JP2015052964A - Coupon issue support system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology for increasing the effects of sales promotion or the like by suitably issuing a coupon to a customer by a store concerning coupon issue support.SOLUTION: A coupon issue support system configured to support the issue of a coupon to a customer of an affiliated store on the basis of an instruction from the affiliated store includes: a coupon information storage section for storing coupon information for designating an application object, an issue period, a term of validity and an issue object customer concerning each of a plurality of coupons; a customer information storage section for storing customer information including the customer attributes of each of the plurality of customers of the affiliated store; and an extraction section for selecting each issue object customer by using the coupon information and customer information of each of the plurality of coupons, and for extracting the customer who is pertinent to at least one of duplication where a plurality of coupons are issued or leakage where any coupon is not issued about a plurality of customers whose customer information is stored in the customer information storage section.

Description

  The present invention relates to a computer and information processing technology. The present invention also relates to a technique for issuing an electronic coupon.

  Regarding coupon business, various stores such as retail stores and other organizations issue coupons to customers for sales promotion and the like. The coupon is also called a discount ticket. Coupons are issued in paper or electronic form. The contents of the coupon are contents that provide services such as discounts and free gifts for specific stores, products, services, and the like. The store issues and provides coupons to predetermined target customers. For example, a store or a coupon business operator issues an electronic coupon and distributes it to a user who is a customer or its terminal. When a customer purchases a product in a store, the customer receives a service such as a discount by presenting and using a coupon.

  As a prior art example related to the issuance of electronic coupons, there is JP-A-2003-44768 (Patent Document 1). According to Patent Document 1, when a user pays cashlessly at a store, the coupon management server issues a coupon at the store and transmits it to the user's mobile terminal based on the payment server payment information. , Etc. are described.

JP 2003-44768 A

  A conventional information processing system related to electronic coupon issuance can manage the issuance of store coupons as in the example of Patent Document 1. However, the conventional system has an insufficient coupon issue support function for supporting the issue of coupons to customers by stores.

  The store preferably issues a coupon to the customer, and thereby wants to increase the overall effect such as sales promotion including profits from customer attraction and product sales. In particular, the store wants to maximize the above effect by issuing coupons with suitable contents to customers with suitable attributes to be targeted according to the products sold.

  The person in charge at the store that issues the coupon determines the customer attributes to be targeted by the coupon and determines the contents such as the discount rate. There are various customer attributes such as sex and age group. Depending on the setting of the customer attribute of the coupon target by the person in charge of the store, provision of coupons to a group of customers corresponding to the attribute may overlap or may leak.

  In the case of overlap, there are customers who are offered multiple coupons. The customer may not be able to use multiple coupons effectively. In the case of a leak, some customers are not offered coupons. The customer may have purchased the product using the coupon if provided. If there are any overlaps or omissions, there may be room for improvement in setting customer attributes for coupon targets.

  However, the conventional system does not have a function or the like for adjusting the duplication or omission of coupons provided by the customer with the customer attribute of the coupon target.

  The objective of this invention is providing the technique which can raise effects, such as sales promotion, by issuing the coupon to the suitable customer by a store regarding the said coupon issue support.

  A representative embodiment of the present invention is a coupon issuance support system that supports issuance of a coupon for issuing a coupon to a customer of a member store based on an instruction from the member store. It is characterized by having.

  A coupon issue support system according to an embodiment includes a coupon information storage unit that holds coupon information that specifies an application target, an issue period, an effective period, and an issue target customer for each of a plurality of coupons, and a plurality of coupon stores. A customer information storage unit that holds customer information including customer attributes for each of the customers, and for each of the plurality of coupons, each coupon information and the customer information are used to select each customer to be issued, and the customer information An extraction unit that extracts a customer corresponding to at least one of a duplication in which a plurality of coupons are issued or a leakage in which a coupon is not issued for a plurality of customers in which customer information is stored in the storage unit.

  According to a typical embodiment of the present invention, with respect to the coupon issue support, the effect of sales promotion and the like can be enhanced by issuing a coupon to a suitable customer at a store.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the coupon issue assistance system of one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the coupon server and customer information server of this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the 1st part of the flow of the issue assistance process of the coupon server of this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the 2nd part of the flow of the issue support process of the coupon server of this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the coupon information of this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the customer information of this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the coupon issue information of this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the coupon usage information of this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the 1st example of the set of the customer attributes of this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the 2nd example of the set of the customer attributes of this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the 3rd example of the set of customer attributes of this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the customer attribute analysis information of this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the process example of the 1st system of the adjustment of duplication of this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the process example of the 2nd system of the adjustment of duplication of this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the process example of the 3rd system of the adjustment of duplication of this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a process of adjustment of the leak of this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the process example and screen example of the adjustment of the leak of this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen containing the setting of this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen which displays the information of each customer of this Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that components having the same function are denoted by the same reference symbols throughout the drawings for describing the embodiment, and the repetitive description thereof will be omitted.

  The coupon issue support system of the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and the like is a coupon issue support unit provided by a coupon issue support unit 62 that supports the issue and creation of coupons that are free from omissions and duplications regarding the issue of coupons to customers by stores. It has a function. The coupon issuance support function extracts omissions and duplications in the customer attribute of the target of the store coupon by the process shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The coupon issue support function displays information on omissions and duplications on the screen referred to by the person in charge of the store, and displays information on proposals and recommendations for adjusting coupon issuance conditions so as to eliminate or reduce the omissions and duplications. .

[System configuration]
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a coupon issue support system according to the present embodiment. The coupon issue support system of the present embodiment includes a user terminal 10 of each user who is a plurality of customers 1, a client terminal 20 of each store of a plurality of member stores 2, and a coupon operator through a communication network 5 such as the Internet. 3 system and the credit card company 4 system are connected.

  The plurality of customers 1 are indicated by users U <b> 1 to Un and are customers of the member store 2. The user terminal 10 is a mobile terminal such as a smartphone or a tablet that is carried by a user who is a customer. The user terminal 10 has a communication function, an input function, a display function, and the like. The user terminal 10 may have a coupon processing function and hold the coupon d1.

  The plurality of member stores 2 are stores of business operators indicated by stores T1 to Tm, which are members of the coupon business and independently issue various coupons. The store may be an actual store or an EC site. The client terminal 20 is an information processing apparatus such as a PC or a POS cash register terminal that is installed in a store and is operated by a person in charge of issuing a coupon or a store clerk. The client terminal 20 includes a communication function, an input function, a display function, a sales management function, a customer information processing function, and the like. The client terminal 20 may have a coupon processing function and hold the coupon d2.

  The sales management function is a function for managing sales, sales, payment processing, and the like of products and services at a store. The customer information processing function is a function for inputting and outputting customer information, and registers customer information in the customer information DB 52 of the customer information server 32. The coupon processing function provides a customer with a coupon d2 based on the coupon d3 issued by the coupon server 31.

  As a coupon business, the coupon business 3 provides a service for managing and supporting the issuance of coupons by each store based on contracts with a plurality of member stores 2, and obtains commissions and the like. The system of the coupon business operator 3 includes a coupon server 31 and a customer information server 32. The coupon server 31 includes a coupon management unit 61, a coupon issue support unit 62, and a coupon DB 51, and issues and holds a coupon d3. The coupon server 31 stores information related to coupon management and issue support in the coupon DB 51. The customer information server 32 stores customer information of each store in the customer information DB 52 and securely manages it.

  The coupon management unit 61 realizes a coupon management function. The coupon management function grasps and manages the status and results from the issue of coupons to customers by each store to the use of coupons by customers.

  The coupon issue support part 62 implements a coupon issue support function. The coupon issuance support function provides support for issuing and operating coupons to customers by each store, and provides for duplication and omissions related to the provision of coupons to individual customers and customer attribute unit customers in the store's customer population. Extract. The coupon issue support function makes proposals and recommendations for adjusting coupon issue conditions so that there is no or less overlap or omission. The coupon issuance support function displays the information on the duplication and omission and the information on the proposal and the recommendation on the screen referred to by the person in charge of the store.

  Between the client terminal 20 of the store, the coupon server 31, and the customer information server 32, client-server communication is appropriately performed during coupon issue support and during issue from coupon issue. The client terminal 20 accesses the coupon server 31 based on the operation of the person in charge of the store, and receives a coupon management service by the coupon management unit 61 and a coupon issue support service by the coupon issue support unit 62.

  The credit card company 4 is an example of a settlement operator. The system of the credit card company 4 includes a settlement server 41 and a usage details server 42. The settlement server 41 receives payment information by the customer's credit card from the POS cash register terminal which is the client terminal 10 of the store. The settlement server 41 performs a settlement process based on the payment information, stores the result in the DB as the settlement information 53, and responds to the client terminal 10.

  The usage details server 42 creates usage details information 54 of the customer's credit card at a timing such as monthly based on the settlement information 53 and stores it in the DB.

  The coupon business operator 3 may cooperate with the credit card company 4 and acquire customer purchase information based on the usage details information 54 as information related to coupon issue support from the system of the credit card company 4. This customer purchase information is information on the purchase of products by customers at stores. When handling customer information, processing for ensuring security, processing for each customer attribute, and the like are performed.

  The coupon issue support system of this embodiment collects and implements the coupon management function and the coupon issue support function in the coupon server 31 instead of each store, and provides each store as a service. The present invention is not limited to this, and the following is possible as another embodiment. The form by which the coupon management function by the coupon management part 61 was abbreviate | omitted may be sufficient. The form in which the function corresponding to the coupon management part 61 was mounted in the client terminal 20 of the store may be sufficient. A form in which a function corresponding to the coupon issue support unit 62 is mounted on the client terminal 20 of the store may be employed. The form in which the coupon server 31 and the customer information server 32 are integrated into one may be used. The form in which the coupon management part 61 and the coupon issue support part 62 were mounted by another server may be sufficient.

[coupon]
Coupons handled in the present embodiment include coupons using media such as paper, and electronic coupons. The coupon d1 of the user terminal 10 in FIG. 1, the coupon d2 of the client terminal 20, the coupon d3 of the coupon server 31, and the like indicate the same information corresponding to each other. Coupons are exchanged in the form of codes or the like. The coupon may be composed of not only a code but also a file such as a text or image representing the content of the coupon, XML, or a program. The form of providing the coupon to the customer is not limited, and can be directly provided at a store, provided by an advertising medium, e-mail, website, or the like, as will be described later.

[Coupon server configuration]
FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the coupon server 31 and the customer information server 32. The coupon server 31 includes a calculation control unit 301, a storage unit 302, and an input / output unit 303. The calculation control unit 301 includes a coupon management unit 61, a coupon issue support unit 62, a setting unit 63, and a screen providing unit 64. The coupon management unit 61 includes an issue condition setting unit 111, an issue unit 112, and a use unit 113. The coupon issue support unit 62 includes a range setting unit 120, a customer attribute analysis unit 121, a duplication adjustment unit 122, a leakage adjustment unit 123, and a recommendation unit 124.

  The calculation control unit 301 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and implements processing units such as the coupon management unit 61 and the coupon issue support unit 62 by reading and executing the program 311 in the storage unit 302. The input / output unit 303 includes an input device, an output device, a communication device, and the like, and performs information input / output processing.

  The storage unit 302 stores a program 311, setting information 312, coupon DB 51, customer attribute definition information 71, customer attribute analysis information 72, adjustment information 73, recommendation information 74, and the like. The coupon DB 51 stores coupon information D1, coupon issue information 82, coupon usage information 83, a coupon d3, and the like. The coupon information D1 is management information that includes the issuance condition information 81 and includes the issuance conditions of the coupon and the definition of the contents. The coupon information D1 may include a coupon issue information 82, a coupon use information 83, a coupon d3, and the like.

  The setting unit 63 sets setting information 312 related to the coupon issue support system based on the operation of the administrator of the coupon server 31. The setting information 312 includes setting information regarding various functions of the coupon issue support system, and setting information such as an address for communication between apparatuses.

  Based on the control by the coupon management unit 61 and the coupon issue support unit 62, the screen providing unit 64 provides a screen serving as a user interface in the form of a Web page or the like for the access from the client terminal 20 of the person in charge of the store. Perform the process.

[Customer Information Server]
The customer information server 32 includes a customer information management unit 131 and a customer information DB 52. The customer information server 32 receives customer information from the client terminal 20, and stores it as customer information D2 in the customer information DB 52 by the customer information management unit 131. In response to a request from the client terminal 20 or the coupon server 31, the customer information server 32 reads and responds to the customer information D2 from the customer information DB 52 by the customer information management unit 131. The customer information management unit 131 has a function of registering customer information D2 including customer attribute information based on the operations of the person in charge of the store or the manager of the coupon server 31.

  As shown in FIG. 6 described later, the customer information D2 includes information on each customer at each store, and includes customer attribute information by registration or the like. The customer information D2 may be registered information of store members. The customer information server 32 securely manages the customer information D2.

  The customer information server 32 may have a function of managing customer purchase information 75. The customer purchase information 75 is record information that the above-mentioned customer has purchased a product or the like at a store. This function creates customer purchase information 75 based on information from the credit card company 4 and information from the client terminal 20 and stores it in the customer information DB 52.

[Coupon management function]
The coupon management function by the coupon management part 61 of FIG. 2 is demonstrated. The coupon management unit 61 performs coupon management processing using the coupon information D1, customer information D2, coupon issue information 82, coupon usage information 83, and the like.

  The issuance condition setting unit 111 performs a process of setting the issuance condition of the store coupon in the issuance condition information 81 of the coupon information D1 based on an operation from the client terminal 20 by the person in charge of the store. The issue condition information 81 is information that defines customer attributes of coupon targets as shown in FIG. Moreover, the coupon management part 61 performs the process which sets the information which defines contents, such as a discount rate of a coupon, to the coupon information D1.

  The issuing unit 112 issues a coupon d3 of the store according to the coupon information D1 including the issue condition information 81, and creates or updates the coupon issue information 82. The issuing unit 112 describes information including the issue status of the coupon to the customer in the coupon issue information 82 as shown in FIG. The coupon issue information 82 is information for managing the issue state of the coupon d3 for each customer attribute customer by each store. The issuing unit 112 may transmit the issued coupon d3 to the client terminal 20 and distribute it to the user through the client terminal 20. The issuing unit 112 may transmit the issued coupon d3 to the user terminal 10 for distribution.

  The use unit 113 manages the coupon use information 83 and performs processing when the customer uses the coupon based on access from the client terminal 20 or the user terminal 10. The coupon usage information 83 is history information or the like that manages the usage status of coupons for customers of each attribute of the store, as shown in FIG. The use unit 113 receives from the client terminal 20 or the user terminal 10 information d4 indicating that the customer has used the coupon at the store. The use unit 113 updates the content of the coupon use information 83 so as to reflect the use of the coupon by the customer in accordance with the information d4.

[Coupon issue support function]
A coupon issue support function by the coupon issue support unit 62 in FIG. 2 will be described. The coupon issue support unit 62 uses the coupon information D1, customer information D2, coupon issue information 82, customer attribute definition information 71 and the like to perform a coupon issue support process as shown in FIGS.

  The range setting unit 120 performs processing for setting the target and range of the coupon issue support process based on an operation from the client terminal 20 by the person in charge of the store.

  The customer attribute analysis unit 121 uses the customer information D2 of the customer information DB 52 and the customer attribute definition information 71 to logically relate a set of customers in a plurality of customer attribute units in the customer group (eg, FIG. 9 to FIG. 9). 11) is analyzed, and the result is stored in customer attribute analysis information 72 as shown in FIG.

  In the customer attribute definition information 71, various customer attributes including segments such as sex and age group are logically defined. The customer attribute analysis unit 121 may register customer attribute information in the customer attribute definition information 71 based on an operation of an administrator of the coupon server 31 or the like. The customer attribute analysis unit 121 may extract customer attributes by registering them in the customer attribute definition information 71 by performing data analysis processing on the customer information D2 and other information. Customer attribute definition information 71 etc. may be managed by customer information DB52.

  The duplication adjustment unit 122 performs processing for adjusting the issuance condition including the customer attribute of the target of the coupon so that the degree of duplication is reduced with respect to the customer of the customer attribute in which a plurality of coupons are issued in duplicate, The result is stored in the adjustment information 73.

  The leakage adjustment unit 123 performs processing for adjusting the issuance conditions including the customer attribute of the coupon target so that the degree of leakage is reduced with respect to the customer attribute customer leaking from the coupon issuance target, and the result is Stored in the adjustment information 73.

  Using the adjustment information 73, the recommendation unit 124 creates information such as issuance conditions to be proposed and recommended as adjustments related to the overlap and omission as recommended information 74, and displays a screen including the recommended information 74 of the person in charge of the store. Processing to be provided to the client terminal 20 is performed.

  The coupon server 31 can basically understand the customer attributes from the coupon information D1 and the customer information D2. Moreover, the coupon server 31 can grasp | ascertain the coupon of the effective state which each customer of a store possesses at present by combining the coupon issue information 82 and the coupon use information 83. FIG. Furthermore, when using the customer purchase information 75 together, the coupon server 31 can grasp which coupon is used when a customer of each attribute of the store purchases.

[Flow from coupon issuance to use]
An example of a flow related to the coupon management function from issuance of coupons to customers by the store and coupon server 31 to use of coupons by the customers will be described.

  (1) (Setting of Coupon Information D1) The person in charge of the store sets a target customer attribute, a discount rate, and the like, which are coupon issue conditions and contents, from the client terminal 20 to the coupon server 31. The issuance condition setting unit 111 sets coupon information D1 including the corresponding issuance condition information 81.

  (2) (Registration of customer information D2) The customer information server 32 appropriately registers information including customer attributes of the store in the customer information DB 52 as customer information D2 based on access from the client terminal 20.

  (3) (Coupon Issue) The store issues a coupon to the customer through the coupon management function of the coupon server 31. The coupon management unit 61 of the coupon server 31 issues a coupon d3 based on the coupon information D1 including the issue condition information 81, and updates the content of the coupon issue information 82. The coupon management unit 61 provides the issued coupon d3 to the customer through the client terminal 20 or the like. The coupon processing function of the client terminal 20 provides a coupon d2 based on the issue from the coupon server 31 to the customer.

  The store may provide a coupon in the form of a receipt or the like from the POS cash register terminal that is the client terminal 10 when the customer purchases the product. The store may transmit the data of the coupon d2 from the client terminal 10 to the user terminal 10. The coupon server 31 may provide a coupon to the user terminal 10 that has accessed a predetermined website. The coupon server 31 may distribute the coupon to the user terminal 10 in the form of e-mail or the like. The coupon server 31 may distribute the coupon to the user terminal 10 near the store based on the location information service.

  The coupon may be provided at the time when a customer purchases a product at a store, or before or after the purchase. The coupon processing function of the user terminal 10 holds the data of the coupon d3 provided from the coupon server 31 or the client terminal 20 in a memory.

  (4) (Product Purchase and Settlement) A user who is a customer purchases and pays for products at a store. The POS cash register terminal that is the client terminal 20 accepts payment by cash, credit card, electronic money, points, or the like. At that time, the POS cash register terminal reads the information of the customer's credit card with a reader, transmits the payment information to the payment server 41, and receives the result information of the payment processing. The settlement server 41 stores settlement information 53 for settlement processing in the DB. The usage details server 42 creates usage details information 54 of the customer's credit card based on the settlement information 53 and stores it in the DB. The client terminal 20 may transmit the record information on the purchase of the product by the customer to the customer information server 32 or the like by the sales management function.

  (5) (Coupon use) A user who is a customer presents and uses a coupon when paying in (4) above. For example, the user presents and uses a paper coupon. In that case, the POS cash register terminal which is the client terminal 20 reads the code of the coupon with a reader. Alternatively, the user selects and uses a coupon d3 held by the coupon processing function of the user terminal 10. At that time, the data of the coupon d3, user information, and the like are transmitted from the user terminal 10 to the client terminal 20 by short-range wireless communication. The coupon processing function of the client terminal 20 receives and processes the coupon d3 data from the user terminal 10 and the like.

  The coupon processing function of the client terminal 20 transmits, to the coupon server 31, information d4 indicating that the customer has used the coupon when purchasing a product at the store. When receiving the information d4, the coupon server 31 reflects the coupon usage information 83.

  Thereafter, the coupon server 31 may calculate a coupon usage rate and the like based on the coupon usage information 83 (FIG. 8 described later). The coupon server 31 may acquire or create the customer purchase information 75 based on information from the credit card company 4 or the client terminal 20 of the store.

[Coupon issue support processing (1)]
FIG. 3 shows a first part of a flow of coupon issue support processing mainly by the coupon issue support unit 62 of the coupon server 31. S1 etc. represent processing steps.

  (S1) The coupon server 31 reads and acquires the setting information 312, and starts processing according to the setting state of the setting information 312, for example, a setting state that provides a function of adjusting both leakage and duplication.

  (S2) The coupon issue support unit 62 uses the range setting unit 120 to perform processing for designating a target and range of processing related to coupon issue support based on an operation from the client terminal 20 by a person in charge of the store. The target and the range can be specified from the viewpoint of a store, a period, a coupon, a customer attribute, and the like. As the coupons to be targeted and range, not only individual coupons but also existing coupons, new coupons, or both can be designated as types. An issue period and a valid period, which will be described later, can be specified as the target period and the range. At S2, the range setting unit 120 provides the client terminal 20 with a screen as shown in FIG. 18 to be described later using the screen providing unit 64, and the person in charge of the store can specify the target and the range on the screen. . The processes after S3 are performed on the target and range specified in S2.

  In S3 to S6, the coupon issue support unit 62 inputs or acquires coupon information D1, customer information D2, and the like necessary for the coupon issue support process in the target and range specified in S2. S3 and S5 are performed when the existing coupon is the target, and S4 and S6 are performed when the new coupon is the target.

  The coupon issuance support unit 62 uses the coupon information D1 and customer information D2, etc. to determine the validity period of each coupon, the target product, the valid and invalid states, etc., and for the period of the target and range specified in S2. Determine the relevant information. For example, when September 2013 is designated as the period, a coupon valid for that month is determined as the target.

  (S3) In S3, the coupon issue support unit 62 reads and acquires the coupon information D1 including the issue condition information 81, the coupon issue information 82, and the like related to the existing coupon of the target store from the coupon DB 51.

  (S4) In S4, the coupon issue support unit 62 performs a process of inputting coupon information including a new coupon issue condition and content on the screen based on an operation from the client terminal 20 by a person in charge of the store. At this time, the coupon issue support unit 62 provides a screen for inputting coupon information, similarly to the processing of the issue condition setting unit 111 of the coupon management unit 61. The person in charge of the store arbitrarily inputs coupon information including the target customer attribute of the coupon on the screen. The coupon issuance support unit 62 stores the input coupon information at this time as assumed information before adjustment.

  (S5) In S5, the coupon issuance support unit 62 reads and obtains customer information D2 including customer attribute information related to the target customer attribute of the issuance condition information 81 of S3 related to the existing coupon of the target store from the customer information DB 52. To do.

  (S6) In S6, the coupon issuance support unit 62 reads and obtains customer information D2 including the customer attribute information related to the target customer attribute of the issuance condition of the input in S4 regarding the new coupon of the target store from the customer information DB 52. To do.

  (S7) In S7, the coupon issuance support unit 62 uses the coupon information D1 and customer information D2 acquired or input in S3 to S6, and the like to extract duplication and omission of coupon provision for the customer population I do. In the process of S7, the coupon issue support unit 62 performs a process of extracting individual customers corresponding to duplication and individual customers corresponding to omissions. In the process of S7, the coupon issue support unit 62 performs a process of extracting a set of customers having customer attributes corresponding to duplication and a set of customer attributes corresponding to omission.

  During the process of S7, the customer attribute analysis unit 122 displays a state including overlapping and omission of coupon provision related to a set of customers of a plurality of customer attribute units in the information and target information of S2, which will be described later with reference to FIGS. Analyze and extract logically as in 11 examples. Then, the customer attribute analysis unit 122 stores the duplicate and omission customer attributes, the number of corresponding customers, the number of coupons, and the like, which are the results of analysis and extraction, in the customer attribute analysis information 72 as shown in FIG.

  In the process of S7, the coupon issue support unit 62, when receiving a designation of a predetermined issue period or valid period as a range setting, is a customer who falls within the designated issue period or valid period And customer attribute information is extracted.

  An example of processing for extracting individual customer information corresponding to duplication or omission in S7 is as follows. The coupon issue support unit 62 uses the coupon information D1 of each of a plurality of coupons to select a customer to be issued for each coupon for a plurality of customers whose customer information D2 is held in the customer information DB 52. The coupon issue support unit 62 selects a customer corresponding to the target customer attribute of the coupon information D1 based on the customer information D2 in response to the input (S4) of the coupon information D1 of the new coupon to be issued. The coupon issuance support unit 62 temporarily assigns a coupon to be issued to the customer having the selected customer attribute, and stores the provisional assignment state as coupon issue information 82 (FIG. 7 described later). The coupon issue support unit 62 assigns, for example, each of a plurality of coupons scheduled to be issued to the selected customer corresponding to the target customer attribute in order.

  The coupon issuance support unit 62 extracts customers corresponding to at least one of duplication or omission based on the assumed coupon issuance information 82 in the process of S7. In the present embodiment, each customer corresponding to duplication and each customer corresponding to omission are extracted. Further, the coupon issue support unit 62 extracts individual customers corresponding to the duplication or omission, and then groups those customers in units of customer attributes. That is, the coupon issue support unit 62 extracts a set of customers having customer attributes corresponding to duplication and a set of customers having customer attributes corresponding to omissions.

[Extraction of customers who fall under duplication and omission]
(S8) In S8, the coupon issuance support unit 62 displays information of individual customers corresponding to duplication and omission extracted by the process of S7. FIG. 19 shows an example of a screen that displays information of individual customers corresponding to duplication or omission. The person in charge of the store can check individual customers corresponding to duplication and omission on the screen of FIG. In addition, the form which abbreviate | omits the process of S8 is also possible.

  The coupon issue support unit 62 creates and provides a screen as shown in FIG. 19 including the extracted customer information. A table 190 displayed on the screen of FIG. 19 shows a list of customers corresponding to duplication and omission. The table of 190 includes store ID 191, customer ID 192, customer attribute 193, issued coupon ID 194, number of coupons 195, and state 196.

  The information displayed in the table 190 is based on the customer information D2 and the coupon issue information 82. 191 to 195 are the same information as 701 to 705 of coupon issue information 82 in FIG. 7 described later. The state 196 indicates a state of duplication or leakage at the customer in the row according to the analysis result. The table of 190 is an example of displaying information on customers whose status 196 is duplicate or omission.

  The item 197 is an item in which customer information displayed in the list 190 can be selected, and can be selected from, for example, all customers in the store, only duplication, only omission, both duplication and omission, and the like. The item 198 is an item in which the display order of customer information displayed in the list 190 can be selected. For example, the items can be selected from the largest number of coupons or the smallest number.

  In the specific example of FIG. 19, it is assumed that at a certain store T1, it is assumed that three types of coupons C1, C2, and C3 are issued with customer attributes P, Q, and R as targets. In this case, since the customer U7 corresponds to the customer attributes P, Q, and R, three coupons of coupons C1, C2, and C3 are assigned and are in a state corresponding to duplication. Customers U3, U5, and U6 are assigned two coupons and are in a state corresponding to duplication. Customers Ui, Uj, etc. are in a state where no coupons are assigned and they are leaked.

  When the person in charge of the store issues a new coupon to a plurality of customers in the store by referring to the screen as shown in FIG. Can be checked. The person in charge of the store can check and confirm the information of customers who are duplicated or leaked at the individual level. And the person in charge of a store can consider adjustment, such as changing the issue condition of a coupon, when the customer applicable to duplication or omission exists.

  The coupon issuance support unit 62 displays the customer's detailed information using the customer information D2 of the customer information DB 52 in accordance with the selection of the desired customer's row by the store person in charge from the table of 190. Also good.

  The coupon issuance support unit 62 can also display information on the extraction of the customers corresponding to the duplication and omission on the screen as information collected in units of coupons and customer attributes. In this case, the coupon issuance support unit 62 uses the coupon issuance information 82 (FIG. 7 to be described later) collected in units of coupons and customer attributes to obtain information on customer attributes corresponding to duplication and customer attributes corresponding to omissions. In the same manner as in FIG. 19, it is displayed on the screen in a table format.

[Coupon issue support processing (2)]
FIG. 4 shows a second part of the coupon issue support processing flow continued from FIG. The process described below includes a process for adjusting duplication and omission in units of customer attributes.

  (S11) Based on the customer attribute analysis information 72 that is the result of S7, the coupon issuance support unit 62 proceeds to S12 when there is a leakage regarding the customer attribute of the coupon issuance target (S11), and when there is no (N), S21. Proceed to

  (S12) In S12, the coupon issuance support unit 62 confirms whether or not the leakage is adjusted with respect to the person in charge of the store through the screen. The person in charge at the store selects whether to adjust leakage on the screen. Depending on the selection, the process proceeds to S13 if adjustment is to be made, and to S21 if adjustment is not to be performed.

  (S <b> 13) In S <b> 13, the coupon issue support unit 62 uses the leakage adjustment unit 123 to perform a process of adjusting leakage with respect to coupon information including the coupon issue condition and content. As this process, the leakage adjustment unit 123 displays the leakage customer attribute information on the screen based on the customer attribute analysis information 72. The person in charge at the store can check the leaked customer attributes on the screen.

  (S14) In S14, the coupon issuance support unit 62 confirms with the person in charge of the store whether or not it is not necessary to issue a coupon to the customer corresponding to the leaked customer attribute in S13. The leakage adjustment unit 123 uses the recommendation unit 124 to display information on confirmation and proposal of coupon issuance for the customer having the leakage customer attribute on the screen of S13. The leakage adjustment unit 123 creates coupon information including coupon issue conditions and contents targeting the leakage customer attribute as adjustment information 73. The recommendation unit 124 creates recommendation information 74 corresponding to the adjustment information 73 and displays it on the screen. The person in charge of the store can determine whether or not to issue a coupon to a customer with a leaked customer attribute with reference to the information on the screen. A processing example of S13 and S14 is shown in FIGS.

  (S21) Based on the customer attribute analysis information 72 that is the result of S7, the coupon issuance support unit 62 proceeds to S22 if there is a duplication related to the customer attribute of the coupon issuance target (Y), and proceeds to S24 if there is no (N). Proceed to

  (S22) In S22, the coupon issuance support unit 62 confirms the presence or absence of overlapping adjustment and the method of adjustment with the person in charge of the store through the screen. The person in charge of the store makes an overlap adjustment on the screen and, if so, selects the adjustment method. Depending on the selection, the process proceeds to S23 if adjustment is to be performed, and proceeds to S24 if adjustment is not to be performed. In the present embodiment, there are three methods shown in S31 to S33 in S23, and the person in charge of the store can select one or more methods from them.

  (S23) In S23, the coupon issuance support unit 62 uses the duplication adjustment unit 122 to perform processing for adjusting duplication with respect to coupon information including coupon issuance conditions and contents according to the selected adjustment method. . The duplication adjustment unit 122 creates information for adjusting the target customer attribute and the like of the target coupon as the adjustment information 73 by the selected method. The recommendation unit 124 uses the adjustment information 73 to create recommendation information 74 to be displayed on the screen.

  (S31) S31 is the process of the system which adjusts duplication by coupon priority as a 1st system. Details of S31 are shown in FIG.

  (S32) S32 is processing of a method of adjusting overlap by an A / B test as the second method. Details of S32 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  (S33) S33 is a process of a method of adjusting duplication by creating a non-duplication issue condition as a third method. Details of S33 are shown in FIG.

  (S24) In S24, the coupon issuance support unit 62 displays the information before and after the adjustment of leakage and duplication on the screen so as to be comparable and confirms with the person in charge of the store. The information before adjustment is information acquired or input in S3 to S6 and analyzed in S7. The adjusted information is the information adjusted in S14 and S23.

  (S25) The coupon issuance support unit 62 determines whether to execute the adjustment with the displayed contents on the screen of S24, and if there is a proposal based on a plurality of adjustment methods, which of them should be adopted. Check with the person in charge. The person in charge of the store can select execution of adjustment by selecting a method and a proposal on the screen. Note that the above flow is a case where the contents of adjustment for both leakage and overlap are confirmed in S24 and S25. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and only the adjustment for leakage may be confirmed after S14.

  (S26) When execution of adjustment is selected in S25, the coupon issuance support unit 62 stores the information after adjustment by the selected method and proposal so as to be reflected in the issuance condition information 81 of the coupon information D1 and the like. . The above processing is similarly repeated according to the adjustment of the coupon information.

[Existing coupons and new coupons]
The person in charge of the store can adjust how to determine the target customer attribute and the like, which are conditions for issuing a new coupon, by specifying the new coupon as a target in S2. The new coupon has not been issued, and the issue conditions and contents are not fixed. Since the coupon issue support unit 62 knows to which customer attribute the customer will be issued from the information of the assumed new coupon input in S4, it is possible to extract duplicates and omissions. And the person in charge of a store can set the information after duplication and omission adjustment as coupon information D1 of a new coupon.

  Further, the person in charge at the store can adjust how to modify the target customer attribute of the existing coupon by specifying the target for the existing coupon in S2. The existing coupon has been issued and the coupon information D1 is already defined, and this information is definite. The coupon issuance support unit 62 can identify which customer attribute is issued to the customer from the information of the existing coupon in S3, and thus can extract omissions and duplications. The person in charge of the store can determine how to correct the target customer attribute etc. of the existing coupon with reference to information on leakage and duplication in the existing coupon and information on the proposal of the adjustment. And the person in charge of a store can set the information of adjustment based on the issue condition of the said existing coupon, and correction of the contents as coupon information D1 of the new coupon issued in the future.

  In addition, in the case of designation for both new and existing in S2, the coupon issuance support unit 62 can similarly extract duplicates and omissions in a range in which new coupon information and existing coupon information are combined. Conditions and the like can be adjusted, and adjustment information can be set as coupon information D1 of a new coupon.

[Coupon information D1]
FIG. 5 shows a configuration example of the coupon information D1. Coupon information D1 of FIG. 5 shows an example in which information on electronic coupons issued for each store is managed in a table. The coupon information D1 in FIG. 5 includes, as management items, a store ID 501, a coupon ID 502, a target product 503, a discount rate 504, an issue period 505, an effective period 506, and the like. The issue condition information 81 includes, as management items, a target customer attribute 511, the number of issues 512, and the like.

  The store ID 501 is an ID that is store identification information. The coupon ID 502 is information such as coupon identification information, name and type, and is associated with the code of the coupon d3 itself. The target product 503 is information for specifying an application target of the coupon, that is, an applicable product, for example, an individual product, a product type ID, a value for specifying all the products, and the like. The discount rate 504 is a discount rate, a discount amount, or a value designating free of charge, which is a discount content by the coupon.

  The issuance period 505 is information that defines the period and date for issuing the coupon when it is determined. The validity period 506 is information that defines a validity period or a validity period after the coupon is issued.

  The target customer attribute 511 in the issuance condition information 82 is information that defines a coupon issuance target customer, and is associated with the coupon indicated by the coupon ID 502. In the target customer attribute 511, a value indicating the customer attribute defined in the customer information D2 or the customer attribute definition information 71 is set. The issued number 512 is set when an upper limit value of the issued number of coupons is defined.

  In the specific example of FIG. 5, the store T1 issues coupons C1 to C4 and the like. Coupon C1 has a target product of p1, a discount rate of 5%, an issue period of September or an issue date of September 1, and an effective period of September to December or an expiration date of December 31. Day, the target customer attribute is P (example: male), and the upper limit of the number of issues is 100.

[Customer information D2]
FIG. 6 shows a configuration example of the customer information D2. The customer information D2 of FIG. 6 shows an example of management items when managing customer information for each store in a table. The customer information D2 in FIG. 6 includes management items such as store ID 601, store basic information 602, customer ID 603, customer basic information 604, customer attribute information 605, customer coupon information 606, customer purchase information 607, and the like.

  The store ID 601 is store identification information. The store basic information 602 is basic information regarding the store, the person in charge of issuing a coupon, the client terminal 20, and the like, and includes a name, an address, and the like. The customer ID 603 is identification information of a user who is a customer. The customer ID 603 may be an ID of a store member, an ID of the user terminal 10, or the like. The customer basic information 604 is basic information of a user who is a customer, and includes a name, an address, and the like. The customer basic information 604 may include registration information of customers of store members, information on the user terminal 10, information such as credit cards, and the like.

  The customer attribute information 605 is information of one or more customer attributes to which the customer identified by the customer ID 603 corresponds. The customer attributes include various attributes such as sex, age group, region, occupation, presence / absence of car, presence / absence of children, interest and preference. The customer attribute is set based on the customer attribute definition information 71. In the customer attribute definition information 71, usable customer attributes are logically defined such as, for example, the age group is classified into teens, twenties, etc., and the car is owned or not.

  The customer coupon information 606 is similar information based on the coupon issue information 82 and the coupon usage information 82, and can be omitted. The customer coupon information 606 is a coupon ID or the like of a valid coupon that has been issued and provided to the customer and that the customer currently has and can use. The customer purchase information 607 is the above-mentioned customer purchase information 75 and can be omitted. The customer purchase information 607 is information on the results of the purchase of products by individual customers or customers in units of customer attributes at the store, and analysis information thereof.

[Coupon issue information 82]
FIG. 7 shows a configuration example of the coupon issue information 82. The coupon issue information 82 on the upper side of FIG. 7 is an example of a customer unit table, and management items include a store ID 701, a customer ID 702, a customer attribute 703, an issue coupon ID 704, a coupon number 705, and the like. Store ID701, customer ID702, and customer attribute 703 are the same information based on the contents of customer information D2. The issued coupon ID 704 is a coupon ID of a coupon issued to the customer identified by the customer ID 702. The number of coupons 705 is the number of all coupons with the issued coupon ID 704, and corresponds to the overlap number.

  The lower coupon issue information 82 in FIG. 7 is an example of a coupon and customer attribute unit table obtained by converting the upper coupon issue information 82. The coupon issue information 82 on the lower side of FIG. 7 includes, as management items, a coupon ID 711, a target customer attribute 712, a customer ID 713, the number of people 714, and the like. The coupon ID 711 and the target customer attribute 712 are similar information based on the coupon information D1. The customer ID 713 is the customer ID of the customer corresponding to the target customer attribute 712. The number of people 714 is the number of customers with the customer ID 713.

  In the specific example of FIG. 7, the coupon C1 has a target customer attribute of P and corresponds to X people such as customers U1, U3, U5, U7, and the like. For example, customer U7 corresponds to customer attributes P, Q, R, etc., coupons C1, C2, C3 are provided, and the number of coupons and the number of duplicates are three.

[Coupon usage information 83]
FIG. 8 shows a configuration example of the coupon usage information 83. The coupon use information 83 on the upper side of FIG. 8 is an example of a history information table in order of use date. The coupon usage information 83 on the upper side of FIG. 8 includes management date and time 801, store ID 802, customer ID 803, usage coupon ID 804, usage product 805, and the like. The use date 801 is the date when the coupon was used. The store ID 802 indicates the store where the coupon is used, and the customer ID 803 indicates the customer who uses the coupon. Use coupon ID804 is coupon ID of the coupon which the customer used. The used product 805 is an ID of a product for which the coupon is used.

  The lower coupon usage information 83 in FIG. 8 is an example of a coupon information table obtained by converting the upper coupon usage information 83. The coupon usage information 83 on the lower side of FIG. 8 includes, as management items, a coupon ID 811, a target customer attribute 812, a usage customer ID 813, a number of users 814, a usage rate 815, and the like. The customer ID 813 is the customer ID of the customer corresponding to the target customer attribute 812 using the coupon indicated by the coupon ID 811. The number of users 814 is the number of customer IDs 813 used. The usage rate 815 indicates the rate of customers who actually used the coupon among the group of customers provided with the coupon.

  In the specific example of FIG. 8, the customer Ua of the store T1 used the coupon Ca for the product pa on June 1. The coupon Ca has a target customer attribute of A, and x people such as the customer Ua corresponding thereto use it, and the usage rate was Ha%.

[Customer attributes]
Supplement on customer attributes. The concept of customer attribute includes the concept of marketing segment or evaluation axis constituting it. A segment refers to a group or demographic of customers who are likely to have similar purchasing behavior and needs. Customer attributes used for coupon issuance support include registration by coupon business operator 3, registration based on information from credit card company 4, registration by store staff, registration by user, registration based on customer purchase information 75, etc. Is possible.

  As the customer attribute, in addition to the example described above, a rank such as normal or silver in the customer's credit card may be registered. As the customer attribute, a status such as general or excellent may be registered according to the number of visits to the store, the purchase price, and the like among store members. The customer attribute may be defined by a logical combination of a plurality of customer attributes, for example P and Q, P or Q, etc.

[Customer attribute set (1)]
FIG. 9 shows a Venn diagram representing a logical relationship regarding a set of customers having two customer attributes, and an example of assignment of coupon issuance to the customer attributes. For explanation, 顧客, ∪,-, ^C, etc., which are mathematical set symbols, are used for customer groups with customer attributes. ∩ is a product set, ∪ is a union,-(minus) is a difference set, and ^C is a complement. Further, negation (NOT) of the customer attribute P is represented by “No P”.

The customer attribute P ellipse indicates a set of customers corresponding to the customer attribute P (eg, male), and the customer attribute Q ellipse indicates the set of customers corresponding to the customer attribute Q (eg: there is a car). For example, a coupon C1 is issued for the customer attribute P, and a coupon C2 is issued for the customer attribute Q. PQ is a difference set between P and Q, and indicates a set of customer attributes (for example, male and no car) that are P and not Q. Q−P is a difference set between Q and P, and indicates a set of customer attributes (for example, a woman with a car) that is Q and not P. P∩Q is a product set of P and Q, and indicates a set of customer attributes (for example, men and cars) that are P and Q. ^{(P∪Q) C} is the complement of the union P∪Q of P and Q, in other words, the intersection of the complement ^{Q C} of complement ^{P C} and Q of the ^P (P ^C ∩Q ^C) And a set of customer attributes (eg, female and no car) of No P and No Q.

For example, the number of customer populations in which customer information in a store is registered is 100. The set of P has 50 corresponding customers. The set of Q is 40 people. The set of PQ is 40 people. The set of QP is 30 people. The set of P∩Q is 10 people. (P∪Q) The set of ^C is 20 people.

In order to simplify the explanation, one type of coupon is considered to be provided to all customers corresponding to the target customer attribute. Each of 40 customers of PQ is provided with one coupon C1. Each of the 30 Q-P customers is provided with one coupon C2. Each of the ten customers of P∩Q is provided with two coupons C1 and C2. (P∪Q) 20 customers of ^C are not offered any coupons.

  A case where a plurality of coupons are provided to a customer having the same customer attribute like a set of P∩Q is referred to as duplication. The number of overlapping coupons is referred to as a duplication number. In the example of P∩Q, the number of coupons = duplicate = 2. Further, the duplication rate, which is the rate corresponding to duplication of P∩Q among all customers, is 10/100 = 10%.

(P∪Q) Like a set of ^C , a case where a coupon is not provided to a customer with the same customer attribute is called leakage. (P∪Q) In the example of ^C, the number of coupons = duplicate = 0. Moreover, the leak rate which is a rate corresponding to the leak of (P∪Q) ^C in all customers is 20/100 = 20%.

The customer attribute analysis unit 121 analyzes the logical relationship of the set of customer attributes as in the above example in the process of S7 of FIG. 3, and the duplication such as P∩Q or the above (P∪Q) ^C Extract leaks like In addition to the above two customer attribute examples, duplication and omission can be similarly considered for three or more customer attributes.

[Customer attribute set (2)]
FIG. 10 shows an example relating to a plurality of segments with gender and age as evaluation axes as another example of a set of customer attributes. As customer attributes, a1 indicates male and a2 indicates female. b1 to b5 etc. indicate teens to 50s as an age group. Each area such as (a1∩b1) can be set as a segment. For example, the coupon C1 is a male whose target customer attribute is a1, and the coupon C2 is a 20s to 30s whose target customer attribute is b2 and b3. The segments (a1∩b2) and (a1∩b3) are overlaps related to the coupons C1 and C2, and the number of coupons = duplicate = 2. Each segment such as (a2∩b1), (a2∩b4) is a leak with respect to coupons C1 and C2.

[Customer attribute set (3)]
FIG. 11 shows an example with three customer attributes as another example of the set of customer attributes, similar to FIG. As the coupon issuance conditions, the existing coupon C1 has a target customer attribute of P and the corresponding number of people is 50, and the existing coupon C2 has a customer attribute of Q and the number of applicable people is 40. The new coupon C3 has a customer attribute of R and a corresponding number of people of 30. The total number of customers in the store is 100. The setting value of the allowable number of duplication described later is 2.

In the state before adjustment, s1 to s8 indicate each set part in the combination of customer attributes P, Q, and R. s1 is a set of P, no Q, and no R, and the number of people is 35. Similarly, s2 is a set of no P, Q, and no R, and is 20 people. s3 is a set of no P, no Q, and R, and is 10 people. s4 is a set of P, Q and not R, and is five people. s5 is a set of P, not Q, and R, and is five people. s6 is a set of No P, Q and R, and is 10 people. s7 is a set of P, Q, and R (P∩Q∩R) and is five people. s8 is a set of P, Q, and R (P 否 Q∪R) ^C, which is 10 people.

  Since the set of s7 is provided with coupons C1, C2, and C3, the number of coupons = duplicate = 3 and the allowable number of duplicates = 2 is exceeded, and therefore, it corresponds to duplication. The set of s8 corresponds to leakage because the number of coupons = 0.

[Allowable number of duplicates]
The coupon issuance support unit 62 has a function of performing processing using a duplication allowable number which is a set value for adjustment of duplication. The person in charge of the store can set the allowable number of duplications on the screen as shown in FIG. The duplication tolerance number is a number that allows duplication of coupons for a set of customers having one customer attribute. For example, when the allowable number of overlaps = 1, it is possible to provide up to one coupon for a set of customers having the same customer attribute. When the allowable number of overlaps = 2, it is possible to provide up to two coupons. The coupon issuance support unit 62 determines that there is duplication when the number of coupons for each customer attribute exceeds the allowable number of duplications according to the coupon issuance conditions. The person in charge of the store can take measures such as changing the coupon issuing condition so as not to exceed the allowable number of overlaps or changing the setting value of the allowable number of overlaps by checking the overlap state on the screen.

[Customer attribute analysis information]
FIG. 12 shows a configuration example of the customer attribute analysis information 72. The customer attribute analysis information 72 in FIG. 12 includes, as management items, an identification number 900, a customer attribute set 901, a description 902, a state 903, the number of customers 904, the number of coupons 905, and the like. The identification number 900 is an identification number of the row and customer attribute set 901. The customer attribute set 901 is a value representing a set of customer attributes based on a logical combination of customer attributes. For example, the customer attribute set 901 is represented by a set representation as shown in FIG. The description 902 is text describing the customer attribute set 901. The state 903 stores a value indicating the state when the customer attribute set 901 corresponds to duplication or omission. For example, when the number of allowed duplications = 2, s7 is a duplication and s8 is a leakage state. The number of customers 904 is the number of customers corresponding to the customer attribute set 901 and is based on the coupon issue information 82 and the like. The number of coupons 905 is the number of coupons provided to the customer attribute set 901, and corresponds to the overlap number.

  The specific example of FIG. 12 corresponds to the example of the customer attributes P, Q, and R of FIG. 11, and the rows with the identification numbers 900 of 0 to 12 indicate information on the set of each attribute shown in the figure. In particular, the rows having the identification numbers 900 of s1 to s8 indicate information on the respective sets of s1 to s8 in FIG. The coupon issue support unit 62 may display the contents of the customer attribute analysis information 92 as shown in FIG. Thereby, the person in charge of a store can confirm the number of people, the number of coupons, a leak, and the state of duplication for every set of each customer attribute. The customer attribute analysis information 92 may comprehensively calculate a set of combinations of a plurality of customer attributes as in the example of FIG.

  In addition, the person in charge of the store can select a customer attribute row in the customer attribute analysis information 92 and display information on individual customers corresponding to the customer attribute. For example, when the customer attribute in the overlapping state of s7 is selected, the coupon issuance support 62 displays information on each customer corresponding to the selected customer attribute based on the coupon issuance information 82 and the like in the table 190 in FIG. Is displayed in the same manner as

[Overlapping adjustment (1)]
FIG. 13 shows a processing example in the case of adjusting according to the coupon priority order as the first method of S31 described above. The coupon issue support unit 62 may display information as shown in FIG. 13 on the screen. A table 131 indicates management information on the priority order of coupons in the case of duplication. The duplication adjustment unit 122 stores the information 131 in the storage unit 302 in accordance with the setting operation by the person in charge at the store. The table of 131 includes coupon ID 131a, priority 131b, and weight 131c as management items. The priority 131b defines the priority of a plurality of coupons indicated by the coupon ID 131a.

  In the example of FIG. 13, priority is given in the order of coupons C1, C2, and C3. For example, it is assumed that coupons C1 and C2 overlap with the customer attribute P∩Q in FIG. In this case, in order to eliminate duplication, the coupon attribute C1 or C2 is selected to be assigned to the customer attribute. The duplication adjustment unit 122 selects to assign only the coupon C1 to the customer attribute of P の Q according to the setting of the priority order 131b.

  Reference numeral 132 denotes an example of information including an issuance condition before duplication adjustment. This example corresponds to the example of FIG. As an object and a range, the store T1, the period is September 2013, and coupons C1 and C2. The target customer attribute, which is the issue condition of the coupon C1, is P, and the number of people is 50. The customer attribute of the coupon C2 is Q and 40 people. As a result of the above customer attribute analysis, as a duplicate state, coupons C1 and C2 are duplicated in the customer with customer attribute P∩Q, the number of coupons = duplicate = 2, the corresponding number of people is 10, and the duplication rate is 10%. It is.

  Reference numeral 133 denotes a change in the example of information including the issuance condition after duplication adjustment for 132. The allowable number of duplicates is 1 without change. As priority in the case of duplication regarding coupons C1 and C2, according to 131, the first priority is coupon C1 and the second priority is coupon C2. For the duplicate customer attribute P∩Q, as an adjustment, the issue condition is changed so that only the coupon C1 is provided according to the priority order. After the adjustment, the issue condition of the coupon C1 remains the customer attribute P. The issue condition of the coupon C2 is changed so that the condition of “No P” is added, and is the customer attribute QP. As a result of the overlap adjustment, only the coupon C1 is obtained in the customer attribute P 属性 Q, the number of coupons = duplicate = 1, the number of applicable persons is 10, and the overlap rate is reduced from 10% to 0%.

  Reference numeral 134 simply represents a set relationship corresponding to the adjustment example. The coupon issue support unit 62 may notify the customer of the issue and adjustment contents of the coupon by displaying not only information such as 133 but also graphical information such as 134 on the screen.

  The weight 131c in the table of 131 is not essential, but may be set in addition to the priority 131b or instead of the priority 131b. When the duplication adjustment unit 122 selects to provide coupons within the allowable number of duplications for the customer attribute, the duplication adjustment unit 122 may decide based on the value of the weight 131c. For example, it is not limited to distributing the same coupon to a plurality of customers belonging to the same customer attribute, and the distribution ratio may be determined by the value of the weight 131c, and different coupons may be distributed simultaneously. For example, for 10 customers with customer attributes P∩Q, a coupon C1 is provided to 7 people, and a coupon C2 is provided to 3 people. In this case as well, duplication of coupons C1 and C2 is eliminated per customer.

[Overlapping adjustment (2)]
FIG. 12 shows a processing example in the case where adjustment is performed by an A / B test as the second method of S32 described above. The coupon issue support unit 62 may display information as shown in FIG. 14 on the screen. The A / B test is highly effective when two or more options such as Option A and Option B are prepared, one of them is selected and executed as a test, and the result and response are measured and checked. It refers to a method based on a cycle in which it is appropriately selected and executed.

  In the second method, the duplication adjustment unit 122 prepares a plurality of options with different customer attributes as coupon issue conditions as an A / B test, and presents them as adjustment information 73 to the person in charge of the store. The duplication adjustment unit 122 selects and executes one of these options as appropriate, and measures the effect of each option. The measurement of this effect is based on, for example, calculation of the usage rate 815 in the coupon usage information 83 described above.

  Reference numeral 141 denotes an example of information including issuance conditions before adjustment for duplication, which is the same as the example 132 in FIG. Reference numeral 142 denotes an example of information including an issue condition at the time of duplication adjustment for 141. The number of allowed duplications = 1. As an A / B test in the case of duplication regarding coupons C1 and C2, option A assigns coupon C1 to customer attribute P∩Q. That is, the customer attribute of the target is P and the customer attribute of the coupon C2 is QP as the issue condition of the coupon C1. Option B assigns coupon C2 to customer attribute P∩Q. That is, the customer attribute of the coupon C1 is PQ, and the customer attribute of the coupon C2 is Q. The left side of 143 graphically shows the adjustment contents by option A in the form of a set, and the right side shows the adjustment contents by option B.

  Reference numeral 144 denotes an execution example of the A / B test. The duplication adjustment unit 122 executes the A / B test and records the information. When the overlap adjustment unit 122 first applied the option A in the first period, for example, September, the usage rate as an effect was Ha. The duplication adjustment unit 122 next applied the option B in the second period, for example, in October. As a result, the usage rate that was the effect was Hb, for example, Ha> Hb. Therefore, the overlap adjustment unit 122 applies again the option A, which has the higher usage rate, in the third period, for example, November, and the usage rate that is the effect is Hc, for example, Hc> Ha > Hb. Thereafter, similarly, the option is selected according to the usage rate.

  The duplication adjustment unit 122 proposes which option to issue the coupon issue condition is suitable based on the result of the A / B test over a period of time. For example, when the effect of the option A is high, the adoption of the coupon issue condition by the option A is proposed. Reference numeral 145 denotes an example in which an item for allowing a store person to select a coupon issuing condition to be officially adopted from the result of the A / B test is displayed on the screen. The duplication adjustment unit 122 determines and saves the coupon issue condition selected in the item.

  As another processing example of the A / B test, a plurality of options are simultaneously processed in parallel, for example, option A is applied to the first group of the set of customers having the same customer attribute, and option B is applied to the second group. May be executed automatically. For example, in the first period, out of 10 customers with customer attributes P∩Q, the coupon C1 is distributed to the first group of half and the coupon C2 is distributed to the second group of half.

[Overlapping adjustment (3)]
FIG. 15 shows a processing example in the case where adjustment is performed by creating and recommending a non-overlapping issue condition as the third method of S33 described above. The coupon issue support unit 62 may display information as shown in FIG. 15 on the screen. In the third method, the duplication adjustment unit 122 uses the customer attribute analysis information 72 by the customer attribute analysis unit 121 to use a coupon issuance condition in which there is no duplication or the duplication number is equal to or less than the duplication allowable number (referred to as a non-duplication issuance condition). Is created by a logical operation. The duplication adjustment unit 122 creates one or more non-duplication issuance conditions according to the duplication allowable number. And the duplication adjustment part 122 displays the information of the one or more created issuance conditions without duplication on a screen, and makes it selectable by the person in charge of a store.

  The issuance condition without duplication can be created by a logical operation related to a set of customer attributes shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 9, the logical condition is changed so that the duplication number is equal to or less than the allowable duplication number = 1 for P に つ い て Q, which is the customer attribute in which the coupons C1 and C2 overlap.

  Reference numeral 151 denotes an example of information including issuance conditions before adjustment for duplication, which is the same as the example 132. Reference numeral 152 denotes an example of information including issue conditions after overlapping adjustment for 151. The number of allowed duplications = 1. The duplication adjustment unit 122 displays a list of the created plurality of non-duplication issue conditions on the screen. In the example of FIG. 16, two non-overlapping issue conditions J1 and J2 are shown.

  In the non-overlapping issue condition J1, the target customer attribute of the coupon C1 remains P, and the customer attribute of the coupon C2 is QP. This is obtained by adding the condition of No P to the customer attribute Q of the coupon C2 so that the coupon C2 is not provided from the customer attribute P 顧客 Q. Similarly, in the non-overlapping issue condition J2, the customer attribute of the coupon C2 is Q, and the customer attribute of the coupon C1 is PQ. This is obtained by adding the condition of No Q to the customer attribute Q of the coupon C1 so that the coupon C1 is not provided from the customer attribute P∩Q.

  In the non-duplication issue conditions J1 and J2, the number of coupons of the customer attribute P∩Q = duplicate = 1, and the duplication rate is 0%. The non-overlapping issue condition J1 is that the ratio of the number of coupons C1 and C2 provided is 50:30, and the non-overlapping issue condition J2 is that the number of coupons C1 and C2 provided is 40:40 It is.

  Reference numeral 153 denotes an example in which an item for selecting a coupon issuance condition adopted from the adjusted information by the person in charge of the store is displayed on the screen. The duplication adjustment unit 122 confirms and stores information including the coupon issue condition selected in the item.

  The generation of the duplication issue condition is based on a method of adding a condition for negating the customer attribute, but other methods are also possible. In another method, the duplication adjustment unit 122 adds the conditions of the other customer attributes to the target customer attributes of the given issuance conditions in order and limits them. Thereby, the number of customers corresponding to the target customer attribute is reduced, and the degree of overlap is reduced. For example, a customer attribute X other than P or Q is added to the customer attribute P of the coupon C1 or the customer attribute Q of the coupon C2, that is, a product set (P∩X, Q∩X) is taken. As a result, the duplication adjustment unit 122 adopts a candidate as long as the duplication portion disappears or decreases compared to the initial issuance conditions. The duplication adjustment unit 122 may be able to specify the customer attribute to be added by the person in charge of the store on the screen, or may automatically select the customer attribute based on the customer attribute definition information 71.

  In another method, the duplication adjustment unit 122 may change the target customer attribute of the given issuance condition to another similar or close customer attribute based on the customer attribute definition information 71. For example, when the target customer attribute is 20's as an age group, a plan for changing to a teenage or 30's is created.

[Duplicate adjustment example]
An example of adjustment of duplication when the duplication allowable number = 2 in FIG. 11 is as follows. The set (P∩Q∩R) of customer attributes of s7 corresponds to duplication because coupons C1, C2, and C3 are provided, duplication number = 3 and duplication allowable number = 2 is exceeded. The overlap adjustment unit 122 adjusts so that overlap number = 2 with respect to s7. Various adjustment proposals are possible. For example, it is assumed that the priority order of the first method is used, and the priority order is, for example, C1>C2> C3.

  The duplication adjustment unit 122 provides the coupons C1 and C2 and does not provide the coupon C3 according to the priority order for the set of s7. That is, in the adjusted information, the issue condition of the coupon C1 and the issue condition of the coupon C2 are not changed, and the issue condition of the coupon C3 is changed from R to (R-s7) as the target customer attribute. Thereby, the applicable number of people who are provided with coupon C3 decreases from 30 people to 25 people.

  An example of adjustment of duplication when the allowable number of duplications = 1 in FIG. 11 is as follows. Each of s4 to s6 corresponds to duplication because the number of coupons = duplicate = 2 and exceeds the allowable duplication number = 1. The overlap adjusting unit 122 adjusts so that the overlap number = 1 for s4 to s6 and s7. When using the coupon priority order, s4 is assigned C1 by C1> C2, s5 is assigned C1 by C1> C3, and s6 is assigned C2 by C2> C3. For s7, only C1 is assigned by C1> C2> C3. In other words, the adjusted issuance conditions are such that the customer attribute of C1 is P, the customer attribute of C2 is QP, and the customer attribute of C3 is R- (P∪Q) = R- (s7∪s5∪s6). .

  Further, in FIG. 11, when the coupons C1 and C2 are existing coupons and the coupon C3 is a new coupon, the duplication adjustment unit 122 can perform adjustment so as to change only the issuing condition of the new coupon C3. In this case, the duplication adjustment unit 122 changes the target customer attribute in the issuance condition of the new coupon C3 to (R-s7), (R- (s7∪s5∪s6)), or the like.

[Leak adjustment (1)]
FIG. 16 shows a leak adjustment method and processing example corresponding to S13 and S14 described above. The coupon issue support unit 62 may display information as shown in FIG. 16 on the screen. Reference numeral 161 denotes an example of information including issuance conditions before leakage adjustment. This example corresponds to the example of FIG. As an object and a range, the store T1, the period is September 2013, and coupons C1 and C2. The customer attribute of the coupon C1 is P (example: male) and 50 people. The customer attribute of the coupon C2 is Q (eg, there is a car) and there are 40 people. Assume that the total number of customers is 100.

162 shows an example of leaked customer attribute information corresponding to S13. The leaked customer attribute M is a customer attribute corresponding to the set (P∪Q) ^C in FIG. 9 (for example, female and no car), and the number of people is 20 people. Moreover, the leak rate which is a rate corresponding to the leak in all the customers of the store is 20/100 = 20%. Further, the coupon issue coverage ratio, which is the customer ratio (P∪Q) of customers other than the leaked customer attribute among all customers in the store, is 100−20 = 80/100 = 80%.

Reference numeral 163 denotes a change in the example of the information including the issuance condition after adjustment of leakage with respect to 162. As an example of leakage adjustment, a coupon C3 is newly issued for 162 customer leakage attributes M = (P∪Q) ^C. As a result, the leakage rate decreases from 20% to 0%, and the coverage rate increases from 80% to 100%. Reference numeral 164 graphically shows the contents corresponding to the issuance conditions of 163 using a set.

[Leakage adjustment (2)]
FIG. 17 shows a detailed processing example and screen example regarding leakage adjustment. In S13 and S14, the leakage adjustment unit 123 creates a customer attribute list including the leakage customer attribute list using the customer attribute definition information 71 and the customer attribute analysis information 72, and displays the customer attribute list on a screen as shown in FIG.

  In the leaked customer attribute as in the example of FIG. 16 described above, there may be a large number of corresponding customers. In that case, it may be difficult for the person in charge of the store to adopt the coupon issuance only for the one leaked customer attribute because the cost of issuing the coupon increases. Therefore, the coupon issue support function 62 proposes coupon issue for each partial customer attribute among the leaked customer attributes. Thereby, it is easy to consider issue of a new coupon by the person in charge of the store.

  The leak adjustment unit 123 creates a plurality of partial leaked customer attributes that are classified by a method of adding another customer attribute (eg, age group) etc. with respect to the leaked customer attribute extracted in S7 described above. I do. The leakage adjustment unit 123 creates an issuance condition targeting a partial leakage customer attribute as a plan. The leakage adjustment unit 123 displays information such as the created partial leakage customer attributes as a list on the screen.

  Reference numeral 171 denotes an example of a customer attribute list including the leaked customer attribute list 172. In the example of FIG. 17, the customer attribute list 171 shows an example in which the customer attribute analysis information 72 is used to list and display a set of combinations of customer attributes including not only omissions but also duplicates. The leaked customer attribute list 172 is the line below the line with the identification number 7. The customer attribute list 171 may be sorted and displayed in the order in which the hit rate 171d is high as the display order of a plurality of rows.

  Examples of items to be displayed in the customer attribute list 171 include a customer attribute 171a, a description 171b, a corresponding number of persons 171c, a corresponding rate 171d, and a remark or addition 171e. The customer attribute 171a indicates a set of combinations of customer attributes. The description 171b indicates text describing the customer attribute 171a. The relevant number 171c indicates the number of customers corresponding to the customer attribute 171a. The hit rate 171d indicates the rate of customers corresponding to the customer attribute 171a out of the total number of customers in the store. The remarks of 171e display a status such as issued coupons and duplication. The addition of 171e is provided with a check button that allows the person in charge of the store to select a leaked customer attribute in the leaked customer attribute list 172.

Line 7 in the leaked customer attribute list 172 indicates the case of (P∪Q) ^{C in} FIG. 9 as the leaked customer attribute. When the person in charge at the store wants to add issuance of a coupon for this leaked customer attribute, he turns on the check button of 171e in the corresponding row. Further, rows 8 to 10 in the leaked customer attribute list 172 indicate partial customer attributes among the leaked customer attributes of the seven rows. These partial customer attributes are customer attributes obtained by adding customer attributes b1, b2, b3, etc. of the age group in FIG. For example, line 8 is a case where the customer attribute b1 is added to the set of leaked customer attributes (P∪Q) ^C as a product set, where the number of people is 3 and the rate is 3%.

The person in charge of the store, for example, determines that the leakage rate, which is the corresponding rate of the overall set of leaked customer attributes (P∪Q) ^C , is as high as 20%, and the cost of issuing coupons is high. In that case, the person in charge can consider issuing a coupon to a partial leaked customer attribute having a lower corresponding rate.

  Reference numeral 173 denotes an item in the case where the customer attribute used to create a partial missing customer attribute in the missing customer attribute list 172 as an additional category can be selected by the person in charge of the store. The leakage adjustment unit 123 presents the additional customer attribute based on the customer attribute definition information 71, and creates the leakage customer attribute list 172 using the customer attribute selected in the item.

  Reference numeral 174 denotes an item for displaying a coverage rate or a leakage rate when adding a coupon issued to a leakage customer attribute selected in accordance with the selection of a check button in the leakage customer attribute list 172 by the person in charge of the store. As described above, the person in charge of the store can check the information for each partial customer attribute on the screen, and can consider issuing a coupon for the partial customer attribute.

  As another example of leakage adjustment, the leakage adjustment unit 123 is not limited to a proposal for issuing a new coupon for a leakage customer attribute, but also a proposal for changing the issue condition so that the leakage customer attribute is included in the target customer attribute of another coupon. Is possible. For example, regarding the leaked customer attribute of s8 in FIG. 11, a proposal is made to change the target customer attribute of coupon C3 from R to (R∪s8) so that coupon C3 is provided instead of new coupon C4.

[Screen example]
FIG. 18 shows an example of a screen provided to the client terminal 20 of the person in charge of the store or the manager of the coupon server 31. Reference numeral 181 denotes an item that enables specification of the target and range of S2 described above. In the item, a store, a period, a coupon type, an individual coupon, and the like can be designated by a list box or a form.

  Reference numeral 182 denotes a setting item for performing the above-described adjustment related to duplication. In this item, the presence / absence of overlap adjustment, the overlap adjustment method, the allowable number of overlaps, and the like can be set. Reference numeral 183 denotes a setting item for performing the above-described adjustment related to leakage. In this item, the presence / absence of leak adjustment, the leak adjustment method, and the like can be set.

  184 is an item for displaying information such as a coupon issue condition before adjustment. 185 is an item for displaying information such as the adjusted coupon issuance conditions. Reference numeral 186 denotes a button for specifying whether to execute adjustment with the contents of the screen and confirm and save the result.

[Effects]
As described above, according to the coupon issuance support system of the present embodiment, the coupon issuance support function provides a comprehensive effect such as sales promotion including customer collection and profits by issuing coupons to suitable customers by the store. Can be increased. With the coupon issue support function, the person in charge of the store can easily check information including the state of duplication or omission for each customer and customer attribute related to the issue of coupons to a group of customers at the store on the screen. The person in charge of the store can easily consider coupon issuing conditions with no overlap or omission. The person in charge of the store can easily review the issuance conditions for existing coupons and adjust the issuance conditions for new coupons. The person in charge of the store can easily issue a balanced coupon with less duplication and omission for the entire customer. The person in charge of the store may increase the effect of issuing a coupon and reduce the cost of issuing a coupon by reducing the degree of duplication and omission.

  As mentioned above, the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Needless to say. Other embodiments may provide one function of overlap adjustment and leakage adjustment. Further, only a specific method among the various adjustment methods described above may be provided.

  The present invention can be used for coupon business.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Customer, 2 ... Member store, 3 ... Coupon company, 4 ... Credit card company, 5 ... Communication network, 10 ... User terminal, 20 ... Client terminal, 31 ... Coupon server, 32 ... Customer information server, 41 ... Settlement server, 42 ... Usage details server, 51 ... Coupon DB, 52 ... Customer information DB, 53 ... Settlement information, 54 ... Usage details information, 61 ... Coupon management unit, 62 ... Coupon issue support unit, 63 ... Setting unit, 64 ... Screen providing unit, 71 ... Customer attribute definition information, 72 ... Customer attribute analysis information, 73 ... Adjustment information, 74 ... Recommended information, 75 ... Customer purchase information, 81 ... Issue condition information, 82 ... Coupon issue information, 83 ... Coupon Usage information 111 ... Issuing condition setting unit 112 ... Issuing unit 113 ... Using unit 120 ... Range setting unit 121 ... Customer attribute analysis unit 122 ... Duplication adjustment unit 123 ... Leakage adjustment , 124 ... recommending unit, 131 ... customer information management unit, D1 ... coupon information, D2 ... customer information, d1, d2, d3 ... coupon.

Claims (12)

A coupon issuance support system that supports issuance of a coupon for issuing a coupon to a customer of the member store based on an instruction from the member store,
For each of a plurality of coupons, a coupon information storage unit that holds coupon information specifying an application target, an issue period, an effective period, and an issue target customer;
A customer information storage unit for storing customer information including customer attributes for each of the plurality of customers of the member store;
About each of the plurality of coupons, each coupon information and the customer information are used to select each customer to be issued, and a plurality of coupons are issued for a plurality of customers whose customer information is stored in the customer information storage unit. An extractor that extracts customers that fall into at least one of the following:
A coupon issue support system. In the coupon issue support system according to claim 1,
The said extraction part is a coupon issue assistance system which extracts the customer applicable to at least one of the said duplication or omission in the unit of the customer group for every customer attribute. In the coupon issue support system according to claim 2,
Have a duplicate adjustment section,
The said duplication adjustment part performs the process which adjusts the coupon information containing the customer attribute of the customer of issue of the said coupon so that the degree of duplication may reduce about the customer of the customer attribute corresponding to the said duplication extracted, The coupon issue assistance system . In the coupon issue support system according to claim 2,
Has a leakage adjustment section,
The leakage adjustment unit performs a process of adjusting coupon information including the customer attribute of the customer to be issued for the coupon so that the degree of leakage is reduced for a customer attribute corresponding to the extracted leakage. . In the coupon issue support system according to claim 3,
The duplication adjustment unit, as a process of adjusting the coupon information, sets priorities in a plurality of coupons issued to customers of the member store based on instructions from the member store, and customer attributes corresponding to the duplication A coupon issuance support system that selects coupons according to the priority order so that the number of coupons to be provided to a customer is reduced. In the coupon issue support system according to claim 3,
The duplication adjustment unit, as a process of adjusting the coupon information, a plurality of coupon information in which the customer attribute of the customer to be issued is changed so that the number of coupons provided to the customer of the customer attribute corresponding to the duplication is reduced. Issuance as a choice, executes an A / B test using the plurality of choices, and selects the coupon information based on the execution result of the A / B test and an instruction from the member store Support system. In the coupon issue support system according to claim 3,
The duplication adjustment unit corresponds to the duplication so that the duplication is eliminated or the duplication is eliminated based on a logical analysis of a set of customer attribute units of the member store customers as a process of adjusting the coupon information. A coupon issuance support system that creates coupon information in which customer attributes of customers who are issued coupons are changed so that the number of coupons provided to customers with customer attributes is reduced. In the coupon issue support system according to claim 1,
Based on an instruction from the member store, a duplication allowable number setting unit that sets the number of coupons allowed to be duplicated as a duplication allowable number with respect to duplication in a customer attribute unit in issuing a coupon to a customer of the member store Have
The said extraction part is a coupon issue assistance system which extracts as said duplication, when the number of the coupons provided in the said customer attribute unit exceeds the duplication tolerance number. In the coupon issue support system according to claim 4,
The leakage adjustment unit, as a process of adjusting the coupon information for the customer attribute corresponding to the extracted leakage, the coupon provided so as to eliminate the leakage or to the customer attribute customer corresponding to the leakage A coupon issuance support system for creating information for proposing issuance of a coupon for a customer attribute corresponding to the omission so that the number of items increases. In the coupon issue support system according to claim 4,
The leakage adjustment unit uses a customer attribute to be added as a logical condition for a customer attribute corresponding to the extracted leakage, and a customer attribute corresponding to a plurality of partial leakages and the partial leakage. The coupon issue support system which makes coupon information which makes the customer attribute applicable to is a customer for issue, and makes it selectable based on the instruction from the member store. In the coupon issue support system according to claim 1,
The extraction unit analyzes a logical relationship in a customer set of a plurality of customer attributes, and the number or rate of customers in the customer set of each customer attribute, the state regarding the duplication and omission, and the number of coupons provided , A coupon issue support system for creating customer attribute analysis information. In the coupon issue support system according to claim 1,
A coupon having a range setting unit that specifies a target and a range of processing for extracting at least one of the duplication and leakage based on an instruction from the member store in terms of a store, a period, a coupon, and a customer attribute. Issuance support system.

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