JP5147663B2 - Point management method and point management system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a point management system, and more particularly to a point management method and a point management system in which the number of points issued by a plurality of partner members can be combined and used by a customer member.

  Conventionally, in retail stores (hereinafter referred to as “stores”) that sell or provide products or services (hereinafter referred to as “products, etc.”), sales activities and the like have been promoted and customers have been fixed. Provide so-called points for each purchase price to customers who purchase products for the purpose of planning, etc., and points that can be used within the range accumulated by the customer when purchasing the customer's products, etc. A service (point) is provided that provides a customer with a service (points) that can be discounted from the purchase amount of a product or the like according to the number, and such point management is performed by one or more computers connected to a communication line. A point management system is also provided for processing between them.

  Usually, the provision of such points is carried out within a company having a chain store, a mass retailer, etc., but what is managed in a unified manner by a plurality of companies is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1 or 2 Has been.

  According to these documents, a management server that manages a plurality of types of points issued by each company in one place is prepared. When a customer uses points at a certain company, the points issued by that company may be exceeded. In that case, the company's issuance points are viewed side by side at the time of settlement. Make up for other companies with money. This document uses a mobile phone as a system execution platform, and a transaction linked to a management server is realized only after the customer's own secret key and the company store's secret key are input via the customer's customer terminal. It has become a thing.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-228561 discloses a software that downloads software to a customer's personal computer to realize an additional function. The software displays a toolbar regardless of which site the customer sees when the browser is launched. This toolbar provides customer wallet information (see paragraph [0119]). The wallet information is information derived from a credit card such as a credit card type, a credit card number, an expiration date, a user name, a billing destination, a telephone number, and a user ID. The wallet information itself is placed on the server and can be read out to the tool bar by inputting the protection key. There is no disclosure of points as a function of the toolbar, and points with multiple companies are not linked.
JP 2007-272524 A JP 2007-272526 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-508035

However, the conventional point management system as shown in Patent Document 1 or 2 is based on the premise of transactions at an actual store, and is not a mechanism capable of managing common points in a plurality of market malls via the Internet.
In addition, in the wallet information of a customer using a toolbar as shown in Patent Document 3, the information that can be managed is only information that the customer himself or herself directly bears a debt by using the customer such as credit information. Not too much.

  For this reason, an object of the present invention is to add points issued at a market mall on the Internet established by a plurality of partner members so that points can be returned appropriately to customers.

In the present invention, when referring to the market mall when referring to the market mall, and a tag that the toolbar program responds to the acquired WEB page of the market mall is added to the browser, Means for displaying a tool bar having a member ID and password input field; means for requesting the operation management server to authenticate when a customer member ID and password are input in the input field;
When the operation management server receives the authentication, there is prepared a program having means for displaying information for identifying the customer member on the toolbar instead of the input field. This program adds functionality to the browser of the customer member's terminal.

  The point management method includes a function for notifying that the terminal is an installed terminal when the terminal accesses the WEB page on the partner member's shop server, and the transaction when the product purchase is executed by the terminal. Distributes a program having a function of reporting to the operation management server information identifying information and information attached to the terminal, and reports from the terminal information identifying the purchase transaction and information attached to the terminal by the program When it is done, the pending information about the transaction performed in the terminal is stored in the operation management server, and when the WEB page that has received the installed notification is browsed, the transaction for purchasing the product is performed and the transaction is confirmed. In this case, the shop server receives a report from the shop server with information for identifying the transaction and final information on the grant points. For transactions that were reported were boss, characterized in that it updates the stored pending information of the operation and management server to confirm information.

  According to the point management system of the present invention, a customer member can integrate and use the total points issued at each market mall established by a plurality of partner members by a program installed on a customer terminal. it can.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, a customer member is a customer who opened a point account by applying for customer member registration, Refers to a company that has applied for partner membership registration, and both parties enter into a contract with a point management system administrator or agent to obtain membership qualifications.

  Further, in the following explanation, the number of points issued by each partner member may be different in exchange rate depending on the same purchase amount, but the exchange rate for the point once issued to cash is the partner member The value is the same even if it is issued by.

  FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration of a point management system according to the present embodiment. The point management system 1 includes a server (shop server) 10 held by a plurality of partner members who provide each point, an operation management server 20 that controls the plurality of partner members, a terminal 30 held by a customer member, It is comprised with the communication line 40 which connects these.

  The operation management server 20 includes a customer member management DB (database) 21 (FIG. 7), a point management DB 22 (FIG. 8), and a history DB 23 (FIG. 9). The partner member's shop server 10 is a server that provides a market mall on the WEB. The customer member terminal 30 is a normal personal computer having a browser for browsing the Internet. The communication line 40 is an internet network.

[Application for membership registration by companies and stores]
A company or a store that operates a market mall can become a partner member by making a contract with a point service operator or an agent of the point service. Partner IDs are distributed to partner members.

  Further, a tag for starting the toolbar program is distributed from the shop server 10 to the customer terminal 30. The toolbar program will be described later. The partner member prepares the tag embedded in the WEB page of his market mall. The tag is control information for causing the toolbar program to display the toolbar, and can include shop information (for example, partner ID, exchange rate of points indicating what percentage of the purchase amount is cashed back, and other privilege information).

  In addition, when the toolbar program sends the information installed on the customer terminal 30 and sends it, the user selects whether to send the web page with the tag pasted or not pasted based on this information. Judgment may be made.

[Application for membership registration by customers]
The individual visits a homepage derived from a partner member's market mall on the Internet or provided by the operation management server 20 and registers as a customer member. On this homepage, a link for displaying a registration screen is provided.

  On the registration screen, fill in your favorite ID (customer member ID, check whether the same ID is already registered on the operation management server), your name, point use password, and e-mail address. A column is displayed. When the customer fills in these entry fields and transmits, the customer's registration is confirmed. The operation management server 20 stores this in the customer member DB (database) 21. The contents of the customer member DB 21 are as shown in FIG. Member registration can also be guided to the operation management server from the following toolbar program. Such member registration is realized by a program of an operational temporary server.

[Toolbar]
FIG. 2 shows a toolbar displayed on the terminal 30 of the customer member according to this embodiment.
The toolbar is displayed by being inserted into the WEB page 50 of the browser screen. The tool bar 51 includes an area 52 for displaying a point service logo, a text box 53 for inputting an ID number, and a text box 54 for inputting a password. The toolbar 51 also includes a login button 55, a member registration button 56, and buttons 57 and 58 for displaying usage guidance and a deletion method. When the customer member ID and password are entered in the text box and the login button 55 is pressed, the tool bar program sends these pieces of information to the operation management server 20. At this time, the distribution number designated when the toolbar program is distributed is also attached to the operation management server 20.

  When the operation management server 20 authenticates this, the display of the tool bar 51 of the terminal 30 is partially changed as shown in FIG. 3, and the customer member ID 59 and the shop information 60 provided by the partner member are displayed. The customer member ID 59 is information input for login authentication and is displayed as information for identifying a customer. The shop information is information that was originally obtained when the WEB page of the market mall was referred to, and was hidden by the hidden toolbar program because the login authentication was not completed.

  The customer member may validate the cookie and store the customer member ID 59 in the terminal 30 as the operation management server 20 authenticates.

  When the member registration button 56 is pressed, the new member registration screen of the operation management server 20 is opened in a new window. When the buttons 57 and 58 for displaying the usage guidance and the deletion method are pressed, the operation management server 20 is connected, and a new window is opened on the customer member terminal 30 to display the corresponding information.

[Toolbar program]
The toolbar program is downloaded from a home page provided in the operation management server 20 or distributed by other media. The toolbar program adds functions to the Internet browser. In the present embodiment, a function is added to the browser (Internet Explorer) of the company using Microsoft's ActiveX technology. The customer agrees to the usage agreement for this program, installs it on his terminal, and links it to the browser.

  The toolbar program does not function if the browser of the customer terminal 30 simply launches a WEB page that is not a partner member. On the other hand, the partner member's shop server 10 is set to transmit a WEB page in which a tag is embedded when the market mall is browsed. When a customer visits an internet market mall operated by a partner member, the toolbar program appears in the WEB page in response to a tag in the WEB page.

  In addition to this, the toolbar program has a function of logging in the customer member to the operation management server 20 and a function of reporting the acquired points.

  In FIG. 1, the main memory 31 and the toolbar program 32 of the terminal 30 have means for executing each function described below.

a) Installed information generation means 33
It is means for causing the browser to function so as to notify the Internet that the toolbar program is installed in the terminal 30. By this means, when the customer member acquires the WEB page, the browser transmits information indicating that it has been installed. The information indicating that it has been installed is information indicating that the device is participating in the point service. This installed information can be recognized on the shop server 10 side by the shop server 10 that the viewer uses (will) use the point service. It is an opportunity to provide point acquisition information. The partner member's shop server 10 selects whether to send a tag-incorporated or non-incorporated tag when sending a WEB page, depending on whether the toolbar program has been installed. . If the toolbar program is not installed, the tags are simply ignored, so they can all be tagged.

b) Tool bar generating means 34
When a tag is embedded in the acquired WEB page, it is a means for causing the toolbar 51 to appear in the display screen of the acquired WEB page 50. In this case, instead of embedding the tag in the WEB page, it may appear as a toolbar 62 of the browser itself as an attachment, but to give the customer the impression that the size of the WEB page 50 itself varies. Become. In the case of the present embodiment, a tag is embedded at the uppermost position of the WEB page surface, and a toolbar is displayed.

  This means has means for displaying the toolbar shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. The toolbar shown in FIG. 2 is a toolbar that is displayed before the customer member logs into the idiosyncratic management server 20, and the toolbar shown in FIG. 3 replies that the operation management server 30 is valid after login. It is a toolbar that displays in response to the case. Note that it is possible to store in the terminal 30 that the user has logged in in the past, using a browser cookie. The information stored in this case is information indicating that the login authentication with the customer member ID has been completed. If the customer member permits the cookie effectively, the display of FIG. 3 can be performed without the display of FIG. 2 by the previous login.

c) Operation management server communication means 35
In response to the customer member ID and password entered in the tool bar shown in FIG. 2 and the login button 55 being pressed, the browser sends the browser to the operation management server 30.

  This means further includes means for notifying the operation management server 30 of the purchase decision in response to the customer member making a purchase decision at the market mall. When the purchase amount or point information can be acquired on the terminal 30 side from the WEB page of the market mall by the input of the customer member, these are acquired and included in the purchase decision information notified to the operation management server 20 .

[My page]
The My Page is a point account page unique to a customer member that is opened by inputting the customer member ID and password from the homepage of the operation management server 20. As shown in FIG. 4, the My Page 70 includes a total of points accumulated by the customer members (total accumulated points) 71 and a certain unit of points (exchangeable points exchangeable for cash, for example, in units of 1000 points). 72 is displayed. In addition, when the exchangeable points are transferred to cash, a button 73 for proceeding to a transfer procedure to a bank in the name of a customer member is provided.

  The my page 70 also displays a history 74 in which customer members have accumulated points, including “purchase date”, “purchaser”, “product name”, “order number”, “state”, Includes “funding points”. “Status” indicates “Accumulated point” indicates the status, “Pending” in which the transaction of the money is not finalized after the purchase of the product, “Cancel” in which the transaction is canceled due to the return or refund of the product, and the transaction ends The selected “fixed” is displayed. Here, the “determined” point is reflected in the total accumulated points.

[Point management DB 22]
FIG. 5 shows the point management DB 22. Data registered in the point management DB 22 includes an order number, a partner member ID, a purchase date, the number of granted points, a state, and an expiration date. In the figure, in the “status” column in the entry 80 at 3:50 on 08.05.08, a (pending) flag 81 is given, which indicates that a monetary transaction has not been finalized. ing.

  The expiration date is set to 2 years from the date of purchase. However, if the same customer member does not use it for one year from the latest point generation date, all points of the customer member become invalid.

  The order number uniquely identifies each individual transaction of the customer member and the partner member, and is uniquely assigned by the partner member.

[Operations of Programs on Terminal 30, Operation Management Server 20, and Shop Server 10]
Hereinafter, the operation of the program of each apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. Here, it is assumed that a tool bar program is installed in the customer member terminal 30 in advance. Each function of the shop server 10 and the operation management server 20 is a means realized by a program (not shown).

  The customer member starts up a browser from the terminal 30 owned by the customer member. When the URL of the partner member's market mall is specified by the customer member, the installation information generating means 33 adds information indicating that the toolbar program is installed and acquires the WEB page to the communication line 40 to the browser. Transmit (S11, a). The shop server 10 transmits the WEB page of the market mall to the terminal 30 of the customer member (S20, b). A tag is attached to the transmitted WEB page (S21, b).

  When the tool bar generation means 34 detects the tag, it displays the tool bar 51 in the WEB page. Since the customer member has not logged in yet, the tool bar 51 shown in FIG. 2 is displayed (S12).

  When the customer member inputs the customer member ID and password and presses the login button 55, the operation management server communication unit 35 causes the browser 32 to function and transmits the customer member ID and password to the operation management server 20 (c). At this time, the product ID given when the toolbar program is distributed is also sent.

  The operation management server 20 checks the validity of whether the registered customer has logged in by the customer member management DB 21 shown in FIG. 7 based on the product ID transmitted by the toolbar program and the received customer member ID and password (S31). . If it is valid, a message to that effect is sent to the terminal 30 (c).

  The product ID is registered in association with the customer member ID. The product ID is used as information for identifying the terminal on condition that the member customer installs only on his / her own terminal (S31).

  A customer member puts a product (or service) in a shopping cart at a partner member's market mall and performs shopping.

  In the purchase decision screen, the product is decided, the payment method is selected, and the purchase is decided (e). In response to the purchase decision being made on the WEB page, the operation management server communication means 35 sends purchase decision information to the operation management server 20 together with the partner ID and product ID (S13, f).

  As a means for the operation management server communication means 35 to recognize the purchase decision, it is assumed that the operation management server communication means 35 can recognize the purchase decision button on the WEB page in advance. In addition, when the purchase price is sent from the shop server 10 to the terminal 30, if the purchase decision screen is programmed so that the tool bar program can acquire the number of points, the purchase price, the order number, and the product information, the operation management can be performed. The server communication unit 35 publishes the number of points or points from the shop information and transmits it to the operation management server 20.

  When receiving the product ID and the partner member ID, the operation management server 20 stores in the point management DB 22 that the point has been updated for the customer member ID specified by the product ID together with the date (S32). In this case, if the operation management server communication means 35 also sends information on the number of points, the order number, and the merchandise, the information is also stored in the point management DB 22. These pieces of information can be browsed when the customer member refers to the My Page, but will be put on hold if there is no confirmation information from the partner member described below.

  In the partner member, when the transaction of the product from the customer member is completed, the shop server 10 specifies the partner ID and the order number and notifies that the disposal of the points has been determined (S22). This communication can be executed because the shop server 10 knows that the purchase is made using a toolbar program. This determination includes “confirmation” upon completion of purchase price payment, and “cancellation” due to returned goods. At this time, if the operation management server 20 does not hold information necessary for displaying the history 75 of my page, the information is also sent together.

  The operation management server 20 stores the information in the entry of the point management DB 22 corresponding to the partner ID and the order number based on the information from the shop server 10, or sets the “state” to “confirmed” or “cancelled” (S33).

  In the point management DB 22, since the progress of the transaction at the market mall is reported by the tool program and remains in the entry, the operation management server 20 stores the transaction that remains in a pending state even after a predetermined time has elapsed. You can contact shop members.

  As described above, once the customer member logs in using his / her terminal 30 using the tool bar 51, the product ID is stored in the operation management server 20 in association with the customer member ID. Therefore, when the customer member browses the market mall of the partner member at a later date, the operation management server 20 specifies the customer member based on the product ID. Therefore, if a customer member installs a toolbar program having a different product ID on another terminal 30 ′, when that terminal 30 ′ is connected to the operation management server 20, it is associated with the customer member ID unless logging in again. I can't. On the other hand, when another person uses the terminal 30, a button labeled “Login with another ID” is attached to the toolbar 51 so that the other person can also receive the point service (see FIGS. 3 and 61). ). When the operation management server 20 receives that this button has been pressed, the customer member ID and password input fields are displayed again on the tool bar 51. The association between the product ID and customer member ID in the login management DB 24 is changed.

  Note that if the customer member makes a purchase without downloading the toolbar program, the toolbar program cannot guide the operation management server 20, and no points are accumulated. On the other hand, even if downloaded, if the user has not logged in, the relationship with the customer member ID is not attached, and points are not accumulated.

[Point usage application]
A case where a customer member visits a partner member's market mall and uses the accumulated points will be described.

  When the my page of the operation management server 20 is called and the account transfer application button 73 is pressed, the application page of FIG. 8 is opened. Enter the number of points 92 to be exchanged and the bank account number 93. The operation management server 20 checks whether or not the input point number exceeds the upper limit of exchangeable points of the customer member's point account. If not exceeded, the operation management server 20 subtracts the total accumulated point number of the customer member's point account by the number of exchange points. This subtraction is performed from the one whose expiry date is approaching. Further, the use date, the bank account name, the name of the holder, and the state are recorded in the history DB 23 as the point use history. The contents of the storage are shown in FIG. Information indicating the state of transfer to the designated bank account is also recorded. Based on this information, the point exchange history is displayed as history information 94 in the lower column of the application page.

  In the case where the above embodiment is operated as a business model, a service fee corresponding to the sales of the partner member may be collected from the partner member as a customer-guided success fee by the point service. The collected money becomes part of the funds for quicheback to customer members.

  In the above embodiment, the product ID when the toolbar program is distributed is used to associate with the customer member ID. However, when logging in from the toolbar program, an ID is assigned on the operation management server side, and the terminal 30 uses a cookie. It may be memorized. In this case, the customer terminal is specified using this ID instead of the product ID. When the member customer does not validate the cookie, login is performed every time, and a different ID is given each time.

  In the above embodiment, the purchase transaction by the member customer between the shop server 10 and the operation management server 20 is made using the order number and the partner ID. However, depending on the partner ID, the member customer ID, and the purchase date and time. Can also be identified.

It is a figure which shows the whole structure of the point management system which concerns on a present Example. It is a figure which shows the page structural example of the partner member browsed with the browser. It is a figure which shows the page structural example of the partner member browsed with the browser. It is a figure which shows the structural example of my page. It is a figure which shows the content of point management DB22. It is a figure which shows the program of a point management system. It is a figure which shows the content of login management DB24. It is a figure which shows the structural example of a transfer application page. It is a figure which shows the content of log | history DB23.

Explanation of symbols

1: Point management system 10: Partner member server 20: Operation management server 21: Customer member management DB
22: Point management DB 22
23: History DB
30: Customer member terminal 51: Toolbar

Claims (1)

  When a WEB page of a market mall operated by a plurality of partner members participating in the point service is referred to, a shop server that adds a tag to the WEB page referred to as a response and transmits the tag to the customer member's terminal; An operation management server that centrally manages points granted according to transactions at market malls operated by each partner member is connected to the Internet, and the operation management server receives the received product ID and purchase price or point information. In the point management system that identifies a customer member and adds points for the customer member based on

A tool bar program distributed to a plurality of customer members, each having a product ID and adding a function to the browser of the terminal when installed on the customer terminal,

When a tag is added to the acquired WEB page of the market mall, means for displaying a toolbar having a customer member ID and password input field on the browser screen;

When a customer member ID and password are entered in the input field, the browser is instructed to send the customer member ID and password entered on the browser screen to the operation management server. Means to

When the browser receives that the operation management server authenticates that the transmitted customer member ID and password and its own program ID are valid, the customer member is identified in place of the input field displayed on the browser screen. Means to display the information to be displayed on the toolbar,

A tool bar program having means for instructing the browser to send purchase decision information, product ID and purchase price or point information to the operation management server when a customer purchases a product by guiding the WEB page of the shop server .