JPH1078989A - Point service system for virtual shopping center - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the service for customers by attaining a point service system for a virtual shopping center that is constructed in a network in order to eliminate the need for carrying the magnetic cards, etc., for the customers and also to shorten the time needed for the issue of points through the restoration of them. SOLUTION: When a customer purchases the commodities in a home page of a virtual shopping center constructed in a network, a point issue means 3 issues the points in response to the point issue rate that is set in every store of the shopping center, e.g. the issue rate set to the points equivalent to the purchase of ¥100 based on the input information on the store names, the purchase amounts, etc. A point management means 4 stores the total number of points of every customer in response to every store that issued the points. Then a point restoration means 5 reduces the paid amount of the customer in the form of the restoration of points accordant with the total number of points of the customer.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a point service system for realizing a point service as a sales promotion service accompanying a business transaction in a virtual shopping mall constructed on a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is a stamp service as one of the methods of lock-in (enclosure) and sales promotion of customers often used in shopping streets. In this method, a coupon is issued in accordance with the purchase price of a product, and the coupon is exchanged for a prize 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 premiums.

[0004] In this case, the magnetic card not only records points, but also has a role as a personal ID (member number or the like). Regardless of whether a coupon is used or a card is used, the conditions for issuing coupons and points for all shops in the shopping street (hereinafter referred to as point issuance rate for the amount of shopping). , And conditions for reduction (hereinafter, referred to as a point reduction rate)
The system is operated uniformly. Both systems have been introduced in many shopping streets, such as local community-based station shopping streets and Ginza shopping streets.

[0005] In recent years, customer purchase styles are not limited to purchases at stores, and mail-order sales using telephones, personal computers, and the like have become popular, and products have been sold on a network, for example, a user terminal connected to the Internet. It can be displayed (exhibited) and customers can shop using the terminal. When products of a plurality of shops are displayed, a shopping street constituted by such shops is called a virtual shopping street (shopping mall). In such a case, the point service as in the case of the conventional store visit purchase has not been realized.

[0006]

However, the stamp service using coupons and the like described above has problems such that it is troublesome for the consumer to paste the coupons on the backing paper, and it is troublesome to store the coupons. In addition, the store will have to pay for the pre-purchase of coupons, cumbersome procedures, and have to check the number of coupons according to the sales amount when selling products and hand it to the customer. There was a problem.

[0007] In order to solve such problems, PO
A point service system using S (point of sale) has been developed. In this system, when a customer pays for a product, service points are counted by a host system using a POS terminal, and, for example, the service points recorded on a magnetic card provided to the customer are updated. Such a method is adopted.

However, even in the point service system using the magnetic card as described above, there is a problem that the customer must always carry the magnetic card at the time of purchasing the product, and the total result of the service points is recorded on the magnetic card. However, in general, the settlement between the point issuing store and the redemption store is performed in the night batch system via the host center, so the points will not be effective until the next day after shopping, and exchange for prizes etc. However, it is still inconvenient, and there is a problem that it takes time for settlement 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 constructed on a network. For example, the present invention eliminates the need to carry a customer's magnetic card or the like, The purpose is to improve the service to customers by shortening the time from issuance to return. Further, for example, the point issuance rate at the issuing store can be changed depending on the store and the time, thereby promoting competition between stores, providing a good service to customers, and a virtual shopping district with a high ability to attract customers to the store. The purpose is to realize.

[0010]

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 basic 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 purchase amount of a customer.
At the time of issuing points, the point issuing means 1 determines a point issuance rate set for each shop in the virtual shopping mall, for example, a shopping of 100 yen, based on input information such as the name of the shop where the customer shops and the amount of shopping. Points are issued according to the issuance rate of how many points are issued.

The point management means 2 stores the amount of points held by each customer, for example, corresponding to the point issuing store. The point redemption means 3 reduces the amount of the customer's shopping payment as a point redemption according to the customer's point holding amount. For example, the point redemption means 3 reduces the shopping payment amount according to the point redemption rate set for each store. Execute the process of reducing the amount.

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

As described above, in the present invention, the above object can be achieved by implementing the point service system in the virtual shopping mall constructed on the network.

Hereinafter, a specific operation image of the present invention will be described. The user opens, for example, a homepage of the virtual shopping mall using the URL. The shopping mall registered in the database linked to the virtual shopping mall homepage appears. For example, a hyperlink or an image map of a jewelry store, a clothing store, or a food store appears. When the user clicks a hyperlink to a favorite store, the product name, image, and price of the store appear on the screen.
The purchase operation is performed by clicking the desired product. The merchandise is sent directly from the store to the user for payment and settlement.

When each shopping mall joins the virtual shopping mall, a display is displayed on the homepage of the virtual shopping mall indicating that the point service is available. When a user wants to purchase clothes, for example, it is more advantageous to use a virtual shopping mall where a point service can be received. For each store, the point service also serves as an attractive force for customers, and by registering on the homepage of the virtual shopping mall, an advertising effect can be expected. A service provider who has created a virtual shopping mall on a homepage can also receive a commission fee corresponding to a membership fee or a purchase price from a participating store, for example.

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,
D, a user password is given to the user. The user ID is fixed by the user, but the user password can be freely set by the user.

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

[0019]

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration example of a network for realizing a point service system 2 in a virtual shopping mall 10 according to 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 has a point service system. It is assumed that a server file 14 for storing point data and store management tables, which stores point data and store data, which will be described later, is connected.

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

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

The web server program 15 is HTTP
(Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) is a program that performs processing based on the URL
Send the HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) file specified by the (Uniform Resource Locator) to the user. In this HTML file, in addition to information to be shown to the user, the URL of the related HTML file is stored. When the user specifies the URL from the client terminal, the URL is transmitted via the network. The HTML file specified by the URL is sent to the web server program 15 and sent to the user.

Further, the web server program 15 specifies that the URL specified by the user is a specific one, ie, cgi-bi
If it is a file under the directory of n, execute 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 the management of the database 16 is executed by a database management system (DBMS) not shown.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a point service system realized in a virtual shopping mall. In the figure, the point service system 20 includes a point management table that stores the points held by the customers of the virtual shopping mall for each customer and each time of issuance thereof, a point issuance rate and a redemption rate of each shopping mall configuring the virtual shopping mall. File 2 for storing a store management table and the like for each store
1. A point issuance unit 22 that issues points each time a customer purchases a product, a point reduction unit 23 that reduces points held by the customer according to the customer's designation and reduces the customer's product purchase price, The patrol unit 24 monitors the expiration date of the retained points and, when there is a point near expiration, notifies the corresponding customer of the expiration by e-mail.

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

The point service system 20 is used when a customer places an order for a product in order to make a purchase.
It is started by a request from the web server program 15 in FIG. As will be described later, the program is started by a program (not shown) even when the shopping price is debited by credit.

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 intends to use a virtual shopping mall, a server that manages the mall, that is, a connection to the virtual shopping mall is requested from a mall server (corresponding to FIG. 3), and a web server in the mall server is used. In response to the connection request, the program 15 (FIG. 3) displays the data of each store in the virtual shopping mall and the screen of the virtual shopping mall indicating the number of points issued by each client in each of the shopping malls as HTTP data ( (HTML file) to the client side, the client displays the screen based on the received HTTP data, and when the user selects an appropriate store on the screen, the client displays the order screen to the mall server with the Corresponding URL
Is transmitted, and the mall server transmits a screen for ordering to the client based on the URL.

When the user inputs the details of the order using the terminal, the details of the order are transmitted to the mall server together with the URL of the program for processing the order. On the mall server side, the CGI program of the URL is started using the received order content as a parameter, and the started program is:
Point processing, that is, point issuing processing, point redemption processing, and the like are performed using the contents of the point management table and the shop management table described later as order reception processing, and the processing result and sales are notified to the shop, that is, the shop. . FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a display screen example (homepage) of the virtual shopping mall transmitted from the mall server to the client side in FIG. The figure shows data such as the product content, price, and advertising phrase of each shop that makes up the virtual shopping mall. The client, that is, the customer, is issued from each shop, and the number of points currently held and the number of points currently held are shown. Among them, the shortest period until the expiration date, that is, the oldest expiration date, and the point issue rate and redemption 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 issuance rate as shown in FIG. Is 100 and the reduction ratio is 1. “Special” for shop F indicates that the special service is being performed, and “***” for shop E indicates that the store is not performing the point service. When data of all shops cannot be displayed on one screen, data of other shops is displayed by scrolling. If the number of shops is large, it may be convenient for the customer to display 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 desired store and presses the shopping button, the operation of FIG. 5 starts, and the order screen is transmitted from the mall server.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a process 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 from the client side in FIG. . This flow corresponds to a part of the CGI program 17 in FIG. When the process is started in the figure, first, in step S1, HTTP data for allowing the user to input a customer ID is transmitted from the mall server to the client. When the user inputs the customer ID on the client side, the ID is transmitted to the server side together 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 of the shops constituting the virtual shopping mall. First, in step S3, store information such as the content, price, and advertising phrase 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. If not, step S5 is performed. Is set to indicate that the service is not implemented for the store,
The process for the store is ended, and the processes from step S3 onward are repeated for other stores.

If it is determined in step S4 that the store is a point service execution store, the contents of the point management table shown in FIG. And the oldest deadline are set.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of an example of the point management table. In the drawing, 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 contents of the valid flag are set. The fact that the validity flag is 0 indicates that the item has been purchased by post-payment such as credit, account debit, and account transfer, as described later, and the price has not yet been settled.

In the case of post-payment purchase, the payment is actually settled as described later, and the validity flag is set to 1 when the payment is made. In addition to the method of controlling the validity / invalidity of points by using the validity flag as described above, a method of going back to the past after depositing the price and calculating the points again may be considered. The above procedure avoids the problem of issuing points for non-deposited (invalid) shopping, but it is also considered as a practical method to validate points immediately after receiving an order at the risk of the store. .

The number of points in the notification column of FIG. 8 indicates the number of points at which the customer is notified by e-mail by a patrol process described later when the total number of owned points reaches this number. Here, the number of notification points is, for example, 9000
Is 10,000 as described in FIG.
As points accumulate, the point issuance rate will increase,
This is to notify the customer that the approach has been reached.

After setting the number of points owned 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 ends, and the next store Are repeated from step S3. Then, when the processing of steps S3 to S7 for all the shops constituting the virtual shopping mall ends, in step S8, the shopping mall screen data is transmitted to the client side, and the processing ends. When the number of shops is large, the transmission waiting time on the client terminal side increases, so it is also effective to divide and transmit the data.

FIG. 9 is an example of a store management table referred to when setting special service period information for each store in step S7 of FIG. In the figure, the point issue rate, the redemption rate, the start and end times of the special service period, and the extra point rate are stored for each shop constituting the virtual shopping mall. For example, the issuance rate 100 for the store A is 100 yen and 1 point issuance is performed, the redemption rate 1 is 1 point is redeemed for 1 point, and the content of the extra point rate is
The point issue rate is 2 when 10,000 points are accumulated
This means that 2 points will be issued for 100 times, that is, 100 yen. Both the issue rate and the redemption rate are 0, that is, a value for the shop E indicates that the shop is not performing the point service. It is also possible to change the point issuance rate and the redemption rate only for a specific period,
Indicates that the first half of 1996 (January 1 to June 30) is a special service period, during which one point is issued for 50 yen.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a patrol process for checking the expiration date of the points stored in the point management table. This process is periodically performed, for example, at the end of each month. When the process is started, first, in step S11, the contents of the point management table in FIG. It is determined whether 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 near the expiration, the processing in step S13 is performed without performing the processing in step S12. Transition.

Here, as the mail processing, there are a method of assembling an electronic mail and automatically transmitting the mail, and a method of printing a notice by a printer and manually sending it by mail. In the former case, the mail ID needs to be stored in the point management table, and in the latter case, the postal address needs to be stored in the point management table. In any case, only the 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 the notification result is received by the customer. Absent.

In step S13, the number of points in the notification column of the contents of the point management table is compared with the totaled result of the number of points for each customer, and whether or not there is a person to be notified is periodically determined. If the notification is to be made to the customer, it is determined whether there is a notification target person. If the notification target exists, in step S14, a predetermined number of the user, that is, the customer is reached, or After the periodic notification mail processing is executed, if there is no notification target, step S
The process proceeds to step S15 without executing the process of step S14.

In step S15, it is determined whether there is any expired point. If so, the point is invalidated, and the patrol process ends. When invalidating points, for a certain period (for example, about 5 years)
It is desirable to store the points in a point management table or an archive file in an invalid state in preparation for a trouble or an inquiry.

FIG. 11 is a shopping input screen displayed after the customer selects a shop for shopping in FIG.
Reference numeral 2 denotes http data which is a source of the display of the input screen. In the http data of the input screen, the customer ID input by the customer on the initial screen of the virtual shopping mall and the identification information of the store are stored. That is, “<FORM
METHOD = POST ACTION = http: //www.mall.aaa.co.jp/cgi
"-bin / program-a>" indicates that the client requests the server www.mall.aaa.co.jp to execute program-a after the data is input on this input screen. Also, <INPUT TYPE = "hidden" NAME = "personal-ID"
CHECKED VALUE = "aaa0001"> defines what is transmitted as a parameter when requesting execution of this program-a, that is, data "personal-ID = aaa0001" (meaning that the customer ID is aaa0001) ) Is transmitted, and "INPUT TYPE =" hidden "" defines that this data is not displayed. Similarly, <INPUT TYPE = "hidden" NAME =
"store-ID" CHECKED VALUR = "Space Development">
Defines what is transmitted as a parameter when requesting execution of gram-a, that is, data "store-ID = space development" (the store name means "space development") Is defined, and "INPUT TYPE
"=" hidden "" defines that this data is not displayed.

[<INPUT TYPE = "checkbox" NAME = "prdl"
Defines that a check box is displayed on the screen, and when the check box is instructed, data "prdl = yes" (meaning to purchase the product prdl) is transmitted to the server. Subsequent "space suit" means displaying the character string "space suit" on the screen. Next "<INPUT TY
PE = "text" NAME = prdl-num SIZE = "2">"indicates the area for inputting the number of" space suits "purchased for 2 bytes, and the input data (as" prdl-num = number ") Is transmitted. <BR> means a line feed. The same applies to “space food” and “spacecraft”. "<INPUT TY
PE = "submit" VALUE = "shopping"> displays a button "shopping", and when the button is instructed, sends the program name and its parameters for executing the processing described above to the server. Means. Also, "<IN
“PUT TYPE =“ reset ”VALUE =“ center ”>” indicates that a button “Cancel” is displayed, and when the button is instructed, the values of the parameters input so far are cleared.

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

In FIG. 13, the customer inputs the destination of the goods, etc., designates a payment method from among three of bank transfer, network money or credit payment, and stores all points, redeems all points, or partially pays out points. Specify the number of points to be reduced or, in the case of partial reduction, the points to be reduced. When the points obtained by the shopping are donated to a charity, for example, or added to another customer, such as a family, an identifier (id) of the donation destination is given.
Is specified, and the order button is pressed, the program of the URL 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 in FIG. 4, which is a part of the CGI program 17 in FIG. When the process is started in FIG.
First, in step S21, it is determined whether or not the store where the customer ordered the product is a point service store. If not, the shopping amount is directly used as the billing amount in step S28, and the point issuing process is performed. finish. After the point issuing process, a general order process and a billing process are performed as a part of the CGI program 17 in FIG.

If it is determined in step S21 that the store is a point service store, in step S22 the customer wants to redeem points already owned and the number of owned points is the minimum point for performing the point redemption service. Is determined, and unless both of these conditions are satisfied, points are not redeemed, and the issue points are calculated in step S23.
That is, the number of points corresponding to the purchase price is calculated based on the issuance rate of the store where the purchase was made. In addition, both a system in which the minimum number of points for performing the return service is uniform in the system and a system in which the minimum number of points is set for each store can be considered.

Whether or not this point is to be 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 point for oneself, it is determined in step S24. Valid flag (1) from the date of purchase in the point management table as the points owned by the customer
The contents are stored by setting the contents up to the above, and in the case of donation or addition, the contents are similarly stored as the points for the donation or addition destination in step S25, and then, in step S26.
Is used to determine the payment terms. For example, in the case of addition to another customer, it is convenient to use a method in which the customer specifies an addition destination for each shopping and a method in which the addition destination is registered in advance and automatically added thereto.

The payment condition is immediate payment, for example, electronic money,
When the processing is performed by an electronic check, an electronic bill, or the like, the point issuance processing ends after the processing of step S28 is performed. In addition, credit payment, direct debit,
In the case of post-payment such as account transfer, step S
At 27, the content of the validity flag for the point is set to 0, and the point is invalidated until payment is made. Then, the process of step S28 is performed, and the process ends.

If it is determined in step S22 that the customer wants to redeem the points and that the customer has reached the minimum point for the point redemption service, the process proceeds to step S22.
At 30, the calculation processing of the return points is performed. This will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

After the calculation of the redemption points in step S30, the number of points held for each store after the redemption of the redemption points calculated in step S31 is stored in the point management table, and is calculated in step S32. The redemption amount is calculated based on the redeemed points, and the redemption amount is reduced from the shopping amount in step S33. (Although not shown in FIG. 14, simultaneously with the determination of the amount to be paid in step S33, the processing from step S23 to step S27 is executed in accordance with the amount, and points are issued.) FIG. It is a detailed flowchart of step S30, that is, the calculation processing of the return point. This flow corresponds to a part of the CGI program 17 in FIG. 3, which corresponds to the point redemption unit 23 in FIG. When the process is started in the figure, first, in step S40, the oldest points among the points of the same store as the store where the shopping was performed this time are used for the redemption process, and the return points are calculated according to the point redemption rate of the store where the current shopping is performed. . Then, it is determined whether or not the number of redemption points specified by the customer has been reached. If the number has been reached, there is no need to use points of other stores, and the process is terminated.

In the case of a shortage, in step S42, the shortage points are used for the redemption processing from the oldest one among the point holding numbers issued from other stores, and according to the redemption rate common to all stores. The return points are calculated, and after performing point settlement processing with another store in step S42, the processing ends. When points issued at another store are used for redemption, it is also possible to use a redemption ratio separately set for that store instead of a common redemption ratio for all stores.

That is, in this embodiment, the points to be redeemed in the point redemption process are first
First, the processing is performed with priority given to returning from points of the same store, and second, priority is given to returning from old points. For example, in FIG. 8, if customer a wishes to return 250 points when shopping at store B, 8
200 points when you buy a product on April 1, and 8
Out of 100 points purchased on April 8, 2015
Zero points will be used for reduction. April 2, 8
The point when the product is purchased at the store D on the day is not used here because the point has an old validity period but is issued at another store.

Further, by setting the redemption rate of points issued at the own store higher than the value common to all stores, it is possible to create a mechanism in which customers can obtain profits when shopping at the same store.
Regarding the point settlement processing with another store performed in step S42 of FIG. 15, first, a method of adjusting each time of point reduction, a second method of one week or one month, etc. Accumulation of points (return results) in an appropriate period is accumulated, and changes in all stores are processed in a lump over the entire period, that is, settlement method. For example, a method of depositing the amount equivalent to the return as a lump sum to a shopping mall association or the like and using the deposit for settlement may be considered.

FIG. 16 shows an example of a payout reduction point storage table used for point payment processing performed periodically between all the shops constituting the virtual shopping mall. In this table, all stores A,
For each of B, C, D, E, F,..., The customer purchases at his own store and redeems points issued at another store, and the amount of purchase at another store. In this case, the accumulated values X and Y are recorded with the point redemption amount when the point of the own store is redeemed. For example, if you pay at the end of the month, X
The difference between Y and Y is obtained. If the difference is positive, the payment is settled, and if the value is negative, the payment is settled. For example, when a customer purchases at the B store and 200 points are issued by the B store and 500 points are redeemed by the points issued by the C store, 500 and C are added to the X column of the B store in this table.
The point redemption number of 500 is recorded in the Y column of the store. The XY column of this table indicates the process of month-end settlement, ie, X
7 shows a state immediately after the difference between Y and Y is calculated.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram of the point validation processing at the time of payment settlement in the case of credit, account debit, account transfer, and the like. This flow corresponds to a control program independent of the CGI program 17 in FIG. FIG.
As described in step S27 of step 4, when a post-payment such as a credit is specified as a price payment condition at the time of purchase of the product, the valid flag for the issue point corresponding to the purchase of the product is set to 0, and at the time when 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 purchased during the special point service period at the end of the year, the special point service is applied even if the price is paid after the end of the special service period.

In FIG. 17, when there is a deposit notification from a store or a financial institution to the mall server, the corresponding entry of the point management table is specified in step S45, and the point valid flag of the entry is set to 1 in step S46. In S47, the total number of valid points of the customer is obtained, and if the total number of points has reached the number of notice points, a notice mail is sent to inform the customer of this in step S48. If it has not reached, the processing is terminated without performing any processing. Such payment notification processing for post-payment can be efficiently performed by executing the payment notification collectively, and in the case where a plurality of payment notifications are simultaneously sent from the store or the financial institution to the mall server, the process proceeds 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, a new setting, change,
Or it can be deleted. If an act of maliciously altering the data in the store management table is permitted, serious damage will occur. Therefore, it is necessary to take thorough measures to protect security with respect to the access authority to the store management table.

It is also possible to access a homepage of a distant store by clicking on the store in the homepage of the virtual shopping mall. In this case, the purchase information is set to be simultaneously stored in the database linked to the homepage of the virtual mall and the database linked to the homepage of the shop. When the store joins the virtual mall, the purchase information registered in the database linked to the store's homepage is also notified to the database linked to the virtual mall's homepage using the existing network transfer command. To do. In this case, the user accesses the homepage to the store from the homepage of the virtual shopping mall,
When purchasing from the store, you will receive the point service of the virtual shopping street, even if the user registers once and then makes a direct purchase using the store's homepage,
The user can use the point service system. Further, each store constantly updates the linked database of its homepage, thereby facilitating the provision of the latest merchandise of the store to the user.

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 FIG. 1, a computer 101 includes a main body 104 and a memory 105.
02 can be loaded from the program provider side, or a program can be loaded from the program provider side via the network 103.

The main body 104 of the computer 101 corresponds to the server 11 constituting the virtual shopping mall 10 in FIG.
The memory 105 can be considered to correspond to the server file 14.

The point issuing unit 22, the point redemption unit 23, the patrol unit 24 and the like constituting the point service system in FIG.
Registered as a CGI program 17
The I program 17 is, for example, the memory 105 in FIG.
And the program is executed by the main body 104. Here, as the memory 105, for example, a random access memory (RAM) or a hard disk is used.

Further, a program for realizing the point service system is recorded on the portable storage medium 102, and the point service system can be realized by loading the program into the computer 101. As the portable storage medium 102, a memory card, a floppy disk, a CD-ROM
(Compact disk read-only memory), optical disks, magneto-optical disks, and other commercially available and circulable storage media can be used. Also, a program for realizing the point service system of the present invention, etc.
By sending the program from the program provider to the computer 101 via the network 103 and loading the program, it is also possible to realize a point service system in a virtual shopping mall.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail,
The implementation method of the present invention is not limited to this example,
It goes without saying that various embodiments different from this example can be realized within the scope described in the claims. In particular, it goes without saying that, for example, the contents of shopping in the claims include reservations for travel, hotels, restaurants, theaters, and the like.

[0066]

As described above, according to the present invention, by realizing the point service system in the virtual shopping mall, the first advantage on the user side is that the transportation cost for shopping becomes unnecessary. Second, there are advantages such as instant redemption of points, third, no need to carry a card, etc. Fourth, the number of points currently held is simple Fifthly, there are various advantages, such as the fact that competition between shops can improve service to users.

The merchant side has the following advantages: firstly, an increase in sales by improving the ability to attract customers in the virtual shopping mall; secondly, it is unnecessary to purchase points in advance; thirdly, it is not necessary to issue cards or the like. There are various advantages such as necessity, and fourthly, the possibility of realizing unique and detailed services for each store, which greatly contributes to the development of the virtual shopping mall.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the principle configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration example of a network for realizing the point service system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a system configuration block diagram of a virtual shopping mall realized on the Internet.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a point service system realized in a virtual shopping mall.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a processing flow when a customer accesses a virtual shopping mall.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display screen example of a virtual shopping mall transmitted from a mall server to a customer side.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a process of creating virtual shopping mall screen data transmitted to the customer side.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a point management table.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a store management table.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a patrol process.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a shopping input screen displayed after a customer selects a store.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating http data that is the basis of the screen display of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an order screen transmitted from the mall server to the customer.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a point issuing process.

FIG. 15 is a detailed flowchart of a point return process.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a payment return point storage table.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of a point activating process at the time of payment for credits and the like.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen for changing the contents of the store management table.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram of a storage medium on which a program for realizing the present embodiment is recorded.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Point Issuance 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 Issuance Unit 23 Point Reduction Unit 24 Patrol section

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Masao Fujiwara 4-1-1, Kamidadanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Fujitsu Limited (72) Michihiro Miyasaka 4-1-1, Kamiodanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa No. 1 Fujitsu Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shuji Morita 4-1-1, Kamiodanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture 1 Within Fujitsu Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masakazu Yamashita 4-chome, Kami-Odanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa No. 1 Inside Fujitsu Limited (72) Inventor Yuka Egashira 4-1-1 Kamikadanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Fujitsu Limited

Claims (28)

[Claims] 1. In a virtual shopping mall constructed on a network, a point issuing means for issuing points according to a customer's shopping price and a point issuance rate defined as the number of points issued for the shopping price, A point management unit that is issued by the point issuing unit and stores a point currently held by the customer for each customer; and a point management unit that stores the points currently held by the customer according to the number of points within a range of the customer's point holding amount stored in the point management unit. Point redemption means is provided for reducing the customer's shopping payment as point redemption and reducing the customer's point holding amount in accordance with a point redemption rate defined as a reduction in shopping payment. Point service system. 2. The point service system according to claim 1, wherein said point issuance means is capable of setting said point issuance rate for each of the shops constituting said virtual shopping mall. 3. The point issuance unit sets the point issuance rate to a value that is valid only during a specific period and is different from a value that is valid outside the specific period. The point service system described. 4. The point service system according to claim 1, wherein said point issuance means can set said point issuance rate to a value corresponding to the number of unreduced points held by said customer. . 5. When the customer makes a purchase after payment,
2. The point service system according to claim 1, wherein the points management means treats the points issued by the point issuing means for the shopping as valid points to be redeemed for the points after the payment of the price. . 6. The point managing means stores the points issued by the point issuing means as points held by a customer different from a customer who has purchased the issued points. 1
The point service system described. 7. The point service system according to claim 6, wherein the point management means responds to the designation of the different customer by a customer who has purchased the points issued by the point issuing means. 8. The point service system according to claim 1, wherein the point redemption means can set the point redemption rate for each of the shops constituting the virtual shopping mall. 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the point redemption means sets the point redemption rate to a value that is valid only for a specific period and is different from a valid value for periods other than the specific period. The point service system described. 10. The point management means stores an expiration date attached to a point issued by the point issuing means, and the point redemption means performs the point redemption only for points within the expiration date. 2. The point service system according to claim 1, wherein: 11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the point redemption means uses the point holding amount of the customer starting from the one with the oldest expiration date for the point redemption.
The point service system described. 12. The point service system according to claim 10, wherein the point management means keeps storing the expired point for a predetermined period after the expiration date attached to the point expires. . 13. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a point holding amount notifying unit for periodically notifying the point holding amount of each customer stored by the point management unit for each customer. Point service system. 14. The system according to claim 1, further comprising: a point holding amount notifying unit for notifying the point holding amount of each customer stored by the point management unit on a non-periodic basis for each customer. Point service system. 15. The point holding amount notifying means, when the point holding amount of each customer reaches a predetermined value, notifies the corresponding customer of the point holding amount. 14. The point service system according to item 14. 16. The point redemption means, wherein the points already issued according to the past shopping at the own shop as the shop where the customer makes a new shopping, and the points already issued according to the shopping at another shop. Together with the points
The point service system according to claim 1, wherein the point redemption is performed. 17. In the shopping at the own store, the number of points redeemed by the points redeemed by the point redemption means for points issued according to the shopping at the other store, The store name of the other store,
17. The point according to claim 16, further comprising return point inter-shop settlement means for adjusting return points between the plurality of shops constituting the virtual shopping street based on the shop name of the own shop. Service system. 18. For each of the shops constituting the virtual shopping street, the shop is issued for shopping at the own shop,
Settlement that stores the number of redemption points at another store that were redeemed for shopping at another store and the number of redemption points at the own store that were issued for shopping at another store and redeemed for shopping at the own store When the points are redeemed, the redemption point inter-store settlement means includes a number of the redeemed points, a store name of a store where shopping corresponding to the issuance of the redemption points is performed, and points to be redeemed. The content of the checkout table is updated based on the store name of the store where the purchase was made, and based on the difference between the number of redemption points at the other store and the number of redemption points at the own store, the plurality of stores 18. The point service system according to claim 17, wherein the redemption point is settled in the service. 19. The payment point-to-store settlement means,
The point service system according to claim 17, wherein the settlement is performed periodically. 20. In the point service system, when the customer wants to shop in a virtual shopping mall, data on each of the shops constituting the virtual shopping mall is provided, and a point service is implemented among the shopping malls. Virtual shopping mall display control means for performing control for displaying to the customer, together with the number of unreduced points, issued to the customer for the customer from the executing store. The point service system according to claim 1, wherein: 21. The virtual shopping mall display control means performs control for displaying data on each of the shopping malls constituting the virtual shopping mall in an order of increasing the number of unreduced points. The point service system according to claim 20. 22. In the point service system, when the customer intends to perform shopping in the virtual shopping mall, data on each of the shops constituting the virtual shopping mall is used to execute the point service. 2. The point service system according to claim 1, further comprising virtual shopping mall display control means for performing control for displaying to the customer in a format that can distinguish whether the customer is present or not. 23. A function for issuing points in accordance with a customer's purchase price in order to realize a point service in a virtual shopping mall constructed on a network, and a function for issuing points already issued and currently held by the customer. A computer-readable program storing a program for causing a computer to perform a function of storing the information in a memory for each customer and a function of reducing the amount of the customer's purchase payment as a redemption of points according to the amount of points held by the customer. Storage medium. 24. In a virtual shopping mall constructed on a network, a customer designates the name of a shopping mall desired to shop among the shopping malls constituting the virtual shopping mall, and the name of a product to be purchased. When the customer designates the number of redemption points for reducing the value of the product to be purchased within the range of points held by the customer already issued according to the shopping at the virtual shopping mall, A method of enjoying a point service, wherein the value of the merchandise to be purchased is reduced according to the designation and a point redemption rate defined as a reduction of a purchase payment amount according to the number of redemption points. 25. In a virtual shopping mall constructed on a network, a customer designates the name of a shopping mall desired to shop among the shopping malls constituting the virtual shopping mall and the name of a product to be purchased. When the customer specifies the point addition destination of the points issued for the purchase of the purchase target product according to the point issuance rate defined as the number of points issued for the purchase amount, the customer specifies the destination according to the specification of the customer. A point service wherein points issued for a customer's shopping are stored in a point service system in the virtual shopping mall as points held by the addition destination as a customer different from the customer. How to enjoy. 26. In a virtual shopping mall constructed on a network, each of the shops constituting the virtual shopping mall is provided with a point issuance rate defined as the number of points issued with respect to a customer's purchase price, and a point holding amount of the customer. The point redemption rate defined as the reduction of the purchase payment amount with respect to the point redemption amount within the range is valid only for a specific period and can be set to a value different from the valid value outside the specific period A point service providing method characterized by the following. 27. In a virtual shopping mall constructed on a network, each of the stores constituting the virtual shopping mall sends a value of a point issuance rate defined as the number of points issued to the customer's shopping price, and Depending on the amount of unreduced points that have already been issued at the time of shopping at each of the stores that make up the virtual shopping mall and that have not been used to redeem points as a reduction of the payment amount for the new shopping of the customer, Point issuing method characterized by setting to a value. 28. A function for issuing points in accordance with a customer's shopping price in order to realize a point service in a virtual shopping mall built on a network, and a function for issuing points already issued and currently held by the customer. A program for causing a computer to perform a function of storing in a memory for each customer and a function of reducing the purchase payment amount of the customer as a return of points according to the amount of points held by the customer.