KR20060008108A - Multi-discount card terminal for coupon-specified products and method for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a card payment terminal for a product purchase, and more particularly to a card payment terminal including a discount processing function for the product purchase.

The payment terminal according to the present invention comprises: input means for input processing at least one or more product information and coupon information; A printer; A card reader;

A product purchase amount processing unit for calculating a product purchase amount from product information input by the input means;

The coupon information input by the input means is read to determine whether the coupon is usable for the product processed by the product purchase amount processing unit. If the determined result is available, the coupon discount is applied to the product purchase amount processed by the product purchase amount processing unit. A coupon discount processing unit which calculates a purchase amount to be discounted by applying;

In the case of a predetermined card that reads payment card information read from the card reader, and is a specific card linked to a coupon processed by the coupon discount processing unit, a card discount according to the corresponding coupon from the purchase amount calculated by the coupon discount processing unit A card discount processing unit calculating a purchase amount by applying a;

A card payment approval processing unit for processing card payment approval for the final discount calculated purchase amount;

And a card payment processing unit for processing the card payment and outputting the receipt for the purchase amount through the printer when the card payment is approved by the card payment approval processing unit.

Card payment terminals, coupons, cards, miles, discounts.

Description

Multi-discount card terminal for coupon-specified products and method for the same}

1 is a schematic network diagram for a coupon designation product multiple discount processing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of a card payment terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a diagram showing product discount important table information stored in the discount information database of FIG.

4 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a coupon designation product multiple discount processing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

4A is a flowchart illustrating a coupon discount process.

4B is a flowchart illustrating a mileage discount processing process for a coupon-designated product.

4C is a flowchart illustrating a card discount processing process associated with a coupon.

FIG. 4D is a flowchart illustrating a further discount processing process of the card associated with the coupon of FIG. 4C. FIG.

5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a discount coupon distributed.

The present invention relates to a card payment terminal for a product purchase, and more particularly to a card payment terminal including a discount processing function for the product purchase.

Typically, a buyer uses a coupon to get a discount on a particular product. A coupon is a token that indicates the requirement for a product to be discounted, and usually offers a discount for a specific product over a period of time. Coupons are distributed through the Internet, daily newspapers, magazines, store furnishings, and the like, and when a purchaser purchases a specific product, the coupon may be automatically printed and output from the terminal for payment.

Consumers use these coupons to purchase specific products, so manufacturers can achieve greater sales of coupon products and improved distribution handling rates. Retailers can increase sales and earn handling fees. There is.

Meanwhile, according to Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-0031880, a technology for discount processing when purchasing a product is described under the name 'business technique of sales operation using a coupon'. According to this conventional technology, a credit card user accesses a specific web server and registers his or her personal information and credit card information. Accordingly, the credit card user is given a coupon deposit space on the credit card from a specific web server.

The credit card user accesses the discount coupon providing site and downloads the desired discount coupon to the credit card. A credit card user can present a credit card for payment when purchasing a corresponding item to which a discount coupon can be applied at a store, and receive a purchase discount through a discount coupon stored at the same time as payment.

However, such a prior art has the inconvenience that the technology for using the discount coupon must be combined with the web. In other words, the credit card user is required to pre-purchase the goods in order to use the discount coupon, credit card users are reluctant to use due to this inconvenience. In addition, since the product payment terminal recognizes and processes only the coupons stored in the credit card at the time of product discount, the credit card company is not helpful at all in marketing for its own card promotion.

The present invention is derived from such a situation, the product buyers can easily receive multiple discounts for a particular product purchase, and the card company and manufacturers through mutual marketing cooperation to achieve greater effects in terms of marketing It is done.

The card payment terminal according to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object performs a discount processing through the coupon presented by the buyer for the purchase of the coupon designation product, the buyer performs additional discount processing when using the payment card specified in the coupon. .

According to this aspect of the present invention, a product buyer may receive a double discount upon purchasing a specific product, and the card company may lead a card promotion marketing effect through a specific product discount coupon of the manufacturer, and from the manufacturer's point of view, Incentives will be added to the marketing side.

The foregoing and further aspects of the present invention will become more apparent through the preferred embodiments described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail to enable those skilled in the art to easily understand and reproduce the present invention.

1 is a schematic network diagram for a coupon designation product multiple discount processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. Preferably, a plurality of card payment terminals 100 located in a large supermarket store are connected to a store server 200 located in a store through a local network, and they may preferably be configured as a point of sale (POS) system.

POS system is a system that manages the purchase, sales, inventory, customer, accounting, etc. generated in the store, and actively responds to rapidly changing market environment and customer requirements. The point of sale system is aimed at minimizing the loss of management and operation part that can occur during manual operation. POS system performing such a role is a known technical configuration, so a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The card payment terminal (preferably POS terminal) 100 preferably receives the updated data from the store server 200 when it is logged in by the cashier and registers and stores it in the database. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the updated data are information data related to the coupon designation product discount processing by the card payment terminal, preferably a coupon barcode, coupon discount amount, coupon event schedule, payment card company card information, etc. Include all data referenced in the coupon discount process.

The card payment terminal 100 is preferably operated by the cashier, and preferably calculates the purchase amount by applying a product purchase discount according to the use of the coupon of the buyer, the use of a specific credit card, or the use of a specific mileage card. This will be described in detail later with reference to FIG. 2.

The card payment terminal 100 requests the VAN company server 300 to approve the use of the credit card for the discounted final output amount according to the card payment request of the buyer. VAN company server 300 is preferably connected to the store server 200 via a wired telephone subscriber network (Pubilc Switched Telephone Network, PSTN) or the Internet network, and receives a credit card use authorization request from the card payment terminal 100 Act on behalf of the card company.

The card company that receives the authorization request from the VAN company server 300 checks whether the card is a bad card, the credit status of the card holder, the usage level of the card to be used, and if there is no problem, the authorization number is assigned to the VAN company server. Send to 300. Receiving the authorization number from the card company VAN company server 300 transmits the authorization number to the card payment terminal 100 of the merchant store initially received the authorization application. Accordingly, the card payment terminal 100 performs a normal card payment processing to output a receipt for the purchase of the product of the buyer.

The coupon service server 500 of the coupon service company provides the merchant server 200 of the merchant server 200 with the information data necessary for the above-described coupon designation product discount processing required for the coupon-related discount to the merchants for using the coupons they service. . The coupon service server 400 receives the deadline data related to the coupon used in the affiliate store from the affiliate store store server 200 and performs mutual settlement processing. Since such processing is a known matter, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

For reference, the present applicant (CMS), a coupon service company, currently has a number of domestic large marts as affiliated stores, and in cooperation with manufacturers to provide discount coupon (aka CMS coupon) service for various products.

Coupon mileage service server 500 may be configured separately from the coupon service server 400, as shown, may also be made of a single server. The coupon mileage service server 500 issues a coupon mileage card to subscribers who sign up. Accordingly, a buyer holding a coupon mileage card may receive a product discount through, for example, the mileage accumulated when purchasing a product to which the CMS coupon is applied. Meanwhile, the coupon mileage service server 500 may preferably promote coupons by providing coupon items to subscribers every month through e-mail and SMS.

Coupon mileage service server 500 in cooperation with other companies that perform mileage services (shown A Affiliate, B Affiliate, etc.) domestic, for example, KTF, Korean Air, SKT and the like to enable mileage exchange between each other. Since the mileage exchange is a known matter, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Coupon mileage service server 500 performs the approval process for the coupon mileage card use authorization requested from the card payment terminal 100 when the buyer uses the coupon mileage card in the store. Since this approval process is a known technical process, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

2 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of a card payment terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the drawing, the card payment terminal 100 includes input means 110 for inputting at least one product information and coupon information, a printer 120, a card reader 130,

A product purchase amount processing unit 162 for calculating a product purchase amount from product information input by the input means 110,

The coupon information input by the input means 110 is read to determine whether the coupon is usable for the product processed by the product purchase amount processing unit 162, and if the coupon is available as a result of the determination, the product purchase amount processing unit 162 A coupon discount processing unit 163 for calculating a discounted amount by applying a coupon discount from a product purchase amount;

In the case of a predetermined card that reads the payment card information read from the card reader 130 and is a specific card linked to the coupon processed by the coupon discount processing unit 163, the coupon discount processing unit 163 calculates a discount from the purchase amount. A card discount processing unit 164 calculating a purchase amount by applying a card discount according to the coupon;

A card payment authorization processing unit 165 for processing card payment authorization for the final discounted purchase amount;

When the card payment is approved by the card payment approval processing unit 165, the card payment processing unit 166 may process the card payment and output the receipt for the purchase amount through the printer 120.

The input unit 110 inputs at least one product and coupon information, that is, a corresponding unique number. The input means 110 may be a keyboard for manual input by the cashier, the user of the card payment terminal 100, or may be a scanner according to a preferred aspect. The scanner may be, for example, a hand scanner and / or a flatbed scanner, the role of which is to scan a barcode indicating the unique value of the product formed in the product. Since such a scanner is a known technical configuration, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

And a barcode is a combination of black and white bars of different thicknesses to make it easier for a computer to read information about the product. The barcode is an optical or magnetic reading of the barcode. And since the printer is a technical configuration known to print out a receipt for the product purchase detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The card reader 130 reads information stored in a card for payment. Cards are already known in various forms according to their methods, such as magnetic strip (MS) cards in which information is stored in magnetic and contact / contactless IC cards in which IC chips are embedded. Preferably, the card for payment is not limited to a credit card, but may also be a prepaid card.

The communication unit 150 performs a function of demodulating and transmitting / receiving data like a modem. The communication unit 150 is connected to a wired telephone subscriber network (Pubilc Switched Telephone Network, PSTN) or the Internet network to be connected to a VAN company server 300 and a coupon service server 400. ), And performs communication with the coupon mileage service server 500.

The memory 140 stores a basic program for processing a process performed in the card payment terminal 100, and basically includes a product information database 143 that stores product information for calculating a product price. The product information database 143 stores information necessary for calculating a product price, such as a product barcode, a product name, and a product price.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the memory 140 further includes a discount information database 145. The discount information database 145 stores information data necessary for the coupon designation product discount processing referred to in a discount processing process to be described later according to a preferred aspect of the present invention. It is automatically received from the store server 200 and updated.

3 is a diagram showing product discount important table information stored in the discount information database 145. As shown, the discount information database 145 includes a coupon table 145-1, a card company-coupon linkage table 145-2, which is referred to for the discount process by the buyer in the control unit 160, which will be described later, when purchasing a coupon-designated product. The card company option discount event table 145-3 is included. This will be described later with reference to the corresponding part of the controller 160.

The controller 160 controls the overall operation of the terminal according to the basic program stored in the memory 140. The controller 160 includes a product purchase amount processor 162, a coupon discount processor 163, a card discount processor 164, a card payment approval processor 165, and a card payment processor 166.

The product purchase value processing unit 162 calculates the total product purchase amount by referring to the product information database 143 when the cashier scans a product barcode for at least one or more products using a scanner. Since the processing process of the product purchase amount processing unit 162 is well known, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

When the coupon discount processing unit 163 scans the coupon barcode for at least one coupon presented by the buyer, the product purchase amount processing unit 162 refers to the coupon table 145-1 of the discount information database 145. It is determined whether there is a coupon designation product among the products processed by.

That is, the coupon discount processing unit 163 checks whether the corresponding coupon designation product (the coupon name shown in 145-1) is included in the products processed by the product purchase amount processing unit 162 through the scanned coupon barcode information. will be. If there is a corresponding coupon designation product, it is checked whether the coupon can be used by checking whether the coupon satisfies the coupon event date (within the event closing date from the event start date of 145-1).

If it is determined that the coupon is usable, the coupon discount processing unit 163 refers to the discount amount of the coupon table 145-1 of the discount information database 145 from the purchase amount calculated by the product purchase amount processing unit 162 and discounts the purchase amount. Calculate.

The card discount processing unit 164 reads the card information read from the above-described card reader 130 and determines whether it is a specific card associated with the coupon processed by the coupon discount processing unit 163. To this end, the card discount processing unit 164 refers to the card company-coupon association table 145-1 stored in the discount information database 145. The card discount processing unit 164 first determines whether the card company of the card presented by the buyer is in an affiliated state with the coupon service company shown in FIG. 2.

If the partnership state, the card discount processing unit 164 compares the card company code and the coupon bar code to determine whether the card can be used for the coupon processed by the coupon discount processing unit 163. If the card is usable, the card discount processing unit 164 calculates the purchase amount by further applying the card discount amount referring to the card company-coupon linkage table 145-1 to the purchase amount discounted by the coupon discount processing unit 163.

The card payment approval processing unit 165 transmits the card information read by the card discount processing unit 164 and the discounted final purchase amount information to the VAN company server 300 through the communication unit 150 to perform a card payment approval request. Since the process that is processed by the Bansa server and the card company by making a card payment authorization request is well known, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

When the card payment is approved, the card payment processing unit 166 processes the card payment for the purchase amount finally discounted by the card discount processing unit 164 and outputs the receipt for the purchase amount through the printer 120. According to a preferred aspect, the card payment processing unit 166 outputs the product purchase amount, coupon discount amount, card discount amount to be included in the receipt. As a result, the buyer can obtain a discount on the purchase of the product at a glance.

According to this aspect of the present invention, a product buyer may receive a double discount when purchasing a specific product, and the card company may lead a card promotion marketing effect through a specific product discount coupon of the manufacturer, and the product through the coupon from the manufacturer's point of view In addition to promotions, incentives for card company customers will be added, which will have a greater effect on marketing. That is, by providing an additional specific credit card discount in accordance with the use of discount coupons, manufacturers and card companies can have the effect of mutual customer attraction means.

According to an additional aspect of the present invention, if the card discount processing unit 164 satisfies the predetermined purchase period and the amount condition for the purchase amount calculated by applying the card discount, the additional discount is applied.

The card discount processing unit 164 refers to the card company option discount event table 145-3 of the discount information database 145 to determine whether the corresponding card company of the card read from the card reader 130 performs the option exercise for additional card discount. To judge. For example, if the card company code of the buyer card is 0001 and the purchase date is 2004-05-25, the card company satisfies the period from 2004-05-01 to 2004-05-31.

Next, as described above, the card discount processing unit 164 determines whether the purchase amount calculated by the card discount processing satisfies the amount condition specified in the card company option discount event table 145-3. If the purchase amount is 70,000 won, the amount is satisfied, so the discounted amount of 150 won is additionally discounted.

Accordingly, the purchaser of a product can use a coupon to purchase a coupon-designated product, and receive a discount on the use of the coupon for the first time, a card discount based on the use of the credit card specified in the coupon, and a third option for the card company. Additional discounts will be available depending on the event.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, the card payment terminal 100 further includes a mileage discount processing unit 167. The mileage discount processing unit 167 inquires the accumulated mileage for a specific mileage card that is read from the card reader and applies an additional discount within the limit. The accumulated mileage inquiry is made by the mileage discount processing unit 167 connects to the mileage service server through the communication unit 150. Since such technical processing is well known, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, the specific mileage card is a card issued to members who subscribe to the coupon mileage service server 500 of the coupon service company, and may also be a mileage card of affiliates affiliated with the coupon service company. Preferably, mileage interchange with affiliates is possible, and such technical details are well known, and thus detailed description thereof will be omitted.

4 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a coupon designation product multiple discount processing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4A is a flowchart illustrating a coupon discount processing process. First, when the buyer presents the products they want to purchase and the coupon for a discount, the cashier scans the product barcode and coupon barcode using a scanner. For reference, as shown in FIG. 5, information on a corresponding product, a discount amount, a period of use, etc. to which the coupon may be discounted is described. Accordingly, the buyer can refer to this to purchase the product within the coupon period.

The controller 160 reads the scanned product information and the coupon information (step 800). The control unit 160 calculates a product purchase amount with reference to the product information database 143 with respect to the read product information (step 802). Next, the controller 160 determines whether the coupon of the read coupon information is associated with the purchased product by referring to the coupon table 145-1 of the discount information database 145 (step 804).

If the coupon is associated with the purchased product, the controller 160 refers to the coupon table 145-1 to determine whether the coupon is available for use (step 806). If it is determined that the coupon is available, the controller 160 calculates the coupon discounted product purchase amount by applying the coupon discount amount to the product purchase amount calculated in step 802 with reference to the coupon table 145-1 (step 808). If NO in steps 804 and 806, the controller 160 processes a receipt output for the product purchase amount calculated in step 802 (step 810).

4B is a flowchart illustrating a mileage discount processing process for a coupon-designated product according to an embodiment of a further aspect of the present invention. When a product buyer presents a specific mileage card that can receive a mileage discount for a coupon-designated product, the cashier first presses a predetermined key assigned for mileage discount processing and then swipes the specific mileage card into the card reader 130.

The controller 160 determines whether a specific mileage card is read from the card reader 130 in the mileage discount processing state by the cashier's key operation (step 820). When the specific mileage card is read, the control unit 160 reads the specific mileage card information and accesses the coupon mileage service server to inquire card validity inquiry, cumulative mileage, and availability of mileage to be used (step 822).

If the search result is valid, the controller 160 calculates a product purchase amount by applying a discount within the mileage accumulation limit (step 824). Discounts within the limits of accumulation may be processed according to a predetermined mileage discount for each product. The mileage discount setting information for each product is preferably stored in the memory 140. Since the mileage discount process is a known technique, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

For reference, as shown in FIG. 5, the coupon includes mileage discount (specified CMS Point payment -200 won discount). Accordingly, the product buyer can use this information to receive a discount on the purchase by using a specific mileage card together with the coupon.

4C is a flowchart illustrating a card discount process associated with a coupon. The controller 160 determines whether the payment card is read from the card reader 130, that is, whether the card is settled (S830). If the card is settled, the controller 160 reads the card information and refers to the card company-coupon association table 145-1 of the discount information database 145 to determine whether it is an affiliated card, that is, an association between the card company and the coupon service company. It is determined whether or not (step 832).

If it is an affiliate card, the controller 160 determines whether the card is associated with a coupon discounted coupon in step 808 with reference to the card company-coupon association table 145-1 (step 834). If the card is linked, the controller 160 calculates the coupon and the card discounted product purchase amount by applying the corresponding card discount amount to the product purchase amount calculated in step 808 with reference to the card discount amount of the card company-coupon linkage table 145-1. (Step 836).

If NO in each of steps 820, 822, and 824, the controller 160 determines whether a specific mileage card in FIG. 4B is used (step 840). The controller 160 outputs a corresponding receipt for a product purchase amount according to whether a specific mileage card is used (step 842) (step 844).

When the card discount is added as described above, as shown in FIG. 5, necessary information such as specific card information and the card discount amount is described so that the product buyer can recognize. Accordingly, the purchaser can receive an additional discount by using the card. As a result, manufacturers and card companies have the advantage of collaborative marketing through coupons, which is advantageous for customer acquisition.

FIG. 4D is a flowchart illustrating a process of further discounting a card linked to the coupon of FIG. 4C. When the card discount is applied in step 836, the controller 160 determines whether the corresponding card company performs the option discount by referring to the card company option discount exercise table 145-3 of the discount information database 145 (step 850).

As a result of the determination, during the option discount exercise period, the controller 160 determines whether the product purchase amount calculated in step 836 satisfies the option discount exercise amount condition with reference to the card company option discount exercise table 145-3 (step 852). When the option discount exercise price condition is satisfied, the controller 160 applies the corresponding discount amount to the product purchase amount calculated in step 836 to calculate a coupon discount, mileage discount, card discount, and product purchase amount applied to the option discount, and output a receipt ( Step 854) (step 856).

In step 850, step 852, the controller 160 determines whether the specific mileage card in FIG. 4B is used (step 860). The controller 160 outputs a corresponding receipt for a product purchase amount according to whether a specific mileage card is used (step 862) (step 864).

As described above, the present invention allows a product buyer to receive a duplicate discount through a coupon and a designated card payment when purchasing a coupon-designated product, and the card company can lead a card promotion marketing effect through a coupon of a manufacturer, and from a manufacturer's point of view, a coupon In addition to promoting products through the card company's customer attraction means will be added to the marketing effect will be greater. That is, by providing an additional specific credit card discount in accordance with the use of discount coupons, manufacturers and card companies can have the effect of mutual customer attraction means.

On the other hand, the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, which are merely exemplary, and those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible therefrom. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention should be defined only by the appended claims.

Claims (9)

Input means for input processing at least one product information and coupon information; A printer; A card reader; A product purchase amount processing unit for calculating a product purchase amount from product information input by the input means; The coupon information input by the input means is read to determine whether the coupon is usable for the product processed by the product purchase amount processing unit. If the determined result is available, the coupon discount is applied to the product purchase amount processed by the product purchase amount processing unit. A coupon discount processing unit which calculates a purchase amount to be discounted by applying; In the case of a predetermined card that reads payment card information read from the card reader, and is a specific card linked to a coupon processed by the coupon discount processing unit, a card discount according to the corresponding coupon from the purchase amount calculated by the coupon discount processing unit A card discount processing unit calculating a purchase amount by applying a; A card payment approval processing unit for processing card payment approval for the final discount calculated purchase amount; A card payment processing unit for processing a card payment and outputting a receipt for the purchase amount through the printer when the card payment is approved by the card payment approval processing unit; Coupon designation product multiple discountable card payment terminal comprising a. The card payment terminal of claim 1, wherein the additional discount is applied when the card discount processing unit satisfies a predetermined purchase period and an amount condition for the purchase amount calculated by applying the card discount. . The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the terminal is: A mileage discount processing unit for searching the mileage accumulated for a specific mileage card read from the card reader and applying an additional discount within the limit of the mileage; Coupon designation product multi-discountable card payment terminal, further comprising a. The card payment terminal of claim 3, wherein the specific mileage card includes other mileage cards associated with each other, and mileage exchange is possible. The card payment terminal of claim 1, wherein the input means is a scanner. The card payment terminal of claim 1, wherein the card payment processing unit outputs the discounted information to be included in the receipt history. A method of processing a discount on a product purchase, the method comprising: a) reading product information from at least one scanned product barcode to calculate a product purchase amount; b) calculating a product purchase amount from the read product information; c) reading coupon information from at least one scanned coupon barcode to determine if the coupon is available for a product according to the product information; d) calculating a discount purchase amount by subtracting a discount amount included in the coupon information from the product purchase amount if the coupon is associated with the product information as a result of the determination; e) in the case of card payment, determining whether an additional discount is applied to the use of the coupon associated with the product information if the card is a predetermined card; f) calculating a purchase amount by further subtracting the corresponding discount amount if the specific card is applied to an additional discount on the coupon associated with the product information as a result of the determination; Coupon designation product multiple discount processing method comprising a. The method of claim 7, wherein the method is: If the predetermined purchase period and amount of money are satisfied with respect to the purchase amount calculated in step f), applying the additional discount; Coupon designation product multi-discount processing method further comprising a. The method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the method is: Reading the specific mileage card information, querying the accumulated mileage through the read information, and applying an additional discount within the accumulated limit; Coupon designation product multi-discount processing method further comprising a.

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