JP2016206997A - Point system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve delivery of points between users and enhance motivation of point use.SOLUTION: A point system comprises: means 30 for associating a commodity ID or a commodity group ID, and an application range which is information for specifying a shop or facility where a user can use points; reception processing means 12 for receiving provider IDs, point card IDs and the commodity IDs or points of the commodity sent from provider terminals; a point management DB 34 for accumulating for every point card ID, provider IDs of providers at commodity acquisition destinations and points of commodities; means 14 for, out of the points associated to the point cards ID from the point management DB based on the provider IDs and point card IDs received at the reception processing means, extracting points which can be used in the application range between providers, and then displaying the points on the provider terminals; and means for executing processing of point delivery between users, performed via user terminals.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a point system, and more particularly to a point system capable of forming a point distribution market and activating point use.

  Conventionally, various proposals have been made in order to activate user visits to stores and use of points. For example, in Patent Document 1, by separately managing premium points that can be exchanged by users of any store group and premium points that can be exchanged only by users of a limited predetermined store group, It is described that the store is urged to visit the predetermined store.

JP 2014-144374 A

  However, since the above-described conventional technology only manages the points of prizes that can be handled for each store group, there is a limit to motivation to use points from the user's standpoint.

  The present invention has been made in response to such a conventional situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide a point system that enables the exchange of points between users and can further increase the motivation for using points. And

In order to achieve the above object, the point system of the present invention is connected to a trader terminal and a user terminal via a communication network,
Application range storage means for associating and storing a product ID or a product group ID and an application range that is information that can identify a store or facility where points can be used;
A reception processing means for receiving a supplier ID, a point card ID, and a product ID or product points sent from the supplier terminal;
For each point card ID, a point management database for accumulating merchant IDs and merchandise points of product acquisition destinations,
Based on the merchant ID and the point card ID received by the reception processing means, out of the points associated with the point card ID from the point management database, the points usable by the merchant are extracted according to the application range. And a merchant terminal display output means for displaying on the merchant terminal,
Point distribution processing means for executing point transfer processing between users performed via the user terminal;
It is provided with.

  Preferably, the application range is associated with a point delivered between users. Thereby, the user who received the points can also use the points under the same conditions as the transferred users. In addition, since the user can acquire and use points on the point card that the user does not own, the user can be motivated to use the points.

  Further, the point distribution processing means of the point system according to the present invention displays on the same screen the point status for each application range before and after the point transfer on the user terminal. Thereby, the user who wishes to transfer points can determine whether or not the points owned by the user can be added up, and can promote the distribution of points.

  Furthermore, the point system according to the present invention includes distribution condition storage means for associating and storing a delivery condition for each point delivery mode between users, and the point distribution means performs a point delivery process based on the delivery condition. It is characterized by performing. This makes it possible to form an appropriate point distribution market.

  Examples of the point delivery mode include exchange, free transfer, and free transfer. As the delivery conditions, for example, points can be exchanged or transferred free of charge any number of times a day, but free transfer of points is limited to N times a day (N is a natural number).

  As described above, according to the present invention, points can be exchanged between users, so that motivation for using points can be strengthened. In particular, since points are applied between users with attributes such as stores where points can be used as attributes, users who transfer points from other users also use the points under the same conditions as the transferred users It is possible to increase the motivation for using points.

It is a functional block diagram of the point system by embodiment of this invention. It is a data structural example of the application range table of FIG. It is a data structural example of the group information table of FIG. It is the example of a display to a different trader terminal by the trader terminal display output means of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the display process procedure to the trader terminal of the trader terminal display output means of FIG. It is a data structural example of the distribution | circulation condition table of FIG.

Embodiments of a point system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a point system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, the point system 1 is operated by a management company, and a store or service company (hereinafter referred to as a “member company”) side through a server device 2 that provides a point distribution market service and a communication network 6 such as the Internet. It is comprised from the contractor terminal 4 installed in. The point card owned by the user who is the customer on the point use side is a non-contact IC card, and the merchant terminal 4 holds the card over the merchant terminal 4 to identify the point card identification information (hereinafter, “card ID”). Can be read.

  The server device 2 can be accessed from the user terminal 5 and the trader terminal 4 via the communication network 6. Here, the user means a participant who participates in an event or the like provided by a general consumer or a trader.

  Although not shown, the trader terminal 4 has means for reading the card ID and means for transmitting the read information to the server device 2.

  The server device 2 includes a transmission unit 50 that communicates with other devices via the communication network 6, an arithmetic processing unit 10 that executes various arithmetic processes, and a storage unit 30 that stores data. Further, if necessary, the input unit 60 and the display unit 70 may be provided to directly input or display data on the server device 2 side.

  The arithmetic processing unit 10 is sent from the input / output processing unit 17 that exchanges data with the input unit 60 or the display unit 70, the transmission processing unit 11 that executes transmission processing with other devices, and the vendor terminal 4. Receiving processing means 12 for executing the receiving process of incoming data, subject specifying means 13 for specifying a service providing group that can be a unit for providing the same service such as a member company or a group based on the received data, for each service providing group A vendor terminal display output means 14 for executing display output processing to a dealer terminal, a point distribution processing means 16 for realizing a point distribution market function such as point exchange, and an input process or a display output process with a user terminal. User terminal interface (I / F) means 15 is provided. Each means 11-17 is a function realizable by program processing.

  The storage unit 30 stores a group information table 31 that associates and stores a trader terminal and a service providing group, and an application range table 32 that stores a range in which points can be used for each service providing group (hereinafter referred to as “application range”). And a distribution condition table 33 for storing various setting conditions in the point distribution process, and a point management DB 34 for storing a point acquisition history for each user. Here, the point management DB 34 stores, for each card ID, histories such as a product ID, quantity, points, and trader ID, in association with each other.

  In order to access various data stored in the storage unit 30, what is used as a key is important, but the international standard ISO18092 adopted in an IC chip or the like embedded in a point card is important. A numbering system is preferred. This is because this numbering system is made up of manufacturer, date of manufacture, serial number, etc., and can therefore be assigned uniquely to all point cards. Note that this numbering system is also used for, for example, a paper point card that does not use an IC chip, and an identification code such as a bar code or QR code (registered trademark) is displayed on the card and is read by a code reading means. It can be used similarly by reading.

Next, the operation of the point system 1 having the above configuration will be described.
(Basic data registration process)
The service providing group and the point application range are registered from the input unit 60. The input data is stored in the storage unit 30 via the input / output processing unit 17 of the arithmetic processing unit 10. These registrations may be performed from the vendor terminal 4. A data configuration example of the application range table 32 is shown in FIG. For each service providing group, a point application range is registered in association with the product group or the product ID. As the application range of points, for example, “1: available only at stores where products are acquired”, “2: available only at stores in the same service provision group”, “3: available at all stores”, etc. are registered. be able to. The application range of this point may be registered for each product or service provision group, or may be registered for all products or for all service provision groups.

In the following description, a case where the point application range is registered in association with the product group for each service providing group as in the configuration of FIG. 2 will be described.
Note that user information is registered via the user terminal 5. This user information is received and processed by the transmission processing means 11 and stored in a personal information DB (not shown). In the personal information DB, user attribute information such as user ID, address, and name is stored, and in the point management DB 34, purchase history, activity history, earned points, etc. are stored in association with the card ID. Personal information can be managed separately by another server or the like, and security is improved. Also in this case, it is preferable to construct the database using the card ID as a key.

(Process when purchasing products)
When a store (member) brings a product to a cash register, the store which is a member merchant takes the card ID into the merchant terminal 4 by holding the user's point card over the merchant terminal 4 provided in advance at the cash register. If the point card is not a non-contact type IC card, the card ID displayed on the point card is manually input, or if it is displayed as a bar code or the like, it is read by a separately provided code reading means. .

The read card ID is transmitted from the vendor terminal 4 to the server device 2 together with the vendor ID. A trader terminal ID may be used as the trader ID.
In the server device 2, when these data sent from the vendor terminal 4 are received by the reception processing unit 12, the subject specifying unit 13 refers to the group information table 31 illustrated in FIG. The service provision group that is being used is extracted.

  Next, the subject specifying unit 13 activates the contractor terminal display output unit 14 and passes the extracted service provision group ID to the contractor terminal display output unit 14. The merchant terminal display output unit 14 performs display output corresponding to the service providing group ID on the merchant terminal 4. Thereby, as illustrated in FIG. 4, a different display can be made for each service providing group (in many cases, a group using the same card). Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to this, and each store can provide its own point service, and the display can be output in its own format.

  Next, at the store cash register, necessary information such as the product ID and the number of items is input to the dealer terminal 4 by code reading means or by manual input. The read data is transmitted to the server device 2 from the transmission means of the vendor terminal 4 together with the vendor ID.

  On the server device 2 side, the product ID and the points of the product (which means “point value”) are sequentially stored in the point management DB 34 from the received data. The correspondence table between the product and its points may be stored in the storage unit 30 in advance, or the points may be transmitted from the trader terminal 4 to the server device 2 together with the product ID or separately from the product ID. . At this time, if necessary, the application range can be stored in association with the product points by referring to the application range table 32.

  The vendor terminal display output means 14 may be created for each service provision group, the service provider group may be specified from the received dealer ID, and the corresponding dealer terminal display output means 14 may be activated. It is also possible to prepare a table (not shown) in which the processing contents for each are registered and display and output them to the trader terminal 4 according to the corresponding processing contents by referring to the table.

(Process when using points)
The merchant terminal display output unit 14 refers to the point management DB 34 and determines the point value available at the store based on the attribute of the user's point.

The specific processing content is shown below using FIG.
The merchant terminal display output unit 14 accesses the point management DB 34 and loops over the entire history of card IDs notified from the merchant terminal 4 (S101a, S101b). The trader terminal display output unit 14 first extracts an application range that is an attribute associated with the first point in the history (S102), and performs branch processing according to the application range (S103).

  First, when the application range of points is “1”, it is determined whether the merchant ID and the purchase store match (S104), and if they match, the points are added (S106). If the point application range is “2”, it is determined whether or not the vendor ID belongs to the same service provision group with reference to the group information table 31 (S105). As a result, points belong to the same service providing group (S106). If the application range is “3” (valid at all stores) in step S103, points are added (S106). In step S103, if the number is other than a predetermined number, the process may be shifted to an abnormality process.

  After the above processing is looped for the entire history of the card ID (S101b), the total value of points is displayed as the number of points usable at the store on the merchant terminal 4 (S107).

  With the above processing, the number of points that the user can use at the store can be grasped. The above processing may be performed by batch processing instead of being performed by the trader terminal display output unit 14, and the total value of points for each application range may be calculated and stored in the point management DB 34.

  The same result may be transmitted to the user's terminal via the user terminal I / F means 15 at the same time when the display is output to the dealer terminal. At this time, if the point has a valid period, it is displayed from the one with the near expiration date so that it can be used from the one with the near expiration date, or the display of the service provision group that performed the advertisement distribution is the top, etc. It is preferable to perform processing that enhances the advertising effect.

(Processing in the user point distribution market)
The points earned by the user can be exchanged through a point distribution market on the network, thereby promoting the motivation of the user to use the points.

(Processing contents of point distribution processing means)
Each user exchanges points with other users based on the points earned by the user. In the distribution condition table 33, conditions relating to the user's point transaction act are stored as shown in FIG. “Frequency” can be used as a condition relating to a transaction. For example, there is no restriction on the act of giving part or all of the points owned by a user to another user (free transfer), but N days a day for the act of receiving points (free transfer). The number of times (N is a natural number). Note that it is also effective to make the setting value N variable in conjunction with the number of exchanges or free transfers for each user, or to change the setting value N depending on a specific date or period.

(Display processing on user terminal)
The user who owns the point card accesses the server device 2 at an arbitrary timing and registers necessary user information. In this embodiment, since it operates using the card ID as a key, points can be used for each store without registering user information. For this reason, in the same sense as other general point cards. It can also be used.

  On the other hand, by registering user information, the registered user is provided with merits such as providing points in the point distribution market, which is a function of the server device 2, and the store is provided with a big advantage. Merits such as providing aggregate information using data can be given.

  The trader terminal display output means 14 and the user terminal I / F means 15 described above can be operated independently, but higher effects can be obtained by operating the information in conjunction with each other. For example, it becomes possible for each user to transfer a comment written on the SNS to a digital signage of a vendor for display.

  In addition, by storing history information in the point management DB 34, it is possible to distinguish which learning point is obtained by the same point, for example, by issuing an electronic stamp after completion of learning in each zone.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, points of cards that are not owned by the user can be accumulated, so that the overflow of point cards can be suppressed and the motivation for using points can be promoted.

  On the customer side, a plurality of point cards can be integrated into one point card according to the present system, so there is no need to carry many cards. On the other hand, even if you do not access this system and register as a user, you can receive the same service for each store as before, and if you register with this system, you own it through the point distribution market. Since it is possible to acquire points of cards that are not used or exchange points with other users, it is possible to increase motivation for using points.

  For the store side, it is possible to add point services for each store with the same card, so it is possible to reduce the cost of issuing point cards. Further, since the points for each customer are totaled by the server device, each store can save the trouble of managing the issuing points and managing the card stock. Moreover, since each store does not need to manage personal information, the labor of personal information management can be saved.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Point system 2 Server apparatus 4 Contractor terminal 5 User terminal 6 Communication network 10 Arithmetic processing part 11 Transmission processing means 12 Reception processing means 13 Subject identification means 14 Contractor terminal display output means 15 User terminal interface means 16 Point distribution processing means 17 Input / output Processing means 30 Storage section 31 Group information table (group information storage means)
32 Application range table (application range storage means)
33 Distribution condition table (distribution condition storage means)
34 point management DB
50 Transmission unit 60 Input unit 70 Display unit

Claims (4)

It is a point system that is connected to a trader terminal and a user terminal via a communication network, and manages points of products acquired by the user,
Application range storage means for associating and storing a product ID or a product group ID and an application range that is information that can identify a store or facility where points can be used;
A reception processing means for receiving a supplier ID, a point card ID, and a product ID or product points sent from the supplier terminal;
For each point card ID, a point management database for accumulating merchant IDs and merchandise points of product acquisition destinations,
Based on the merchant ID and the point card ID received by the reception processing means, the points that can be used by the merchant are extracted from the point management database according to the application range from the points associated with the point card ID. And a merchant terminal display output means for displaying on the merchant terminal,
Point distribution processing means for executing point transfer processing between users performed via the user terminal;
A point system characterized by comprising:   The point system according to claim 1, wherein the application range is associated with a point delivered between users.   3. The point system according to claim 1, wherein the point distribution processing unit displays on the same screen a point state for each user on the user terminal before the point transfer and for each application range after the transfer. .   2. A distribution condition storage means for storing a delivery condition in association with each delivery mode of points between users, wherein the point distribution means executes a point delivery process based on the delivery condition. Point system as described in any one of thru | or 3.

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