Abstract:
There is disclosed a sales management system in which customers can intuitively instantly recognize next exchangeable premium from existing accumulated points, and shops can save troubles and expenses for preparing signboards or fliers every time the premiums are changed. The sales management system includes a POS apparatus and a server. The server manageably has customer data which stores accumulated points for each customer ID, and premium data in which premium information and image are associated and stored for each present point range. The POS apparatus  1  has: a barcode scanner; a card reader for reading the customer ID; a control unit which adds up accumulated points of the customer data specified by the customer ID, and points imparted in accordance with a total amount of commodities and which extracts the premium information and image from the premium data based on the point range of the premium data specified by the addition; and a printer which prints the premium information and image on a receipt.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to a sales management system and method for a point service, and a program for the system, particularly to a process of a point of sales (POS) terminal device which displays information concerning the point service on its screen or prints it on a receipt for a customer.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     A sales management system having a function of performing a so-called point service has heretofore been known in which a point is imparted in accordance with a purchase money amount every commodity purchase in order to arouse customer interest. When a total point number reaches a preset service point number, a determined premium is exchanged every service points.  
         [0005]     For example, in JP-A-1988-40994, a point of sales (POS) terminal device is described which prints, on a receipt, the number of points for receiving a service, for example, a message indicating “we will offer premiums, if you buy  20  points more” in a case where the total points do not reach the predetermined service points.  
         [0006]     However, in the conventional technique, the number of the points required for the premium is only printed on the receipt. Therefore, the customer does not intuitively know a type of premium to actually obtain, and has to confirm concrete premium information or the premium with a signboard in a shop, a flier or the like. If the customer returns after shopping without seeing any signboard, flier or the like, the next exchangeable premium cannot be confirmed. If the premium information or image is seen by the signboard, flier or the like, it is disadvantageously time consuming to search for the exchangeable premium from the customer&#39;s existing total point number at the next commodity purchase time.  
         [0007]     Moreover, the shop needs to prepare a large number of signboards or fliers indicating a list of premiums associated with points. In a case where the premiums are periodically changed, signboard or fliers are prepared every time, and replacement troubles and expenses have been required.  
         [0008]     Furthermore, in a case where the premiums differ every points, the customer needs to search for the next premium to get from a plurality of premiums by the customer&#39;s existing total points, and there has been a problem that the next exchangeable premium is not easily seen.  
         [0009]     As a countermeasure, it has been considered that a name of the next exchangeable premium is printed on the receipt or the like. Even in this case, there has been a problem that the customer needs to search for the premium based on the premium name, and does not easily intuitively see the premium.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0010]     The present invention has been developed in consideration of the conventional situations, and an object is to provide a sales management system for a point service, in which a customer can intuitively instantly recognize the next exchangeable premium from existing accumulated points, and a store can reduce troubles and expenses for preparing signboards or fliers every time the premiums are changed.  
         [0011]     To achieve the object, according to the present invention, there is provided a sales management system for a point service, which calculates a total amount of commodities bought by a customer and which imparts points for premium exchange in accordance with the total amount, the system comprising: customer data storage means for storing accumulated points for each customer ID; premium data storage means for associating premium information and premium image for each preset point ranges to store the premium information and premium image; customer ID input means for inputting the customer ID; control means for specifying the accumulated points of the customer data storage means based on the input customer ID, adding up the specified accumulated points and the points imparted in accordance with the total amount to calculate new accumulated points, specifying the point range of the premium data storage means based on the calculated new accumulated points, and extracting the premium information and premium image of the premium data storage means based on the specified point range; and premium data output means for outputting the extracted premium information and premium image in such a manner as capable of being recognized by the customer.  
         [0012]     In the sales management system for the point service according to the present invention, the premium data output means preferably prints the premium information and premium image on a receipt to be handed over to the customer. The premium data output means may display the premium information and premium image on a display visible to the customer. Furthermore, a plurality of point range may be set, and the premium information and the premium image may differ with the plurality of set point ranges. The customer ID input means, control means, and premium data output means are preferably mounted on a POS apparatus, the premium data storage means may be mounted on a server apparatus connected to the POS apparatus via a communication network, and the customer data storage means may be mounted on the server apparatus, or a recording medium carried by the customer. Examples of the recording medium include mediums capable of holding the points, such as an IC card, a magnetic card, and a cellular phone.  
         [0013]     To achieve the object, according to the present invention, there is provided a sales management method for a point service, which calculates a total amount of commodities bought by a customer and which imparts points for premium exchange in accordance with the total amount, said method comprising the steps of: storing accumulated points for each customer ID; associating premium information and premium image for each preset point ranges to store the premium information and premium image; inputting the customer ID; specifying the accumulated points based on the input customer ID; adding up the specified accumulated points and the points imparted in accordance with the total amount to calculate new accumulated points; specifying the point range based on the calculated new accumulated points; extracting the premium information and premium image based on the specified point range; and outputting the extracted premium information and premium image in such a manner as capable of being recognized by the customer.  
         [0014]     In the sales management method for the point service according to the present invention, the step of outputting the extracted premium information and premium image preferably prints the premium information and premium image on a receipt to be handed over to the customer. The step of outputting the extracted premium information and premium image may display the premium information and premium image on a display visible to the customer. Furthermore, a plurality of point ranges may be set, and the premium information and premium image may differ with the plurality of set point ranges.  
         [0015]     To achieve the object, according to the present invention, there is provided a program for enabling a computer to execute a sales management method for a point service, which calculates a total amount of commodities bought by a customer and which imparts points for premium exchange in accordance with the total amount, said method comprising the steps of: storing accumulated points for each customer ID; associating premium information and premium image for each preset point ranges to store the premium information and premium image; inputting the customer ID; specifying the accumulated points based on the input customer ID; adding up the specified accumulated points and the points imparted in accordance with the total amount to calculate new accumulated points; specifying the point range based on the calculated new accumulated points; extracting the premium information and premium image based on the specified point range; and outputting the extracted premium information and premium image in such a manner as capable of being recognized by the customer.  
         [0016]     In the program according to the present invention, the step of outputting the extracted premium information and premium image preferably prints the premium information and premium image on a receipt to be handed over to the customer. The step of outputting the extracted premium information and premium image may display the premium information and premium image on a display visible to the customer. Furthermore, a plurality of point ranges may be set, and the premium information and premium image may differ with the plurality of set point ranges.  
         [0017]     According to the present invention, there can be provided a sales management system and method for a point service, and control program, in which the customer can intuitively instantly recognize the next exchangeable premium from the existing accumulated points, whereas the store can reduce troubles and expenses for preparing signboards or fliers every time the premiums are changed. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0018]     In the accompanying drawings:  
         [0019]      FIG. 1  is a schematic block diagram showing the whole constitution of a sales management system for a point service according to one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0020]      FIG. 2  is a schematic block diagram showing an inner constitution of a control unit of a POS apparatus;  
         [0021]      FIG. 3  is a diagram showing a data structure of PLU data;  
         [0022]      FIG. 4  is a diagram showing a data structure of customer data;  
         [0023]      FIG. 5  is a diagram showing a data structure of premium data;  
         [0024]      FIG. 6  is a schematic flowchart showing a process sequence of the sales management system; and  
         [0025]      FIG. 7  is a diagram showing a printing example of a receipt. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0026]     Next, best modes for carrying out a sales management system for a point service, a sales management method, and a program according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.  
         [0027]     The sales management system for the point service according to the present embodiment extracts premium information and premium image of premium data in a point range including accumulated points with respect to the accumulated points totaled and managed for each customer ID, when a customer performs a trade with a member card, a point card or the like. The system displays or prints the premium information and premium image together with accumulated points and points required for the next premium exchange in a display screen of the sales management system or on a receipt sheet issued from a printer of the sales management system.  
         [0028]     Concretely, the sales management system for the point service comprises: a customer information management section which stores customer&#39;s accumulated points together with the customer ID; a premium information management section which stores the premium information and premium image associated for each point range; a display section which displays the premium information and premium image; and a printer section which issues the receipt on which the premium information and premium image are printed.  
         [0029]      FIG. 1  is a constitution diagram of a sales management system for a point service according to one embodiment of the present invention. The sales management system shown in  FIG. 1  comprises a POS apparatus  1  which is used in a trade with a customer whose utilizes a store and which is disposed on a checkout counter, and a server  2  which manages information such as price lookup (PLU) data  23   a  to be referred to by the POS apparatus  1 . The POS apparatus  1  is mutually communicatably connected to the server  2  via a network  3 . The network  3  comprises a communication circuit such as a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN) or the like, and a wired network and/or a wireless network can be applicable to it.  
         [0030]     The POS apparatus  1  includes a control unit  11  such as a system controller or the like, which functions as a control center of the whole apparatus. As constituting elements connected to the control unit  11 , the system includes: a keyboard  12  including various operation keys concerning trade with a customer; a barcode scanner  13  which optically reads a barcode attached to a package, a seal of a traded commodity or the like; a card reader (customer ID input means)  14  which reads customer information such as a customer ID from a customer card (e.g., a member card or a point card issued during member registration of the customer) carried by the customer and presented by the customer at a trading time; a display  15  which displays information on the trade with the customer in such a manner as to be visible to the customer, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD) or the like; a printer  16  which prints the information on the trade with the customer on a receipt (receipt sheet)  16   a  for the customer; and a communication interface (I/F)  17  such as a LAN interface connected to the network  3 . Since the existing elements are applicable to these constituting elements  12  to  17 , details of the inner constitution are omitted in the present embodiment.  
         [0031]      FIG. 2  shows an inner constitution example of the control unit  11 . The control unit  11  shown in  FIG. 2  includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit)  30 , a memory (ROM (Read Only Memory) and/or RAM (Random Access Memory))  31 , and an I/O (Input/Output) port  32 . The I/O port  32  is connected to the above-described constituting elements  12  to  17 . A control program  34  executed by the CPU  30  is stored in the memory  31 . By this constitution, the control unit  11  executes the control program  34  in the memory  31  to thereby perform processes (described later) concerning the point service in addition to a usual trade process while cooperating with operations of the constituting elements  12  to  17  in the POS apparatus  1  and the respective sections of the server  2 .  
         [0032]     The server  2  comprises a computer machine such as a PC (Personal Computer) server or the like, and functionally includes a control unit  20  having a CPU, a storage unit  21  of a memory (ROM/RAM) or a hard disk drive, and a communication unit  22  such as a LAN interface connected to the network  3 .  
         [0033]     Among these elements, in the storage unit  21 , files (databases) of customer data  24   a  and premium data  25   a  are stored in addition to the PLU data  23   a.    
         [0034]      FIG. 3  shows a data structure example of the PLU data  23   a . In the example of  FIG. 3 , a “commodity code” F 10 , “commodity name” F 11 , and “unit price” F 12  are set as a plurality of fields constituting one record in the PLU data  23   a , and the set data of each field is held in such a manner that the data can be updated, registered, or deleted as needed.  
         [0035]      FIG. 4  shows a data structure example of the customer data  24   a . In the example of  FIG. 4 , in the customer data  24   a , as a plurality of fields constituting one record, a “customer ID” F 20 , “accumulated points” F 21  and the like are set, and the set data of each field is held in such a manner that the data can be updated, registered, or deleted as needed.  
         [0036]      FIG. 5  shows a data structure of the premium data  25   a . In an example of  FIG. 5 , in the premium data  25   a , as a plurality of fields constituting one record, a “customer ID” F 30 , “premium exchangeable points” F 31 , “point range” F 32 , “premium information” F 33 , and “premium image” F 34  are set, and the set data of each field is held in such a manner that the data can be updated, registered, or deleted as needed. In the example of  FIG. 5 , as the “premium information” F 33  and the “premium image” F 34 , one premium is shown for each record, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a plurality of premiums may be set.  
         [0037]     The control unit  20  functionally includes: a PLU data management section  23  which manages the PLU data  23   a ; a customer information management section (customer data storage means)  24  which manages the customer data  24   a ; and a premium information management section  25  which manages the premium information/image  25   a . Functions of the respective management sections  23  to  25  are executed, when the CPU in the control unit  20  executes a control program (not shown) stored in the memory.  
         [0038]     The PLU data management section  23  searches for the corresponding record from the PLU data  23   a  using a commodity code read by the barcode scanner  13  of the POS apparatus  1  as a key, and extracts the respective set data such as the “commodity name” F 11  and the “unit price” F 12  from the corresponding record so that the data can be transmitted to the POS apparatus  1 .  
         [0039]     The customer information management section  24  uses the customer ID read by the card reader  14  as a key, associates the key with the “customer ID” F 20  of the customer data  24   a  to thereby store the data, adds up the points obtained by a total amount generated in the trade with the customer, and the set data of the “accumulated points” F 21  of the record specified by the “accumulated points” F 21 , and updates an added value as new “accumulated points” F 21 .  
         [0040]     The premium information management section  25  refers to the premium data  25   a  based on the customer&#39;s accumulated points obtained by the customer information management section  24 , searches for the record of the “point range” F 32  in which the accumulated points are included, and extracts the respective set data of the “premium exchangeable points” F 31 , “premium information” F 33 , and “premium image” F 34  of the searched record so that the data can be transmitted to the POS apparatus  1 .  
         [0041]     Next, a whole operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to  FIGS. 6 and 7 .  
         [0042]      FIG. 6  shows a process sequence of the sales management system. The process shown in  FIG. 6  is performed, when the control unit  11  in the POS apparatus  1  cooperates with the control unit  20  (PLU data management section  23 , customer information management section  24 , and premium information management section  25 ) in the server  2 , and the CPU  30  executes the control program  34  in the memory  31 .  
         [0043]     First, the control unit  11  allows the card reader  14  to read the customer card issued for each customer, and inputs the customer ID prior to the trade with the customer. Accordingly, data printed in the trade with the customer is associated with the customer data  24   a  through the customer information management section  24  in the server  2  based on the input customer ID.  
         [0044]     Thereafter, the control unit  11  starts a usual trade process (steps St 2  to St 10 ). In starting the process, barcode information is input including a commodity code for each bought commodity input from the barcode scanner  13  every trade with the customer (step St 2 ). The commodity code is used as a key, the corresponding commodity name and amount (unit price) (hereinafter referred to as “details” R 1 ) are taken from the PLU data  23   a  in the server  2  (step St 3 ), and the details R 1  are displayed on the display  15  (step St 4 ).  
         [0045]     The process of the above-described St 2  to St 4  is repeatedly executed for each bought commodity until the trade with the customer ends (step St 5 ). When the trade with the customer ends, the control unit  11  calculates a total amount (=sub-total+consumption tax) R 2  of all bought commodities (step St 6 ), and displays the total amount R 2  (step St 7 ).  
         [0046]     Next, when a deposit amount R 3  transferred from the customer is input from the keyboard  12  (step St 8 ), a change amount R 4  by a difference from the total amount R 2  is calculated (step St 9 ), and the change amount R 4  is displayed on the display  15  (step St 10 ).  
         [0047]     When the above-described trade process ends, the control unit  11  starts a process (steps St 11  to St 15 ) concerning the point service. In starting the process, the control unit  11  calculates points R 5  based on the total amount R 2  calculated in the step St 16  (step St 11 ). The points R 5  are calculated following a rule determined by a shop, for example, one point per a total amount of 10 yen of the bought commodity (discard fractions less than 10 yen).  
         [0048]     Next, the control unit  11  adds the points R 5  calculated as described above to the set data (accumulated points in the previous time) of the “accumulated points” F 21  in the customer data  24   a  having the customer ID associated by the customer information management section  24  in the server  2 , and obtains new accumulated points R 6  (step Stl 2 ).  
         [0049]     Next, the control unit  11  searches for the “point range” F 32  of the premium data  25   a  by the premium information management section  25  in the server  2  using the accumulated points R 6  after the addition as a key. The unit specifies the set data of the “premium information” F 33  and “premium image” F 34  (hereinafter referred to as “premium information R 8  and premium image R 9 ”) from the record having the “point range” F 32  including the accumulated points R 6 , and takes the data into the POS apparatus  1  (step St 13 ). Moreover, a numeric value obtained by subtracting the accumulated points from premium exchangeable points is stored as points (remaining points R 7 ) for the next premium exchange points in the POS apparatus  1  (step St 14 ).  
         [0050]     Next, the control unit  11  displays, on a screen of the display  15 , the premium information R 8  and premium image R 9  taken into the POS apparatus  1  together with the details R 1 , total amount R 2 , deposit amount R 3 , change amount R 4 , this-time points R 5 , accumulated points R 6 , and remaining points R 7  for the next premium in a predetermined display format. Moreover, the data is printed on a receipt  16   a  issued from the printer  16  in a predetermined printing format (step St 15 ). A printed example of the receipt  16   a  is shown in  FIG. 6 .  
         [0051]     The example of  FIG. 7  shows a case where the total amount R 2  of the commodity is 2,604 yen, the this-time points R 5  are 260 points, and the accumulated points R 6  are 2,520 points. In this case, the accumulated points R 6  are printed on the receipt  16   a . Since the “point range” F 32  of the premium data  25   a  shown in  FIG. 5  is included in 2,000 to 2,999, the next-time “premium exchangeable points” F 31  correspond to 3,000. As the “premium information” F 33  and the “premium image” F 34 , a video camera which can be exchanged when reaching 3,000 points, and the premium image are also printed together with 480 points (3,000−2,520) which are the remaining points R 7  for the next premium. In this case, as to the remaining points R 7 , a message “this commodity can be obtained, when further 480 points are accumulated” may be displayed.  
         [0052]     Therefore, according to the present embodiment, since the concrete premium information and premium image can be displayed, or printed on the receipt. Therefore, the shop does not require any premium information and premium image indication by signboards or fliers. In a case where many shops are owned, or premiums are periodically changed, costs can be reduced.  
         [0053]     Moreover, according to the present embodiment, since the concrete premium information and premium image can be displayed, or printed on the receipt, the premium to obtain next can be intuitively displayed to the customer. A trouble for confirming the signboards, fliers or the like is saved, and accordingly customer interest can be further aroused.  
         [0054]     It is to be noted that in the above-described embodiment, as customer data storage means and premium data storage means of the present invention, the constitution comprises the customer data  24   a , premium data  25   a , customer information management section  24 , and premium information management section  25  in the server  2 . However, some or all of these elements may be disposed in another computer or a processing unit, such as a server computer connected to a network in the POS apparatus  1 .  
         [0055]     Moreover, in the above-described embodiment, a case where in which the customer data  24   a  is stored in the server  2  has been described as the customer data storage means of the present invention. For example, in a case where storable mediums (recording mediums) such as an IC card and a magnetic card are used in the customer card, the accumulated points may be held directly in the card. In this case, the customer data  24   a  and customer information management section  24  in the server  2  can be omitted. The points may be held in a portable information terminal such as a cellular phone instead of the customer card.  
         [0056]     Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the process (steps St 11  to St 15 ) concerning the point service shown in  FIG. 6  is executed after the step St 10 , but the process may be executed in any stage after the calculation of the total amount R 2 , that is, in and after the step St 6 .