JPH11203561A - Card customer control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system which is further progressed from a conventional passive system and capable of actively and automatically originating information to a customer in a customer control system for using a card. SOLUTION: A terminal 14 capable of reading data from a customer card to be brought by the customer and by which data communication is enabled with a host device to be described later is arranged at each store 11. Customer data on plural customers are held and a host computer 15 at least with a function to update the customer data or store data based on the data received from the terminal 14 and an originating instruction function to select the customer and the store to be suited to a specified condition and to give an instruction command corresponding to the condition to an originating means to be described later is provided in a data processing center 12. Specified information is originated to the selected customer or store by using the originating means like a telephone set, facsimile equipment 19 or a distribution system, etc., by the host computer 15.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sales promotion customer management system using a terminal device provided at each store and a data processing device, telephone, facsimile device and the like provided at a center.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A POS system that immediately transmits data on a product from a POS terminal to a local computer or a center computer every time the product is sold and performs purchase management, inventory management, and the like is already widely used. Since the product data is also sales data, various applied data processing such as investigation of sales trends and examination of sales promotion measures is performed by concentrating and analyzing the data. In addition, this is linked with a customer card to analyze purchase data for each customer.

On the other hand, a stamp method has been used for a long time as a method of increasing the return rate of customers to stores. That is, a stamp is given to a customer for every purchase of a predetermined amount,
Paste it on a mount and have it stored. When a certain number of stamps have been accumulated, they can be exchanged for prizes or treated like cash vouchers.

However, stamps are generally inconvenient to handle, and have recently been changed to a system using a magnetic card. That is, the customer is first given a magnetic card,
Points are awarded to the magnetic card each time a predetermined amount of money is purchased. The points are recorded as magnetic information on the magnetic card, printed on the surface of the magnetic card so that the number of accumulated points can be visually checked, and further stored in the memory of the magnetic card recording device. The handling of this point in the promotion is the same as that of the above stamp, but the magnetic card and the point assignment to it are much more convenient for both the customer and the dealer, so that they are widely used. .

As described above, in the current point system, the magnetic card recording device can store the accumulated point numbers of many customers. Therefore, it is already possible to send the stored data to the host computer at an appropriate time (once a day or once every few days), perform point management for all the customers there, and analyze the customer's purchasing trend survey and the like. Is being done.

[0006]

The POS system linked with the customer card or the point system using the magnetic card is widely used for customer management as described above.
What is automatically performed by the conventional system is only the stage up to the analysis of customer data.Specific measures and actions to improve customer return rate to each store and promote sales based on the analysis data Did not do.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a customer management system using a card, which is further advanced from the conventional passive system, and provides the customer with a service. It is an object of the present invention to provide a system that can actively and automatically perform the action.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided a customer management system which is provided in a store and is capable of reading data from a customer card brought by a customer. And a terminal device capable of performing data communication with a host device described below, and b) a host device provided in a data processing center and holding customer data of a plurality of customers and having at least the following two functions: B1) a customer data update function for updating customer data or store data based on the data received from the terminal device b2) selecting a customer or store that meets predetermined conditions, A transmission instruction function for giving a transmission command c) In response to a transmission command from the host device, using the telephone, a fax device or a delivery system, etc. And transmitting means for transmitting a predetermined information to the customer or the store,
It is characterized by including.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS When a customer visits a store, a customer card brought by the customer is accessed to the terminal device. The customer card may be a magnetic card, an IC card (so-called smart card), or a non-contact (wireless) card. Accessing the terminal device generally means reading the magnetic data held by the magnetic card by inserting or sliding the magnetic card into the slot of the terminal device in the case of a magnetic card, and similarly in the case of an IC card. . In the case of a non-contact card, the terminal device and the non-contact card communicate with each other by a weak radio wave, and similarly, data stored in the card is read. Note that in order to realize the function provided by the present invention, it is sufficient that data can be read from the customer card at a minimum, and further, a data writing function such as recording the accumulated points on the customer card is provided. , It is possible to realize more customer management functions as described later.

It is desirable that the terminal device be provided with storage means (semiconductor memory, magnetic disk, etc.) for holding a certain number of customer data. Of course, if the terminal device and the host device are always connected by a communication line, the storage device may not be provided, and the data may be transmitted to the host device every time a customer card accesses.

The customer card holds at least data for identifying the customer card or data for identifying the customer. Customer identification data includes customer address and name,
Numerical data such as a telephone number of a customer's house and a mobile telephone number are more desirable from the viewpoint of storage capacity, reduction of data processing load, prevention of duplicate registration, and the like. Needless to say, the terminal device or the host device can be finally collated with detailed customer data such as address, name, gender, age and the like.

Data retention is performed magnetically (so-called magnetic card or plastic card with magnetic stripe)
Alternatively, a semiconductor memory may be used (IC card, non-contact card), or unevenness of a plastic card (eg, embossed characters) may be used. When only the irregularities are used, only data reading can be performed. However, in the case of a magnetic card or a semiconductor memory card, data can be written from a terminal device to a customer card. In this case, the customer card can also hold point data and purchase price data. The point data may be associated with the purchase price or the number of purchases, or may be associated only with visits to stores, regardless of purchase.

When the customer card does not hold the point data, the terminal device or the host device holds the point data. From the viewpoint of sales promotion, it is desirable to show the current point number to the customer immediately each time the customer card is accessed to the terminal device. It is desirable to do. As a method of printing on a card, recently, various methods such as heat sensitivity and photosensitivity other than ink can be used. Of course, a display device may be provided on the terminal device side, and the number of points may be displayed on the display device so that the customer can see it. Alternatively, a point display device for allowing the customer to access the customer card and confirm the current number of points may be separately provided at the store. At this time, it is also possible to give a store visit point (a point given only to a store without making a purchase).

The terminal device which has read out the customer identification data or the customer identification data + point data by accessing from the customer card temporarily stores it therein, and then transmits it to the host device at another opportunity or immediately. . As described above, generally, a number of pieces of customer identification data that does not exceed the storage capacity of the terminal device are transmitted at a time when they are collected, or at regular intervals (for example, every day after work, every week, etc.). Terminal devices are generally located at each store, and host devices are generally located at head office, chain store headquarters, outsourcing companies, etc.
A public telephone line or a dedicated line is generally used for data communication between the two, but the Internet or a commercial network service (for example, the trade name Niftyserve) may be used.

The host device is provided at a data processing center such as the head office. A large-capacity storage device is connected to the host device so that customer data of many customers and data about each store can be held. The customer data includes the customer identification data, customer address, name, gender, age, visiting store identification data, visiting date and time, purchase amount (when the customer card has the function), and the like. The visiting store identification data can be obtained from the identification data of the terminal device to which the customer identification data has been transmitted.

The update function of the host device is a function of updating customer data and / or store data stored therein when customer identification data or the like is transmitted from the terminal device. The simplest update process is to record the date and time at which the customer visited the store and increment the total number of visits. When the number of points and the purchase price are sent to the host device,
Updating of the accumulated points, recording of purchase date / time, and amount of money are also performed.

The outgoing call instructing function, which is another important function of the host device, first searches for customer data stored therein under a predetermined condition, and selects a customer or a store meeting the condition. For example, the selection is made under the conditions such as a customer who has made 10 cumulative visits to a certain store, a customer who has never visited a certain store during this month. The host device performs transmission processing for predetermined sales promotion to the selected customer or store using the transmission means. For example, a discount coupon is transmitted to a customer who has reached 10 cumulative visits using a fax machine. Since the customer's fax number is naturally included in the customer data of the host device, the host device performs such processing by sending the telephone number and image data of the discount coupon to the automatic originating fax device. be able to.
For a customer who has never visited the store during this month, the customer's address and sales information of the store are continuously printed out on a predetermined direct mail postcard using a printer, and automatically printed out. Fold. Separate the continuous paper one by one and post it as a postcard for each leaf. Alternatively, an electronic mail system or the like may be used as the transmitting means.

The transmission instruction processing may be performed each time data is transmitted from the terminal device, or may be performed at a predetermined time separately from the data transmission. For example, it can be set arbitrarily, such as once a week or once a month, or at a request from a store.

[0019]

In the customer management system according to the present invention, since the information transmission process according to the trend is positively and finely performed for each customer, a great sales promotion effect can be obtained at a small cost. be able to.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As an embodiment of the present invention, a customer management system comprising a plurality of stores 11a, 11b, 11c,... And one data processing center 12, as shown in FIG. Each store 11 is provided with a terminal device 14 capable of reading and writing data from a magnetic card 13 (FIG. 2) brought by a customer, and a data processing center 12 includes a host computer 15 and various output devices described below. Provided.

The terminal device 14 of each store comprises a magnetic card reader, a printer, a microcomputer, a memory and the like, and is provided with a port for digitally outputting data or a modem for connecting to a telephone line 16. Those having only a data output port use an external modem (MDM) 17 or temporarily transfer data to a personal computer 18 or the like,
The host computer 15 of the data processing center 12 is connected to a personal computer 18 via a telephone line 16 or a dedicated line.
Connect to There are various types of printing devices of the terminal device 14, such as a device having only a print head or a device having a print head and an erasing head. In the former case, a magnetic card 13 of a type which can be written only once as shown in FIG. 2A is used, and in the latter case, a rewritable magnetic card 13 as shown in FIG. Use '.

A fax machine (F) is provided as an external output device to the host computer 15 of the data processing center 12.
AX) 19 and a printer 20 are connected.

The operation of the system according to the present embodiment is as follows. When the customer visits the store 11, the customer's magnetic card 1
3 is inserted into the terminal device 14 of the store 11, and the member number and the accumulated point data as the customer identification data recorded are read out. It is convenient to use a telephone number as the member number, but a serial number or an encrypted number may be used in consideration of privacy. The read data is temporarily stored in the memory of the terminal device 14 together with the read date and time. Next, the clerk operates the keyboard of the terminal device 14 to input the number of points to be given this time. The number of points given may be proportional to the purchase price of the customer, or a certain number may be given for each visit. The number of points given this time is also stored in the memory of the terminal device 14, added to the cumulative number of points read from the magnetic card 13, and overwritten and stored in a corresponding portion of the memory of the terminal device 14. The accumulated number of points is also overwritten and recorded in the corresponding recording location of the magnetic card 13 of the customer.
The mark corresponding to the number of points given this time is magnetic card 1
3 is additionally printed on the surface of the magnetic card 1 at a glance.
The accumulated point number of 3 can be understood. Such processing is performed for each customer presenting the magnetic card 13, and customer identification data, point data, and the like of a plurality of customers are accumulated in the terminal device 14. FIG. 3 shows an example of the stored data. In addition, you may make it memorize | store the purchase amount of money other than the number of points.

After one day of business, the store clerk operates the terminal device 14 to transmit the data accumulated on that day to the host computer 15 of the data processing center 12. The host computer 15 writes the received data together with data such as the terminal number, date and time of reception, and the like in a database system operating inside the host computer 15. In this database, in addition to the data transmitted from each terminal device 14, data such as the address, name, age, and gender of the customer collected by inputting the items that the customer had filled out when joining the membership were entered. Is held.

The data processing center 12 accumulates data transmitted from the stores 11a, 11b, 11c,..., And also performs analysis at regular intervals based on the accumulated customer data. For example, the number of customer visits, the number of new members acquired, the number of points granted, and the like for the past one month / last year of the store are graphed by day / month. In addition, the above data is analyzed from the viewpoint of the customer's area, age, gender, and the like, and the tendency is searched for. These analysis data are processed into a graph format that is easy to read in addition to a tabular format in which specific numerical values are described, printed out, and sent to each store as a report together with advice from an expert.

In the customer management system according to the present invention, the stores 11a, 11b, 11c,.
And actively work with each customer. First,
By searching a database in the host computer 15 under a predetermined condition, a customer or a store matching the condition is selected. For example, a customer who visited a store last month but did not visit this month, or
Stores where the number of new members this month has fallen below the target value. To the customer or store thus selected, the host computer 15 uses the facsimile device 19 to fax a sales promotion leaflet or a document prepared in advance to the customer or store. The text to be faxed here is already stored in the storage device of the host computer 15 as a document file or as an image data file, and the image data and the fax number of the customer or the store are sent to the fax device, so that the paperless printing is performed. , A document in which sales information, customer behavior information, and the like are described can be directly transmitted to a customer or a store. For customers who do not have a fax machine, a document containing the same information is printed out by the printer 20 and put in an envelope or a postcard and mailed. You may send it by courier with a gift for sales promotion. Further, if the customer or the store can respond, the information may be transmitted by e-mail using personal computer communication.

Instead of fax transmission, automatic voice transmission by telephone can be used. That is, a plurality of messages are recorded in advance on a tape, a disk, a semiconductor memory, or the like, a message corresponding to a customer or store selection condition is selected, an automatic call is made to the selected customer or store, and a message is transmitted. It is what you do. In addition, this system not only provides standard information, but also asks customers to operate buttons, changes the message to be sent out, sends documents by fax, mails catalogs,
It is also possible to contact the store.

Instead of the unidirectional transmission of the message as described above, an environment may be provided to assist the operator in calling the customer. That is, when an operator sits in front of a communication terminal device (not shown) connected to the host computer 15 and performs a predetermined key operation, a list of selected customers appears on the screen. When the operator clicks on one of the customers with the mouse, the telephone terminal automatically calls the customer's telephone. When the line is connected, information about the customer and matters to be spoken to the customer are displayed on the screen of the call terminal device, and the operator aims at sales promotion to the customer while looking at the screen. Can talk.

In the case of the active transmission as described above, sending a very large number of faxes to the customer will rather hurt the customer's feelings and hinder sales promotion. Therefore, only the minimum information is transmitted by fax, and the other information is stored in advance in the fax device 19 of the data processing center 12.
Is desirably stored in a memory called a fax reception box so that the customer can take it out at any time. The fax number in the fax inbox is of course included in the information sent to the customer.

In the case of a simple condition of a customer or the like in which the accumulated point number exceeds a certain number, it can be known when the magnetic card 13 is inserted into the terminal device 14 in each store. The analysis of the data over the store can be performed only by the data processing center 12. Conventionally, such data analysis in the data processing center 12 has been performed.
The report is sent to 1a, 11b, 11c,..., And the subsequent processing is left to each store 11a, 11b, 11c,. Humans were conducting business activities based on this. In contrast, in the system according to the present invention,
Actions are taken immediately based on the results of the analysis and are performed automatically. Therefore, it is possible to respond more quickly to changes in the purchase trend of the customer than before, and it is possible to develop sales promotion activities with superiority in severe competition with other stores and other chain stores.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual configuration diagram of a card customer management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an example of a customer card.

FIG. 3 is a table showing an example of data stored in a terminal;

[Explanation of symbols]

 11a, 11b, 11c, store 12 data processing center 13, 13 'magnetic card 14, terminal device 15, host computer 16, telephone line 17, modem 18, personal computer 19, fax machine 20, printer

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A terminal provided in a store, capable of reading data from a customer card brought by a customer, and capable of performing data communication with a host device to be described later; and b) data processing. A host device provided at the center and holding customer data of a plurality of customers and having at least the following two functions: b1) customer data for updating customer data or store data based on data received from the terminal device Update function b2) Selects a customer or store that meets predetermined conditions and sends a transmission command corresponding to the conditions to the transmission means described below.c) A telephone or fax machine according to the transmission command from the host device. Or a transmitting means for transmitting predetermined information to the selected customer or store by using a delivery system or the like. Management systems.