WO2005064513A1

WO2005064513A1 - Mileage providing system through network and method thereof

Info

Publication number: WO2005064513A1
Application number: PCT/KR2004/003362
Authority: WO
Inventors: Dong Hwan Oh; Dong Hyun Shin
Original assignee: Nhn Corporation
Priority date: 2003-12-20
Filing date: 2004-12-20
Publication date: 2005-07-14
Also published as: KR100457324B1

Abstract

Disclosed is a mileage point providing system and method on the network. Resale options are assigned to the products to be sold on the network, and the user is asked whether to select a resale option when the user requests to make a purchase. A first set of mileage points is provided to the user when the user selects a resale option and makes a purchase, and a second set of mileage points which is larger than the first set of mileage points is provided to the user when the user does not select a resale option and makes a purchase. Therefore, appropriate mileage points are provided to the user by assigning the resale option to the products and providing different mileage points to the user according to option selection conditions.

Description

[DESCRIPTION]

[Invention Title]

MILEAGE PROVIDING SYSTEM THROUGH NETWORK AND METHOD THEREOF [Technical Field]

The present invention relates to a mileage point providing system and a method thereof. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system and method for providing mileage points according to transactions on the network. [Background Art] Wide usage of the Internet has allowed a lot of people to actively perform electronic commerce and communicate various categories of information with other people. In particular, developments of the Internet have overcome regional restrictions and have come to provide various types of information to a plurality of users, and hence, many portal sites for providing information search services and community services have appeared. The users have been allowed to receive information through the portal sites, and communicate information with other users through the network communities. Service providers of portal sites have developed various systems through which the users (as many as possible) visit the portal sites and do their desired activities since the service providers' advertisement incomes and marketing incomes caused by application of user information are increased when more virtual communities are built and the number of registered users and homepage hits is increased. In order to promote the users' site visits, the service providers have provided mileage points when the users have made a purchase in the corresponding web site. Some users have reserved the mileage points in an unscrupulous manner by maliciously using the mileage point providing system. For example, a user makes a purchase at the price of 10,000 Won and 6,000 mileage points are generated and given to the user, and the user may sell the purchase at the price of 8,000 Won, which means that the user takes the 6,000 mileage points corresponding to the price of 10,000 Won for only 2,000 Won. Therefore, the user can maliciously reserve the mileage points by cheating on the fact that the provided mileage points are not returned, and repeatedly making a purchase, receiving mileage points, and selling the purchase. [Disclosure]

[Technical Problem] It is an advantage of the present invention to provide appropriate mileage points to a user according to transactions on the network. It is another advantage of the present invention to control the mileage points to be reserved fairly, and activate the transactions and activities for mileage points. [Technical Solution]

In one aspect of the present invention, a method for providing mileage points in a system connected to a plurality of user terminals on a network comprises: (a) providing resale options to products to be sold on the network; (b) inquiring whether to select a resale option when a user is accessed to the system through the network and requests to make a purchase; (c) providing a first set of mileage points to the user when the user selects a resale option to make a purchase; and (d) providing a second set of mileage points which is larger than the first set of mileage points to the user when the user does not select the resale option and makes a purchase. A sale price and a resale price are established for each product, and the first set of mileage points is established according to a difference between the sale price and the resale price. The first set of mileage points is established according to a predetermined percentage of the resale price, and the second set of mileage points is established according to a predetermined percentage of the sale price. A resale available option and a resale unavailable option are assigned to each product in (a), and a first set of mileage points is provided when the user selects a resale available option, and a second set of mileage points is provided when the user selects a resale unavailable option in (d). The products are sorted to be resale available products and resale unavailable products, and the resale available option is assigned to the resale available products in (a). The method further comprises: determining whether the user has made a purchase with the resale option when the user requests a resale; and controlling the system to buy the purchase with the resale price assigned to the purchase when the user is found to have made the purchase with the resale option. In another aspect of the present invention, a mileage point providing system connected to a plurality of user terminals on a network, comprises: a product database for storing information on products to which resale options are assigned; a product sale unit for selling products to users who are accessed to the system through the network; a settler for performing a settlement process when the product is sold; and a mileage point provider for providing a set of mileage points to the user according to the settlement, wherein the mileage point provider provides a first set of mileage points to the user when the user selects a resale option to make a purchase, and provides a second set of mileage points which is larger than the first set of mileage points to the user when the user does not select the resale option and makes a purchase. The mileage point providing system further comprises: a transaction database for storing sale information on the sales prices of the sold products, option selection states, and user IDs; and a mileage point database for storing information on the mileage point assigned for the respective users. The mileage point providing system further comprises a resale processor for processing resale of the sold products, wherein the resale processor performs resale on the product when the product which is requested to be resold is found to have been sold with the resale option according to sale information stored in the transaction database. [Description of Drawings]

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention, and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention: FIG. 1 shows a mileage point providing system on the network according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 shows a flowchart for a mileage point providing process on the network according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 3 shows a selling process according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. [Best Mode]

In the following detailed description, only the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated by the inventor(s) of carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of modification in various obvious respects, all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not restrictive. To clarify the present invention, parts which are not described in the specification are omitted, and parts for which same descriptions are provided have the same reference numerals. In the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, products are sold to users via electronic commerce, and the users are allowed to re-sell the products after buying the same. The term "to re-sell" is used to describe the case in which the user makes a purchase through the system on the network and sells the same purchase to the system again. For example, the user can make a desired purchase at the price of 10,000 Won from the system and can re-sell the same to the system at the discounted price of 8,000 Won. It is allowed to re-sell the product to the system, the resale price for each product is established, and a resale available option and a resale unavailable option are assigned to each product so that the user may select a desired option and make a purchase. In particular, it is defined in this case that each option corresponds to a different set of mileage points. In detail, the system provides mileage points corresponding to a predefined percentage of the price to the buyer when the buyer makes a purchase with the resale unavailable option, and provides mileage points to the buyer according to the difference between the sale price and the resale price. For example, the mileage point providing system provides 100% of the mileage points of the sale price to the buyer when the buyer makes a purchase with the resale unavailable option, and the system provides 70% of the mileage points of the sale price when the buyer makes a purchase with the resale available option and the re-sold price is lower by about 30% than the original price. The problem of reserving abusive mileage points is solved by differentiating the mileage points assigned to the products, and the products sold by the system according to the exemplary embodiment include products which are sold on the network. FIG. 1 shows a mileage point providing system on the network according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the mileage point providing system 100 is connected to a plurality of user terminals 300 through the network 200 including a telephone network, the Internet, and a radio communication network. The user terminal 300 is a communication device accessible to the mileage point providing system 100 through the network 200, and includes a wired telephone, a mobile terminal, a computer, and an Internet TV. Accordingly, the user can quickly access the mileage point providing system 100 through the network 200 by using personal computer communication, the Internet, the wireless Internet, and the telephone network. The mileage point providing system 100 includes a database server 10, a processing server 20, a settlement server 30, a certification server 40, and an interface server 50. The database server 10 includes a user database 11, a product database 12, a mileage point database 13, a settlement database 14, and a transaction database 15. The user database 11 stores information on the users who receive services through the mileage point providing system 100, the information including IDs, passwords, user personal histories (names, residence registration numbers, and telephone numbers), and areas of interest. The product database 12 stores information on the products sold by the system, including sales prices, re-sold prices, and mileage points assigned per option (including first mileage points for the resale available option and second points for the resale unavailable option). The resale available option can be assigned to all or specific products. For example, it is possible to disallow the resale available option to books, home appliances, and furniture which may be damaged because of usage thereof, but to allow the option for contents (e.g., avatars). In this case, additional flag data for indicating resale available states corresponding to product codes can be provided to the products to categorize the products. The mileage point database 13 stores information on the mileage points assigned to the users, including mileage points reserved for the respective users, reserved dates, and the total of mileage points, and optionally includes usage information for indicating usage histories of mileage points. The settlement database 14 stores settlement information according to purchase by the users, including product codes, settlement sums of money, settlement dates, and settlement methods for the respective users. The transaction database 15 stores information according to sales by the system, including sales information including sold product codes, sale prices, buyer IDs, and options selected by the buyers; resale information including resold product codes and resale prices according to the buyers' resale process; and information on the total amount of sales calculated according to the sale information and resale information. The processing server 20 for using the above-described information stored in the database server 10 to sell products and providing mileage points includes a product sale unit 21 for selling products to the buyers, a mileage point provider 22 for providing mileage points to the buyers according to a predetermined rule and sales options, and a resale processor 23 for re-buying the sold products according to requests by the buyers. The settlement server 30 processes settlements caused by the buyer's making a purchase, and settlements caused by the buyer's resale. The certification server 40 performs the buyer's membership registration to the system, and certifies the members based on the information stored in the user database 11. The interface server 50 controls a plurality of terminals 300 to access the system through the network 200, in particular, the Internet and the wireless Internet, and converts various types of information provided by the respective servers 20 to 40 into data of predetermined communication rules to provide the data to the terminals 300, or the interface server 50 receives information from the terminals 300 through the network 200 and provides the information to the servers 20 to 40. The interface server 50 may include a computer graphic interface (CGI) for transmitting and receiving information to/from the web server and other systems. The respective components of the processing server 20 have been described to be operated in the processing server, and without being restricted to this, the components may be realized as independent servers to process the corresponding functions, and the databases 11 to 15 may further include additional databases. An operation of the mileage point providing system on the network will now be described. FIG. 2 shows a flowchart for a mileage point providing process on the network according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shown, when the user accesses the system 100 to become a registered member according to a predefined process, the user's information is stored in the user database 11 through the certification server 40 in steps D100 to S120. When the user requests to make a purchase, the product sale unit 21 displays product information on the screen of the terminal 300 in steps S130 and S140. When the user selects a desired product and requests a sale process, the product sale unit 21 requests the user to select an option of the desired product in steps S150 and S160. In this instance, the product sale unit 21 can search the product database 12 based on the code of the selected product and determines whether the product is allowed to be re-sold in advance to the request of selecting the option. When the user selects the desired option, the product sale unit 21 provides sale information including the sale price of the corresponding product to the settlement server 30 to request a settlement of the product in steps S170 and S180, and the settlement server 30 uses the settlement method selected by the user and settles the product in step S190. When settling the product, the settlement server 30 stores corresponding settlement information (including the settled product code, the settled sale price, the settled date, and the settled method) in the settlement database 14, and reports completion of settlement to the product sale unit 21 in step S200. In this instance, the product sale unit 21 transmits information on the user ID, purchased product code, and the option to the mileage point provider 22. When the settlement is finished, the mileage point provider 22 determines the option selected by the user, and provides mileage points to the user according to the option in step S230. In detail, the mileage point provider 22 provides the first set of mileage points corresponding to the product stored in the product database 12 to the user in steps S240 and S250 when the user has selected the resale available option, and the mileage point provider 22 provides the second set of mileage points which is greater than the first set of mileage points to the user in step S260 when the user has selected the resale unavailable option, and records the mileage point information in the mileage point database 13 in step S270. A process of re-selling the purchased product by the user will be described. FIG. 3 shows a selling process according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. When the user requests a resale on the purchased product in step S300, the resale processor 23 determines whether the resale requested product can be re-sold in step S310, and determines whether the user has selected the resale available option and has made the purchase based on the sales information stored in the transaction database 15 including the sold product code, the sale price, the buyer ID, and the option selected by the user in step S320 when the resale is available. In this case, the determination of availability of resale in step S310 is optional. The resale processor 23 reports unavailability of resale to the user in step S330 when the user has made the purchase with the resale unavailable option, and provides a resale price to the user when the user has made the purchase with the resale available option. When the user accordingly requests the resale, the resale processor 23 requests a settlement from the settlement server 30 in step S340, and the settlement server 30 returns the resale price to the user. For example, the settlement server 30 deposits the money corresponding to the resale price in the user's bank account in step S350. When the resale process is finished, the settlement server 30 records resale information in the transaction database 15, and reduces the price of the resold product from the total sale amount according to the resale information to thus adjust the sale amount of money in steps S360 and S370. While this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. According to the present invention, the resale option is assigned to products sold on the network, and different mileage points are provided to the user depending on the mileage point options, thereby preventing provision of abusive mileage points. Therefore, the mileage points are fairly reserved to prevent inappropriately reserved mileage points, and further activate transactions and activities for the users to receive the mileage points through the system.

Claims

[CLAIMS]

[Claim 1]

A method for providing mileage points in a system connected to a plurality of user terminals on a network, comprising: (a) providing resale options to products to be sold on the network; (b) inquiring whether to select a resale option when a user is accessed to the system through the network and requests to make a purchase; (c) providing a first set of mileage points to the user when the user selects a resale option to make a purchase; and (d) providing a second set of mileage points which is larger than the first set of mileage points to the user when the user does not select the resale option and makes a purchase.

[Claim 2]

The method of claim 1 , wherein a sale price and a resale price are established to each product, and the first set of mileage points is established according to a difference between the sale price and the resale price.

[Claim 3]

The method of claim 2, wherein the first set of mileage points is established according to a predetermined percentage of the resale price, and the second set of mileage points is established according to a predetermined percentage of the sale price.

[Claim 4] The method of claim 1 , wherein a resale available option and a resale unavailable option are assigned to each product in (a), and a first set of mileage points is provided when the user selects a resale available option, and a second set of mileage points is provided when the user selects a resale unavailable option in (d).

[Claim 5]

The method of claim 1 , wherein the products are sorted to be resale available products and resale unavailable products, and the resale available option is assigned to the resale available products in (a).

[Claim 6]

The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining whether the user has made a purchase with the resale option when the user requests a resale; and controlling the system to buy the purchase with the resale price assigned to the purchase when the user is found to have made the purchase with the resale option.

[Claim 7]

The method of claim 1, wherein the products are avatars.

[Claim 8] A mileage point providing system connected to a plurality of user terminals on a network, comprising: a product database for storing information on products to which resale options are assigned; a product sale unit for selling products to users who are accessed to the system through the network; a settler for performing a settlement process when the product is sold; and a mileage point provider for providing a set of mileage points to the user according to the settlement, wherein the mileage point provider provides a first set of mileage points to the user when the user selects a resale option to make a purchase, and provides a second set of mileage points which is larger than the first set of mileage points to the user when the user does not select the resale option and makes a purchase.

[Claim 9]

The mileage point providing system of claim 8, further comprising: a transaction database for storing sale information on the sales prices of the sold products, option selection states, and user IDs; and a mileage point database for storing information on the mileage points assigned for the respective users. [Claim 10] The mileage point providing system of claim 9, further comprising a resale processor for processing resale of the sold products, wherein the resale processor performs resale on the product when the product which is requested to be re-sold is found to have been sold with the resale option according to sale information stored in the transaction database.