JP2010231622A - Point issuing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a point management device and a point management program for effectively appealing a store visit. <P>SOLUTION: The point issuing device includes: a reading means installed in the neighborhood of the entrance/exit of a store for reading customer identification information for identifying each customer from an information storage means carried by a customer who passes through the entrance/exit; an entering/leaving history management means for managing the customer identification information read by the reading means and the time information showing the time read by the customer identification information in association; a calculation means for calculating a stay time when a customer corresponding to the customer identification information stays in a store from two time information associated with the same customer identification information managed by the entering/leaving history management means; a point issuing means for issuing points corresponding to the stay time; and a point management means for managing the points issued by the point issuing means and the corresponding customer identification information in association. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a point issuing device that issues points according to the degree of customer contribution.

  Conventionally, various sales promotion methods have been performed. For example, a sales promotion method for reflecting the degree of customer contribution to a store in points by issuing and accumulating points according to the purchase amount for each customer is performed. In addition, a method for introducing a store using a card embedded with a wireless tag has been proposed. For example, Patent Document 1 includes store introduction information such as a store name, bargain information, a discount code, and shopping point information. A technique is disclosed in which troublesome operations such as key entry are not required by capturing information from a card (business card, membership card, point card, etc.) embedded with a wireless tag to be stored and storing the information in a data storage means. ing.

  By the way, in recent years, online shopping using the Internet has been actively performed, and it is common for a product purchase using the Internet shopping to issue points according to the purchase amount. With such a change in sales form, the number of customers visiting actual stores tends to decrease, so a new method for appealing to stores is desired. In the above-described conventional sales promotion method, the point issuance is limited to the purchase of goods, so there is no difference in service between online shopping and actual stores, and it is difficult to effectively appeal to the store. It is. Further, with the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is possible to provide store introduction information to a customer, but it is difficult to effectively appeal to a store as in the conventional sales promotion method described above.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the above, Comprising: It aims at providing the point issuing apparatus which can perform store visit appeal effectively.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention provides customer identification information for identifying each customer from information storage means that is installed in the vicinity of a store entrance and carried by a customer passing through the store entrance. Reading / reading means, the customer identification information read by the reading means, and time information indicating the time when the customer identification information was read in association with each other, and the entry / exit history management means The calculation means for calculating the stay time in which the customer corresponding to the customer identification information stayed in the store from two time information associated with the same customer identification information managed by the customer, and a point corresponding to the stay time Point issuing means for issuing, point management means for managing the points issued by the point issuing means in association with the corresponding customer identification information; Characterized by comprising.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the point issuing apparatus which can perform store visit appeal effectively can be provided.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an overall configuration of a point service system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the product information record of the product master file. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a customer information record in the customer master file. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an entry / exit history record of the entry / exit history management file. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the detection apparatus. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of the point card. FIG. 7 is a module configuration diagram of the personal computer. FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the point issuing server according to the point issuing process. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure for issuing points. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an entry / exit history record in the entry / exit history management file.

  Hereinafter, the best embodiment of a point issuing device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, this invention is not limited by embodiment described below.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an overall configuration of a point service system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The point service system of the present embodiment issues a point card 50 equipped with a wireless tag that records a unique customer code (customer identification information) and the like to each customer contracted as a member, for example, owning this point card It is used at a store that implements a point service system in which service points (hereinafter referred to as points) are given at a predetermined point return rate for the purchase amount of a customer.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the point service system includes a POS (Point Of Sales) server 10 specialized in information management related to merchandise sales, a customer management server 20 specialized in information management related to customers, and the staying time of customers visiting the store. The point issuing server 30 for issuing points according to the information, the information reading device 40 for reading the customer identification information from the point card 50 carried by the customer, and the like. Here, the POS server 10, the customer management server 20, and the point issuing server 30 are communicably connected via a communication line N1. Further, the point issuing server 30 and the information reading device 40 correspond to a point management device and are communicably connected via a communication line N2.

  The POS server 10 is a computer that plays a central role in the POS system, and is connected to a plurality of POS terminals 60 via a communication line N3. Each POS terminal 60 is an aspect of a settlement apparatus, which registers and sells sales data of products purchased by customers, and uses various payment methods such as cash, credit card, prepaid card, electronic money, debit card, etc. Settlement processing is performed according to

  A product master file 11 is mounted on the POS server 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the product master file 11 stores a product information record including data items such as a product code, a product name, a unit price, and a product classification code. Here, the product code is a unique code set in advance for each product in order to identify various product items sold in the store.

  The customer management server 20 is a computer that plays a central role in the customer management system, manages information related to the customer, and provides information to each device (POS server 10 and point issuing server 30) connected to the communication line N1. Do. A customer master file 21 is mounted on the customer management server 20. The customer master file 21 stores customer information records having the data structure shown in FIG. That is, the customer information record is configured to include customer personal data such as customer code, name, age, and sex, accumulated points that represent the accumulated points, and purchase history information that indicates the history of commercial transactions. The customer code is a unique code preset for each customer in order to identify each customer registered as a point member. Further, the accumulated points are stored by dividing a point (commercial transaction point) given by a commercial transaction and a point (stay point) given by the point issuing server 30.

  The point issuing server 30 is a computer that issues points according to the staying time of customers who have visited the store, and is connected to the information reading device 40 via the communication line N2. The point issuing server 30 is provided with an input / output history management file 31. The entry / exit history management file 31 stores an entry / exit history record having the data structure shown in FIG. That is, the entry / exit history record includes a data item for storing the customer code read by the information reading device 40 and time information indicating the read date and time.

  The information reading device 40 is a RFID tag reading device such as an RFID reader provided in the vicinity of the entrance of the store, and communicates with the customer's point card 50 passing through the entrance, whereby the customer recorded on the point card 50 is recorded. The code is read and output to the point issuing server 30 via the communication line N2.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the information reading device 40. As shown in FIG. 5, the information reading apparatus 40 includes a communication unit 41 that controls communication with the point issuing server 30, a short-range wireless unit 42 that can communicate with a wireless tag included in the point card 50, and a nonvolatile A storage unit 43 and a control unit 44 for controlling them are provided. Further, the storage unit 43 stores and holds terminal IDs for identifying each information reading device 40.

  When only one store entrance is provided, it is assumed that one information reading device 40 is installed in the vicinity of the entrance. In addition, when there are two or more entrances / exits of the store, or when the entrance and the exit are provided separately, the information reading device 40 is installed near each entrance / exit.

  The point card 50 is a contactless IC card or the like equipped with a wireless tag, and is distributed in advance to each customer contracted as a member. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the point card 50. As shown in FIG. 4, the point card 50 includes a storage unit 51 and a short-range wireless unit 52 in a built-in IC chip. Note that the short-range wireless unit 52 is specifically RFID wireless or the like, and has the same standard as the short-range wireless unit 42 of the information reading device 40 described above. The storage unit 51 stores a customer code for identifying each customer in advance.

  The point card 50 is used at the time of accounting. When a customer holds the card over the card reader 61 of the POS terminal 60 at the time of accounting, the customer code is read by the card reader 61. In the POS terminal 60, the customer code read by the card reader 61 is read. It is possible to recognize the owner of this point card 50 by acquiring the customer information corresponding to 1 from the customer management server via the POS server 10. In addition, when the owner of the point card 50 purchases a product at the POS terminal 60, the POS terminal 60 stores the sales data about the product as a purchase history in the customer master file 21 of the customer management server 20, and this The points corresponding to the purchase amount are accumulated in the commercial transaction points of the customer master file 21. Note that the card reader 61 is a wireless tag reader such as an RFID reader like the information reader 40.

  By the way, the POS server 10, the customer management server 20, and the point issuing server 30 are general personal computers. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a module configuration of the personal computer.

  A personal computer that is a POS server 10, a customer management server 20, and a point issuing server 30 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101 that performs information processing, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 102 that is a read-only memory that stores a BIOS, and the like. A RAM (Random Access Memory) 103 that stores data in a rewritable manner, a display unit 104 such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) or LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) that displays processing progress and results to the operator, and the operator uses the CPU 101 An input unit 105 which is a pointing device such as a keyboard and a mouse for inputting commands and information to the computer, a storage unit 106 such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) which functions as various databases and stores various programs, and a storage medium M To store information or distribute information outside A medium reading device 107 such as a CD-ROM drive for obtaining information from a communication control device 108 for communicating information with other external devices via each communication line, etc. These units are connected by a bus 109.

  In such a personal computer, when the operator turns on the power, the CPU 101 activates a program called a loader in the ROM 102, and reads a program for managing the hardware and software of the computer called OS (Operating System) from the storage unit 106 into the RAM 103. This OS is started. Such an OS activates a program, reads information, and stores information in response to an operator's operation. As a representative OS, Windows (registered trademark) and the like are known. These operation programs running on the OS are called application programs. The application program is not limited to one that runs on a predetermined OS, and may be one that causes the OS to execute some of the various processes described below, or constitutes predetermined application software, an OS, or the like. It may be included as part of a group of program files.

  That is, the personal computer functions as the POS server 10, the customer management server 20, and the point issuing server 30, depending on the difference of application programs stored in the storage unit 106.

  In general, application programs installed in the storage unit 106 of a personal computer include various optical disks such as CD-ROM and DVD, various magnetic disks such as various magneto-optical disks and flexible disks, and various kinds of semiconductor memories. The operation program recorded in the storage medium M such as a medium of the type and installed in the storage medium M is installed in the storage unit 106. Therefore, a portable storage medium M such as an optical information recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a magnetic medium such as an FD can also be a storage medium for storing an application program. Furthermore, the application program may be acquired from the outside via, for example, the communication control device 108 and installed in the storage unit 106.

  In the personal computer, when an application program operating on the OS is started, the CPU 101 executes various arithmetic processes according to the application program and controls each unit intensively.

  Hereinafter, the point issuing process, which is a characteristic process of the present embodiment, among various arithmetic processes executed by the CPU 101 of the point issuing server 30 will be described.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration relating to point processing in the point issuing server 30. As shown in FIG. 8, the point issuance server 30 associates the customer code read by the information reading device 40 with the time when the customer code is acquired in cooperation with the CPU 101 and the application program. The entry / exit history management unit 201 stored in the file 31, the stay time calculation unit 202 that calculates the stay time in the store for each identical customer code stored in the entry / exit history management file 31, and points according to the stay time The function unit of the point issuing unit 203 to be issued and the point management unit 204 that accumulates the points issued by the point issuing unit 203 to the stay time points included in the customer master file 21 of the corresponding customer code is realized. Shall.

  In addition, although the calculation method of the point according to staying time shall not be ask | required in particular, For example, it is good also as 1 point for every 10 minutes and 1 hour. Moreover, it is good also as a form which switches the value of the point provided according to the time to visit, for example, between 10:00 and 12:00, it is 1 point every 10 minutes, and between 12:00 and 17:00 It is good also as one point etc. every 5 minutes.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure of point issue processing executed by the point issue server 30. When the customer carrying the point card 50 passes the entrance / exit and enters the store or leaves the store, the customer code is read by the information reading device 40 installed near the entrance / exit. Upon receipt of the customer code transmitted from the information reading device 40 (step S11), the entry / exit history management unit 201 associates this customer code with time information representing the current time as the time when the customer code is read, It stores in the entry / exit history management file 31 (step S12). It is assumed that the current time is measured by an RTC (Real Time Clock) mounted on the computer of the point issuing server 30.

  The stay time calculation unit 202 refers to each record stored in the entry / exit history management file 31 and determines whether there are two records for the same customer code (step S13). Here, when it determines with not existing (step S13; No), it returns to the process of step S11 again.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step S14 that there are two records for the same customer code (step S13; Yes), the stay time calculation unit 202 determines the time among the time information included in the corresponding two records. In series, the time indicated by one of the past time information is set as the entrance time to the store, and the time indicated by the other time information is set as the exit time from the store (step S14). Then, the stay time calculating unit 202 calculates the time obtained by subtracting the entrance time from the exit time as the stay time in the store, and temporarily stores it in the RAM 103 or the like in association with the corresponding customer code (step S15). Two records related to the code are deleted from the entry / exit history management file 31 (step S16).

  Here, a specific example of stay time calculation will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an entry / exit history record in the entry / exit history management file 31. For example, if the entry / exit history management file 31 is in the state shown in FIG. 10 at the time of step S13 described above, the stay time calculation unit 202 determines that there are two records for the customer code “B”. In this case, the stay time calculation unit 202 sets the past “10:20” as the admission time among the time information included in the two records related to the customer code “B”, and sets “10 o'clock” 50 minutes "is set as the exit time. The stay time calculation unit 202 calculates the stay time “30 minutes” from the difference between these times (exit time−entry time).

  Returning to FIG. 9, the point issuing unit 203 issues points in accordance with the stay time calculated in step S15 (step S17). Next, the point management unit 204 accumulates the points issued in step S17 in the stay time points of the customer master file 21 corresponding to the customer code temporarily stored in step S15 (step S18), and performs the processing in step S11. Return again.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the customer who carries the point card 50 comes to the store, points corresponding to the staying time can be given as the degree of contribution of the customer, so the store visit appeal is effectively performed. It is possible to improve the customer visit rate. In addition, as the number of customers who come to the store increases with the rate of customer visits, new customers can be acquired.

  The embodiment of the invention has been described above, but the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications, substitutions, additions, and the like can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the customer management server 20 performs the point management of each customer. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the point issuing server 30 may perform the management. Specifically, in the customer master file 21 installed in the customer management server 20, the point issue server 30 holds data items of customer codes and accumulated points, and the point management unit 204 described above manages these data items. It is good also as a form to perform.

  As described above, the point issuing device according to the present invention is useful when issuing points according to the degree of customer contribution, and is particularly suitable for issuing points according to the staying time at a store. .

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 POS server 11 Commodity master file 20 Customer management server 21 Customer master file 30 Point issuing server 31 Input / output history management file 40 Information reading device 41 Communication unit 42 Short-range wireless unit 43 Storage unit 44 Control unit 50 Point card 51 Storage unit 52 Near Distance wireless unit 60 POS terminal 61 Card reader 101 CPU
102 ROM
103 RAM
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 104 Display part 105 Input part 106 Memory | storage part 107 Medium reader 108 Communication control apparatus 109 Bus | bath 201 In / out history management part 202 Stay time calculation part 203 Point issuing part 204 Point management part

JP 2004-208097 A

Claims (4)

Reading means for reading customer identification information for identifying each customer from information storage means installed near the entrance of the store and carried by the customer passing through the entrance;
Entry / exit history management means for managing the customer identification information read by the reading means in association with time information indicating the time when the customer identification information was read;
From two time information associated with the same customer identification information managed by the entry / exit history management means, a calculation means for calculating a stay time in which the customer corresponding to the customer identification information stayed in the store;
Point issuing means for issuing points according to the stay time;
Point management means for managing the points issued by the point issuing means in association with the corresponding customer identification information;
A point issuing device characterized by comprising:   The calculation means sets the time indicated by one of the past time information in time series among the two time information associated with the same customer identification information as the entry time into the store, and The point issuing device according to claim 1, wherein a time indicated by time information is set as an exit time from the store, and a time obtained by subtracting the entrance time from the exit time is calculated as the stay time.   3. The point issuing device according to claim 1, wherein the calculation unit deletes a record related to two pieces of time information for which the stay time has been calculated from a management target of the input / output management unit. The information storage means is a non-contact type IC card provided with a wireless tag that records the customer identification information,
The point issuing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the reading unit reads the customer identification information by communicating with the wireless tag.

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