JP2012088841A - Coupon provision device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a coupon provision device capable of solving the problems such as a difficulty to fully motivate members to purchase a coupon.SOLUTION: The coupon provision device includes setting means for setting a coupon price, a purchase period and a sales quantity, purchase request reception means for receiving purchase requests of the coupon by users, and provision determination means for determining the provision of the coupon to the users who have made the purchase request when the number of the purchase request has reached the sales quantity in the purchase period. The device has privilege grant means for giving a privilege to users, among the users, who satisfy either of conditions that (a) their purchase requests were performed earlier than a prescribed time or (b) the orders of their purchase requests are ranked hither than a prescribed order.

Description

  The present invention relates to a coupon grant apparatus.

  The following network systems are known. Disclose the coupon name, price, planned number of sales, and sales period on the Internet site. The member sees the site and sends a purchase request for a desired coupon to the server of the network system. When the number of purchase requests reaches the planned number of coupons sold by the end of the sales period, the server sells the coupons to the number of the planned number of sales members on the first-come-first-served basis. On the other hand, if the number of purchase requests does not reach the planned sales number by the end of the sales period, the coupon is not sold at all (see Patent Document 1).

Special table 2001-520425 gazette

The above system has the following problems.
(1) The member cannot sufficiently arouse the willingness to purchase the coupon.
(2) It is not possible to deal with cases where purchased coupons are no longer needed or when it is desired to resell.
(3) When there are a plurality of types of coupons, the member may remain unaware of the existence of some coupons.
(4) If the timing of issuing a purchase request is late, there is no chance of acquiring a desired coupon.
(5) Since the coupon price is constant, it is difficult to increase the profit of the coupon seller.

  An object of the present invention is to solve any of the above problems.

  The coupon granting apparatus according to claim 1 includes a setting unit that sets a coupon amount, a purchase deadline, and a number of sales, a purchase request reception unit that accepts a purchase request for the coupon by a user, and the number of purchase requests is the purchase deadline. And a grant determination unit that determines to grant the coupon to the user who has made the purchase request when the number of sales is reached, and among the users, (a Privilege grant that grants a privilege to a user who satisfies the condition that the time when the purchase request is made is earlier than the predetermined time, or (b) the order where the purchase request is made is higher than the predetermined order Means are provided.

  The coupon grant apparatus of the present invention satisfies the condition that (a) the time when the purchase request is made is earlier than the predetermined time, or (b) the order where the purchase request is made is higher than the predetermined order. In addition to giving a coupon, a privilege is given to the user. Thereby, the user's willingness to purchase a coupon can be aroused and the sale of the coupon can be promoted.

  The coupon granting apparatus according to claim 2 includes a setting unit that sets a coupon amount, a purchase deadline, and the number of sales, a purchase request receiving unit that accepts a purchase request for the coupon by a user, and the number of purchase requests is the purchase deadline. In addition, when the number of sales is reached, the coupon granting device comprises grant decision means for deciding to grant the coupon to the user who has made the purchase request, wherein the coupon is granted Resale coupon purchase accepting a resale request accepting means for accepting resale request for reselling the coupon by a user determined by the user, and accepting a coupon purchase request for resale from a user other than the user who issued the resale request Deciding to give the coupon to the user who made the purchase request for the coupon related to the accepting means and the resale And resale coupon imparting determining means that, characterized in that it comprises a.

  The coupon grant apparatus of the present invention can resell sold coupons. That is, it is possible to accept a resale request from a user who has purchased a coupon and resell the coupon to a user who wishes to purchase a coupon to be resold. This improves the convenience of the user when the purchased coupon is no longer needed or when it is desired to resell. Moreover, the value of a coupon improves because resale is possible.

  The coupon granting apparatus according to claim 3 includes a setting means for setting the amount of the first coupon, a purchase deadline, and the number of sales, a purchase request receiving means for receiving a purchase request for the first coupon by a user, and the purchase request. When the number of purchases reaches the number of sales within the purchase deadline, the coupon determination device includes: a determination unit that determines to give the first coupon to the user who has made the purchase request. And a storage means for storing a second coupon associated with the first coupon in advance, and a user who has issued a purchase request for the first coupon but has not been granted the first coupon, And second coupon introduction information output means for outputting introduction information for introducing the second coupon.

  Although the coupon grant apparatus of this invention issued the purchase request of the 1st coupon, it introduces a 2nd coupon with respect to the member who was not able to purchase the coupon. As a result, the user can be informed of the presence of the second coupon and sales of the coupon can be promoted.

As the second coupon, for example, a coupon whose product or service to be provided is similar to the first coupon can be used.
The coupon granting apparatus according to claim 4 includes a setting means for setting an amount, a purchase deadline, and a sales number of a first coupon, a purchase request receiving means for receiving a purchase request for the first coupon by a user, and the purchase request. When the number of purchases reaches the number of sales within the purchase deadline, the coupon determination apparatus includes: a determination unit that determines to give the first coupon to the user who has made a purchase request. Before the first coupon is determined for the storage means for storing the second coupon previously associated with the first coupon and the user who has issued the purchase request for the first coupon. And a second coupon introduction information output means for outputting introduction information for introducing the second coupon.

  The coupon grant apparatus of the present invention can output introduction information that introduces the second coupon to the user who has issued a purchase request for the first coupon before the grant of the first coupon is determined. . As a result, the user can be informed of the presence of the second coupon and sales of the coupon can be promoted.

As the second coupon, for example, a coupon whose product or service to be provided is similar to the first coupon can be used.
The coupon granting apparatus according to claim 5 includes: a setting unit that sets a coupon amount, a purchase deadline, and a number of sales; a purchase request reception unit that accepts a purchase request for the coupon by a user; and the number of purchase requests is the purchase deadline. In addition, when the number of sales is reached, the coupon granting device comprises grant decision means for deciding to grant the coupon to the user who has made the purchase request, wherein the coupon is granted It is characterized by comprising user introduction information output means for outputting introduction information for introducing the user determined.

  The coupon provision apparatus of this invention outputs the introduction information which introduces that, when a user is provided with the coupon. Thereby, the purchase of the coupon by another user can be prompted.

  The coupon granting device according to claim 6 is a setting means for setting a coupon purchase deadline and the number of sales, a purchase request receiving means for receiving a purchase request for the coupon including a desired purchase price of the coupon by the user, and the purchase request. When the number of purchases reaches the number of sales within the purchase deadline, among the users who have made the purchase request, the coupon is given to the number corresponding to the number of sales in descending order of the purchase desired amount Providing determination means for determining this.

  The coupon grant apparatus of this invention can give a coupon to a group with a high desired purchase price among the users who have issued purchase requests. Thereby, the selling price of the coupon can be increased, and the profit of the seller of the coupon can be increased. Further, even when the timing of issuing a purchase request is late, the user can obtain an opportunity to obtain a desired coupon by increasing the desired purchase amount.

  The coupon granting device according to claim 7 is the coupon granting device according to claim 6, wherein a part of the desired purchase amount included in the purchase request that has already been received during the period when the purchase request for the coupon is received is disclosed. The disclosed means is provided.

  The coupon granting device of the present invention discloses a part of the purchase desired amount included in the purchase request already accepted during the period when the coupon purchase request is accepted. As a result, the user can determine the desired purchase price in his purchase request with reference to the disclosed desired purchase price.

  The disclosed desired purchase amount includes, for example, a desired purchase amount included in purchase requests in a predetermined order when purchase requests that have already been accepted are arranged in descending order of purchase desired amount.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a network system 1. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a server 3. FIG. It is explanatory drawing showing the coupon database 25. FIG. It is explanatory drawing showing the purchase request state database 27. FIG. It is explanatory drawing showing the resale request | requirement state database 29. FIG. It is a flowchart showing the coupon sale process which the server 3 performs. It is explanatory drawing showing the introduction screen of a coupon. It is explanatory drawing showing a user introduction screen. It is explanatory drawing showing the introduction screen of a 1st coupon. It is a flowchart showing the coupon resale process which the server 3 performs. It is explanatory drawing showing the resale introduction screen. It is a flowchart showing the coupon resale process which the server 3 performs. It is a flowchart showing the process after the coupon sale completion which the server 3 performs. It is explanatory drawing showing the coupon database 25. FIG. It is explanatory drawing showing the purchase request state database 27. FIG. It is a flowchart showing the coupon sale process which the server 3 performs. It is explanatory drawing showing the introduction screen of a coupon.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
1. Configuration of Network System 1 First, the overall configuration of a network system 1 to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG. The network system 1 includes a server (coupon granting device) 3 and a PC (personal computer) 7 connected to the server 3 via a network 5. The network 5 may be any of known networks such as the Internet, a local area network (LAN), Ethernet (registered trademark), a token ring network, a public telephone system, and an intranet system. explain. Further, instead of the PC 7, a mobile phone, a portable information terminal, a car navigation system, or the like may be used.

  Next, the configuration of the server 3 will be described with reference to FIG. The server 3 includes a CPU 9, a RAM 11, a ROM 13, an input device 15, an output device 17, a communication port 19, and a data storage device 21, and has a function as a well-known computer. The ROM 13 stores a program for executing processing to be described later.

  The input device 15 is a known computer peripheral device used for inputting data to the server 3. Examples of the input device 15 include a keyboard, a mouse, a barcode scanner, a voice recognition device, a biometric device, and a combination thereof.

  The output device 17 is a known computer peripheral device used for outputting data from the server 3. Examples of the output device 17 include a printer, a monitor, a backup storage device, and a display.

  The communication port 19 is a known computer peripheral device having a function of transmitting and receiving data between the CPU 9 and the network 5. Examples of the communication port 19 include a parallel port, a serial port, a network card, a fax / modem / telephone port, and the like.

  The data storage device 21 is a known computer peripheral device used for storing data. Examples of the data storage device 21 include a hard disk drive, a floppy (registered trademark) disk drive, a DVD drive, a Blu-ray (registered trademark) disk drive, an optical disk drive, a flash memory, and a magnetic tape.

  The data storage device 21 is operable to store a member database 23, a coupon database 25, a purchase request state database 27, and a resale request state database 29. The member database 23 stores a member's (user) name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, and member identification number (for example, a number such as M0001).

Next, the coupon database 25, the purchase request state database 27, and the resale request state database 29 will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 3, the coupon database 25 can purchase a field of “coupon name” that stores the name of the coupon, a field of “amount” that stores the selling price of the corresponding coupon, and a corresponding coupon. "Purchase period" field that stores the start and end of the period, "Sales number" field that stores the preset number of sales of the corresponding coupon, and "Classification" that stores the classification of the corresponding coupon ”Field. For example, the coupon of "X restaurant meal ticket", the "amount of money" is a 3000 yen, "purchase period" is from 12:00 _January B ₁ day A 18:00 of C ₁ January D ₁ day Yes, “Number of sales” is 100, and “Classification” is A. This classification is set so that coupons (types of products, services, etc. obtained by coupons) are similar and coupons that are assumed to have the same purchase class are in the same classification.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the purchase request state database 27 sequentially stores a “coupon name” field in which a coupon name is stored and a member identification number of a member who has issued a purchase request for the corresponding coupon. The field of “Member who issued a purchase request”, the field of “Time of purchase request” storing the time when each purchase request was issued, the number of purchase requests at that time, and the coupon sales schedule The field of “number of purchase requests / number of sales” storing the number and the field of “state” storing the coupon sales status (before sales start, during purchase request reception, or after sales end) are provided. ing. The purchase request will be described later.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the resale request state database 29 stores a “coupon name” field in which the name of the coupon is stored, and a “resale” in which the member identification number of the member who has issued the resale request for the corresponding coupon is stored. "Requested member" field and the "coupon status" field that stores the status (whether the resale destination has already been decided or the resale destination has not been decided yet) for each coupon sold for resale For a coupon that has been decided to be resold, a field of “purchased member” that stores the member identification number of the member who purchases the coupon and a resale introduction screen that introduces the coupon that has been resold have already been created. A field for “resale introduction screen creation” is stored. The resale request and the resale introduction screen will be described later.

2. Coupon sales process executed by the server 3 The coupon sales process executed by the server 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. The server 3 executes the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6 for each coupon stored in the coupon database 25. Below, let the coupon which is performing the process shown in FIG. 6 be a coupon in process. Moreover, the process shown in FIG. 6 is repeatedly performed for every predetermined time.

  In step 10, it is determined whether or not the coupon being processed is being introduced. Note that the server 3 creates and publishes a screen for introducing a coupon that is being purchased out of coupons stored in the coupon database 25 on a predetermined site as needed. For example, when the coupon for the X restaurant meal coupon is being purchased, the coupon introduction screen shown in FIG. 7 is created on a predetermined site and made public. The member can see the introduction screen on the PC 7 via the network 5 (see FIG. 1).

  If the introduction screen is open, it is determined that the coupon being processed is being introduced, and the process proceeds to step 20. On the other hand, if the introduction screen is not disclosed at that time, it is determined that the coupon being processed is not being introduced, and this processing is terminated.

  In step 20, it is determined whether or not a new purchase request has been made for the coupon being processed since the process shown in FIG. This purchase request means that when a member clicks the “Purchase” button provided on the introduction screen when the introduction screen of the coupon being processed is displayed on the PC 7 as shown in FIG. To the server 3 via the network 5. This purchase request includes a member identification number, information for identifying a coupon to be purchased, and time information. If there is a new purchase request, the process proceeds to step 30. On the other hand, if there is no new purchase request, the process proceeds to step 80.

  In step 30, the purchase request state database 27 is updated. For example, in the purchase request status database 27 shown in FIG. 4, before the update, the coupon for the X restaurant meal coupon (the coupon being processed) is stored until the purchase request of the member identification number M0066 input at 14:15, If the number of purchase requests / the number of sales is 4/100, and a new purchase request for the coupon by the member with the member identification number M0227 is input, the processing of this step 30 causes the “purchase of the corresponding coupon” M0227 is newly added to the field of “Member of request”, and 15:05 is added to the field of “Time of request for purchase” in association with the member identification number of M0227. "Number of requests / number of sales" is updated to 5/100.

  In step 40, it is determined whether or not the number of purchase requests at that time has reached the number of sales set in advance for the coupon being processed. Specifically, the number of purchase requests and the number of sales of the coupon being processed are read from “number of purchase requests / number of sales” in the purchase request state database 27, and whether or not the number of purchase requests has reached the number of sales. Determine whether. If the number of purchase requests has reached the preset number of sales, the process proceeds to step 50, and if not, the process proceeds to step 80.

  In step 50, the first member of the purchase request that has been stored as a member who has issued a purchase request for a coupon being processed in the “member who issued the purchase request” field of the purchase request state database 27 is displayed. In order, 100 persons are determined to give (sell) the coupon.

  In step 60, among members determined to give a coupon in step 50, the privilege is given to the top 10% of the time stored in the “time when the purchase request is issued” in the purchase request state database 27 is earlier. decide. The member who gives a privilege may be a member who has made a purchase request before a predetermined time among the members determined to give the coupon in step 50.

  As the benefits, for example, points that can be used at predetermined shops, facilities, etc., cash, prizes, and the like can be given. For a member who grants a privilege, for example, it can be notified that the privilege is granted by e-mail, postal mail, telephone, announcement on a homepage, or the like. The privilege may be sent to the member, or may be set so that the member who goes to a predetermined place can receive the privilege.

  In step 70, a screen for introducing the member to whom the coupon is given in step 50 (hereinafter referred to as a user introduction screen) is created and published on a preset site on the Internet. An example of the user introduction screen is shown in FIG. The user introduction screen shown in FIG. 8 discloses the member identification number of the member who purchased the coupon, the name of the coupon, its price, and the fact that the coupon was purchased. The site that publishes the user introduction screen may be the same as the site that discloses the screen for introducing the coupon, or may be another site. Moreover, both sites may be sufficient. The member can view the user introduction screen on the PC 7 via the network 5.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step 40 that the number of purchase requests at that time has not reached the preset number of sales, the process proceeds to step 80 and is stored in the “purchase period” field of the coupon database 25. It is determined whether or not the end of the purchase period (purchase deadline) has been reached. If the purchase deadline has been reached, the process proceeds to step 90. If the purchase deadline has not been reached, the process proceeds to step 100.

In step 90, it is determined that the coupon being processed is not sold to any member. Thereafter, this process is terminated.
In step 100, a screen for introducing the second coupon is created on a site on the Internet and released. Here, the second coupon is a coupon other than the coupon being processed among the coupons stored in the coupon database 25, and the symbol stored in the “classification” field is the same as the coupon being processed. Is. For example, in the coupon database 25 shown in FIG. 3, a coupon for an X restaurant meal coupon (coupon being processed) in which the symbol “A” is stored in “classification” is already being introduced, and the coupon is purchased in the step 80. If it is determined that the deadline has not been reached, a screen (see FIG. 9) for introducing a coupon for the Y restaurant meal voucher (second coupon) in which the same symbol A is stored in the “classification” is displayed on the Internet. Create and publish on your site. The screen for introducing the coupon for the Y restaurant meal voucher can be published on the same site as the screen for introducing the coupon for the X restaurant meal voucher. The member can view the introduction screen of the second coupon on the PC 7 via the network 5. After the process of step 100, this process is terminated.

3. Coupon resale process executed by server 3 (1) First, a process in which the server 3 accepts a resale request from a member will be described with reference to FIGS. The server 3 repeatedly executes the process shown in FIG. 10 every predetermined time. In step 110, it is determined whether or not a resale request has been newly received from the member since the process shown in FIG. 10 was previously executed. The resale request is sent from the PC 7 to the server 3 via the network 5. In addition, a format for inputting a resale request is disclosed on a predetermined site, and a member inputs information included in the resale request (name of coupon to be resold, member identification number, etc.) in that format. You can create a resale request. If there is a new resale request, the process proceeds to step 120. If there is no new resale request, the process is terminated.

  In step 120, the resale request state database 29 is updated based on the new resale request. Specifically, a coupon item corresponding to a new resale request is added to the resale request state database 29 shown in FIG.

In step 130, based on the updated resale request state database 29, a resale introduction screen is created on a predetermined site and released. The resale introduction screen introduces all of the coupons stored in the resale request state database 29 whose “resale introduction screen creation” field is “not yet”. The field of “Resale introduction screen creation” is “not yet” immediately after a new coupon to be resold is added to the resale request status database 29. When “Resale introduction screen creation” is created for the coupon, “Done”. An example of the resale introduction screen is shown in FIG. On the resale introduction screen, the name and price of the coupon stored in the resale request state database 29 are displayed. The resale introduction screen can be published on the same site as the screen for introducing coupons. The member can view the resale introduction screen on the PC 7 via the network 5. In addition, a “Purchase” button is displayed on the resale introduction screen. When a member clicks this button, a purchase request for a resale coupon, which will be described later, is transmitted from the PC 7 to the server 3 via the network 5. After execution of step 130, the present process is terminated.
(2) Next, the process in which the server 3 determines the sales destination of the coupon to be resold will be described with reference to FIG. The server 3 repeatedly executes the process shown in FIG. 12 every predetermined time. In step 210, it is determined whether or not a request for purchasing a resale coupon has been newly received from the member since the process shown in FIG. 12 was previously executed. The purchase request for the resale coupon is transmitted from the PC 7 to the server 3 via the network 5 when the member clicks the “Purchase” button on the resale introduction screen (see FIG. 11) as described above. The purchase request for the resale coupon includes a member identification number, information for identifying the coupon to be purchased, and time information. If there is a new purchase request for the resale coupon, the process proceeds to step 220. If there is no purchase request for the resale coupon, the process is terminated.

  In step 220, it is determined whether there is a coupon that can be resold at that time. Specifically, if there is a coupon corresponding to the resale coupon purchase request in the resale request status database 29 (see FIG. 5) and the “coupon status” field in the coupon is “remaining”. It is determined that there is a coupon that can be resold, and the process proceeds to step 230. On the other hand, in other cases, it is determined that there is no coupon that can be resold, and the process is terminated. Note that the storage in the “coupon status” field is “remaining” in a state where the coupon sales destination is not determined, and is changed to “resold” in step 240 described later when the sales destination is determined.

In step 230, the member who newly issued the purchase request for the resale coupon is set as the purchaser of the corresponding coupon.
If the first purchaser has not yet paid for the coupon to be resold, the member determined in step 230 may pay for the coupon. If the first purchaser has already paid for the coupon to be resold, the member determined in step 230 pays for the coupon and refunds the coupon to the first purchaser. be able to. Alternatively, the member determined in step 230 can pay the coupon for the first purchaser. Moreover, the price at the time of resale may be the same as the price when the coupon is first sold, or may be a different amount.

  In step 240, the resale request state database 29 is updated. Specifically, the “coupon status” field in the coupon decided to be resold in step 230 is changed to “resold”, and the member identification number of the member who purchases the coupon is displayed in the “purchased member” field. Remember. After the process of step 240, the process ends.

4). Processing after completion of coupon sales executed by server 3 Processing after completion of coupon sales executed by server 3 will be described with reference to FIG. The process shown in FIG. 13 is repeatedly executed at predetermined time intervals. In step 310, it is determined whether there is a coupon after the sale ends. Specifically, in the coupon stored in the coupon database 25, the coupon grantor has already been determined (S50 in FIG. 6), or it has already been determined not to sell the coupon (step 90 in FIG. 6). ) It is determined whether or not there is a coupon (hereinafter referred to as a non-saleable coupon). When there is a non-saleable coupon, the process proceeds to step 320, and when there is no non-saleable coupon, the process is terminated.

  In step 320, it is determined whether or not a new purchase request for a non-saleable coupon has been made since the process shown in FIG. If there is a new purchase request, the process proceeds to step 320, and if there is no new purchase request, the process is terminated.

  In step 330, a screen for introducing the second coupon is created on a site on the Internet and released. Here, the second coupon is (i) any coupon stored in the coupon database 25 other than the coupon requested for purchase in step 320, and (ii) not a non-saleable coupon, iii) The symbol stored in the “classification” field is the same as the non-saleable coupon requested for purchase in step 320. The screen for introducing the second coupon can be published on the same site as the screen for introducing the coupon being sold. The member can view the introduction screen of the second coupon on the PC 7 via the network 5. The screen for introducing the second coupon may be sent by e-mail to the member who issued the purchase request in step 320. The screen for introducing the second coupon may be, for example, as shown in FIG. 7 or FIG. After the process of step 330, this process ends.

3. Effects produced by the server 3 (1) The server 3 gives a privilege to a member who has issued a purchase request early (step 60 in FIG. 6). As a result, the sale of coupons can be promoted.
(2) The server 3 can resell the sold coupon. That is, the resale request from the member who purchased the coupon is accepted (the process of FIG. 10), and the coupon can be resold to the member who desires to purchase the coupon to be resold (the process of FIG. 12). This improves the convenience for members. Moreover, the value of a coupon improves because resale is possible.
(3) The server 3 makes a purchase request for a predetermined coupon, but introduces another coupon to the member who has not been able to purchase the coupon (processing in FIG. 13). As a result, the member can be informed of the existence of another coupon and sales of the coupon can be promoted.
(4) The server 3 can introduce another similar coupon to the member during the sale period of the predetermined coupon (the process of step 100 in FIG. 6). As a result, the member can be informed of the existence of another coupon and sales of the coupon can be promoted.
(5) When the member purchases the coupon, the server 3 introduces that on another site (step 70 in FIG. 6). As a result, the purchase of coupons by other members can be promoted.
(Second Embodiment)
1. Configuration of Network System 1 The configurations of the network system 1 and the server 3 of the present embodiment are basically the same as those of the first embodiment, but are partially different. Hereinafter, the difference will be mainly described, and description of the same part as that of the first embodiment will be omitted or simplified.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14, the coupon database 25 stores a field of “coupon name” in which the name of the coupon is stored, and a “purchase period” in which a start period and an end period of the period in which the coupon can be purchased are stored. ”Field, a“ sales number ”field storing the preset number of sales of the corresponding coupon, and a“ classification ”field storing the classification of the corresponding coupon.

  Further, in the purchase request state database 27, as shown in FIG. 15, the "coupon name" field storing the name of the coupon and the member identification number of the member who issued the purchase request for the corresponding coupon are sequentially stored. In the field of “Members that issued purchase requests”, the “Purchase amount of money” field that stores the desired purchase amount in each purchase request, and the order in which the purchase request amount is highest in each coupon For each purchase request, the field for the time when the purchase request was issued, and the sales status of each coupon (before the start of sales, accepting purchase requests) In addition, a “status” field storing any one after sales) is provided. The desired purchase amount will be described later.

2. Coupon sales process executed by the server 3 The coupon sales process executed by the server 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. The server 3 executes the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 16 for each coupon stored in the coupon database 25. Below, let the coupon which is performing the process shown in FIG. 16 be a coupon in process. Further, the process shown in FIG. 16 is repeatedly executed at predetermined time intervals.

  In step 410, it is determined whether the coupon being processed is being introduced. Note that the server 3 creates and publishes a screen for introducing a coupon that is being purchased out of coupons stored in the coupon database 25 on a predetermined site as needed. An example of a screen for introducing a coupon is shown in FIG. On this screen, the name of the coupon (X restaurant meal voucher), the application deadline (the end of the purchase period), and the capacity (the preset number of sales planned) are displayed. The member can see the introduction screen on the PC 7 via the network 5.

  If the introduction screen is open, it is determined that the coupon being processed is being introduced, and the process proceeds to step 420. On the other hand, if the introduction screen is not disclosed at that time, it is determined that the coupon being processed is not being introduced, and this processing is terminated.

  In step 420, it is determined whether or not a new purchase request has been made for the coupon being processed since the process shown in FIG. This purchase request is a state in which an introductory coupon introduction screen as shown in FIG. 17 is displayed on the PC 7, and the member enters a desired purchase amount in the “Purchase Amount” column provided on the introduction screen. This is a signal that is input to the server 3 from the PC 7 via the network 5 when the “Purchase” button is input. Therefore, the purchase request includes information on the desired purchase amount in addition to the member identification number, information identifying the coupon, and time information. If there is a new purchase request, the process proceeds to step 430. On the other hand, if there is no new purchase request, the process proceeds to step 440.

  In step 430, the purchase request state database 27 is updated. For example, in the purchase request status database 27 shown in FIG. 15, before the update, the coupon for the X restaurant meal coupon (the coupon being processed) is stored up to the purchase request for the member identification number M0066 at 14:15. Assuming that a new purchase request for the coupon by the member having the member identification number M0227 is input, M0227 is newly added to the “member who issued the purchase request” field of the corresponding coupon by the processing of this step 430. In the “Purchase Amount” field, the desired purchase amount included in the new purchase request is stored, and the “Ranking” field is reordered in consideration of the desired purchase amount included in the new purchase request. Add 15:05, which is the time when a new purchase request is issued, to the field "Purchase request time"

  In step 440, it is determined whether or not the end of the purchase period (purchase deadline) stored in the “purchase period” field of the coupon database 25 has been reached. If the purchase deadline has been reached, the process proceeds to step 450. If the purchase deadline has not been reached, the process proceeds to step 480.

  In step 450, it is determined whether or not the number of purchase requests at that time has reached the number of sales set in advance for the coupon being processed. If the number of purchase requests has reached the preset number of sales, the process proceeds to step 460, and if not, the process proceeds to step 470.

  In step 460, the “order” field among the members stored as the member who issued the purchase request for the coupon being processed is stored in the “member who issued the purchase request” field of the purchase request state database 27. The members whose ranks are 1 to 100 are determined as those who give the coupon. Thereafter, this process is terminated.

  The actual sales amount of the coupon can be determined by an arbitrary method. For example, the desired purchase price with the order X stored in the “rank” field can be the actual selling price of the coupon for all members to whom the coupon is given. This X can be arbitrarily set from 1 to 100, but 100 (the lowest rank among the members to which the coupon is given) is preferable. By doing so, the actual selling price of the coupon does not become higher than his / her desired purchase price for any member to whom the coupon is given. Also, the desired purchase price may be the actual selling price for the member.

On the other hand, in step 470, the coupon being processed is determined not to be sold to any member. Thereafter, this process is terminated.
If the number of purchase requests in step 450 does not reach the preset number of sales, the process proceeds to step 470, and the “order” of the purchase request status database 27 is displayed on the introduction screen of the coupon being sold shown in FIG. The desired purchase amount included in the purchase request whose field order is 90 is displayed in the column “Currently, the 90th desired purchase amount from the top is ... yen”. Thereafter, this process is terminated.

3. Effects produced by the server 3 (1) The server 3 can give a coupon to a group of the top 100 people with the highest desired purchase amount among the members who have issued purchase requests. As a result, the selling price of the coupon can be increased. In addition, the member can get an opportunity to obtain a desired coupon even if the timing of issuing a purchase request is late.
(2) Before the member to whom the coupon is given is determined, the server 3 displays the 90th purchase desired amount from the top at that time. The member can determine the desired purchase amount in the purchase request with reference to the desired purchase amount.

Further, since the 100th desired purchase price from the top is not displayed, for example, an act of raising the desired purchase price by 1 yen can be prevented.
In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment at all, and it cannot be overemphasized that it can implement with a various aspect in the range which does not deviate from this invention.

  For example, in the first embodiment, a member who wishes to resell may transmit a resale price (which may be different from the original sales price) to the server 3 together with the resale request. In this case, the resale request state database 29 also stores the resale price. Then, the resale price is displayed on the coupon resale information screen shown in FIG. Other members who wish to purchase resold coupons click the “Purchase” button if they agree with the displayed resale price.

  Moreover, when there are a plurality of purchase requests for one coupon attached to resale, the purchaser of the coupon can be determined by an arbitrary method. For example, a coupon can be given to a member whose purchase request is earliest. Moreover, you may determine the member which gives a coupon by lottery from the members who issued the purchase request. Further, the member who desires to purchase can send the resale price to the server 3 together with the purchase request, and the server 3 may give the coupon attached to the resale to the member having the highest resale price. .

1 ... Network system, 3 ... Server, 5 ... Network, 7 ... PC,
9 ... CPU 9, 11 ... RAM, 13 ... ROM, 15 ... input device,
17 ... Output device, 19 ... Communication port, 21 ... Data storage device,
23 ... Member database, 25 ... Coupon database,
27 ... Purchase request status database, 29 ... Resale request status database

Claims (7)

A setting means for setting the coupon amount, purchase deadline, and number of sales;
A purchase request receiving means for receiving a purchase request for the coupon by a user;
An assignment determining means for determining that the coupon is given to a user who made the purchase request when the number of purchase requests reaches the number of sales within the purchase deadline;
A coupon granting device comprising:
Among the users, a user who satisfies the condition that (a) the time when the purchase request is made is earlier than a predetermined time, or (b) the order where the purchase request is made is higher than the predetermined order. A coupon granting device comprising a privilege granting means for granting a privilege to a gift. A setting means for setting the coupon amount, purchase deadline, and number of sales;
A purchase request receiving means for receiving a purchase request for the coupon by a user;
An assignment determining means for determining that the coupon is given to a user who made the purchase request when the number of purchase requests reaches the number of sales within the purchase deadline;
A coupon granting device comprising:
A resale request accepting means for accepting a resale request for reselling the coupon by a user determined to be given the coupon;
Resale coupon purchase acceptance means for accepting a coupon purchase request for resale from a user other than the user who issued the resale request;
Resale coupon grant determining means for determining to give a coupon to a user who has issued a coupon purchase request for resale;
A coupon giving device comprising: A setting means for setting the amount of the first coupon, the purchase deadline, and the number of sales;
Purchase request accepting means for accepting a purchase request for the first coupon by a user;
Grant determining means for deciding to grant the first coupon to the user who made the purchase request when the number of purchase requests reaches the number of sales within the purchase deadline;
A coupon granting device comprising:
Storage means for storing a second coupon pre-associated with the first coupon;
A second coupon introduction information output means for outputting introduction information for introducing the second coupon to a user who has issued a purchase request for the first coupon but has not been granted the first coupon;
A coupon giving device comprising: A setting means for setting the amount of the first coupon, the purchase deadline, and the number of sales;
Purchase request accepting means for accepting a purchase request for the first coupon by a user;
Grant determining means for deciding to give the first coupon to the user who made a purchase request when the number of purchase requests reaches the number of sales within the purchase deadline;
A coupon granting device comprising:
Storage means for storing a second coupon pre-associated with the first coupon;
Second coupon introduction information output means for outputting introduction information for introducing the second coupon before the grant of the first coupon is determined for the user who has issued the purchase request for the first coupon. When,
A coupon giving device comprising: A setting means for setting the coupon amount, purchase deadline, and number of sales;
A purchase request receiving means for receiving a purchase request for the coupon by a user;
An assignment determining means for determining that the coupon is given to a user who made the purchase request when the number of purchase requests reaches the number of sales within the purchase deadline;
A coupon granting device comprising:
A coupon granting apparatus comprising user introduction information output means for outputting introduction information for introducing a user who has been determined to be given the coupon. Setting means for setting coupon purchase deadline and number of sales,
A purchase request receiving means for receiving a purchase request for the coupon including a purchase desired amount of the coupon by the user;
When the number of purchase requests reaches the number of sales within the purchase deadline, among the users who have made the purchase requests, the coupon is given to the number corresponding to the number of sales in descending order of the purchase desired amount. Grant determining means for determining to grant,
A coupon giving device comprising:   The coupon granting apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a disclosing means for disclosing a part of a purchase desired amount included in the purchase request that has already been accepted during a period in which the purchase request for the coupon is accepted.

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