JP7537798B2 - Sales information analysis processing method and sales information analysis processing program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method and program for analyzing sales information using information stored in a memory device built into a cash register or other cash registering device.

Generally, accounting information related to corporate management includes balance sheets, profit and loss statements, and cash flow statements, which are prepared based on bookkeeping and accounting. However, without knowledge of bookkeeping and accounting, it is difficult to easily judge the management status based on this accounting information alone. For this reason, accounting information management systems that make it easy to perform management analysis have been developed (see Patent Document 1).

However, while large companies that can assign specialized employees to handle accounting work in-house can use the accounting information management systems described above, in small and medium-sized enterprises or micro-enterprises, the managers themselves may be responsible for accounting work, and in restaurants and retail stores, the accounting work itself is a burden and it is not possible to perform it frequently. Furthermore, when operating multiple stores, in order to grasp the business status of the entire company in addition to the business status of each store, accounting work for the entire company must be performed in addition to the accounting work for each store, which creates an even greater burden.

As a result, various processing devices have been developed to transmit data entered into electronic cash registers and POS (Point of Sale) systems installed in restaurants and retail stores to a host computer, which then manages the business status of each store as well as the business status of the entire company (see Patent Documents 2 and 3).

JP 2005-250914 A JP 2015-153386 A Patent No. 6042506

The technology disclosed in the aforementioned Patent Document 2 is a system for trade area analysis, which, for example, analyzes what products and services are sold in a certain area, and aims to obtain information that is useful for considering store opening plans and sales promotions by analyzing sales information linked to store information.

The technology disclosed in the aforementioned Patent Document 3 manages and analyzes sales for each food and beverage menu item at a restaurant, and by setting a profit margin for each food and beverage menu item, it is possible to calculate the profit for the entire store and analyze the contribution of each food and beverage menu item to profits, thereby obtaining information that can be used as a reference for improving profitability.

These two technologies aim to process large amounts of information and select average products or services from a wide variety of information, but are not designed to individually analyze current business conditions (e.g., the sales status of a single store).

However, restaurants or retail stores run by small and medium-sized enterprises or micro-enterprises often require simple information analysis, rather than the general sales status of products or services, such as whether the current business method contributes to overall profits, whether there are products or services that contribute very little, and what the actual situation is during busy and slow seasons. However, with the technology disclosed in the above-mentioned patent documents, such information analysis is impossible or insufficient, and the reality is that the desired information cannot be obtained.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and its purpose is to provide a device that can analyze business conditions based on information available from a cash register while utilizing the functions of the cash register.

The present invention, which relates to a sales information analysis device, is a sales information analysis device that includes an input means for inputting information stored in a storage device from a cash register or POS system or other cash register having at least a storage device, a storage means for storing the input information input by the input means, a processing means for performing processing to calculate necessary data based on the input information stored in the storage means, and an output means for outputting data processed by the processing means, wherein the input information includes amount information input when the cash register is used, time information relating to the time the amount information was input, and related information relating to products or services associated with the amount information, and the processing means calculates sales information relating to profits and profit margins based on the related information from the amount information for each preset period.

According to the above configuration, profits, profit margins, and other sales information can be obtained by performing calculations from the amount information and related information for a specific period that can be organized using the time information built into the cash register. For example, figures such as total sales and net profits for the period ending September 2018 can be obtained. This specific period can be in weekly units rather than monthly units, and by setting the weekly unit in advance, calculations can be performed on a weekly basis for several weeks of a specific month. In this case, by relating the related information to individual products or services, it is also possible to distinguish between profitable products and unprofitable products.

In the invention of the above configuration, the related information includes information on the individual product or service names, product or service types, any product or service groups, geographical classifications of products or services, and payment terms that are the basis of the amount information, and the processing means may calculate and process the amount information based on the individual product or service names, product or service types, any product or service groups, geographical classifications of products or services, and payment terms.

In this configuration, the sales amount for each product name and type can be calculated as related information, and loss-making and profit-making products can be output for each product. In addition, by setting any groups (sets) of products, it is also possible to obtain profitability information for each group. This can be output for a specific period as described above. Note that the related information is limited to the range set in the cash register, but normally, depending on the product number assigned to the product, all or part of this information can be entered as related information when the cash register is operated and stored in the storage device.

The invention of the above configuration may further include an operating means for inputting a command signal to cause the processing means to execute a predetermined calculation, and the command signal input from the operating means may include a selection signal for selecting individual information included in the related information and a limiting signal for limiting the period to be processed, and the processing means may perform a process for accumulating the sales amount included in the monetary information while dividing the individual information by limited period based on the command signal input by the operating means.

In such a configuration, a command signal can be given from the operating means to the processing means, and if the command signal selects specific individual information from the related information, a sales amount centered on that specific information can be obtained. For example, if the individual information is a group of products or a group of services, the sales situation for each group for a specified period can be calculated, and it is also possible to grasp the sales trend over time. In addition, if the location classification is the specific information, if the location classification is by store, it is possible to output the sales trend for each store, and if the location classification is the product display location in a specific store, it is also possible to output the sales trend for each display location.

The invention of the above configuration may further include an input means for inputting sales-related information that cannot be obtained from the cash registering device, and the sales-related information may include store information about the store in which the cash registering device is installed, fixed cost information for each store, labor cost information for each store, information about the cost or purchase of each individual product or service handled in the store, and holiday information for each store, and the processing means may be configured to calculate gross profit, net profit, and profit margin for each limited period of time for each store based on a command signal input from the operation means.

In such a configuration, various related information can be input based on the information stored in the storage device of the cash register. For example, a typical cash register only inputs time information, amount information, product number, etc., and the operator's name, but does not allow the input of the cost price or labor costs of individual products. Therefore, by inputting the cost price of an item, etc. linked to product number information, it becomes possible to calculate the gross profit for the sales of that item, and by inputting information such as labor costs and fixed costs, it becomes possible to calculate the net profit.

In the above configuration, the processing means may be configured to calculate gross profit, net profit, and profit margin on a weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual basis based on the time information, and to calculate peak and slow seasons based on the sales volume of a preset product or service.

In the above configuration, a preset number of products or services sold can be set as a standard (threshold), and sales quantities exceeding the threshold can be determined as a busy season, while sales quantities below the threshold can be determined as an off-season. Two types of thresholds, an upper limit and a lower limit, can be set, and if a state exceeding the upper limit is determined as a busy season and a state below the lower limit is determined as an off-season, then a period between the lower limit and the upper limit is determined as a normal season. By determining whether a season is busy or off-season, the number of employees assigned can be increased or decreased, resulting in efficient product sales and the like, and can serve as a guideline for correcting excessive staff assignments.

The present invention, which relates to a program for analyzing sales information, is a computer program for analyzing sales information that causes a computer to function as a processing means, and is characterized in that it stores various information input from a cash register, calculates profit margins and profits based on the stored information, such as information on the input date and time for each store, information on the amount, and information on the products or services sold, as well as information on costs that has been input in advance, and outputs the profit margins and profit amounts for the entire store or for each product or service for each hour, day, week, month, quarter, half year, or year, depending on the items set by the user.

The above configuration makes it possible for a computer to analyze sales information based on information stored in the storage device of the cash register.

The sales information analysis device of the present invention can analyze business conditions based on information available from a cash register while utilizing the functions of the cash register. The program of the present invention can cause the analysis of business conditions to be processed by a computer.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of the invention related to a sales information analysis device. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a processing flow according to an embodiment of a sales information analysis device. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a processing flow according to an embodiment of a sales information analysis device. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a processing flow according to an embodiment of a sales information analysis device.

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention relating to a sales information analysis device. As shown in this figure, the sales information analysis device 1 of this embodiment has an input interface (input means) 11, which allows the input of information stored in an external storage device. The input method may be transmission via an internet line, or direct input using a medium.

The sales information analysis device 1 also includes a memory unit (storage means) 12 and a processing unit (processing means) 13, and the memory unit 12 can store information input via the input interface 11 and can also store again information processed by the processing unit 13.

The sales information analysis device 1 is provided with an output module (output section) 14, which outputs the processing information processed by the processing section 13 in an appropriate state to an external output device (monitor, etc.) 15, and the processing results displayed on the monitor 15 can be confirmed.

The sales information analysis device 1 is further provided with an input module 16, which allows various information and commands to be input to the processing unit 13. A general-purpose input device (such as a keyboard) 17 is used for input.

The information input from the input device (keyboard, etc.) 17 includes, firstly, information for initial setting, and secondly, a command signal for changing the calculation format. The information for initial setting can include various information depending on the method of linking to the product number (or product name or service name) of the product or service (hereinafter sometimes referred to as product, etc.). For example, it can include the name of each product, the type of product, etc., a group of products, etc. (a group of products or a group of services), the place of sale, and payment terms. Payment terms are usually cash, but can also refer to the type of payment method such as points redemption or gift certificates. In addition, for each product, etc., the purchase price (cost, etc.), transportation costs and other costs included in the cost calculation can be initially set. Furthermore, fixed costs and labor costs can be initially set in order to grasp the overall profit.

In addition, various command signals such as selection signals and restriction signals that affect the output format can be input from the input device (keyboard, etc.). A selection signal is a signal that commands the processing unit 13 to calculate and output information, mainly related information about products, etc., from among the information to be output, and a restriction signal is a signal that commands the processing unit 13 to perform calculations during a period when the range of output is focused on that period. These signals are given to the processing unit 13 as instructions to change the default output format. Such instructions are also used when setting thresholds for determining busy and slow seasons. This is also an instruction to change the output format, and the threshold can be the sales amount or the total number of sales, etc.

The information input from the cash register generally includes the following:

In the above table, the important things are the date and time, the product number, and the amount, with the date and time being particularly important as time information. That is, the date and time (time information) records a specific time on a specific day that was entered using the cash register, and it is possible to identify which products etc. were sold at that time and for how much. For example, the total number of products etc. sold etc. on a given day and the total sales amount can be easily determined by aggregating the above input information, but the time is important for analyzing changes by hour within a day. Similarly, when analyzing on a weekly, monthly or even annual basis, the information on the day, month, year, etc. contained in the date and time information becomes important.

Acquiring information about product numbers is important for calculating profits and profit margins relative to the sales amount. Profit margins vary depending on the type of product, etc., so there are cases where a product generates a large profit compared to the sales amount, and conversely, where it generates almost no profit at all.

For the input interface (input unit) 11, memory unit (storage means) 12, processing unit (processing means) 13, output module (output unit) 14, monitor (output device) 15, keyboard (operation means) 16 and input module 17, a general-purpose computer and its peripheral devices can be used. A mouse pointer may also be used as the operation means (or input means), and operations or inputs using these operation/input means 16 can be performed while referring to various operation screens or input screens displayed on the monitor 15.

The procedure for processing various types of information by the sales information analysis device 1 according to this embodiment will now be described. Here, it is assumed that the necessary initial information has been input in advance. In other words, information such as purchase prices for each item number and groupings of products, etc., has already been registered. Information from the cash register has also been input.

Figure 2 shows a general processing flow. As shown in this figure, when processing by the sales information analysis device is started, first, information is read from the memory unit (S101). The information read here is the hourly sales information as shown in Table 1 above. Next, related information set for each product number is read (S102). The information read here is the information entered during initial setup, such as the cost price and group of products, etc.

The various pieces of information that have been read out are then stored again in the storage unit for each input time with individual information for the product number added (S103). This re-registration makes it possible to process (calculate) the information into a specified output format. For example, when outputting the sales amount and profit amount for a specific day, the total profit amount can be calculated by accumulating the sales amount and the cost price for the information containing the time information for that specific day. Then, such an output format is read out (S104), a calculation is performed in accordance with that output format (S105), and the calculation result is output (S106).

The above output format outputs the total sales amount, total purchase amount, total fixed cost and labor cost, and total profit amount for a specific period (for example, the most recent month) by default. If the specific period is less than one month (for example, on a weekly basis), monthly expenses such as fixed cost and labor cost can be calculated by calculating them on a daily basis and then multiplying them by the number of weeks.

When outputting using the above processing flow, it is possible to output the weekly or daily trends for the relevant month. It is also possible to output the hourly trends for the relevant day. When outputting, the amounts can be displayed as numerical values and listed, but it is also possible to output them as a graph. This is because a graphed output is easy to understand when visually displaying the trends in sales, etc., and a list of numerical values is preferable when grasping specific profit amounts.

In this way, by outputting sales figures and other data in various formats, it becomes possible to objectively analyze the state of business. In particular, by outputting data on an annual basis, it is possible to determine whether the business was in the black or the red throughout the year, and it is also possible to know the periods of profit and loss on a monthly or weekly basis. Even if the business is in the black, it is possible to determine periods of high profits and periods of low profits, which can serve as a guide for staffing and provide factors for improving profits.

Next, a case where a command signal for arithmetic processing is given will be described. FIG. 3 shows the processing flow when a command signal is input. In this case, the process from reading from the memory unit (S201) to reading the output format (S204) is the same as in the general processing described above.

If a command signal has been given, the presence or absence of the command signal is determined by reading out the output format and checking whether the output format has been changed (S205). If there is no command signal, the calculation is performed in the normal default output format and the output is in that format (S206, S207). In reality, it is easy to determine whether the output format has been changed from the default and read out the changes. Here, we will describe the presence or absence of a command signal and its contents.

If there are command signals, first all of the command signals are read (S211). It is then determined whether a selection signal is present from the read command signals (S212). This is to distinguish between selection signals and limited signals, which are command signals. Since neither is given priority, it is possible to read out the limited signals, but here priority is given to the selection signals.

If there is no selection signal, the presence or absence of a limiting signal is further determined (S213). At this time, if there is no limiting signal, the presence of other command signals is also taken into consideration, but here it is assumed that no special command signal is present, and calculation and output are performed in the default format (S206, S207). Note that if other types of command signals are added, the other command signals may be determined here.

If a limited signal exists, only the limited signal is read again (S214), a specific period is set (S215), and a calculation is performed using a specified output format that reflects this (S216). The calculation result is output by the output unit (S217). The output information in this case is sales information for a limited period, such as by year or week, and can be confirmed on the monitor.

Also, when a selection signal is present, the presence or absence of a limiting signal is determined (S223). This is because a limiting signal may be present in addition to a selection signal. If a limiting signal is present, the selection signal and limiting signal are read out again (S223), and a specific period is set for the individual information in the selected related information in response to these signals (S225). Then, a calculation is performed in an output format that reflects these settings (S216), and the result is output (S217).

Furthermore, if a selection signal is present but no limiting signal is present, only the selection signal is read again (S234), and individual information in the related information for the default period is set (S235). Calculations are performed based on the output format that reflects this setting (S216), and the information is output (S217).

As described above, when a command signal to change the output format is given, in addition to performing calculations for a specific period, calculations can also be performed for each specific piece of information, making it possible to check changes and trends related to desired information from among a vast amount of sales-related information.

Next, the processing procedure according to this embodiment will be described when the reference values for determining busy periods, etc. are set in advance as defaults. Figure 4 shows the processing flow when an indicator indicating a busy period, an indicator indicating an off-season, or both are set in advance as default settings. Each indicator can be set as any condition such as sales amount, sales volume, or number of input data. Then, by inputting these indicators as thresholds, it becomes possible to process busy periods, etc.

In this case, the processing procedure is the same as that of the general processing described above, from reading from the memory unit (S301) to reading the output format (S304). After these procedures are completed, it is determined whether the threshold (index) is set (S305). If no threshold is set, the calculation is performed using the normal default format (S306) and the result is output (S307).

In contrast, if thresholds (indicators) are set, it is determined whether the number of thresholds set is two (S311). If two thresholds are set, this means that individual indices are set to distinguish between busy and slow periods, and if there is no other number (i.e., a single threshold), this means that an indicator is set to classify into two categories, busy and slow.

Therefore, when there are two thresholds, the first threshold is read out first (S312). Here, the first threshold is defined as an indicator of a busy period. Therefore, by reading out the first threshold, it is possible to determine that a period (specific time or duration) that exceeds the threshold within a specific period (default period or any period based on a command signal) is a busy period (S313). Then, the second threshold is read out continuously (S314). Since this second threshold is an indicator that indicates the boundary with the off-period, it is possible to determine that a period (specific time or duration) that is equal to or less than the second threshold is an off-period (S315). At the same time, it is also possible to determine that a so-called normal period that does not belong to either period (S315). Then, when these determinations are completed, the results of these determinations are reflected in the output format and output together with the calculation results (S306) (S307).

On the other hand, if the number of thresholds is other than the above (i.e., a single threshold), the threshold is read (S322), and busy and slow periods are determined based on periods (specific times or durations) that are above and below the threshold (S325). Even in this case, the results of these determinations are reflected in the output format and output (S307) together with the calculation results (S306).

The output of the above mentioned busy and slow seasons does not require a special output format, and when output using the above output format, it is sufficient to display the corresponding period on the monitor in a color-coded format. In this case, if attention is focused on staffing during the slow season, displaying the staff on duty as a selection signal in the command signal can provide information to determine whether staffing is appropriate. In addition, by aggregating this over multiple years, it is possible to grasp seasonal busy or slow seasons. Furthermore, by comparing profits (amount or rate) during the busy season with profits (amount or rate) during the slow season, it is possible to grasp the relationship between the busy or slow state and the increase or decrease in profits.

And by users being able to understand this information for themselves, it can help them not only to realize the need for business improvement, but also to identify concrete steps to take.

The embodiment of the present invention is as described above, but the embodiment is merely an example of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiment. Therefore, each element of the embodiment can be modified as appropriate. For example, a command signal, particularly a selection signal, other than those exemplified above may be selected, and detailed information may be input in advance for the default settings.

1 Sales information analysis device 11 Input interface (input unit)
12 Storage unit (storage means)
13 Processing section (processing means)
14 Output module (output section)
15 Monitor (output device)
16 Keyboard (operation means)
17 Input module

Claims (4)

A method for analyzing sales information, which performs processing for calculating necessary data by a computer based on amount information stored in a storage device of a cash register, time information relating to the input time of the amount information, and related information relating to individual product or service names, product or service types, any product or service group, location classification of products or services, and payment terms, comprising:
An analysis method including the steps of: reading out the amount information, the time information, and related information; re-storing the read information for each input time; reading out an output format; processing the re-stored information in accordance with the output format; and outputting a result of the processing,
A determination step for determining whether a period is a busy season, a slow season, or a normal season from information input as a first threshold value that should be an indicator of a busy season based on a sales amount, a sales volume, the number of input data, or any other arbitrary condition, and a second threshold value that indicates a boundary with a slow season ,
The determining step includes:
reading the first threshold value;
determining that a period in which the index condition exceeds the first threshold is a busy period;
reading the second threshold value;
determining a period showing the second threshold or less as an off-season;
determining a period equal to or less than the first threshold and exceeding a second threshold as a normal period;
Further, the method includes a processing step of accumulating the sales amount included in the amount information while classifying the individual information for each limited period based on a command signal including a selection signal for selecting individual information included in the related information and a limiting signal for limiting a period to be processed,
The processing steps include:
reading out the command signal;
determining whether the selection signal is present in the command signal;
determining whether the limit signal is present in the command signal;
and selecting individual information within a limited period of time based on the selection signal and the limiting signal present in the command signal, and using default conditions for conditions in which either the selection signal or the limiting signal is not present. The processing steps include:
Furthermore, when information selected from store information regarding the store in which the cash register is installed, fixed cost information for each store, labor cost information at each store, information regarding the cost or purchase of each individual product or service handled at each store, and holiday information for each store is input as sales-related information that cannot be obtained from the cash register,
2. The sales information analysis processing method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of calculating gross profit, net profit and profit rate for each limited period for each store based on said command signal. Further, the method includes a step of calculating gross profit, net profit, and profit rate on a weekly, monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, and annual basis based on the time information,
3. The sales information analysis processing method according to claim 2, wherein the default set condition is set based on a sales volume of a preset product or service. A program for sales information analysis processing, which causes a computer to execute the determination step in the sales information analysis processing method according to claims 1 to 3.

Images