JP2018132826A - Coupon issuance system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a coupon issuance system which issues a proper coupon, depending on the preferences of a customer and the degree of affection to a store from shopping history of the customer.SOLUTION: A coupon issuance system stores a customer identifier of a customer and purchase information in a purchase information database 22 in association with each other, when selling a merchandise to the customer in each store. In the fare adjustment of shopping by the customer, a customer management server 6 determines the degree of affection to a store in the customer from the purchase information and the customer identifier, and creates purchase merchandise axis purchase information classified by merchandise field, store distance axis purchase information classified by the distance between the store and a customer's residence place, and visited day of the week and time zone axis purchase information classified by visited day of the week and time zone. Further, the kind of a coupon to be issued is determined from the determined degree of affection, the created purchase merchandise axis purchase information, the store distance axis purchase information and the visited day of the week and time zone axis purchase information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a coupon issuing system that issues an optimal coupon for each customer based on the purchase trend of customers at retail stores.

  Conventionally, in retail stores and the like, when a customer purchases a product or service, a privilege such as a discount is provided by presenting a coupon issued in advance. These coupons are generally provided on paper media such as leaflets and publications and distributed to consumers. However, since this distribution method distributes a large amount of coupons to an unspecified number of consumers, only a few coupons are actually used at the store by consumers, and it is also cost effective. There is also a problem that there is a lot of waste.

  On the other hand, in recent years, a method has been adopted in which a consumer who has visited a retailer's homepage on the Internet web prints out a coupon uploaded there (for example, Patent Document 1). See). Such an electronic coupon distribution method can be obtained by accessing a website, and can be distributed directly to consumers who need the coupon. Therefore, there is an advantage that it is efficient and does not cost and trouble. is there.

  However, both the conventional coupons on paper media and online coupons distributed on the net are not uniformly distinguished for each customer, and the products for which benefits can be obtained when using the coupons are determined in advance. , Customers who want the coupon are limited. For this reason, even if a corner is obtained, there are many cases where it is not used because of interest in the use of coupons, and the effect of promoting customer collection by providing coupons is limited.

  In addition, in a merchandise sales data processing apparatus such as a POS terminal, when a customer ID for identifying a customer is input, based on the customer's past purchase history and information about the customer (age, gender, time of visit, etc.) If a discount product code group corresponding to the customer ID is acquired and the product code input at the time of checkout is included in the acquired discount product code group, the product corresponding to the product code It is known to discount the product unit price (for example, see Patent Document 2).

  A system is also known that prints and outputs a coupon ticket in consideration of the degree of sales contribution to the store from the shopping history of each customer (for example, Patent Document 3).

JP 2002-352131 A JP 2009-15661 A JP-A-11-191183

  Although patent coupon 2 is different from the coupon issuing system, customer satisfaction is improved by preferential treatment with a product suitable for the customer from the purchase history. However, in Patent Document 2, since a discounted product is not included in a product to be paid, a discount is not provided. Therefore, if more customers are to be treated, the types of the discounted products must be increased. This increases the burden on the store.

  Further, in Patent Document 3, only the coupon issuance is determined according to the sales contribution degree of the customer. Therefore, even if the customer obtains the coupon, it is not necessarily a useful coupon and does not necessarily improve the customer satisfaction. Is not reached.

  In view of the above points, an object of the present invention is to provide a coupon issuing system that can issue an appropriate coupon in accordance with a customer's purchasing trend and a degree of attachment to a store.

  In order to solve the above problems, a coupon issuing system according to the first invention includes means for accumulating purchase information of goods or services for each customer, and attachment to each customer's store from the purchase information for each customer identifier. A means for determining the degree, a means for creating purchase product axis purchase information in which the purchase information is classified by product field, and a store distance axis purchase information in which the purchase information is classified by the distance between the store and the customer's residence And coupon type determining means for determining the type of coupon to be issued from the purchased product axis purchase information, the store distance axis purchase information, and the degree of attachment.

  The coupon issuing system according to the second invention comprises means for storing purchase information of goods or services for each customer, means for determining the degree of attachment to each customer's store for each customer identifier from the purchase information, Means for creating purchase product axis purchase information in which the purchase information is classified by field, means for creating in-store time axis purchase information in which the purchase information is classified in a visit day time zone, the purchase product axis purchase information, and the purchase information Coupon type deciding means for deciding the type of coupon issued from the time-of-day purchase information and the degree of attachment.

  A coupon issuing system according to a third invention comprises: means for storing purchase information of goods or services for each customer; means for determining the degree of attachment to each customer's store for each customer identifier from the purchase information; Means for creating purchase product axis purchase information in which the purchase information is classified by field, means for creating store distance axis purchase information in which the purchase information is classified by the distance between the store and the customer's residence, and the purchase information. Means for creating time-of-day purchase information classified by the time of day of the week of the store, the purchase product axis purchase information, the store distance axis purchase information, the day-of-store time axis purchase information, and the degree of attachment Coupon type determining means for determining the type is provided.

  Here, the means for determining the degree of attachment in the coupon issuing system according to the first to third inventions is at least one of the last visit date, the visit frequency, and the accumulated purchase amount determined from the purchase information. The degree of attachment is determined based on the above. In this case, the store visit frequency may be the cumulative number of store visits or the average number of visit visit days from the purchase information. Then, the type of coupon to be issued is determined according to the determined degree of attachment, but there is also a decision not to issue a coupon depending on the degree of attachment. The purchase information can be streamlined by using data collected by a point-of-sale management system.

  The coupon issuing system according to the present invention categorizes purchase information, which is a customer's purchase history, into a purchase product axis, a store distance axis, and / or a time axis for the next day of the store, along with the results of analyzing customer purchase trends, In order to determine the type of coupon to be issued according to the degree of attachment to the customer, coupons can be issued in detail according to the individual situation of the customer, and customer satisfaction can be increased.

The block diagram explaining the whole structure of the coupon issuing system concerning this invention is shown. (A) shows the block diagram of the sales data record transmitted from the POS terminal to the store POS server 3, and (b) shows the block diagram of the store data record transmitted from the store POS server to the POS server 2. The functional structure of a customer management server is shown with a block diagram. The typical explanatory view of store distance axis purchase information is shown. The typical explanatory view of purchase merchandise axis purchase information is shown. The typical explanatory view of time axis purchase information on a visit day is shown. The explanatory drawing which made the graph the thing which classified the degree of attachment to a customer's store into four kinds, a new customer, a stable customer, a good customer, and a non-good customer is shown. The flowchart explaining the processing procedure of coupon issue is shown. The block diagram explaining the whole structure of other embodiment of the coupon issuing system concerning this invention is shown.

  Hereinafter, a coupon issue system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration diagram of a coupon issue system 1, which is constructed on a point-of-sale management system (POS system).

  The POS system here is a POS server 2 arranged at a retailer's center 30, a store POS server 3 installed at each of a plurality of stores under the chain, and a checkout arranged at a checkout register counter in the store. It comprises a terminal (POS terminal) 4. The POS server 2 and the store POS server 3 transmit and receive data through a communication network 10 using a public line or a dedicated line. Further, one or a plurality of POS terminals 4 are installed in the checkout counter of the store according to the scale of the store, and are connected to the store POS server 3 via a LAN (Local Area Network) 11.

  When the store POS server 3 includes a PLU (Price Look Up) file in which a product code, a product name, and a price are associated, an inquiry message including the product code read by the scanner 5 is transmitted from the POS terminal 4. The product name and price corresponding to the product code are searched from the PLU file and returned to the POS terminal 4 that sent the inquiry message.

  The POS terminal 4 performs a checkout process for the customer's shopping based on the price sent, and issues a receipt regarding the transaction from the printer when the checkout is completed. The POS terminal 4 stores the purchase code including the product code of the product purchased by the customer upon completion of payment, the number of the product code, the sales amount, the sales date and time indicating the current date and time, and the terminal code of the POS terminal 4. The recorded sales data record 15 shown in FIG. 2A is transmitted to the store POS server 3. The store POS server 3 accumulates sales data records 15 sent from each POS terminal 4 and performs sales management at the store based on the accumulated sales data records 15.

  In this POS system, each POS terminal 4 is provided with a card reader (not shown) for reading a membership card distributed to a customer who has registered as a member in advance. The membership card is, for example, a card that proves that it is a point member or a preferential member, and customer identifier information such as a membership number for identifying a customer who owns the card is recorded, and is a magnetic card or an IC card. It has been created using. Therefore, when the POS terminal 4 reads the membership number from the membership card presented by the customer at the time of payment, the membership number is added to the purchase information and transmitted to the store POS server 3.

  Each time the sales data record 15 is transmitted from the POS terminal 4, the store POS server 3 creates a store data record 16 in which the store code of the store is further added to the sales data record 15 and transmits it to the POS server 2. To do. FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram showing a main data structure of the store data record 16, and a store code is added to the purchase information.

  The POS server 2 stores the store data record 16 sent from each store POS server 3 in the database 20, and performs sales management by integrating a plurality of stores based on this. Therefore, in the POS server 2, even when a member customer makes purchases across a plurality of stores, the customer's shopping trend can be grasped by associating with the member number.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the database 20 includes a customer database 21, a purchase information database 22, and a store address database 23.

  The customer database 21 stores customer attribute information in association with each customer identifier assigned to each member customer. Customers who wish to become members such as point members and preferential members are given a membership number as a customer identifier, and customer attribute information such as the sex, age, and residence of the customer reported at that time is reported. The customer attribute information is stored in the customer database 21.

  The purchase information database 22 stores store data records 16 sent from each store POS server 3 of the affiliated store. As described above, this store data record 16 includes store code, product code, quantity, sales amount, sales date / time, and POS terminal code information. Is further included.

  The store address database 23 stores the address of each store in the group in the store address database 23 in association with the store code of the store.

  A coupon issuing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is constructed using the customer management server 6 and the coupon printer 8 on the POS system. In this case, the customer management server 6 is installed in the center 30 together with the POS server 2 and the database 20, and the coupon printer 8 is installed in each store. One or more coupon printers 8 are arranged for each store. Preferably, the same number of coupon printers 8 are connected to each POS terminal 4 in the store. By doing so, a coupon can be issued at the same time when the customer's shopping is settled at the POS terminal 4.

  The customer management server 6 determines the degree of attachment of the customer having the membership number to the store based on the information accumulated in the customer database 21, the purchase information database 22, and the store address database 23 by periodic processing. At the same time, it creates store function axis purchase information, purchased product axis purchase information, and store visit time axis purchase information used for analyzing purchase trends for each member customer. In this case, as shown in the functional block diagram of FIG. 3, the customer management server 6 executes the control program to thereby attach the degree of attachment determination means 31, the store function axis purchase information creation means 33, and the purchased product axis purchase information. The functions of the creation unit 34 and the time-of-day purchase information creation unit 35 are implemented. Hereinafter, the operation of each means will be described.

  The degree-of-attachment determination means 31 performs RFM analysis on the purchase information representing the purchase history of the customer from the time when the customer identifier is given to the customer, for example, when the customer joins the point member or preferential member. Determine the degree of attachment to the store. In the case of a retailer having a plurality of stores as in this example, the “degree of attachment to stores” is not the degree of attachment to individual stores, but the degree of attachment to the brands of retailers common to these affiliated stores.

  In this embodiment, the degree of attachment is classified into four types: new customers, stable customers, good customers, and non-excellent customers. FIG. 7 illustrates these four kinds of attachments in a typical pattern that is graphed by the interest level of the customer's retailer store. A new customer joins a loyalty card member (starts business with a retail store). Customers at a time when understanding and interest in retail stores grow from time t, stable customers are at a time when understanding and interest are increasing and become repeaters, good customers are at a time when understanding and interest are further increased On the other hand, customers and non-excellent customers are customers at a time when their understanding / interesting level decreases and leaves.

  RFM analysis is a method to evaluate the customer's latest purchase time (Recency: R), how often they bought (Frequency: F), and how much they bought so far (Monetary: M) in terms of scores. Widely known. In the evaluation of R here, according to the number of days elapsed since the last visit, the more recent ones have a higher score, and in the F evaluation, the higher the cumulative number of visits, the higher the score. The higher the amount, the higher the score. In addition to the cumulative number of visits, there is a method for obtaining the average number of visits between visits and increasing the number of visits as the shorter the number of visits to F, so that the frequency can be evaluated more accurately.

  Then, the scores of R, F and M are comprehensively analyzed, and it is determined which of the four ways the customer's degree of attachment to the store is. In the score analysis, the degree of attachment of the customer is determined by determining the position of the current score in the graph shown in FIG. 7 based on a comparison between the most recent score and the current score.

  Here, in order to evaluate the degree of attachment by scoring R, F, and M, the evaluation score may be weighted according to the situation of each store. For example, if the customer's latest visit date is emphasized, the score based on the evaluation of R is weighted, and if the visit frequency is important, the score based on the evaluation of M is weighted. Further, if any one of the R, F, and M evaluations is particularly important, the customer's attachment degree may be determined only by the score based on the evaluation.

  The store distance axis purchase information creation means 33 creates store distance axis purchase information classified by the distance between the store and the customer's residence. Specifically, the store distance axis purchase information creation unit 33 measures the store address stored in the store address database 23 and the distance from the customer residence stored in the customer database 21 to the store, The store distance axis purchase information is created by classifying the purchase information of the customer stored in the purchase information database 22 according to the distance. Since the store distance axis purchase information is information for knowing which distance range the store where the customer has purchased is from the residence, the distance from the customer's residence to the store is between the two addresses The linear distance of

  FIG. 4 schematically shows store distance axis purchase information created by the store distance axis purchase information creation means 33 for one member customer. In this example, there are three types of store distance axis purchase information. (A) shows the total number of purchases classified into short-distance stores with a distance of 0 to 5 km and long-distance stores with a distance of 5 km or more. The total number of times is shown. (B) shows the total number of purchases at a store within each distance range when the distance is subdivided. If the residence is not registered, the number of purchases at all stores is shown. The distance 354 m is a close distance within 5 minutes on foot. (C) is the total number of stores that have been purchased, the total number of stores that have been purchased within a short distance of 0 to 5 km, and the total number of stores that have been purchased at a long distance of 5 km or more. Is shown. If the residence is not registered, the total number of stores where the purchase has been made is shown.

  The purchased product axis purchase information creating means 34 creates purchased product axis purchase information in which purchase information is classified by product field. Specifically, the number of purchases at all stores for each product field is calculated from the purchase information in the purchase information database 22.

  FIG. 5 schematically shows the purchase product axis purchase information created by the purchase product axis purchase information creation means 34 for one member customer. From the purchase information of the customer stored in the purchase information database 22, 01 The purchase product axis purchase information is created by calculating the total number of purchases of all stores by product field up to 21.

  The time-of-day purchase information creation unit 35 generates time-of-day purchase information on the day of the week in which the purchase information is classified by the time zone of the day of the visit. Specifically, the time-base purchase information for the next day of the week is created by calculating the total number of purchases at all stores during each time zone on weekdays and holidays.

  FIG. 6 schematically shows the time-of-day purchase information on the day of the week created by the time-of-day purchase information creation means 35 for one member customer, and the number of purchases at all stores during each time zone on weekdays and holidays. It is shown.

  If such store visit time axis purchase information and store distance axis purchase information are created, for example, the number of purchases in the store visit time axis purchase information is from 11:00 to 13:00 on weekdays, and the store distance axis If the purchase information shows that the number of purchases is a store located at a distance of less than 10 to 20 km from the place of residence, this customer can determine that the store near the place of work is used for lunch breaks. .

  In addition, the number of purchases in the time axis purchase information for visit days is from 17:00 to 19:00 or 20:00 to 22:00 on weekdays, and stores with a lot of purchases in the store distance axis purchase information are near the residence. If this is the case, it can be determined that this customer is using it for shopping for dinner after work.

  When the customer management server 6 analyzes the degree of attachment of the customer having the membership number to the store and the purchase trend, the determination result of the degree of attachment and store distance axis purchase information / purchased product axis purchase information / visit day time axis purchase information Is created in association with the membership number, and a target list is created and transmitted to each store POS server.

  Then, the store POS server 3 determines whether or not a coupon is issued for each member customer and the type of coupon to be issued based on the sent target list. Therefore, the store POS server 3 has a function of a coupon type determination unit that determines the type of coupon to be issued based on the purchased product axis purchase information, the store distance axis purchase information, the store visit time axis purchase information, and the degree of attachment.

  Further, the store POS server 3 obtains the coupon issue service content inputted in advance, for example, the coupon issue period, the specific offer details such as the coupon issue target product and the discount rate for the product price, and the customer obtains the coupon. Issuing conditions that can be performed and other various necessary information are stored in the internal storage device 3a as coupon service information.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating coupon issue control by the store POS server 3. First, when the store POS server 3 receives a member number read from the POS terminal 4 and sent from the member card presented at the time of payment of the customer's shopping (step S01), the store POS server 3 issues a coupon to the customer with this member number. It is determined whether or not it is possible (step S02). The store POS server 3 stores coupon service information such as a coupon issuance period and issuance conditions in the storage device 3a, and within the coupon issuance period and as an issuance condition, for example, shopping by a customer at this time When the settlement amount is equal to or more than a preset amount, a coupon can be issued. In another example, it may be an issuance condition that a product purchased by a customer includes a specific product, or it may be issued unconditionally if a member. And when a coupon issue period and issue conditions are not suitable, the coupon management server 6 complete | finishes a process. Further, the issuance conditions can include the degree of customer attachment.

  When the store POS server 3 determines to issue a coupon, the store POS server 3 determines the type of coupon to be issued from the data of the target list sent from the customer management server 6 (step S03). Here, the “coupon type” is a coupon for each discount target product, such as a rice ball 20 yen discount coupon or a sandwich 50 yen discount coupon. Alternatively, the coupon may be classified by discount rate or discount amount for all or some of the products in the store without specifying the product.

  The process in step S03 will be described with a specific example. A store near the office is visited during the lunch break as a purchase trend based on various purchase information on the store distance axis, the time of day of the visit, and the purchased product axis. If a product to be purchased as a lunch is included in the predetermined coupon issue target product at this time, the product is selected from these products. At this time, when there are a plurality of candidate products, the coupon type of the higher priced product or the higher priced product is selected as the customer's degree of attachment to the store is better. Alternatively, when the coupon type is the discount amount or rate of the product, the coupon with the more advantageous amount or rate for the customer is selected as the degree of attachment of the customer to the store is better.

  And the customer attribute information corresponding to a corresponding member number may be considered in the judgment of merchandise selection at this time. For example, if it is found that the number of purchases of chilled desserts is large, based on the purchase product axis purchase information, if the chilled dessert product is included in the coupon issuance target product, the chilled dessert after lunch will be chilled. A coupon for a dessert product is selected.

  Further, if it is analyzed that the store is near the place of residence as a purchasing trend, the coupon service information stored in the storage device 3a includes coupons for prepared foods and prepared food items. If so, select a coupon for these products. Also in this case, when there are a plurality of candidate products, the more expensive product or the product with the larger discount is selected as the degree of attachment to the customer's store is better.

  When the store POS server 3 determines the coupon type in this way, it creates a coupon sheet image by the coupon sheet image creating means (step S04). In the coupon service information, the discount rate for each coupon issue target product and, in some cases, the valid period of coupon use are stored, and data of a coupon ticket surface image showing the product name and the discount rate is created. Then, the store POS server 3 transmits the coupon face image data to the POS terminal 4 that has transmitted the membership number (step S05).

  Thereby, the POS terminal 4 that has received the coupon face image data transfers the coupon face image data to the connected coupon printer 8, and the coupon is printed and provided to the customer (step S06).

  FIG. 9 shows a second embodiment of the coupon issuing system according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the coupon controller 7 is installed in the store, and the function of the store POS server 3 that controls the issuance of coupons by exchanging data with the customer management server 6 is delegated to the coupon controller 7. In this case, the coupon printer 8 connected to the coupon controller 7 is preferably arranged side by side on each POS terminal 4 in the store, as in the first embodiment of FIG.

  The coupon controller 7 monitors the store data record 16 that the store POS server 3 sends to the POS server 2 and transmits this data to the customer management server 6 when detecting the store data record 16 including the membership number. Then, the customer management server 6 accumulates the store data record 16 including the membership number in the database 20A.

  Then, the customer management server 6 analyzes the degree of attachment of the customer having the membership number to the store and the purchase trend through periodic processing as in the first embodiment. A target list in which purchase information, purchased product axis purchase information, and visit day time axis purchase information are associated with member numbers is created and transmitted to each coupon controller 7.

  And the coupon controller 7 controls issue of the coupon with respect to the customer for every member number based on this target list. Therefore, in 2nd Embodiment, the said coupon service information which shows the content of the coupon issue service etc. which were input previously is memorize | stored in the memory | storage device 7a of the controller 7, and the coupon controller 7 is a process of the shop POS server 3 A coupon is issued from the coupon printer 8 by executing the procedure of the flowchart of FIG. Therefore, the coupon controller 7 has a function of a coupon type determination means for determining the type of coupon to be issued based on the purchased product axis purchase information, the store distance axis purchase information, the visit day time axis purchase information, and the degree of attachment.

  According to the second embodiment, by providing such a coupon controller 7, the store POS server 3 does not communicate with the customer management server 6 and issues a coupon from the coupon printer 8 in the store together with the POS terminal 4. You don't have to be involved in the process. Therefore, the function which issues a coupon can be given only by adding the coupon controller 7 and the coupon printer 8 to the existing POS system which is not provided with the coupon issuing function. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the entities that operate the POS server 2 and the coupon management server 6 may be different from each other.

  In the first and second embodiments, the type of coupon to be issued is determined based on the determination result of the degree of attachment and the store distance axis purchase information / purchased product axis purchase information / visit day time axis purchase information. In simple terms, the type of coupon may be determined based on the degree of attachment and purchased product axis purchase information / time-of-day purchase information on the store day, or the attachment degree, purchased product axis purchase information, and store distance axis purchase information.

22 Purchasing information storage means (purchasing information database)
31 Degree of attachment determination means 33 Store distance axis purchase information creation means 34 Purchased product axis purchase information creation means 35 Visit day time axis purchase information creation means 36 Coupon type determination means (store POS server, coupon controller)

Claims (7)

Means for storing product or service purchase information for each customer;
Means for determining the degree of attachment to each customer's store for each customer identifier from the purchase information;
Means for creating purchase product axis purchase information in which the purchase information is classified by product field;
Means for creating store distance axis purchase information in which the purchase information is classified by the distance between the store and the customer's residence;
Coupon type determination means for determining the type of coupon issued from the purchased product axis purchase information, the store distance axis purchase information, and the degree of attachment;
A coupon issuing system characterized by comprising: Means for storing product or service purchase information for each customer;
Means for determining the degree of attachment to each customer's store for each customer identifier from the purchase information;
Means for creating purchase product axis purchase information in which the purchase information is classified by product field;
Means for creating a time-based purchase information on a visit day, in which the purchase information is classified by a visit time zone;
Coupon type determining means for determining the type of coupon to be issued from the purchased product axis purchase information, the visit day time axis purchase information and the degree of attachment;
A coupon issuing system characterized by comprising: Means for storing product or service purchase information for each customer;
Means for determining the degree of attachment to each customer's store for each customer identifier from the purchase information;
Means for creating purchase product axis purchase information in which the purchase information is classified by product field;
Means for creating store distance axis purchase information in which the purchase information is classified by the distance between the store and the customer's residence;
Means for creating a time-based purchase information on a visit day, in which the purchase information is classified by a visit time zone;
Coupon type determination means for determining the type of coupon to be issued from the purchased product axis purchase information, the store distance axis purchase information, the store visit time axis purchase information, and the degree of attachment;
A coupon issuing system characterized by comprising:   The means for determining the degree of attachment determines the degree of attachment based on at least one of the date of last visit, the frequency of visits, and the accumulated purchase amount determined from the purchase information. The coupon issuing system according to any one of the above.   5. The coupon issuing system according to claim 4, wherein the store visit frequency is a cumulative number of store visits or an average number of visit visit intervals based on the purchase information.   The coupon issuing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein whether to issue a coupon is determined according to the degree of attachment.   The coupon issue system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the purchase information is data collected by a point-of-sale management system.

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