JP3170883B2 - POS system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a POS system capable of processing coupons.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional POS system. A plurality of POS terminals 3 are connected to a controller 2 via a line 4, and the controller 2 is connected to a host device via a line 5. 1 connected. The controller 2 has a PLU file 21 in which product information such as a product name, a department, and a price is registered in correspondence with a product code, and the host device 1 has a sales information totaling unit 10.

In the above POS system, when a product code attached to a product is input to the POS terminal 3, the product code is sent to the controller 2 via the line 4. The controller 2 searches the PLU file 21, reads out the corresponding product information, and returns it to the POS terminal 3 of the transmission source. In the POS terminal 3, sales registration such as display of a product name and price is performed based on the returned product information, and sales processing such as settlement of a sales price and issuance of a receipt is performed. In addition, the product information of the product on which the sales processing has been performed is sent to the upper-level device 1, and the sales information totaling unit 10 performs, based on the product information of the product on which the sales processing is performed, product name, manufacturer, POS, and sales. The quantity and price are tabulated according to the time of the processing and the type of customer. The results of these tabulations are useful reference materials for future product purchase plans at retail stores or future product development plans at product manufacturers.

[0004] On the other hand, when selling goods, various services are provided for sales promotion, and issuance of coupons has been conventionally performed as a part thereof. The coupon is a description of the name of the product and the discount price.The coupon is provided as a service from the retailer to the customer when purchasing the product, or attached as a service during advertisements in newspapers and magazines. And so on.

[0005] When a customer gives a coupon with the name of the same product to the retailer at the time of purchasing the product, the retailer discounts the regular price of the product by the amount described on the coupon. After that, the discount amount is summed up and charged to the manufacturer. Conventionally, the discount processing and the aggregation after the coupon has been handed over from the customer have all been manually performed individually at the retailer side.

[0006]

As described above, conventionally,
All of the above-described processes required when a coupon is passed from a customer are manually processed, and cannot be processed by the POS system. Therefore, there is a problem that the burden on the retail store is large due to issuance of the coupon, and errors such as counting errors are likely to occur.

[0007] Further, in order to know whether or not the service using the coupon ticket has a sales promotion effect, as with ordinary sales items, data on the products used for the coupon ticket are collected by POS, by product, and the like. Although it is beneficial for both the retail store and the product maker, there has been a problem in the past that the burden on the retail store was further increased because it had to be performed manually.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a coupon ticket
It is intended to be performed by the S system.

[0009]

In order to solve the above problem, a PLU file 21 in which merchandise information and a coupon code are registered corresponding to a merchandise code, and a coupon code read from the PLU file 21 are stored. A coupon code memory 31 is provided. When a product code is input, the PLU file 21 is searched based on the product code, the corresponding product information and the coupon code are read out, sales are registered, and the coupon code is stored in the coupon code. Code memory 31
When the coupon code is input and compared with the coupon code stored in the coupon code memory 31, if the coupon code matches, the discount processing is performed based on the coupon code. A POS system characterized in that a coupon code is deleted, or the POS system further includes a coupon information totaling unit 11 that totals sales information of products corresponding to the coupon code subjected to the discount processing. This is achieved by a POS system.

[0010]

In the PLU file 21, merchandise information and coupon codes are registered corresponding to merchandise codes. When a merchandise code is input, the corresponding coupon code is read out together with the merchandise information. Then, while performing sales registration based on the product information, the read coupon code is stored in the coupon code memory 31, and when the coupon code is input, the coupon code is first stored in the coupon code memory 31. If the coupon codes match, the coupon code is determined to be valid, a discount process is performed, and then the coupon code stored in the coupon code memory 31 is deleted. Therefore, if a coupon code for the same kind of product is input again, the matching coupon code is not stored in the coupon code memory 31 and it is determined that the product is invalid. It is possible to prevent the discount processing from being performed again.

[0011] Further, since the sales information of the product corresponding to the coupon code subjected to the discount processing is compiled by the coupon information totaling unit 11, the amount charged to the product maker and the product for which the coupon code is used are collected. Documents can be created automatically without manual work.

[0012]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a POS system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Components having the same functions as those in FIG. 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals. FIG. 2 shows the P shown in FIG.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of an OS terminal 3. FIG.
Shows an example of a coupon code attached to the coupon ticket used in the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the coupon code is a bar code that indicates a product code and a flag for identifying the coupon code, a maker code indicating a maker to which the discounted amount is charged, a numerical value indicating the discount amount, and the like according to a predetermined rule. It is represented by FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the contents of the PLU file 21. The product information such as the product name, section, and price of the product and the coupon code when the product is a coupon target product are registered corresponding to the product code. . FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, the store clerk uses the bar code scanner of the POS terminal 3 to display the product code attached to the product specified by the customer.
Input to 32 (S1). The product code read by the barcode scanner 32 is sent to the controller control unit 20 of the controller 2 through the line 4.

The controller control unit 20 includes a PLU file 21
(S2). Then, the corresponding product information is read out and returned to the POS terminal 3 (S3). Then
The controller control unit 20 determines whether a coupon code has been registered in correspondence with the searched product code (S4). If it is registered, it is read and returned to the POS terminal 2. The terminal control unit 30 registers the sales of the returned product information (S5), and stores the coupon code in the coupon code memory 31 (S6).

Next, the terminal control unit 30 determines whether or not a coupon code has been input (S7). When the customer brings a coupon and the clerk inputs the coupon to the barcode scanner 32, the coupon code stored in the coupon code memory 31 is compared with the input coupon code (S8). Then, it is determined whether or not any of the coupon codes stored in the coupon code memory 31 matches the coupon code (S9).
If they match, it is determined that the coupon code is valid, the name of the corresponding product and the discount amount are displayed on the display 36, and the clerk sees this display and performs a discount process (S
Ten). Next, the corresponding coupon code is deleted from the coupon code memory 31 (S11). As a result, even when a coupon code in which the name of the same kind of product is described is input again, there is no corresponding coupon code in the coupon code memory 31, so that it is determined to be invalid, so that the discount process is not performed again.

Next, the merchandise information corresponding to the discounted coupon code is sent to the host device 1. The coupon code tallying unit 11 calculates the price and quantity of the product information corresponding to the coupon code sent from each POS terminal 3 by manufacturer, POS, department, time zone in which the coupon code is used, and customer group. Aggregate (S
12). You can know the amount billed to the manufacturer by the total result of each manufacturer, and based on the total result of each POS, department, etc., what kind of product was used for the coupon, or at what time It is possible to easily and quickly obtain information on the status of use of the coupon, such as the customer class that has been used or used. Therefore, based on these materials, it is possible to analyze what effect the coupon service has on sales promotion.

After the discount processing is performed in S10, the terminal control section 30 causes the display 36 to display the merchandise information and the information included in the coupon code, which have been read out earlier, as well as settle the sales price and print Sales processing such as issuance of a receipt by 35 is performed (S13). And
The sales-processed product information is sent to the host device 1. The sales information tallying unit 10 performs tallying as described in the related art section based on the product information sent from each POS terminal 3 (S14).

If no coupon code is registered in S5, if no coupon code is input in S7, or if the input coupon code does not match the coupon code in the coupon code memory 31 in S9, none of them is used. Since it is not necessary to perform the discount processing, the process proceeds to S13, and only the normal sales processing is performed.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, coupons can be processed without increasing the burden on the retailer, and materials relating to the products on which the coupons are used can be easily and promptly provided. Since it can be created, it is easy to determine the sales promotion effect by using the coupon, which is useful in expanding the functions of the POS system.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of a POS terminal.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a coupon code.

FIG. 4 shows the contents of a PLU file.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a POS system according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 host device, 30 terminal control unit,
2 controller, 31 coupon code memory, 3 POS terminal, 32 barcode scanner, 10 sales information totaling section,
33 Line control section, 11 Coupon information tabulation section,
34 keyboard, 20 controller control,
35 printers, 21 PLU files,
36 displays,

Continuation of the front page (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G07G 1/00-5/00 G06F 17/00 G06F 19/00 G06F 17/60

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A PLU file (21) in which merchandise information and a coupon code are registered corresponding to a merchandise code,
A coupon code memory (31) for storing a coupon code read from the LU file (21) is provided. When a product code is inputted, the PLU file (21) is searched based on the product code, and The merchandise information and the coupon code are read out to perform sales registration, and the coupon code is stored in the coupon code memory (31). When the coupon code is input, the coupon code stored in the coupon code memory (31) A POS system that performs a discount process based on the coupon code and thereafter deletes the coupon code from the coupon code memory (31). 2. The POS system according to claim 1, further comprising: a coupon information totaling unit (11) for totalizing sales information of a product corresponding to the coupon code for which the discount processing has been performed.