KR102311341B1 - Apparatus, system and method for integrated management of point - Google Patents

Abstract

This specification classifies a plurality of affiliated stores subscribed to the point management service into a plurality of groups, and when a user point accumulation request is received from the affiliated store terminal, the user points for each of the plurality of affiliated stores are divided into the plurality of groups When user points of a specific group among the plurality of groups are used for other groups, the user points for the plurality of affiliated stores are used (integrally) by varying the point conversion rate to use the user points of the specific group. A point management server (or point integrated management device) that can be managed, a point management system, and a point management method are provided.
To this end, a point management server according to an embodiment includes: an interface unit configured to communicate with an affiliated store terminal provided in each of a plurality of affiliated stores subscribed to the point management service; an affiliated store classification unit for classifying a plurality of affiliated stores subscribed to the point management service into a plurality of groups; and when the interface unit receives a user point accumulation request from the affiliated store terminal, the user points for each of the plurality of affiliated stores are separately accumulated for each of the plurality of groups, and a specific group of the plurality of groups has different user points. When used in , a point management unit that manages user points for the plurality of affiliated stores so that the user points of the specific group are used by changing the point conversion rate may be included.

Description

APPARATUS, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT OF POINT}

The present invention relates to an integrated point management device (point integrated management server or point management server), system and method, and more particularly, classifies a plurality of affiliated stores subscribed to a point management service into a plurality of groups by affiliate store or industry, and , When the user wants to use the points accumulated by each merchant or industry for payment, the various points accumulated are to be combined and used, but the point conversion rate when the points corresponding to a specific group are used at merchants included in other groups It relates to a point (integrated) management device (or server), a point management system, and a point management method for managing user points for the plurality of affiliated stores so that the user points of the specific group are used differently.

The point or mileage service refers to a service that allows general customers to pay a part of the product price with points previously accumulated or granted during online/offline payment at a specific company or affiliated store. Through this point service, the company has the advantage of minimizing customer churn, increasing customer purchase volume and encouraging continuous repurchase. .

The recent trend of commerce is to assign a point card to each store, that is, each seller, and to accumulate points as much as a certain percentage of the pre-paid amount and then use it, or to grant certain points when purchasing a specific service or product to use for future payments. In addition, various point services are being used, such as allowing a discount by the amount of points given in advance when paying with payment cards such as credit and debit cards, cyber money, etc. Accordingly, it is possible to hold a plurality of points having different usage points, discount rates, and points per user. For example, multiple payment cards, affiliate cards provided by telecommunication companies, point cards issued and accumulated by the seller, coupons issued in advance, etc., can be used by the user to hold several cards related to points that can be used in stores operated by a specific seller. can

In general, the company that provides the corresponding points allows the use of points by a certain discount rate for the payment amount, but it is common to set a limit on the maximum usable points.

However, in the case of the point service provided in the prior art, in the case of points accumulated depending on the affiliated store or points corresponding to other industries (or other affiliates), it is difficult to use them in other affiliated stores or affiliated stores corresponding to other industries, so efficient use of points There was this difficult problem.

Laid-open Patent Publication No. 10-2014-0038499 (2014.03.28.)

This specification was created to improve the above problems, classifies a plurality of affiliated stores subscribed to the point management service into a plurality of groups, and when receiving a user point accumulation request from the affiliated store terminal, each of the plurality of affiliated stores The plurality of user points are separately accumulated for each of the plurality of groups, and when the user points of a specific group among the plurality of groups are used for other groups, the plurality of user points of the specific group are used by changing the point conversion ratio. An object of the present invention is to provide a point management server (or integrated point management device) capable of (integrally) managing user points for affiliated stores, a point management system, and a point management method.

A point management server according to the present specification for achieving the above objects, an interface unit for performing communication with an affiliated store terminal provided in each of a plurality of affiliated stores subscribed to the point management service; an affiliated store classification unit for classifying a plurality of affiliated stores subscribed to the point management service into a plurality of groups; and when the interface unit receives a user point accumulation request from the affiliated store terminal, the user points for each of the plurality of affiliated stores are separately accumulated for each of the plurality of groups, and the user points of a specific group among the plurality of groups are different. When used in , a point management unit that manages user points for the plurality of affiliated stores so that the user points of the specific group are used by changing the point conversion rate may be included.

As an example related to the present specification, the affiliated store classification unit may classify the plurality of affiliated stores into the plurality of groups for each affiliated store subscribed to the point management service or for each industry corresponding to the plurality of affiliated stores.

As an example related to the present specification, the point management unit may differently set the point conversion rate according to the accumulation or use time of the user points of the specific group.

As an example related to this specification, when the interface unit receives a point exchange request or a point transaction request for user points accumulated for each of the plurality of groups, the point management server may be configured according to the point exchange request or the point transaction request. It may further include a point transaction unit for performing user point exchange or transaction between users of user points.

A point management system according to the present specification for achieving the above objects includes: an affiliated store terminal provided in each of a plurality of affiliated stores subscribed to the point management service; and classifying the plurality of affiliated stores into a plurality of groups and, when a user point accumulation request is received from the affiliated store terminal, divides and accumulates user points for each of the plurality of affiliated stores for each of the plurality of groups, and among the plurality of groups When the user points of a specific group are used for another group, a point management server for managing user points for the plurality of affiliated stores so that the user points of the specific group are used by changing the point conversion rate may be included.

As an example related to this specification, the point management server may classify the plurality of affiliated stores into the plurality of groups for each affiliated store subscribed to the point management service or for each industry corresponding to the plurality of affiliated stores.

As an example related to the present specification, the point management server may differently set the point conversion rate according to the accumulation or use time of the user points of the specific group.

A point management method according to the present specification for achieving the above objects includes: classifying a plurality of affiliated stores subscribed to a point management service into a plurality of groups; receiving a user point accumulation request from an affiliated store terminal provided in each of a plurality of affiliated stores subscribed to the point management service; dividing and accumulating user points for each of the plurality of affiliated stores for each of the plurality of groups; and managing user points for the plurality of affiliated stores so that, when user points of a specific group among the plurality of groups are used for other groups, the point conversion rate is changed so that the user points of the specific group are used. have.

As an example related to the present specification, the classification of the plurality of affiliated stores into a plurality of groups may be performed for each affiliated store subscribed to the point management service or for each industry corresponding to the plurality of affiliated stores.

As an example related to this specification, the point management method may further include setting the point conversion rate differently according to the accumulation or use time of the user points of the specific group.

According to the point management server (or point integrated management device), the point management system, and the point management method according to an embodiment disclosed herein, a plurality of affiliated stores subscribed to the point management service are classified into a plurality of groups, and the affiliated store terminal When receiving a user point accumulation request from By managing user points for the plurality of affiliated stores in an integrated manner so that the user points of the specific group are used by changing the ratio, the accumulated points for each affiliate store or industry is efficiently used, the use of points is increased, and competition from the affiliated store's point of view There is an advantage in that the customer's visit to the affiliated store is limited.

In addition, according to the point management server (or point integrated management device), the point management system, and the point management method according to an embodiment disclosed in the present specification, the point conversion rate according to the point of accumulation or use of the user points of the specific group There is an advantage that can motivate the use of points by setting them differently.

1 is a block diagram of a point management system according to an embodiment of the present specification.
2 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of a point management server according to an embodiment disclosed in the present specification.
3 is a flowchart illustrating a point management method according to an embodiment disclosed in the present specification.

The technology disclosed herein is a point (integration) management server that performs point management for user points (or affiliate points) generated in response to the use of services by affiliated stores, a point (integration) management system including the same, and points (integration) It can be applied to management methods.

In particular, the technology disclosed in the present specification separately accumulates points for each affiliate store or industry, manages the accumulated various points in an integrated manner, and a specific type of point (a point corresponding to a specific affiliate store or a specific industry) is a different type A point (integration) management server that integrally manages user points for the plurality of affiliated stores to be used by varying the point conversion rate, but a point (integration) management system and point (integration) including the same It can be applied to management methods.

It should be noted that the technical terms used in this specification are only used to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the spirit of the technology disclosed herein. In addition, the technical terms used in this specification should be interpreted in the meaning generally understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the technology disclosed in this specification belongs, unless otherwise defined in this specification. It should not be construed in a very comprehensive sense or in an excessively reduced meaning. In addition, when the technical terms used in this specification are incorrect technical terms that do not accurately express the spirit of the technology disclosed in this specification, they should be understood by being replaced with technical terms that can be correctly understood by those skilled in the art. In addition, the general terms used in this specification should be interpreted according to the definition in the dictionary or according to the context before and after, and should not be interpreted in an excessively reduced meaning.

Also, as used herein, the singular expression includes the plural expression unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this specification, terms such as “consisting of” or “comprising” should not be construed as necessarily including all of the various components or various steps described in the specification, some of which components or some steps are It should be construed that it may not include, or may further include additional components or steps.

Also, terms including ordinal numbers such as first, second, etc. used herein may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The above terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, a first component may be referred to as a second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as a first component.

Hereinafter, embodiments disclosed in the present specification will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the same or similar components are assigned the same reference numerals regardless of reference numerals, and redundant description thereof will be omitted.

In addition, in describing the technology disclosed in the present specification, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known technology may obscure the gist of the technology disclosed in this specification, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. In addition, it should be noted that the accompanying drawings are only for easy understanding of the spirit of the technology disclosed in this specification, and should not be construed as limiting the spirit of the technology by the accompanying drawings.

Point management system according to an embodiment disclosed herein

The point management system (or point integrated management system) according to an embodiment disclosed in the present specification classifies the affiliated store terminal and the plurality of affiliated stores provided in each of a plurality of affiliated stores subscribed to the point management service into a plurality of groups, and the affiliated store When a user point accumulation request is received from the terminal, user points for each of the plurality of affiliated stores are separately accumulated for each of the plurality of groups, and when user points of a specific group among the plurality of groups are used for other groups, points and a point management server for managing user points for the plurality of affiliated stores so that the user points of the specific group are used by changing the conversion rate.

According to an embodiment, the point management server may classify the plurality of affiliated stores into the plurality of groups for each affiliated store subscribed to the point management service or for each industry corresponding to the plurality of affiliated stores.

Also, according to an embodiment, the point management server may differently set the point conversion rate according to the accumulation or use time of the user points of the specific group.

Hereinafter, a point (integration) management system according to an embodiment disclosed herein will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 1 .

However, the point management system disclosed in FIG. 1 is merely exemplary, and it is apparent to those skilled in the art that the technology disclosed herein can be applied to various types of point management systems within the scope of the present invention.

1 is a block diagram of a point management system according to an embodiment of the present specification.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the point management system according to an embodiment of the present specification may include a point management server 100 , an affiliated store terminal 200 , and a user terminal 300 .

In addition, the point management system may further include various components for performing a point management function according to an embodiment disclosed herein.

As shown, in the point management system according to an embodiment disclosed herein, the point management server 100 includes at least one of the affiliated store terminal 200 and the user terminal 300 and a wired/wireless network (or wired/wireless network). , see FIG. 1) to provide a point transaction function or service according to the technology disclosed herein.

Here, the wired/wireless network may support various communication methods or communication protocols for communication.

For example, the wired/wireless network includes a mobile communication network, Transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), Local Area Network (LAN), Wireless LAN, Wi-Fi, Wireless Broadband (Wibro), and WiMAX. (World Interoperability for Microwave Access: Wimax) may support at least one communication method or communication protocol.

Hereinafter, the components will be described in turn.

The affiliated store terminal 200 refers to a device that processes user point transactions made in an affiliated store in conjunction with a plurality of or integrated one point management server 300 .

The affiliated store terminal 200 may be provided in the seller's store or affiliated store to provide payment-related information to the point management server 100 through a network during offline payment of goods.

The affiliated store may be a store, store, or agency that is affiliated with a plurality of companies (hereinafter, affiliated companies), and in the affiliated store, point transactions for each affiliate may be simultaneously performed.

Here, each affiliate can define basic benefits corresponding to their own points and approve the user's point transaction request received from the affiliate, so that the basic benefits according to the point transaction are provided to the user.

Each affiliate may have a server (or affiliate server) for managing points.

The affiliate server refers to a server that approves the point accumulation or use request requested from the affiliated store terminal 200, for example, is provided for each affiliate affiliated with the affiliated store or affiliated with the affiliated store. It may have the form of an integrated integrated server.

Specifically, the affiliate server refers to a server that accumulates points or performs or approves the use of points by an event (transaction with customers, etc.) generated from the affiliated store terminal 200, for example, having an affiliate relationship with the affiliated store. It may be provided for each affiliate or may have the form of an integrated server in which the servers of affiliates that are affiliated with the affiliated stores are integrated.

The affiliate server may correspond to a point management server that issues each point card, grants points, and performs payment processing.

According to the technology disclosed in this specification, a point card refers to a plurality of payment cards such as credit and debit cards, affiliate cards provided by telecommunication companies, point cards issued and accumulated by the corresponding seller, coupons issued in advance, and the like. The affiliate server may correspond to each affiliate that issued the point card or a server provided in the affiliate.

As described above, the affiliate server may be operated in the form of an integrated server, and may serve as an integrated point management server.

For example, the affiliate server receives card identification information and point information from the user terminal 300 and stores it in a database, and retrieves card identification information and point information when a point payment request is received from the affiliated store terminal 200 . After that, it is possible to determine at least one card identification information to use the points and a point to be deducted for each card identification information.

The point management server 100 according to an embodiment disclosed in this specification serves as the affiliate server, such as accumulating and using points for the affiliate, and is configured to correspond to the affiliate server, or to the affiliate server. It may be configured to be integrated.

The affiliated store terminal 200 may include a POS (Point Of Sales) installed in the affiliated store, and a smart phone owned by the affiliated store owner, and the point management server 100 is not limited thereto. All devices capable of trading points in conjunction with .

According to an embodiment, the affiliated store terminal 200 may be provided in each of a plurality of affiliated stores subscribed to the point management service, and when a point accumulation event such as a customer purchases a product using the affiliated store occurs , may transmit a point accumulation request to the point management server 100 .

According to an embodiment, the point management server 100 may classify the plurality of affiliated stores into a plurality of groups.

In this case, the point management server 100, when a user point accumulation request is received from the affiliated store terminal 200, receives the user points for each of the plurality of affiliated stores in response to the point accumulation request for each of the plurality of groups. It can be accumulated separately.

Also, according to an embodiment, the affiliated store terminal 200 may transmit a point use request to the point management server 100 when the customer wants to use previously accumulated points.

In this case, the point management server 100, when a user point use request is received from the affiliated store terminal 200, the user point of a specific group among the plurality of groups is used for another group in response to the point use request In this case, it is possible to manage user points for the plurality of affiliated stores so that the user points of the specific group are used by changing the point conversion rate.

The user terminal 300 may be implemented as a known smart phone, tablet PC, PDA, laptop PC, etc. capable of performing data communication through a wired or wireless network, and is equipped with a variety of known applications (application program) You can exchange information by accessing the platform that provides each application.

The user terminal 300 may be provided with a point management service according to an embodiment disclosed herein.

For example, a user who wants to use a point management service accesses a mobile web through the user terminal 300 or a point management site operated by the point management server 100 through an APP. You can receive the point management service by registering as a member through identity authentication.

The user of the point management service may obtain information about the card and each card held by the user terminal 300 from the point management server 100 .

When the accumulation or use of points is finally completed, the user can access the point transaction server 100 and check information about the total amount of points held according to the transaction result and the transaction through the user terminal 300 .

According to an embodiment disclosed herein, the point management server 100 may be integrated into multiple or integrated affiliate servers to be configured as one integrated point management service server.

In this case, the point management server may provide an integrated point management service such as accumulating and using points according to the technology disclosed herein.

The point management server 100 may perform a series of processes for providing the point management service according to an embodiment disclosed herein.

According to an embodiment, the point management server 100 may classify the plurality of affiliated stores into a plurality of groups.

In this case, when a user point accumulation request is received from the affiliated store terminal 200 , the point management server 100 may classify and accumulate user points for each of the plurality of affiliated stores for each of the plurality of groups.

In addition, when the user points of a specific group among the plurality of groups are used for other groups, the point management server 100 provides information for the plurality of affiliated stores so that the user points of the specific group are used by changing the point conversion ratio. You can manage user points.

According to an embodiment, the point management server 100 may classify the plurality of affiliated stores into the plurality of groups for each affiliated store subscribed to the point management service or by industry corresponding to the plurality of affiliated stores.

Also, according to an embodiment, the point management server 100 may set the point conversion rate differently according to the accumulation or use time of the user points of the specific group.

A detailed configuration of the point management server 100 will be described in more detail below with reference to FIG. 2 .

Point management server according to an embodiment disclosed herein

The point management server according to an embodiment disclosed in the present specification disclosed below may be implemented as a part or combination of configurations or steps included in the above-described embodiments, or may be implemented as a combination of embodiments, hereinafter, point management For a clear representation of the embodiment related to the server, overlapping portions may be omitted.

Accordingly, in the following, the description of the point management server overlapping the description of the point management system described above may be omitted.

The point management server according to an embodiment disclosed in the present specification includes an interface unit for communicating with an affiliated store terminal provided in each of a plurality of affiliated stores subscribed to the point management service, and a plurality of affiliated stores subscribed to the point management service into a plurality of groups. When the affiliated store classification unit and the interface unit that classify into , receive a user point accumulation request from the affiliated store terminal, the user points for each of the plurality of affiliated stores are divided by the plurality of groups and accumulated, and a specific group among the plurality of groups When the user points of is used for another group, the point conversion rate may include a point management unit that manages user points for the plurality of affiliated stores so that the user points of the specific group are used by varying the point conversion rate.

According to an embodiment, the affiliated store classification unit may classify the plurality of affiliated stores into the plurality of groups for each affiliated store subscribed to the point management service or for each industry corresponding to the plurality of affiliated stores.

Also, according to an embodiment, the point management unit may differently set the point conversion rate according to the accumulation or use time of the user points of the specific group.

In addition, the point management server according to an embodiment may include, when the interface unit receives a point exchange request or a point transaction request for the user points accumulated for each of the plurality of groups, the user points according to the point exchange request or the point transaction request It may further include a point transaction unit for performing user point exchange or transaction between users.

2 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of a point management server according to an embodiment disclosed in the present specification.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the point management server 100 according to an embodiment disclosed herein may include an interface unit 110 , an affiliate store classification unit 120 , and a point management unit 130 .

Also, according to an embodiment, the point transaction server 100 may further include a point transaction unit 140 .

Here, the entire configuration or part of the point transaction server 100 including the interface unit 110 , the affiliate store classification unit 120 , the point management unit 130 , and the point transaction unit 140 is a hardware module or a software module. It may be implemented, or may be implemented through a combination between them.

In addition, the point transaction server 100 may further include various components for performing a point management function according to an embodiment disclosed herein.

Since the components shown in FIG. 2 are not essential, the point management server 100 having more or fewer components may be implemented.

Hereinafter, the components will be described in turn.

However, portions overlapping with the content related to the point management server disclosed in the point transaction system disclosed in FIG. 1 may be omitted, and below, the point management server 100 will be described in detail in terms of functions for the specified hardware components. do.

The interface unit 110 may serve to communicate with an external device.

According to an embodiment, the external device may be at least one of the user terminal 300 and the affiliated store terminal 200 described above.

The interface unit 110 may communicate with the external device using various communication methods or communication protocols.

For example, the interface unit 110, a mobile communication network, TCP/IP (Transmission control protocol/Internet protocol), LAN (Local Area Network), Wireless LAN, Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi), Wi-Bro (Wireless Broadband: Wibro) and Wimax (World Interoperability for Microwave Access: Wimax) may communicate with the external device using at least one communication method or communication protocol.

According to an embodiment, the interface unit 110 may communicate with the affiliated store terminal 200 provided in each of a plurality of affiliated stores subscribed to the point management service.

Also, the interface unit 110 may receive a user point accumulation request from the affiliated store terminal 200 .

Specifically, the affiliated store terminal 200, when the customer is provided with a product or service provided by the affiliated store equipped with the affiliated store terminal 200 and pays for the product or service, it is possible to accumulate points for the product or service. In order to generate the user point earning request.

In this case, the point management server 100 may receive the user point accumulation request through the interface unit 110 .

The affiliated store classification unit 120 may serve to classify a plurality of affiliated stores subscribed to the point management service into a plurality of groups.

According to an embodiment, the affiliated store classification unit 120 may classify the plurality of affiliated stores into the plurality of groups by affiliated stores subscribed to the point management service or by industry corresponding to the plurality of affiliated stores.

For example, if the plurality of affiliated stores are affiliated stores A, B, and C, the affiliated store classification unit 120 may classify the affiliated stores A, B, and C into three groups for each affiliated store. have.

Also, for example, when the plurality of affiliated stores is affiliated store A (restaurant), affiliate store B (clothing store), affiliate store C (restaurant), and affiliate store D (clothing store), the affiliate store classification unit 120 may The affiliated stores, C affiliates, and D affiliates may be classified into a first group (restaurant) and a second group (clothing store) by industry. In this case, the first group may include the affiliated stores A and C, and the second group may include the affiliated stores B and D.

The point management unit 130 may serve to perform a point management function such as accumulating and using (user) points for the plurality of affiliated stores.

According to an embodiment, when the interface unit 110 receives a user point accumulation request from the affiliated store terminal 200 , the point management unit 130 may store user points for each of the plurality of affiliated stores in the plurality of affiliated stores. It can be accumulated by dividing by group.

Accordingly, the point management unit 130 integrates and manages user points for each of the plurality of affiliated stores, but applies different point conversion ratios between points for each group that are divided and accumulated by dividing and accumulating for each of the plurality of groups. be able to

According to an embodiment, when the user points of a specific group among the plurality of groups are used for another group, the point management unit 130 may change the point conversion ratio to use the plurality of user points of the specific group. You can manage user points for merchants.

Also, according to an exemplary embodiment, the point management unit 130 may set the point conversion rate differently according to the accumulation or use time of the user points of the specific group.

A specific example of the point management function by the point management server 100 according to the technology disclosed in this specification will be described as follows.

As an example, the point management server 100 may classify the A affiliated store, the B affiliated store, and the C affiliated store into three groups for each affiliated store, when the plurality of affiliated stores are affiliated with A, affiliated with B, and affiliated with C. have.

In this case, the point management server 100 may accumulate user points by classifying them for each affiliated store A, affiliate store B, and affiliate store C.

In addition, the point management server 100 allows the points accumulated by dividing for each affiliated store A, affiliate store B, and affiliated C to be used in an integrated manner in all affiliated stores, but the point conversion ratio between the divided points can be set differently. .

For example, when a specific customer has 100 points at the affiliated store A, the 100 points may be changed to 150 points in the affiliate store B and 50 points in the affiliate store C.

Through this, the franchisee A can restrict the customer's visit to affiliated store C, which is a competitor (a check function for competing franchisees).

In addition, when the affiliate A (coffee shop) and the affiliate store B (restaurant) cooperate with each other and apply a high point conversion rate to the point for the affiliate store B in the affiliate A, the customer can choose "coffee shop -> restaurant" or " There is an advantage of having a motivation to use the affiliated store A (coffee shop) and the affiliate store B (restaurant) in the order of "restaurant -> coffee shop" (a cooperative function between affiliate stores).

As another example, when the plurality of affiliated stores is affiliated store A (restaurant), affiliate store B (clothing store), affiliate store C (restaurant), and affiliate store D (coffee shop), the point management server 100 is the affiliate store A , B affiliated store, C affiliated store, and D affiliated store may be classified into a first group (restaurant), a second group (clothing store), and a third group (coffee shop) by industry.

In this case, the first group may include the affiliated store A and C, the second group may include the affiliate store B, and the third group may include the affiliated store D.

In this case, the point management server 100 may divide and accumulate user points for each of the first group, the second group, and the third group.

In addition, the point management server 100, the first group, the second group, and the third group by dividing the accumulated points can be used in an integrated way for all affiliated stores, but the point conversion rate between the divided points can be set differently.

For example, if a specific customer has 100 points in the first group, the 100 points are 150 points in the affiliate store B (second group), 100 points in the same industry in the affiliate store C (the first group), and 100 points; The D affiliate store (third group) can be used after being changed to 50 points.

As another example, the point management server 100 may set the point conversion rate differently according to the accumulation time of the user points of the specific group.

For example, the point management server 100 may convert the points accumulated one week before the point of use of the user points to 120% at other affiliated stores to be used. Through this, a motivation for customers to actively accumulate and use points may be provided to customers.

As another example, the point management server 100 may set the point conversion rate differently according to the use time of the user points of the specific group. More specifically, when the point at which the user uses points falls within a predetermined period, an additional point conversion rate may be provided. For example, when using points at a merchant belonging to the first group (restaurant), the point conversion rate is converted to 120% when using points outside of meal time, or a sale at a merchant belonging to the second group (clothing store) Additional benefits can be given by converting the point conversion rate to 120% when using points within a set event period, such as a period.

According to another exemplary embodiment, the point management server 100 may set a different point conversion rate for each affiliate store or each business type according to customers' personal preferences.

Here, the personal tendency may mean the customer's consumption taste or hobby for the product or service (eg, a specific customer's tendency to visit a coffee shop after eating at a restaurant).

For example, in the case of customer A, a female working woman in her twenties, the point management server 100 may set a high point conversion ratio between affiliate stores corresponding to the clothing industry and cosmetics industry, and a low point conversion ratio between other industries. .

When receiving a point exchange request or a point transaction request for user points accumulated for each of the plurality of groups, the point transaction unit 140 exchanges user points between users of user points according to the point exchange request or the point transaction request. Or, it may serve as a transaction executioner.

Here, the point transaction unit 140 may serve to automatically calculate the transaction amount according to the point conversion rate for a specific industry or a specific affiliated store of the points to be traded.

Through this, there may be an advantage in that the transaction for the points of the preferred group is activated according to the tendency of the customers.

For example, if point A for industry A (coffee shop) is used at 150% in industry B (restaurant), customers with high preference for restaurants can purchase the point A at a low price and use it in industry B. there will be

In this case, the point transaction unit 140 may automatically calculate the A point transaction amount in the 120% line (appropriate value between 100% to 150%) of the B point price in the B industry.

Point management method according to an embodiment disclosed herein

The point management method according to an embodiment disclosed below may be implemented as a part or combination of components or steps included in the above-described embodiments, or may be implemented as a combination of embodiments. For clear expression of the management method, overlapping parts may be omitted.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a point management method according to an embodiment disclosed herein.

Referring to FIG. 3 , the point management method according to an embodiment disclosed herein may include the following steps.

First, a plurality of affiliated stores subscribed to the point management service may be classified into a plurality of groups (S110).

Next, a user point accumulation request may be received from an affiliated store terminal provided in each of a plurality of affiliated stores subscribed to the point management service (S120).

Next, user points for each of the plurality of affiliated stores may be divided and accumulated for each of the plurality of groups (S130).

Next, when the user points of a specific group among the plurality of groups are used for other groups, the user points for the plurality of affiliated stores can be managed so that the user points of the specific group are used by changing the point conversion rate ( S140).

According to an embodiment, the classification of the plurality of affiliated stores into a plurality of groups may be performed for each affiliated store subscribed to the point management service or for each industry corresponding to the plurality of affiliated stores.

In addition, the point management method according to an embodiment may further include setting the point conversion rate differently according to the accumulation or use time of the user points of the specific group.

Briefly summarizing the technology disclosed in this specification, the technology disclosed herein classifies a plurality of affiliated stores subscribed to the point management service into a plurality of groups, and when receiving a user point accumulation request from the affiliated store terminal, the plurality of The user points for each affiliate store are separately accumulated for each of the plurality of groups, and when the user points of a specific group among the plurality of groups are used for other groups, the user points of the specific group are used by changing the point conversion rate. It relates to a point management server (or integrated point management device) capable of (integrally) managing user points for the plurality of affiliated stores, a point management system, and a point management method.

The point management server or point management system according to the technology disclosed in the present specification makes it possible to use a specific type of point (points accumulated for each merchant or industry) as a different type of point, but differentiated point conversion rate for each merchant or industry. There is an advantage in that the point management function can be used as a marketing point for activation of point use by applying .

Specifically, the point management server or point management system according to the technology disclosed in the present specification is characterized in that it can provide additional benefits to merchant owners and users while managing points (mileage) in an integrated manner.

That is, the technology disclosed in the present specification relates to a function or method for granting additional benefits to franchisees and users by granting differential benefits to points provided for each affiliate store or by industry corresponding to the affiliate store.

To explain with a specific example, the point management method according to the technology disclosed in this specification is 1) to the point management service through a channel (App or Web site, etc.) that a customer or user can access to the user terminal 200. Subscription 2) When accumulating points at affiliated stores, classify the affiliated stores by affiliated store or the affiliated stores into several industries (eg, A/B/C/D/E/Other), and each affiliate or business type Separate management of points accumulated by using (manage when points are accumulated) 3) When points are used at affiliated stores, the accumulated points for each store and industry shall be integrated and used, and accumulated by each store or industry. It is characterized in that a differential exchange rate (or a differential conversion rate) is applied to the accumulated points.

For example, 100 pts accumulated in business A (eg, coffee shop) becomes 200 pts when used in business B (restaurant), but may be 50 pts when used in business C (apparel business).

Accordingly, in this case, the customer's desire to use the restaurant may increase, so that additional benefits may be provided to the franchisee and the user of the restaurant.

In addition, according to the technology disclosed herein, additional exchange rate benefits may be applied depending on the point of accumulation or use, thereby motivating the use of points. For example, if the point of accumulation is recent (e.g., if the point of accumulation is one week before the point of use), the conversion rate may be applied additionally by 1.2 times, and the point at which the user uses points is within a set period (e.g. : In the case of restaurants, it is possible to apply an additional 1.2 times the conversion rate (except during mealtimes, in the case of clothing stores, during a sale period).

According to the technology disclosed in this specification, by changing the point conversion rate (or conversion rate) for each merchant or industry, members exchange the points accumulated by merchant A and B merchant after visiting merchant B, activation through point exchange and This has the advantage of maximizing the benefits.

In addition, the technology disclosed herein may induce sequential visits by industry in accordance with the life cycle of a customer or member. For example, by applying a differentiated point conversion rate according to the customer or member's personal preference (eg, industry preference), the customer or member can be classified as A business (travel agency), B business (oil service), C business (food and beverage) There is an advantage in that it can activate visits such as

In addition, the technology disclosed in the present specification may provide a function of restricting the visit of a competitor by allowing a different point conversion rate for each affiliate store. For example, when using points for the same industry, the exchange rate is set at 10%, and when used at an earning member store, the exchange rate is set at 200%, thereby providing a function to restrict the visit of customers to competitors.

According to the point management server (or point integrated management device), the point management system, and the point management method according to an embodiment disclosed herein, a plurality of affiliated stores subscribed to the point management service are classified into a plurality of groups, and the affiliated store terminal When receiving a user point accumulation request from By managing user points for the plurality of affiliated stores in an integrated manner so that the user points of the specific group are used by changing the ratio, the accumulated points for each affiliate store or industry is efficiently used, the use of points is increased, and competition from the affiliated store's point of view There is an advantage in that the customer's visit to the affiliated store is limited.

In addition, according to the point management server (or point integrated management device), the point management system, and the point management method according to an embodiment disclosed in the present specification, the point conversion rate according to the point of accumulation or use of the user points of the specific group There is an advantage that can motivate the use of points by setting them differently.

On the other hand, the functional operations and implementations of the subject matter described in this specification are implemented as digital electronic circuits, computer software, firmware, or hardware including the structures disclosed in this specification and structural equivalents thereof, or at least one of these It can be implemented by combining. Implementations of the subject matter described herein are one or more computer program products, ie, one or more modules of computer program instructions encoded on a tangible program storage medium for controlling the operation of, or for execution by, a processing system. can be implemented.

The computer readable medium may be a machine readable storage device, a machine readable storage substrate, a memory device, a composition of matter that affects a machine readable radio wave signal, or a combination of one or more thereof.

As used herein, the term “system” or “device” encompasses all apparatuses, devices and machines for processing data, including, for example, programmable processors, computers, or multiple processors or computers. A processing system may include, in addition to hardware, code that, upon request, forms an execution environment for a computer program, such as code constituting processor firmware, a protocol stack, a database management system, an operating system, or a combination of one or more of these. .

A computer program (also known as a program, software, software application, script or code) may be written in any form of a programming language, including compiled or interpreted language or a priori or procedural language, and may be written as a stand-alone program or module; It can be deployed in any form, including components, subroutines, or other units suitable for use in a computer environment. A computer program does not necessarily correspond to a file in a file system. A program may be in a single file provided to the requested program, or in multiple interacting files (eg, files that store one or more modules, subprograms, or portions of code), or portions of files that hold other programs or data. (eg, one or more scripts stored within a markup language document). The computer program may be deployed to be executed on a single computer or multiple computers located at one site or distributed over a plurality of sites and interconnected by a communication network.

On the other hand, computer-readable media suitable for storing computer program instructions and data include, for example, semiconductor memory devices such as EPROMs, EEPROMs and flash memory devices, such as magnetic disks such as internal hard disks or external disks, magneto-optical disks and CDs. -Can include all types of non-volatile memory, media and memory devices, including ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor and memory may be supplemented by, or incorporated into, special purpose logic circuitry.

An implementation of the subject matter described herein may include a backend component, such as a data server, or a middleware component, such as an application server, or a web browser or graphical user, such as a user capable of interacting with an implementation of the subject matter described herein. It may be implemented in a front-end component, such as a client computer having an interface, or in a computing system including any combination of one or more of such back-end, middleware, or front-end components. The components of the system may be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication, such as, for example, a communication network.

While this specification contains numerous specific implementation details, they should not be construed as limitations on the scope of any invention or claim, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments of particular inventions. should be understood Likewise, certain features that are described herein in the context of separate embodiments may be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments, either individually or in any suitable subcombination. Furthermore, although features operate in a particular combination and may be initially depicted as claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination may in some cases be excluded from the combination, the claimed combination being a sub-combination. or a variant of a sub-combination.

Also, although operations are depicted in the drawings in a specific order herein, it is not to be understood that such operations must be performed in the specific order or sequential order shown or that all illustrated operations must be performed in order to achieve desirable results. Can not be done. In certain cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Further, the separation of the various system components of the above-described embodiments should not be construed as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and the program components and systems described may generally be integrated together into a single software product or packaged into multiple software products. It should be understood that

As such, this specification is not intended to limit the invention to the specific terminology presented. Accordingly, although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the above-described examples, those skilled in the art can make modifications, changes, and modifications to the examples without departing from the scope of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is indicated by the following claims rather than the above detailed description, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalent concepts should be interpreted as being included in the scope of the present invention. do.

The scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed herein, and the present invention may be modified, changed, or improved in various forms within the scope of the spirit and claims of the present invention.

100: point management server 200: merchant terminal
300: user terminal

Claims (10)

an interface unit for communicating with an affiliated store terminal provided in each of a plurality of affiliated stores subscribed to the point management service;
an affiliated store classification unit for classifying a plurality of affiliated stores subscribed to the point management service into a plurality of groups; and
When the interface unit receives a user point accumulation request from the affiliated store terminal, the user points for each of the plurality of affiliated stores are separately accumulated for each of the plurality of groups,
and a point management unit for managing user points for the plurality of affiliated stores so that, when user points of a specific group among the plurality of groups are used for other groups, the point conversion ratio is changed so that the user points of the specific group are used,
The point conversion rate when the user points of the specific group are used for the first group and the point conversion rate when the user points of the specific group are used for the second group are different from each other;
The point management unit,
Point management server, characterized in that the point conversion rate is set differently according to the point of accumulation or use of the user points of the specific group. ◈Claim 2 was abandoned when paying the registration fee.◈ According to claim 1, wherein the affiliated store classification unit,
Point management server for classifying the plurality of affiliated stores into the plurality of groups for each affiliated store subscribed to the point management service or by industry corresponding to the plurality of affiliated stores. delete ◈Claim 4 was abandoned when paying the registration fee.◈ According to claim 1,
When the interface unit receives a point exchange request or a point transaction request for user points accumulated for each of the plurality of groups, a point for performing user point exchange or transaction between users of user points according to the point exchange request or point transaction request Point management server, characterized in that it further comprises a transaction unit. delete delete delete classifying, by the point management server, a plurality of affiliated stores subscribed to the point management service into a plurality of groups;
receiving, by the point management server, a user point accumulation request from an affiliated store terminal provided in each of a plurality of affiliated stores subscribed to the point management service;
accumulating, by the point management server, user points for each of the plurality of affiliated stores for each of the plurality of groups; and
The point management server manages user points for the plurality of affiliated stores so that, when user points of a specific group among the plurality of groups are used for other groups, the point conversion ratio is changed so that the user points of the specific group are used comprising steps,
The point conversion rate when the user points of the specific group are used for the first group and the point conversion rate when the user points of the specific group are used for the second group are different from each other;
The step of managing user points for the plurality of affiliated stores includes:
Point management method, characterized in that the point conversion rate is set differently according to the point of accumulation or use of the user points of the specific group. delete delete

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