon provider terminal 300 can be issued (step S11). . The coupon information providing apparatus 400 transmits, for example, by e-mail notification that the coupon information has been registered in the portable information terminal 100 corresponding to the user information stored in the user information storage unit 450 (step S12).

  Next, an operation example in which the coupon information providing apparatus 400 outputs coupon information in response to a coupon output request from the kiosk terminal 200 will be described. The following steps S13 to S20 show a coupon output process. The kiosk terminal 200 transmits its own kiosk terminal ID (K1) to the coupon information providing apparatus 400 (step S13). The service control unit 420 of the coupon information providing apparatus 400 detects coupon information including the kiosk terminal ID (K1) received in step S13 from the coupon information stored in the coupon information storage unit 440. The service control unit 420 transmits the detected coupon information to the kiosk terminal 200 via the communication unit 410. At this time, when a plurality of coupon information including the kiosk terminal ID (K1) is detected, the service control unit 420 transmits a list of the detected plurality of coupon information to the kiosk terminal 200 (step S14).

  When the communication unit 230 of the kiosk terminal 200 receives the coupon information list transmitted from the coupon information providing apparatus 400, the communication unit 230 displays the coupon information list on the display unit 250. The user of portable information terminal 100-1 selects any coupon information from the coupon information list displayed on display unit 250 of kiosk terminal 200 and inputs information indicating selection to input unit 240 of kiosk terminal 200. To do. The input unit 240 of the kiosk terminal 200 accepts coupon selection information input by the user (step S15).

  When the user brings the portable information terminal 100-1 close to the IC reader 220 of the kiosk terminal 200, the IC reader 220 stores the medium ID (M1) stored in the medium ID storage unit 141-1 of the portable information terminal 100-1. Is read (step S16). The kiosk terminal 200 has the medium ID (M1) read from the portable information terminal 100-1 in step S16, the coupon ID (for example, “C1”) corresponding to the coupon selected in step S15, and its own kiosk terminal ID. (K1) is transmitted to the coupon information providing apparatus 400 (step S17).

  When communication unit 410 of coupon information providing apparatus 400 receives information transmitted from kiosk terminal 200, discount rate calculation unit 430 calculates a discount rate according to the received information. For example, when the coupon ID is “C1”, the kiosk terminal ID is “K1”, and the user ID is “U1”, the user ID “U1” stored in the user information storage unit 450 is the parent user ID. The number of stored user information is calculated as the number of child users. And the service control part 420 is coupon information "C1", and the coupon information of the coupon information with which the discount conditions corresponding to the calculated number of child users are matched among coupon information whose kiosk terminal ID is "K1". The discount rate is read and the discount rate is calculated (step S18). For example, in the data example shown in FIG. 5, there are two users with the user “U1” as the parent user ID, “U2” and “U5”, and there are 9 or less child users. According to the data example shown, the discount rate is “5% discount”.

  The service control unit 420 of the coupon information providing apparatus 400 transmits the discount rate “5%” calculated by the discount rate calculation unit 430 to the kiosk terminal 200 via the communication unit 410 (step S19). When the communication unit 230 of the kiosk terminal 200 receives the discount rate transmitted from the coupon information providing apparatus 400, the coupon output unit 260 outputs a coupon ticket on which the received discount rate is printed (step S20).

  Here, in step S18, when the coupon information providing apparatus 400 calculates a discount rate and transmits it to the kiosk terminal 200, the usage history storage unit 460 stores history information indicating that the coupon information has been output. The coupon information providing apparatus 400 may read the usage history information stored in the usage history storage unit 460 in this way and analyze the usage status of the coupon for each user.

In the present embodiment, the example in which the cellular phone terminal is applied to the portable information terminal 100-1 and the portable information terminal 100-2 has been described. However, an IC chip similar to the IC chip included in the portable information terminal 100-1 is used. An information medium such as an IC card provided may be applied.
Further, the discount rate calculation unit 430 calculates the discount rate according to the number of child users stored in the user information storage unit 450, but the number of child users at this time is determined in the hierarchical structure of the parent-child relationship. For example, only the number of child users within a predetermined number of hierarchies such as three hierarchies may be calculated. Further, the discount rate calculation unit 430 determines whether the child user who has used the coupon information within a predetermined period of time corresponds to the registration date / time stored in the user information storage unit 450 or the use date / time stored in the usage history storage unit 460. The discount rate may be calculated so as to increase the discount rate of many parent users. Further, the discount rate calculation unit 430 may calculate the discount rate according to the usage count stored in the usage history storage unit 460 so as to increase the discount rate when the usage count is a certain number or more. .

  In the present embodiment, the coupon information providing apparatus 400 includes the coupon information storage unit 440, the user information storage unit 450, and the usage history storage unit 460. You may make it provide the memory | storage part which memorize | stores information, such as point information according to a log | history, a use log | history, company information, a store, and a kiosk terminal.

  In addition, the web service provided by the coupon information providing apparatus 400 in the present embodiment may be provided so that a plurality of retail companies can jointly use it as an ASP (Application Service Provider) service.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, a user who becomes a member of the coupon information providing service can expand the number of users by word of mouth between users, and is useful as a communication tool between users. On the other hand, the provider of the coupon information providing service can expand the number of users through word-of-mouth between users without increasing the number of members due to his own advertisement or the like. It is also useful as a sales promotion tool to attract members to replace paper coupons and free paper.

  Moreover, according to this embodiment, the coupon which changed the discount rate can be issued according to the number of the child users with respect to the parent user using the portable information terminal 100-1 which performs the output request of the coupon, and the user Coupons can be distributed according to the characteristics. Further, the coupon is used by outputting a paper coupon from the kiosk terminal 200 installed in the store, or by bringing the portable information terminal 100 or the IC card 101 close to the IC reader / writer 311 provided in the POS register 310 of the store. It becomes possible. At this time, it is possible to prevent the user from using the same coupon multiple times according to the coupon usage history, and it is possible to store which user used the coupon at which store as the usage history. It becomes. Such usage history is useful information for marketing and consulting. Furthermore, analysis from the viewpoint of coupon use according to the user's attributes becomes possible. Furthermore, the parent user can complete the registration of the child user by bringing the portable information terminal 100 or the IC card 101 of the child user close to the portable information terminal 100 of the parent user, thereby greatly reducing the trouble of registering the child user. It becomes possible to do. Furthermore, since the discount rate of the parent user increases as the number of child users increases, the parent user is considered to be able to keep motivation to have more users as child users, which can be expected to increase the number of users. is there.

  It is to be noted that provision of coupon information is performed by recording a program for realizing the function of the processing unit in the present invention on a computer-readable recording medium, causing the computer system to read and execute the program recorded on the recording medium. May be performed. Here, the “computer system” includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices. The “computer system” includes a WWW system having a homepage providing environment (or display environment). The “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a storage device such as a flexible medium, a magneto-optical disk, a portable medium such as a ROM and a CD-ROM, and a hard disk incorporated in a computer system. Further, the “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a volatile memory (RAM) in a computer system that becomes a server or a client when a program is transmitted via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. In addition, those holding programs for a certain period of time are also included.

  The program may be transmitted from a computer system storing the program in a storage device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium or by a transmission wave in the transmission medium. Here, the “transmission medium” for transmitting the program refers to a medium having a function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) such as the Internet or a communication line (communication line) such as a telephone line. The program may be for realizing a part of the functions described above. Furthermore, what can implement | achieve the function mentioned above in combination with the program already recorded on the computer system, and what is called a difference file (difference program) may be sufficient.

It is a figure which shows the concept of the coupon information provision system by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the coupon information provision system by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of data memorize | stored in the coupon information storage part by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of data memorize | stored in the coupon information storage part by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of data memorize | stored in the user information storage part by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of data memorize | stored in the utilization log | history memory | storage part by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation example of the coupon information provision system by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation example of the coupon information provision system by one Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Coupon information provision system 100 Portable information terminal 101 IC card 110 Storage part 120 Control part 130 Communication part 140 IC chip 141 Medium ID storage part 150 IC reader 200 Kiosk terminal 210 Kiosk terminal ID storage part 220 IC reader 230 Communication part 240 Input part 250 Display Unit 260 Coupon Output Unit 300 Coupon Provider Terminal 310 POS Register 311 IC Reader / Writer 400 Coupon Information Providing Device 410 Communication Unit 420 Service Control Unit 430 Discount Rate Calculation Unit 440 Coupon Information Storage Unit 450 User Information Storage Unit 460 Usage History Memory

Claims (5)

The second user's second reading out the first medium identification information for identifying the first portable information medium stored in the first portable information medium from the first portable information medium of the first user. A coupon information providing apparatus that is connected to a portable information medium via a network and outputs coupon information indicating a privilege to be given to the second user,
A user information storage unit for storing user information including first user identification information for identifying the first user;
Coupon information indicating the privilege to be given to the second user in association with the number of the user information that is the user information stored in the user information storage unit and is indicated to be a child user of the second user A coupon information storage unit in which is stored in advance,
Second medium identification information for identifying the second portable information medium from the second portable information medium, and the first medium read from the first portable information medium by the second portable information medium A medium identification information receiving unit for receiving the identification information;
The first user identification information for identifying the first user corresponding to the first medium identification information received by the medium identification information receiving unit is received by the medium identification information receiving unit. A user information registration unit that associates and stores the user parent-child relationship information indicating that it is a child user of the second user corresponding to the second medium identification information in the user information storage unit;
A coupon output request receiving unit that receives an output request for the coupon information according to the second medium identification information;
The coupon stored in the coupon information storage unit according to the number of child users stored in the user information storage unit in association with the second medium identification information received by the coupon output request reception unit A coupon information output unit for outputting information;
A coupon information providing apparatus comprising: The plurality of user information stored in the user information storage unit constitute a hierarchical structure of parent-child relationships based on the user parent-child relationship information of each other,
The coupon information output unit outputs the coupon information stored in the coupon information storage unit according to the number of the child users of the predetermined hierarchy associated with the second user identification information. The coupon information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is a coupon information providing apparatus. The user information stored in the user information storage unit includes registration date information indicating the date and time when the user information was stored in the user information storage unit,
The coupon information output unit indicates that the registration date information of the user information corresponding to the child user stored in the user information storage unit in association with the second user identification information is within a predetermined period. The coupon information providing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the coupon information stored in the coupon information storage unit is output according to the number of child users. The user information stored in the user information storage unit includes usage count information indicating the number of times the coupon information output unit has output the coupon information according to the second medium identification information included in the user information. Included,
The coupon information output unit corresponds to the number indicated by the usage count information corresponding to the child user stored in the user information storage unit in association with the second user identification information. The coupon information providing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the coupon information stored in the output is output. The second user's second reading out the first medium identification information for identifying the first portable information medium stored in the first portable information medium from the first portable information medium of the first user. A user information storage unit connected to a portable information medium via a network and storing user information including first user identification information for identifying the first user, and the user stored in the user information storage unit A coupon information storage unit in which coupon information indicating information and a privilege to be given to the second user in association with the number of user information indicated to be the child user of the second user is stored in advance A coupon information providing method in a coupon information providing apparatus comprising:
A medium identification information receiving unit receives second medium identification information for identifying the second portable information medium from the second portable information medium, and the second portable information medium from the first portable information medium. Receiving the read first medium identification information;
The first user identification information for identifying the first user corresponding to the first medium identification information received by the medium identification information receiving unit is included in the user information registration unit. Storing the user parent-child relationship information indicating that it is a child user of the second user corresponding to the second medium identification information received by the information receiving unit in the user information storage unit in association with each other;
A coupon output request receiving unit receiving an output request for the coupon information according to the second medium identification information;
In accordance with the number of child users stored in the user information storage unit in association with the second medium identification information received by the coupon output request reception unit, the coupon information storage unit Outputting the coupon information stored in
Coupon information providing method comprising:

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