JP4495684B2 - Virtual shopping street operation apparatus and virtual shopping street operation method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a point service system for realizing a point service as a sales promotion service associated with a commercial transaction in a virtual shopping mall built on a network.

  One of the methods of customer lock-in (enclosure) and sales promotion that is often used in a shopping street is a stamp service. In this case, coupons are issued according to the purchase price of the merchandise, and the coupons are exchanged for prizes when the number of coupons reaches a certain number.

  There is also a method in which a customer holds a magnetic card without using a paper coupon and the service points recorded on the magnetic card are updated when purchasing a product or exchanging a prize.

  In this case, the magnetic card not only records points, but also has a role as an ID (membership number, etc.) of the person. Whether coupons are used or cards are used, the conditions for issuing coupons and points for all the shops in the shopping street (hereinafter referred to as the point issuance rate with respect to the amount of shopping). The conditions for reduction (hereinafter referred to as the point reduction rate) are uniform, and the system is operated. Both systems have been introduced in many shopping streets, such as the community-based shopping streets in the local area and the Ginza shopping street.

  Furthermore, in recent years, customers are not limited to purchasing products at stores, and mail-order sales using telephones and personal computers have become popular, and products are displayed on user terminals connected to the Internet, for example, the Internet (exhibition) ) And customers can use the terminal to shop. When products of a plurality of stores are displayed, a shopping street composed of such stores is called a virtual shopping street (shopping mall). In such a case, the point service as in the case of conventional store visit purchase has not been realized.

  In the stamp service using the above-mentioned coupons, there are problems such as it takes time to put the coupons on the mount on the consumer side, and it is troublesome to save the coupons. There have been problems such as burdensome expenses due to purchases, cumbersome procedures, and troublesome work such as checking the number of coupons according to the sales amount at the time of product sales and giving them to customers.

  In order to solve such problems, a point service system using POS (Point of Sale) has been developed. In this system, when the customer has settled the goods, the service points are counted by the host system using the POS terminal, and for example, the service points recorded on the magnetic card held by the customer are updated. The method is taken.

  However, even in the point service system using the magnetic card as described above, even if the problem that the customer always has to carry the magnetic card at the time of product purchase and the total result of the service point is recorded on the magnetic card, The settlement between the point issuing store and the return store is performed, for example, in the night batch system via the host center. Therefore, the points are not effective until the next day of shopping, and it is still inconvenient to exchange them for prizes. In addition, there is a problem that it takes time to settle between the point issuing store and the return store.

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems by realizing a point service system in a virtual shopping mall built on a network, for example, eliminates the need for carrying a customer's magnetic card or the like, and returns from issuing points The purpose is to improve the service to customers by shortening the time until. Furthermore, for example, by making it possible to change the point issuance rate at the issuing store depending on the store and the time, a virtual shopping street that promotes competition among stores, provides good service to customers, and attracts customers to the store. It aims at realizing.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the principle configuration of a point service system in a virtual shopping mall according to the present invention. FIG. 1 shows the principle configuration of a point service system in a virtual shopping mall constructed on a network, for example, the Internet. The virtual shopping mall is provided by, for example, a specific server on the Internet, that is, one of web servers. And

  In FIG. 1, a point issuing means 1 issues points in accordance with the amount of customer shopping. At the time of issuing points, the point issuing means 1 makes a point issue rate set for each store in the virtual shopping mall, for example, 100 yen, based on the input information such as the name of the store where the customer is shopping and the amount of shopping. On the other hand, points are issued according to the issue rate of how many points are issued.

The point management means 2 stores the amount of points held for each customer in association with, for example, the point issuing store.
The point return means 3 reduces the purchase payment amount of the customer as the return of the point according to the point holding amount of the customer. For example, the purchase payment amount is set according to the point return rate set for each store. Execute the process to reduce the amount.

  In the present invention, when a customer wants to shop on the homepage of a virtual shopping street, it is issued to each customer in each store corresponding to the data of each store constituting the virtual shopping street, and is currently valid The number of points is displayed on the customer's terminal. When the customer selects an appropriate store from this display screen and presses the shopping button, an order input screen is displayed. The customer inputs the order data on the order screen and presses the order button to display the web of the virtual shopping mall. A point service system linked to the server is activated, and a point return service is executed in response to the issuance of points and the designation of the customer at the time of ordering.

As described above, in the present invention, the above-described object can be achieved by realizing the point service system in the virtual shopping mall constructed on the network.
Below, the specific operation image of this invention is demonstrated.

  The user opens, for example, the homepage of the virtual shopping mall using the URL. A shopping street registered in the database linked to the homepage of the virtual shopping street appears. For example, hyperlinks or image maps of jewelry stores, clothing stores, and food stores appear. When the user clicks a hyperlink to a favorite store, the product name, image, and price of that store appear on the screen. A purchase operation is performed by clicking the desired product. The merchandise is sent directly from the store to the user for payment.

When each store joins the virtual shopping street, a display indicating that the point service can be received is displayed on the homepage of the virtual shopping street.
For example, when a user wants to purchase clothes, it is more advantageous to use a virtual shopping mall that can receive point services. For each store, the point service will be the attraction of customers, and the advertising effect can be expected by registering on the homepage of the virtual shopping street. Even for a service provider who has created a virtual shopping street on a home page, for example, a membership fee or a commission fee corresponding to the purchase amount can be received from a participating store.

  When the user wants to use the virtual shopping mall, a registration operation is performed. In the database in the virtual shopping mall, an area for the user is allocated, and a user ID and a user password are given to the user. The user ID is fixed by the user, but the user password can be freely set for the user.

  Users can access their virtual shopping streets and see their points and purchase history. If the user has an electronic mail (e-mail) address, the current point may be periodically sent to the user from the virtual shopping mall.

  As described above, according to the present invention, by realizing a point service system in a virtual shopping mall, as an advantage on the user side, firstly, there is no need for transportation expenses for shopping. Second, there is an advantage such as convenient point reduction, second, there is no need to carry a card etc., fourth, the current number of points can be easily grasped, There are various advantages such as that service improvement for users can be expected due to competition among stores.

  Advantages on the store side are firstly increased sales by improving the ability to attract customers in the virtual shopping mall, secondly no need to pre-purchase points, and thirdly it is unnecessary to issue a card or the like. Fourthly, there are various advantages such as the ability to realize a unique and fine-grained service for each store, which greatly contributes to the development of a virtual shopping street.

  FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration example of a network that realizes the point service system 2 in the virtual shopping mall 10 of the present invention. In the figure, a plurality of servers 11, 12, and 13 constitute a network, for example, the Internet. For example, the server 11, that is, a web server provides a virtual shopping mall 10, and the server 11 includes a point service system. Assume that a server file 14 storing point data and store management tables, which will be described later, is stored.

  For example, the server 12 is also connected to a conventional virtual shopping mall via a network, and users d, e, and f who use the server 12 can access the conventional virtual shopping mall. It is also possible to access the virtual shopping mall 10 having the service system. The virtual shopping street 10 is assumed to be composed of stores A, B, C,... Here, the point service system will be described as an example in which these stores do not have their own servers. It is also possible to open a store in another virtual shopping mall while having a server.

  FIG. 3 is a system configuration block diagram of a virtual shopping mall for realizing the present invention on the Internet. In the figure, the virtual shopping mall corresponds to the web server program 15 on the Internet and the server file 14 in FIG. 2, and a database 16 for storing data such as a point management table and a shop management table described later, and the web server program 15 and the database. 16 is a CGI (Common Gateway Interface) program 17 as an interface program.

  The web server program 15 is a program that performs processing based on HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol), and transmits an HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) file designated by the user through a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) to the user. In addition to the information to be shown to the user, the HTML file stores the URL of the related HTML file. When the user designates the URL from the client terminal, the URL is transmitted via the network. An HTML file transmitted to the web server program 15 and designated by the URL is sent to the user.

  If the URL specified by the user is a specific URL, that is, a file under the cgi-bin directory, the web server program 15 executes the file, that is, the program. The program executed here is the CGI program 17. The CGI program 17 issues, for example, an SQL (Structured Query Language) language as a database query language, and management of the database 16 is executed by a database management system (DBMS) (not shown).

  FIG. 4 is a configuration block diagram of a point service system realized in a virtual shopping mall. In the figure, a point service system 20 stores a point management table for storing points held by a customer in a virtual shopping mall for each customer and for each issuance point, a point issuance rate and a return rate of each store constituting the virtual shopping mall. , A server file 21 for storing a store management table stored for each store, a point issuing unit 22 for issuing points each time a customer purchases a product, and returning points held by the customer according to the customer's designation The point return unit 23 for reducing the purchase price of the product of the customer, the expiration date of the point held by the customer, etc. are monitored, and when there is a point that is about to expire, processing for notifying the corresponding customer of the expiration by e-mail is performed. The patrol unit 24 is configured.

  Here, the server file 21 is set on the database 16 of FIG. 3, the point issuing unit 22 and the point returning unit 23 are registered as the CGI program 17 of FIG. 3, and the patrol unit 24 is the CGI program of FIG. 17 or a program that is registered as an independent program that is not shown, for example, periodically.

  The point service system 20 is activated in response to a request from the web server program 15 in FIG. 3 when a customer places an order for a product for shopping. Further, as will be described later, when the purchase price is withdrawn by credit, it is activated by a program (not shown).

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a processing flow when a customer accesses a virtual shopping mall (hereinafter also referred to as a mall). In the figure, when a customer, that is, a client wants to use a virtual shopping mall, [1] requests the server that manages the mall, that is, the mall server (corresponding to FIG. 3) to connect to the virtual shopping mall, In response to this connection request, the web server program 15 (FIG. 3) is [2], and the virtual shopping street showing the data of each store in the virtual shopping street and the number of points issued by the client at each store. Is sent to the client side as HTTP data (HTML file), the client displays the screen based on the received HTTP data, and when the user selects an appropriate store on the screen in [3], the client In [4], the URL corresponding to the order screen is transmitted to the mall server, and the mall server displays the order screen based on the URL [5]. It is sent to the client side.

  When the user inputs the order contents using the terminal in [6], the order contents are transmitted to the mall server side together with the URL of the program for processing the order contents. On the mall server side, the URL CGI program is activated using the received order contents as a parameter, and the activated program uses the contents of the point management table and store management table, which will be described later, as the order reception process. Issuance processing or point reduction processing is performed, and processing results and sales are notified to the store, that is, the shop side.

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a display screen example (homepage) of a virtual shopping mall transmitted from the mall server to the client side in [2] of FIG. The figure shows data such as the product contents, prices, and promotional words of each shop that makes up the virtual shopping mall, and the number of points that the client, that is, the customer, is issued from each shop and currently holds, Among them, the one with the shortest period until the expiration date, that is, the oldest expiration date, the point issue rate and the return rate for each shop are displayed.

  For example, “400” for shop B is the number of points held, 090401 indicates that the oldest expiration date is April 1, 1997, and the issue rate is 100 as shown in FIG. It is shown that the reduction rate is 1. “Special” for shop F indicates that the special service is being implemented, and “***” for shop E indicates that the store does not provide point service. When the data of all shops cannot be displayed on one screen, the data of other shops are displayed by scrolling. When the number of shops is large, it may be convenient for the customer to display the shop data in the order of the number of points owned by the customer.

  In FIG. 6, when the client, that is, the customer selects the target store and presses the shopping button, the operation of [4] in FIG. 5 is started, and the order screen is transmitted from the mall server in [5].

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart of processing for creating virtual shopping mall screen data that is created on the mall server side and transmitted to the client side in response to a connection request to the virtual shopping mall in [1] from the client side in FIG. is there. This flow corresponds to a part of the CGI program 17 of FIG. When the processing is started in the figure, first, HTTP data for allowing the user to input a customer ID is transmitted from the mall server to the client in step S1. When the user inputs the customer ID on the client side, the ID is transmitted to the server side along with the URL of the program for creating the screen in step S2. The URL of the program for creating this screen is included in the HTTP data transmitted from the server to the client in step S1.

  Thereafter, the processing from steps S3 to S7 is repeated for each store constituting the virtual shopping mall. First, in step S3, store information such as the contents, price, and promotional words of the product handled by the store is set. In step S4, it is determined whether or not the store is a point service store. Thus, the service non-execution display is set corresponding to the store, the processing for the store is terminated, and the processing after step S3 is repeated for other stores.

  When it is determined in step S4 that the store is a point service store, the content of the point management table shown in FIG. 8 is referred to in step S6, and the number of points issued at the store of the client, that is, the customer. , And the oldest deadline are set.

  FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of an example of the point management table. In the figure, the number of points held for each customer in the virtual shopping mall is stored for each point issuing store. That is, every time a point is issued, its issue date (purchase date), expiration date, number of points, issue store (purchase store), and valid flag are set. The fact that the valid flag is 0 indicates that the item has been purchased by payment after payment, such as credit, account withdrawal, and account transfer, as described later, and the price has not yet been settled.

  In the case of postpaid purchase, the payment is actually settled as described later, and the valid flag is set to 1 when the payment is made. In addition to the method of controlling the validity / invalidity of the points using the valid flag in this way, a method of calculating the points again after going back to the past after the payment of the price can be considered. The above procedure avoids the problem of issuing points for non-paid (invalid) purchases, but it is also considered a practical method to make the points valid immediately after receiving a product order at the risk of the store. .

  The number of points in the notification column in FIG. 8 indicates the number of points to which a customer is notified by e-mail by patrol processing described later when the total number of possessed points reaches this number. Here, the number of notification points is 9000, for example, because the point issue rate is increased when 10,000 points are accumulated as will be described with reference to FIG.

  After setting the number of points held by the customer in step S6 in FIG. 7, special service period information for each store is set in step S7, the processing corresponding to that store is completed, and step S3 for the next store is completed. The subsequent processing is repeated. Then, when the processing of steps S3 to S7 for all the shops that make up the virtual shopping street is completed, the shopping street screen data is transmitted to the client side in step S8, and the processing is terminated. When the number of shops is large, the transmission waiting time on the client terminal side becomes large, so it is also effective to divide and transmit data.

  FIG. 9 is an example of a store management table that is referred to when special service period information is set for each store in step S7 of FIG. In the same figure, the point issuance rate, the return rate, the start and end times of the special service period, and the extra point rate are stored for each store constituting the virtual shopping street. For example, the issuance rate 100 for the store A is 100 yen and 1 point is issued, the return rate 1 is 1 yen for 1 point, and the contents of the extra point rate is 10,000. When the points are accumulated, the point issuance rate is doubled, that is, 2 points are issued for 100 yen. The issue rate and the return rate are both 0, that is, the value for the store E indicates that the point service is not performed. It is also possible to change the point issuance rate and the return rate only for a specific period. In the store F in FIG. 9, the first half of 1996 (January 1 to June 30) is a special service period. It is shown that 1 point is issued for 50 yen within the period.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the patrol process for checking the expiration date of the points stored in the point management table. This process is performed periodically, for example, at the end of every month. When the process is started, the contents of the point management table in FIG. 8 are first searched in step S11, and the points that are about to expire are displayed. It is determined whether or not it exists. If it exists, after the expiration notification mail processing for the user, that is, the customer is performed in step S12, and if there is no point nearing expiration, the processing of step S13 is performed without performing the processing of step S12. Transition.

  Here, as mail processing, there are a method of assembling an electronic mail sentence and automatically sending the mail, a method of printing a notice sentence by a printer and sending it by mail manually. In the former case, the mail ID must be stored on the point management table, and in the latter case, the postal address and the like must be stored on the point management table. In any case, only mail processing is performed in step S12, and it is not confirmed in step S12 whether the notification is actually sent to the customer or whether the notification result is received by the customer. Absent.

  In step S13, the number of points in the notice column of the contents of the point management table is compared with the total result of the number of points of each customer, whether or not there is a notification target person, and the point total result is periodically sent to the customer. If there is a person to be notified, it is determined whether or not there is a person to be notified. After the process is executed, if there is no notification target person, the process proceeds to the process of step S15 without executing the process of step S14.

  In step S15, it is determined whether there is a point that has already expired. If there is a point, the point is invalidated and the patrol process is terminated. When invalidating a point, it is desirable to store the point in a point management table, an archive file, or the like in a disabled state in preparation for trouble or an inquiry for a certain period (for example, about 5 years).

  FIG. 11 is a shopping input screen that is displayed after the customer selects a store for shopping in FIG. 6, and FIG. 12 is http data that is the basis for the display of this input screen. The http data of this input screen stores the customer ID entered by the customer on the initial screen of the virtual shopping mall and the store identification information. That is, “<FORM METHOD = POST ACTION = http: //www.mall.aaa.co.jp/cgi-bin/program-a>” in FIG. 12 indicates that the program is input after data is input on this input screen. -a indicates that the client requests the server www.mall.aaa.co.jp to execute -a. Also, <INPUT TYPE = “hidden” NAME = “personal-ID” CHECKED VALUE = “aaa0001”> defines what is sent as a parameter when requesting execution of this program-a. “Personal-ID = aaa0001” (customer ID is aaa0001) is defined to be sent, and “INPUT TYPE =“ hidden ”” defines that this data is not displayed. is there. Similarly, <INPUT TYPE = “hidden” NAME = “store-ID” CHECKED VALUR = “space development”> defines what is sent as a parameter when requesting execution of this program-a. Yes, that is, it is defined that the data “store-ID = space development” (store name means “space development”) is transmitted, and this data is displayed when “INPUT TYPE =“ hidden ”” It is defined that it is not done.

  “<INPUT TYPE =“ checkbox ”NAME =“ prdl ”” displays a check box on the screen, and when it is instructed, the data “prdl = yes” (meaning to purchase the product prdl) is sent to the server. It is defined to send. Subsequent “space suit” means that the character string “space suit” is displayed on the screen. The next “<INPUT TYPE =“ text ”NAME = prdl-num SIZE =“ 2 ”>” displays the 2-byte area for entering the number of purchases of “space suit” and the data entered (“prdl-num =) "As a" number ". <BR> means a line feed. The same applies to “space food” and “spacecraft”. “<INPUT TYPE =“ submit ”VALUE =“ shopping ”> displays a button“ shopping ”, and when that button is instructed, sends the name of the program that executes the processing described above and its parameters to the server. Is meant to do. In addition, “<INPUT TYPE =“ reset ”VALUE =“ center ”>” indicates that the button “Cancel” is displayed and the value of the parameter that has been input so far will be cleared when the button is instructed. Yes.

  FIG. 13 is an example of the order screen transmitted from the mall server in [5] of FIG. 5 by pressing the above-mentioned shopping button. The HTTP data of this ordering screen includes data when the customer selects a product as described above (product name, quantity), data inherited from the previous screen (customer ID, store name), and this screen. URL of the CGI program executed corresponding to the above is incorporated.

  In FIG. 13, the customer inputs a product destination, etc., designates a payment method from among bank transfer, network money, or credit payment, and accumulates all points, returns all, or partially returns. In the case of partial reduction, the number of points to be reduced is designated. In addition, when donating the points obtained from this shopping to a charity, for example, or adding it to another customer such as a family, specify the identifier (id) of the donation destination and press the order button. As a result, the URL program specified in the HTTP data on this screen, that is, the point service system 20 (FIG. 4) is started.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart of the point issuing process activated by the customer pressing the order button in FIG. This flow corresponds to the point issuing unit 22 of FIG. 4 which is a part of the CGI program 17 of FIG. When processing is started in the figure, it is first determined in step S21 whether or not the store where the customer ordered the product is a point service store, and if not, the purchase amount is paid as it is in step S28. The point issuance process is terminated with the amount charged. After the point issuance processing, general order processing and price billing processing are performed as a part of the CGI program 17 of FIG.

  If it is a point service store in step S21, it is desired to return points already owned by the customer in step S22, and the number of owned points reaches the minimum point for performing the point return service. It is determined whether or not there is a point, and the points are not reduced except when both of these conditions are satisfied, and the issue point is calculated in step S23. That is, the number of points corresponding to the shopping amount is calculated based on the issue rate of the store where the shopping was performed. As for the minimum number of points for performing the return service, both a method of uniforming in the system and a method of setting for each store can be considered.

  Then, whether or not this point is added to a donation or another customer is determined by designation on the order screen described with reference to FIG. 13, and if it is a self-use point, the customer's point is determined in step S24. It is memorized by setting the contents from the purchase date to the validity flag (1) in the point management table as possession points, and in the case of donation or addition, it is memorized in the same manner as points for donation or addition destination in step S25. In step S26, payment conditions are determined. For example, in the case of addition to another customer, it is convenient to use a method in which a customer designates an addition destination for each purchase and a method in which the addition destination is registered in advance and automatically added thereto.

  When the payment condition is processed by cash payment, for example, electronic money, electronic check, electronic bill, etc., the point issuing process is terminated after the process of step S28 is performed. Also, in case of post-payment such as credit payment, account withdrawal, account transfer, etc., in step S27, the contents of the valid flag for that point are set to 0 and the point is invalidated until there is a deposit, and then the process of step S28 To finish the process.

  If it is determined in step S22 that the customer wishes to redeem points and it has been determined that the minimum point for the point redemption service has been reached, redemption point calculation processing is performed in step S30. This will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

After the return point is calculated in step S30, the number of points held for each store after the return point calculated in step S31 is stored in the point management table, and the return calculated in step S32 Based on the points, the return amount is calculated, and in step S33, the return amount is subtracted from the shopping amount, which is used as a payment request amount, and the processing is terminated. (Although not shown in FIG. 14, at the same time as determining the amount requested for payment in step S33, the processing from step S23 to step S27 is executed corresponding to the amount, and point issuance is performed.)
FIG. 15 is a detailed flowchart of step S30 in FIG. 14, that is, a reduction point calculation process. This flow corresponds to the point reduction unit 23 of FIG. 4 which is a part of the CGI program 17 of FIG. When the processing is started in the figure, in step S40, first, points used in the same store as the current shop are used for the redemption process, and the return points are calculated according to the point return rate of the current shop. . Then, it is determined whether or not the number of return points designated by the customer has been reached. If it has been reached, there is no need to use points from other stores, and the processing is terminated.

  In the case of shortage, in step S42, the shortage point number is used for the redemption process from the oldest point holding number issued from other stores, and the redemption points are determined according to the common redemption rate in all stores. After the calculation and the point settlement process with another store is performed in step S42, the process ends. When points issued at other stores are used for the return, it is also possible to use a return rate separately determined at the store instead of a common return rate at all stores.

  That is, in the present embodiment, as points to be redeemed in the point redemption process, first, priority is given to redeeming from the same store point, and secondly, priority is given to redeeming from the old point. Done. For example, in FIG. 8, when customer a wishes to return 250 points when shopping at store B, 200 points when purchasing a product on April 1, 1988, and a product on April 8, 1988, Of the 100 points purchased, 50 points will be used for reduction. The point when the product is purchased at the store D on April 2, 1988 is not used here because the point has an old expiration date but has been issued at another store.

In addition, by setting the return rate of points issued at the own store higher than the value common to all stores, it is possible to create a mechanism that allows customers to make a profit when shopping at the same store.
As for the point settlement process with other stores performed in step S42 in FIG. 15, first, as a first method, a method of settlement for each point reduction, and secondly, one week or one month. Accumulation of points increase / decrease (return result) for an appropriate period, and increase / decrease of all stores in a batch process over the entire period, that is, a settlement method, and a third method when issuing points However, it is conceivable to deposit the amount equivalent to the reduction as a lump sum in a shopping mall association or the like and use it for settlement.

  FIG. 16 is an example of a reimbursement point storage table used for point settlement that is used for, for example, a point settlement process that is performed periodically among all the shops that make up the virtual shopping mall. In this table, for each of all stores A, B, C, D, E, F,... That make up the virtual shopping street, the customer makes a purchase at his / her own store and is issued at another store. Accumulated values X and Y are recorded for the point return amount when the returned points are returned and the point return amount when the point of the own store is returned at the time of shopping at another store. . For example, when the settlement is performed at the end of the month, the difference between X and Y is obtained at the end of the month. If the value is positive, the receipt is settled, and if the value is negative, the payment is settled. For example, when a customer makes a purchase at B store, when 200 points are issued by B store and 500 points are redeemed by C store issue, 500 in the X column of B store in this table, Y of C store 500 points reduction number is recorded in the column. The XY column of this table indicates the state immediately after the month-end settlement process, that is, the difference between X and Y is calculated.

  FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram of a point validation process at the time of payment settlement in the case of credit, account withdrawal, account transfer, and the like. This flow corresponds to a control program independent of the CGI program 17 of FIG. As described in step S27 of FIG. 14, when post-payment such as credit is specified as a price payment condition when purchasing a product, the valid flag for the issue point corresponding to the product purchase is set to 0, and the price is paid The valid flag is changed to 1. In this case, as a basic idea, the point issuance rate calculated in step S23 is used. For example, when a product is bought during a special point service period at the end of the year, this special point service is applied even if the price is paid after the special service period ends.

  In FIG. 17, when there is a payment notification from the store or financial institution to the mall server, first, the corresponding entry in the point management table is specified in step S45, the point valid flag of the entry is set to 1 in step S46, and the entry is checked in step S47. When the total number of valid points of the customer is obtained, and the total number of points has reached the number of notification points, the notification mail is processed to notify the customer in step S48, and the predetermined number is reached. If not, the process ends without performing any process. The processing of the payment notification for the postpayment of the price can be efficiently performed by executing collectively, and when there are a plurality of payment notifications from the store or the financial institution to the mall server at the same time, from step S45 What is necessary is just to repeat the process of step S48.

  FIG. 18 is an example of an input screen when the contents of the store management table shown in FIG. 9 are changed from the server of each store. Using such a screen, the contents of the store management table can be newly set, changed, or deleted from each store server. If an act of tampering with the data in the store management table is permitted, serious damage will occur. Therefore, it is necessary to take thorough measures to protect the security of access authority to the store management table.

  In addition, you may make it access the homepage of the store in the remote place by clicking the store in the homepage of a virtual shopping street. In this case, the purchase information is set to be stored simultaneously in the database linked to the homepage of the virtual shopping mall and the database linked to the homepage of the store. When the store joins the virtual shopping street, the purchase information registered in the database linked to the store's homepage is also notified to the database linked to the virtual shopping street's homepage using the existing network transfer command. Like that. In this case, the user accesses the homepage to the store from the homepage of the virtual shopping street, and purchases from the store are to receive the point service of the virtual shopping street. Users can use the point service system even if they make direct purchases using the website. Furthermore, each store makes it easy to provide users with the latest products of the store by constantly updating the database linked to its home page.

  Finally, loading of a program for realizing the point service system of the present invention will be described. FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram of a storage medium in which a program for realizing the point service system in the virtual shopping mall as the present embodiment is recorded. In the figure, a computer 101 is composed of a main body 104 and a memory 105. A program or the like can be loaded into the main body 104 from a portable storage medium 102, or a program can be loaded from the program provider side via the network 103. Etc. can also be loaded.

  It can be considered that the main body 104 of the computer 101 corresponds to the server 11 constituting the virtual shopping mall 10 in FIG. 2, and the memory 105 corresponds to the server file 14.

  The point issuing unit 22, the point returning unit 23, the patrol unit 24, and the like constituting the point service system in FIG. 4 are registered as the CGI program 17 in FIG. 3 as described above, for example. 19, and the program is executed by the main body 104. Here, for example, a random access memory (RAM) or a hard disk is used as the memory 105.

  It is also possible to realize the point service system by recording a program for realizing the point service system on the portable storage medium 102 and loading the program on the computer 101. As the portable storage medium 102, any commercially available and distributable storage medium such as a memory card, a flexible disk, a CD-ROM (compact disk read only memory), an optical disk, and a magneto-optical disk can be used. A program for realizing the point service system of the present invention is sent from the program provider side to the computer 101 side via the network 103, and the point service system in the virtual shopping mall is loaded by loading the program. It can also be realized.

  Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, the implementation method of the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and various embodiments different from this embodiment are within the scope described in the claims. It is natural that can be realized. In particular, for example, the contents of shopping within the scope of claims include reservations for travel, hotels, restaurants, theaters, and the like.

It is a block diagram which shows the principle structure of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the structural example of the network which implement | achieves the point service system of this invention. It is a system configuration block diagram of a virtual shopping mall realized on the Internet. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the point service system implement | achieved in a virtual shopping mall. It is explanatory drawing of the flow of a process in case a customer accesses a virtual shopping mall. It is a figure which shows the example of a display screen of the virtual shopping mall transmitted to the customer side from a mall server. It is a flowchart of the creation process of the virtual shopping mall screen data transmitted to the customer side. It is a figure which shows the example of a point management table. It is a figure which shows the example of a shop management table. It is a flowchart of a patrol process. It is a figure which shows the example of the input screen for shopping displayed after the store selection by a customer. It is a figure explaining the http data used as the origin of the screen display of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the screen for order transmitted to the customer side from a mall server. It is a flowchart of point issue processing. It is a detailed flowchart of point reduction processing. It is a figure which shows the example of the reduction | restoration point storage table for adjustment. It is a flowchart of the point validation process at the time of payment of credit charges. It is a figure which shows the example of the input screen for the content change etc. of a shop management table. It is explanatory drawing of the storage medium with which the program for implement | achieving a present Example was recorded.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Point issuing means 2 Point management means 3 Point return means 10 Virtual shopping street 11-13 Server 14, 21 Server file 15 Web server 16 Database 17 CGI (common gateway interface)
20 point service system 22 point issuing part 23 point returning part 24 patrol part

Claims (2)

A virtual shopping mall operation device that operates a virtual shopping mall composed of a plurality of shops built on a network,
For each customer identification information, shop identification information of the shops who bought products, holding the number of points is divided for each purchase in the purchasing merchant and a customer table for storing compartment divided been held points of expiration, the ,
Receiving means for receiving customer identification information from the customer terminal of the customer;
Refer to the customer table, identify the number of points held by the customer for each store corresponding to the customer identification information, and for each store, the oldest expiration date with the shortest period until the expiration date among the expiration dates Generating means for generating shopping street information for presenting a plurality of shops in a format for identifying and displaying the number of points held by the customer and the oldest expiration date of the customer's holding points for each shop;
Virtual mall management equipment characterized by comprising a transmitting means for transmitting the mall information to the customer terminal. A virtual shopping mall operation method for operating a virtual shopping mall composed of a plurality of shops constructed on a network,
Computer
A receiving step for receiving customer identification information from the customer terminal of the customer;
For each customer identification information, shop identification information of the shops who bought products, holding the number of points is divided for each purchase in the purchasing merchant and the customer table for storing compartment divided been held points of expiration, the Referencing, identifying the number of points owned by the customer for each store corresponding to the customer identification information, identifying the oldest expiration date with the shortest period until the expiration date among the expiration dates for each store, A transmission step of transmitting, to the customer terminal, shopping street information presenting a plurality of stores generated in a format for displaying the number of points held by the customer and the oldest expiration date of the points held by the customer for each store; virtual shopping mall operations how, characterized in that with.

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