JPH11184926A - Pos system and recording medium for recording program used for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily transfer a direct mail to a selected party by easily selecting a party to which advertising effect is high. SOLUTION: A party of with high advertising effect is easily selected for a direct mail by using personal information accumulated in a POS system 1, and transmission of the direct mail to the selected party is easily performed. That is, a client information file 13 for storing client information including his electronic mail address by the client is provided, the client information corresponding to the direct mail to be transmitted from the client information file 13 is retrieved, and the direct mail, edited into an electronic mail format by addressing the electronic mail address included in the retrieved client information, is transmitted to a mail server 15 on an internet communication network.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a PO for collecting and managing merchandise sales registration data acquired during merchandise sales registration processing.
The present invention relates to an S system and a recording medium on which a program used for the S system is recorded. The invention also relates to the field of direct mail delivery technology.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Direct mail delivery methods include:
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a method of sending a direct mail created in the form of a paper medium by mail or facsimile has been widely used. On the other hand, with the development of electronic communication networks in recent years, direct mail created in the form of electronic information is generally sent by facsimile or electronic mail.

[0003]

Conventionally, the destination of a direct mail has been selected indiscriminately or based on predetermined personal information. For this reason, indiscriminately selecting the destination of direct mail, there is a problem that the information desired by the person cannot be effectively transmitted to the recipient of direct mail, and a good advertising effect cannot be obtained. is there. In addition, when selecting a destination for direct mail based on predetermined personal information, it is costly to obtain the personal information, and effort is required to select a destination for direct mail from the acquired personal information. And it takes time. Such selection of the destination of the direct mail is the same as in the case where the store where the POS terminal is installed or the company having the POS system sends the direct mail, and the POS system stores the sales history information and the like. No personal information is used. In other words, no special technology has been developed for the selection of the destination of the direct mail.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to facilitate the operation of selecting a direct mail delivery destination having a high advertising effect.

Another object of the present invention is to facilitate the work of sending direct mail to a selected destination.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a POS system comprising: a merchandise sales registration processing means for performing merchandise sales registration processing provided with merchandise data input means; and customer information including an e-mail address. A customer information file stored for each customer, a direct mail file storing a plurality of direct mails in the form of electronic information, and a search for setting search conditions corresponding to each direct mail stored in the direct mail file A condition setting means, an e-mail editing means for editing the direct mail into an e-mail format, and a desired direct mail edited by the e-mail editing means into an e-mail format, and a search set by the search condition setting means The customer information corresponding to the condition is searched from the customer file, and the customer information is searched. Direct mail that has been edited to the e-mail format addressed to the e-mail address that is included in and a direct mail shipping means that are sent to the mail server on the Internet communication network.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a merchandise sales registration function for executing merchandise sales registration processing based on input merchandise data, and a plurality of direct mails stored in a direct mail file in the form of electronic information. About the search condition setting function to set the search conditions corresponding to each direct mail, the e-mail editing function to edit the direct mail into an e-mail format, and the e-mail editing function for the desired direct mail The customer information corresponding to the search condition set by the search condition setting function is searched from the customer information including the e-mail address stored for each customer in the customer file in the format, and the electronic information included in the customer information is searched. Direct mail edited in e-mail format to the e-mail address A computer-readable recording medium recording a program for executing the direct mail dispatch function on a computer that are sent to the mail server on the network.

Therefore, according to the first or seventh aspect of the present invention, search condition setting means (function) based on customer information including an e-mail address stored for each customer in a customer file.
Is searched for the customer information corresponding to the search condition set by the user, and the direct mail edited in the e-mail format by the e-mail editing means (function) is sent to the e-mail address included in the customer information. Sent to the mail server above. For this reason, a customer who increases the advertising effect when the direct mail to be sent is sent is selected from the customer file, and after the customer is selected, the direct mail edited in the e-mail format is sent to the e-mail address of the customer. Will be done.

[0009] The invention according to claim 2 is a method according to claim 1,
In the OS system, the customer information stored in the customer information file is attribute information on the customer registered in the customer information file in advance, and the search condition set by the search condition setting means is the attribute information on the customer. Here, the “attribute information” is information inherently provided by the customer (for example,
This includes not only information such as gender and date of birth, but also information acquired by the customer acquired (for example, address and telephone number). Therefore, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the customer information is searched based on the attribute information of the customer. Thus, for example, it is possible to perform processing such as sending direct mail to a certain age group living in a certain area on the Internet using attribute information such as an address and a date of birth.

[0010] The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1,
In the OS system, the customer information stored in the customer information file is purchase history information stored and registered in the customer information file, and the search condition set by the search condition setting means is purchase history information on the customer. The “purchase history information” includes, for example, purchased merchandise, sales date and time, and sales amount. Therefore, according to the third aspect of the invention, the customer information is searched based on the purchase history information of the customer. Thus, for example, it is possible to use the purchase history information of the sales amount to perform a process of sending a direct mail via the Internet to customers whose purchase amount is a certain amount or more. Alternatively, as in the invention described in claim 4,
4. The POS system according to claim 3, wherein the purchase history information includes information for specifying the purchased product, and the search condition setting means includes the direct mail if the search condition is set based on the product specification information. It is possible to search for customer information of a customer who has purchased a product related to the product in question, and to send a direct mail to the customer via the Internet. In this case, if the search condition matches the product included in the direct mail in the purchase history (the invention according to claim 5),
The customer information of a customer who has purchased the product included in the direct mail in the past is searched, and if the search condition is a product belonging to the product section to which the product included in the direct mail in the purchase history belongs In this case (invention of claim 6), the customer information of a customer who has previously purchased a product belonging to the product section to which the product included in the direct mail belongs is searched.

[0011]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the entire system. This embodiment relates to a POS terminal 1 installed in a store and used as a server. Actually, this POS terminal 1 has a PO (not shown) serving as a client.
The S terminal is connected, and the POS terminal 1 itself is also connected to a host computer (not shown) via a communication network, and these constitute a single POS system as a whole.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the electrical connection of each part in the POS terminal 1 used as a server. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 2, the POS terminal 1 includes a CPU 2 for executing various arithmetic processes and controlling each unit intensively, a ROM 3 for storing fixed data, and a RAM 4 for rewritably storing variable data. Each unit is connected via a system bus 6 to a POS control unit 5 having a microcomputer configuration. POS via system bus 6
Each unit connected to the control unit 5 includes a printer 7 having an R / J printer configuration, a screen display 8 including an image display 8a directed to the cashier side and a customer surface display 8b directed to the customer surface, and a product. Keyboard 9, drawer 10, floppy disk drive 11, I / F board 12 and hard disk 13 for Internet connection as data input means
It is.

A POS terminal 1 having such a basic configuration
Here, various programs and files are installed on the hard disk 13. The program stored in the hard disk 13 includes an operation program. When the POS terminal 1 is started, the operation program is entirely or partially written in the RAM 4 and used. The programs stored in the hard disk 13 include:
Internet software is also included. All or part of this software is also written in the RAM 4 when the POS terminal 1 is started up and used. Then, P
The OS terminal 1 is freely connectable to the Internet mail server 15 via the Internet communication network 14 by connecting the I / F board 12 to the Internet communication network 14 via a modem (not shown). The hard disk 13 and the RAM 4 are computer-readable recording media that store programs to be executed by the CPU 2, the ROM 3, and the RAM 4 of a microcomputer that is a computer.

Next, the files stored in the hard disk 13 include a customer master file 16 as a customer information file, a purchase history master file 17 similarly as a customer information file, a direct mail master file 18 as a direct mail file, and an electronic mail file. The mail master file 19 and the like are included. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a memory structure of the customer master file 16, and FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a memory structure of the purchase history master file 17. The customer master file 16 contains, for each customer code, a customer name (kana), a customer name (kanji), gender, postal code, address (kana), address (kanji), telephone number, date of birth, total sales amount, and electronic sales amount. It has a file structure where email addresses are registered. Also, the purchase history master file 17
Has a file structure in which the product code, sales date and time, and sales amount of the purchased product are registered for each customer code. Various direct mails are stored in the direct mail master file 18 in the form of electronic information.
Each of the stored direct mails includes information such as an image of the direct mail itself, as well as information for specifying a product to be publicized by the direct mail, for example, a product code. The e-mail master file 19 stores a file obtained by editing the direct mail stored in the direct mail master file 18 into a file format for e-mail. The direct mail stored in the e-mail master file 19 includes:
An e-mail address for specifying the destination is attached.

Here, the POS terminal 1 performs a basic process under the control of the CPU 2 according to the operation program.
Execute the product sales registration process. That is, the CPU 2 of the POS terminal 1 is connected via the system bus 6 to the CPU 2 of the POS terminal 1 with a bar code reader (not shown) as input means for merchandise data for reading a bar code attached to the merchandise. The product code of the purchased product is input from the keyboard, and the product code input by the closing process is registered in a sales memory (not shown) in the hard disk 13. At the time of such registration processing to the sales memory, printing of a receipt and journal recording are performed. Here, the function of the merchandise sales registration processing means for executing the merchandise sales registration processing is executed.

At the time of such merchandise sales registration processing, if a customer code is input in advance through the keyboard 9,
The purchase history is stored in the purchase history master file 17 on the hard disk 13 in association with the customer number.
The purchase history information is the product code, sales date and time, and sales amount of the purchased product. At the same time, the cumulative sales amount in the customer master file 16 in the hard disk 13 is updated.

Further, the POS terminal 1 executes, under the overall control of the CPU 2, not only a registration process but also a process provided in a general POS terminal, such as a clearing process and an inspection process. These processes are the same as the similar processes executed by a general POS terminal, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of the direct mail sending process. POS of this embodiment
The terminal 1 can send out the desired direct mail stored in the direct mail master file 18 as an electronic mail using the Internet communication network 14 (see step S5). For this purpose, the desired direct mail stored in the direct mail master file 18 is edited into an e-mail format under the control of the CPU 2 according to the software for the Internet written in the RAM 4 when the apparatus is started up. An e-mail sending file is created by being registered in the master file 19 (e-mail editing means). On this occasion,
Since the e-mail address is not attached to the direct mail itself stored in the direct mail master file 18, the e-mail address is attached to the direct mail by the keyboard 9. Thereby, the CPU 2
Sets the e-mail address as a destination address and sends it out as an e-mail using the Internet communication network 14 (step S5: e-mail sending means). Then, the direct mail is sent to the Internet mail server 15 and transmitted to the corresponding e-mail address via the Internet mail server 15.

Here, in the POS terminal 1 of the present embodiment, the selection of the destination of the direct mail can be automatically set based on the customer information or the purchase history information. That is, when a direct mail is sent based on customer information, the fact is declared by pressing a predetermined key on the keyboard 9 or the like (step S1), and the customer master file is input by an input operation using the keyboard 9 or the like. Desired customer information and information related thereto are input as search conditions (step S2: search condition setting means). in this case,
Enter the customer information related to the direct mail you are trying to send, more specifically, customer information or information related to it that will be able to achieve the effect of advertising by sending the direct mail as search conditions. become. Such information includes, for example, customer name, gender, area of residence, age group, total sales amount, and the like. When the customer information is input, the e-mail addresses of all the customers that meet the search conditions are obtained from the customer master file 16, and the e-mail addresses are stored in the e-mail master file 19 and the e-mail sending file Is created (step S2). Thereafter, if the destination of the direct mail is not automatically set based on the purchase history information (N in step S3), the process proceeds to step S5, where the direct mail for the e-mail transmission file created in the e-mail master file 19 is transmitted. Input processing is performed. Since the processing in step S5 is as described above, its description is omitted. Thus, a desired direct mail is automatically issued to the customer searched using the customer information input in step S2 as a search condition. Therefore, for example, a customer who lives in a certain area, a customer of a certain age group, a customer of a certain gender, and the like are search conditions, and a desired direct mail is automatically sent only to customers who satisfy such search conditions. This can be easily performed.

When a direct mail is sent based on the purchase history information, the fact is declared by pressing a predetermined key on the keyboard 9 or the like (step S3), and an input operation using the keyboard 9 or the like is performed. A product code, a product section, a sales amount, a sales date and time, a total sales amount, and the like are input as search conditions (extraction conditions) (step S4: search condition setting means). Then, according to the input search condition, the purchase history master file 17 or the customer master file 16
Is retrieved, and the e-mail addresses of all customers meeting the search conditions are obtained. Subsequently, the e-mail addresses are stored in the e-mail master file 19, and an e-mail dispatch file is created (step S).
4). At this time, if it is specified in step S1 that direct mail is to be sent based on the customer information, the search condition is set by an AND condition with the search condition for that, and the purchase history master file 17 or the customer master file is set. 16 is searched. Then, step S5
Then, the direct mail input processing for the electronic mail sending file created in the electronic mail master file 19 is performed. Since the processing in step S5 is as described above, its description is omitted. Thus, a desired direct mail is automatically issued to the customer searched using the purchase history information input in step S4 as a search condition. Therefore, for example, a customer who has purchased a certain product, a customer who has purchased a product belonging to a product section to which a certain product belongs, a customer who has made a purchase at a specific date and time, and the cumulative sales amount is a certain amount or more For example, a certain condition becomes a search condition, and it is easy to automatically send a desired direct mail only to a customer who satisfies such a search condition.

The purchase history file 21 for each section code of a product as a customer information file as shown in FIG. 6 and the purchase history file 31 for each product as a customer information file as shown in FIG. If it is stored, it is possible to reduce the processing amount required for the search processing of the corresponding customer using the product code or the product section code as a search condition (extraction condition), thereby shortening the processing time. In the purchase history file 21 of FIG. 6, a product code, a sales date, and a sales amount are set in association with a customer code for each department code of a product. In the purchase history file 31 of FIG. The department code, sales date, and sales amount of the product are set in association with. If there is a file having such a file structure, when a product code or a product department code is used as a search condition, the access time to the search condition and the processing for the search condition are extremely reduced.

[0023]

The invention of the POS system according to the first aspect and the invention of the recording medium storing the program used for the POS system according to the first aspect of the present invention are obtained from a customer information file storing customer information including an e-mail address for each customer. Search for customer information corresponding to the direct mail to be sent, and send the edited direct mail to the e-mail address included in the searched customer information to a mail server on the Internet communication network. , Using the personal information held by the POS system,
It is possible to easily select a direct mail sending destination having a high advertising effect, and to easily send the direct mail to the selected sending destination.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the P
In the OS system, the customer information stored in the customer information file is set as the attribute information on the customer registered in the customer information file in advance, and the search condition setting means sets the attribute information on the customer as the search condition. You can search for customer information based on attribute information,
For example, using attribute information such as an address and a date of birth, processing such as sending a direct mail to a certain age group living in a certain area via the Internet can be performed.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the P
In the OS system, the customer information stored in the customer information file is used as purchase history information stored and registered in the customer information file, and the search condition setting means sets purchase history information on the customer as a search condition. You can search for customer information based on purchase history information,
For example, it is possible to perform processing such as sending direct mail via the Internet to customers whose purchase amount is equal to or more than a certain amount by using purchase history information of sales amount.

In the invention according to claim 3,
Include information that identifies the purchased product in the purchase history information,
If the search condition setting means sets the search condition based on the product specifying information (the invention according to claim 4), the customer information of the customer who purchased the product related to the product included in the direct mail can be obtained. A search can be performed, and processing such as sending a direct mail to the customer via the Internet can be performed. And
If the search condition is set to a product that matches the product included in the direct mail in the purchase history (the invention described in claim 5), the customer who has purchased the product included in the direct mail in the past can be used. You can search for customer information and send direct mail to the customer. If you set search conditions to products belonging to the product department to which the product included in the direct mail in the purchase history belongs (billing Invention described in Item 6), it is possible to search for customer information of a customer who has previously purchased a product belonging to the product section to which the product included in the direct mail belongs and send the direct mail to the customer. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the entire system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an electrical connection of each unit in a POS terminal used as a server.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a memory structure of a customer file (customer information file).

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a memory structure of a purchase history file (customer information file).

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of a direct mail sending process.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a memory structure of a purchase history file (customer information file).

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a memory structure of a purchase history file (customer information file).

[Explanation of symbols]

9 Product data input means 15 Mail server (Internet mail server) 16, 17, 21, 31 Customer information file 18 Direct mail file

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A merchandise sales registration processing means for providing merchandise data input means for executing merchandise sales registration processing; a customer information file storing customer information including an e-mail address for each customer; A direct mail file stored in the form of electronic information; search condition setting means for setting search conditions corresponding to each direct mail for the direct mail stored in the direct mail file; and converting the direct mail into a format for e-mail. An e-mail editing unit to be edited, and a desired direct mail edited by the e-mail editing unit into an e-mail format, and customer information corresponding to the search condition set by the search condition setting unit is searched from the customer file. Email address included in the customer information And direct mail sending means for sending the direct mail that has been edited to addressed to the e-mail format to the mail server on the Internet communication network,
POS system comprising: 2. The customer information stored in the customer information file is attribute information on the customer registered in the customer information file in advance, and the search condition set by the search condition setting means is attribute information on the customer. PO described in Item 1
S system. 3. The customer information stored in the customer information file is purchase history information stored and registered in the customer information file, and the search condition set by the search condition setting means is purchase history information on the customer. Item 7. The POS system according to Item 1. 4. The POS system according to claim 3, wherein the purchase history information includes information for specifying a purchased product, and the search condition setting means sets a search condition based on the product specifying information. 5. The search condition is a product that matches a product included in the direct mail in the purchase history.
A POS system as described. 6. The POS system according to claim 4, wherein the search condition is a product belonging to a product section to which the product included in the direct mail in the purchase history belongs. 7. A merchandise sales registration function for executing merchandise sales registration processing based on input merchandise data, and a plurality of direct mails stored in the form of electronic information in a direct mail file are supported for each direct mail. A search condition setting function for setting a search condition, an e-mail editing function for editing direct mail into an e-mail format, and a desired direct mail being edited to an e-mail format by the e-mail editing function, and a customer file Search for customer information corresponding to the search condition set by the search condition setting function from the customer information including the email address stored for each customer, and send an email to the email address included in the customer information. A mail server on the Internet communication network And a computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to execute a direct mail sending function to be transmitted to a computer is recorded.