JP7633360B2 - Product sales data processing device and program - Google Patents

Description

An embodiment of the present invention relates to a product sales data processing device and a program.

With the recent increase in foreign tourists visiting Japan, retailers such as convenience stores and supermarkets are increasingly having to process tax-free orders when selling products.

In the tax-free process, the range of amounts eligible for tax-free processing is stipulated according to the type of tax-free item. Therefore, customers pay attention to completing their shopping so that they can complete their shopping within the range eligible for tax-free processing, but it is difficult to check whether the total amount for each type of item is within the tax-free range while shopping. Therefore, when customers register their purchased items at the register, they ask the cashier whether the purchased items are within the tax-free range. Each time a customer asks, the cashier has to identify tax-free items from among the purchased items, calculate the total amount of the tax-free items, and check whether it is within the tax-free amount range. This hinders the smooth progress of the product registration process at the register and makes it difficult to quickly answer customers' questions.

In response to these issues, technology has been proposed that reads the price of the product to be purchased using a mobile terminal given to the customer, and displays the shortfall against the tax-free range on the mobile terminal to inform the customer (for example, Patent Document 1). Technology has also been proposed that displays the shortfall against the tax-free range on a POS terminal and informs the cashier (for example, Patent Document 2). However, the display was not necessarily easy for the cashier to immediately determine. Furthermore, there was no mention of what information should be displayed when tax-free status is established. For this reason, there was a need for an interface that could clearly display both the shortfall against the tax-free range and the fact that tax-free status has been established.

The problem that this invention aims to solve is to provide a product sales data processing device and program that can easily check whether the total amount of purchased products is within the tax-free range without requiring the cashier to perform complicated operations.

The product sales data processing device of the embodiment includes a product information acquisition means, a tax-free acceptance means, a calculation means, a determination means, and a display means. The product information acquisition means acquires product information of a product that a customer wishes to purchase. The tax-free acceptance means accepts that the transaction is a tax-free transaction. When the tax-free acceptance means accepts that the transaction is a tax-free transaction, the calculation means calculates a total amount of each consumable item and general item based on the product information acquired by the product information acquisition means. The determination means determines whether the total amount of each consumable item and general item calculated by the calculation means satisfies the tax-free condition for each consumable item and general item. When the determination means determines that the tax-free amount has not been reached, the display means displays to the cashier or customer on the same screen of the display device the shortfall amount with respect to the lower limit of the tax-free amount, the total amount including tax of the consumable items and general items, and the total amount excluding tax .

FIG. 1 is an external view of a POS terminal according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a hardware block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the POS terminal. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the tax exemption category table. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the tax-free range table. FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing the functional configuration of the POS terminal. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a data configuration of a product master file. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen displayed on the cashier display unit of the POS terminal before the tax exemption conditions are met. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen displayed on the cashier display unit of the POS terminal when the tax exemption conditions are met. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen displayed on the cashier display unit of the POS terminal when the tax-free allowance has been exceeded. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another example of the display screen shown in FIG. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed by the POS terminal of the first embodiment. FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram showing the functional configuration of a POS terminal according to the second embodiment. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed by the POS terminal of the second embodiment.

(First embodiment)
A POS (Point Of Sales) terminal, which is an example of a product sales data processing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, will be described with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is an external view of a POS terminal 10a according to the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the POS terminal 10a is equipped with a card reader/writer (R/W) 11 and a keyboard 13. The card R/W 11 reads card information and writes information to cards such as credit cards and point cards in order to make payments with those cards. The keyboard 13 has a numeric keypad, department key, subtotal key, deposit/cash total key, receipt issuing key, settlement key, tax exemption declaration key, product list output key, etc. The POS terminal 10a also has a cashier display unit 15 and a customer display unit 16, both of which are liquid crystal displays, as well as a printer 17 that prints sales information on long receipt paper and issues it as a receipt from the receipt issuing port 18.

The POS terminal 10a further includes a barcode reader 22 and a passport reader 23. The barcode reader 22 reads product information contained in a barcode affixed to a product purchased by customer C and transmits the information to a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 31 (Figure 2). The passport reader 23 is a reader device that reads information held in customer C's passport. In this embodiment, the passport reader 23 has an optical character recognition (OCR) function that optically reads a character string written on the passport and transmits it to the CPU 31 (Figure 2).

(Description of the hardware configuration of the POS terminal)
Fig. 2 is a hardware block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the POS terminal 10a. As shown in Fig. 2, the POS terminal 10a has a computer-configured control unit 30 made up of a CPU 31, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 32, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 33, etc. The CPU 31 executes various arithmetic processes and controls each unit. The ROM 32 stores fixed data in a fixed manner. The RAM 33 stores variable data that can be freely rewritten and is used as a work area. The CPU 31, ROM 32, and RAM 33 are connected via a bus line 34.

When the POS terminal 10a performs product registration processing, a tax-free amount table T that tally up the total amounts of tax-free products is created in the RAM 33. This will be described in more detail later.

The POS terminal 10a is also connected to peripheral devices such as a keyboard 13, a cashier display unit 15, a customer display unit 16, a printer 17, a card R/W 11, a barcode reader 22, and a passport reader 23 via a controller 35. The operation of these peripheral devices is all controlled by the control unit 30.

The keyboard 13 has various keys arranged in blocks. The various keys include, for example, quantity keys for inputting product codes and amounts, subtotal keys for declaring the calculation of the total sales amount, a running total key for declaring the closing of the sales process with cash, a PLU (Price Look-Up) key for specifying various products, a confirmation key for confirming the quantity input using the quantity keys, and a clear key. The keyboard 13 also has operators required for performing tax exemption processing, such as a tax exemption declaration key K1. The tax exemption declaration key K1 is an operator for declaring that tax exemption processing will be performed for the transaction.

The POS terminal 10a also has a communication interface (I/F) 24 for data communication with the store server 4, which is a higher-level device, via a network 3 provided within the store. This communication interface 24 is also connected to the bus line 34.

The control unit 30 is also connected to a memory unit 26, which is a storage device, via a bus line 34. The memory unit 26 is composed of a hard disk drive (HDD) or flash memory, etc., and retains its stored contents even when the power is cut off.

The memory unit 26 stores an operating system, a control program 27 such as various computer programs, and various data files. The data files include a product master file F1, a tax-free category table F2, and a tax-free range table F3, etc., that are distributed from the store server 4. The contents of each will be described later.

The control program 27 executed by the POS terminal 10a of the embodiment is provided in the form of an installable or executable file recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R, or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc).

The control program 27 executed by the POS terminal 10a of the embodiment may be configured to be stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and provided by being downloaded via the network. The control program 27 executed by the POS terminal 10a of the embodiment may be configured to be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet.

The control program 27 executed by the POS terminal 10a of the embodiment may also be configured to be provided by being pre-installed in the ROM 32.

(Explanation of tax exemption process)
Next, the tax exemption process, which is a feature of this embodiment, will be briefly described. When a person of foreign nationality makes a purchase in Japan, if certain conditions are met, he or she is exempt from paying taxes, i.e., eligible for a so-called tax exemption measure.

Specific conditions are set for customer C making the purchase and the product being purchased. For example, to receive tax exemption in Japan, customer C must be a non-Japanese national, have a short-term stay visa, and have landed in Japan for less than six months. Whether these conditions are met can be determined by reading the information on the passport held by customer C.

Furthermore, when shopping in Japan, you are required to purchase pre-determined products (tax-free products) within a certain price range. Tax-free products are further divided into consumables (food, beverages, cosmetics, medicines, etc.) and general goods (non-consumable products such as clothing and miscellaneous goods). Only when the total amount (excluding tax) of consumables purchased at the same store on the same day is between 5,000 and 500,000 yen, or when the total amount (excluding tax) of general goods is 5,000 yen or more, you are eligible for tax-free exemption, which means you are exempt from paying consumption tax (tax-free), or you are exempt from paying consumption tax, customs duty, tobacco tax, and liquor tax (duty-free).

In this embodiment, the tax-free category table F2 described above is a table that defines information that identifies whether a product is tax-free, whether it is a general item, or a consumable item. The tax-free range table F3 is a table that defines the price range (excluding tax) for which tax-free measures can be applied to general items and consumable items.

Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the tax-free category table F2. As shown in Figure 3, the tax-free category table F2 defines tax-free category names in association with tax-free category codes. The tax-free category names are "consumables", "general goods", and "non-tax-free". "Consumables" are tax-free goods such as food, beverages, medicines, and cosmetics. "General goods" are tax-free goods that are used in everyday life other than consumables. "Non-tax-free" are non-tax-free goods that are not tax-free goods. The tax-free category code for "consumables" is "01". The tax-free category code for "general goods" is "02". The tax-free category code for "non-tax-free" is "03". These tax-free category codes are assigned to each product registered in the product master file F1, which will be described later.

Figure 4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the tax-free range table F3. As shown in Figure 4, in the tax-free range table F3, setting values that indicate the tax-free range are defined in association with the tax-free range code. The setting values indicate the range of amounts for which tax-free measures can be applied in each category. In the example shown in Figure 4, the tax-free range code "01" defines that the tax-free range for consumables is between 5,000 yen and 500,000 yen excluding tax. In addition, the tax-free range code "02" defines that the tax-free range for general goods is 5,000 yen or more excluding tax.

(Description of Functional Configuration of POS Terminal)
Fig. 5 is a functional block diagram showing the functional configuration of the POS terminal 10a. The CPU 31 of the POS terminal 10a operates according to the control program 27 to function as the reading unit 40, the determination unit 42, the recognition unit 44, the addition unit 46, the comparison unit 48, the display unit 50, and the accounting unit 52 shown in Fig. 5.

The reading unit 40, which is an example of a reading means, causes the barcode reader 22 (Figure 2) to read the product information of the product purchased by customer C.

The determination unit 42, which is an example of a determination means, determines whether or not customer C is eligible for tax exemption processing based on the passport information of customer C read by the passport reader 23 (Figure 2).

The identification unit 44, which is an example of an identification means, identifies tax-exempt items from among the items purchased by customer C based on the reading result of the reading unit 40, on the condition that the determination unit 42 has determined that customer C is eligible for tax-exempt processing. Specifically, the identification unit 44 refers to the tax-exempt category code C2 of the item corresponding to the reading result of the reading unit 40 in the item master file F1. Then, based on the tax-exempt category code C2, it identifies whether the item purchased by customer C is a tax-exempt item.

The addition unit 46, which is an example of an addition means, adds up the amounts of tax-free items for each tax-free category. The results of the addition are written to the tax-free amount table T formed in the RAM 33 (Figure 2) for each tax-free category.

The comparison unit 48, which is an example of a comparison means, compares the result of the addition by the addition unit 46 with the tax-free range for each tax-free category in the tax-free range table F3.

The display unit 50, which is an example of a display means, performs an addition result display process that causes the cashier display unit 15 to display that the addition result by the addition unit 46 is within the tax-free range, or the amount by which the addition result is short of the lower limit of the tax-free range, or the amount by which the addition result is in excess of the upper limit of the tax-free range.

The accounting department 52 performs tax exemption processing to settle the payment for the products purchased by customer C. If customer C is not eligible for tax exemption, the accounting department 52 performs accounting processing to settle the payment for the products purchased by customer C.

(Explanation of product master configuration)
Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the product master file F1. As shown in Fig. 6, in the product master file F1, product information such as the product name, product price (unit price), classification code (classification 1 code, classification 2 code), tax-free category code C2, etc. are set in association with the product code C1 of each product to be registered for sale.

Products are classified according to multiple classification codes, and these classifications are structured hierarchically. That is, as shown in Figure 6, products are classified into multiple categories according to Classification 1 (higher classification), which is a broad classification. Furthermore, each Classification 1 is further classified into Classification 2 (lower classification), which is a finer classification.

The tax-free category code C2 assigned to each product is a code defined in the tax-free category table F2 mentioned above.

(Description of Addition Result Display Process)
Next, the addition result display process performed by the display unit 50 will be described with reference to Fig. 7 to Fig. 10. Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen M1 displayed by the display unit 50 on the cashier display unit 15 (Fig. 2) before the tax exemption conditions are met. The display screen M1 shows a state in which one item A to be purchased by customer C has been registered.

As shown in FIG. 7, the display screen M1 has a serial number column E1 that displays registered product information, a product name column E2, a unit price column E3, a quantity column E4, and an amount column E5. The display unit 50 displays the serial number assigned to the registered product in the serial number column E1. The product name column E2 displays the registered product name of product A. The unit price column E3 displays the unit price (including tax) of product A. The quantity column E4 displays the registered quantity of product A. And the amount column E5 displays the integrated value (including tax) of the unit price and quantity of product A.

The display screen M1 further comprises a tax-excluded total amount column N1, a tax-inclusive total amount column N2, and a tax-exemption achievement status display column N3. The display unit 50 displays the tax-excluded total amount of the registered products in the tax-excluded total amount column N1. The display unit 50 also reads the amount (including tax) of the tax-exempt products added by the addition unit 46 from the tax-exemption amount table T and displays it in the tax-inclusive total amount column N2. The comparison unit 48 further compares the addition result by the addition unit 46 with the tax-exemption range for each tax-exempt category in the tax-exemption range table F3. The display unit 50 then displays the comparison result of the comparison unit 48 in the tax-exemption achievement status display column N3. That is, the tax-exemption achievement status display column N3 displays the result of the determination as to whether the total amount of the registered products is within the tax-exemption range.

Display screen M1 shows in tax-free status display field N3 that the total price of the registered items is 4,760 yen (including tax) short of the lower limit of the tax-free range. This tax-free status display field N3 is updated each time a new item is registered.

Next, FIG. 8 shows an example of a display screen M2 that is displayed by the display unit 50 on the cashier display unit 15 when the tax exemption conditions are met. Display screen M2 has the same configuration as display screen M1.

Display screen M2 shows the state in which customer C has registered 10 items to purchase. The total purchase amount is 5,926 yen, as shown in the tax-excluded total amount column N1. All 10 items to be purchased are tax-exempt items (consumables).

At this time, since the total price of the products purchased by customer C falls within the tax-free range for consumables, "Tax-free achieved" is displayed in the tax-free achievement status display field N3, as shown in FIG. 8. At this time, the display unit 50 may color the background of the tax-free achievement status display field N3 to emphasize that tax-free achievement has been achieved. The cashier may then inform customer C that tax-free achievement has been achieved.

Furthermore, FIG. 9 shows an example of a display screen M3 that is displayed by the display unit 50 on the cashier display unit 15 when the tax-free range is exceeded. Display screen M3 has the same configuration as display screen M1.

Display screen M3 shows the state in which customer C has registered 39 items to purchase. The total purchase amount is 502,930 yen, as shown in the tax-excluded total amount column N1. All 39 items to be purchased are tax-exempt items (consumables).

At this time, since the total amount of the products purchased by customer C exceeds the tax-free range for consumables, the tax-free achievement status display field N3 displays that the total amount exceeds the upper limit of the tax-free range by 2,930 yen (including tax), as shown in FIG. 9. At this time, the display unit 50 may color the background of the tax-free achievement status display field N3 to emphasize that the tax-free range has been exceeded. The cashier may then inform customer C that the tax-free range has been exceeded.

Next, FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of another display screen M4 that the display unit 50 has caused to be displayed on the cashier display unit 15. As shown in FIG. 10, the display screen M4 is an example in which the tax-free achievement status display field N3 divides tax-free eligible products into consumables and general goods, and displays the achievement status of the tax-free range for each tax-free category.

Figure 10 shows the state in which customer C has registered nine items for purchase. The total purchase amount is 2,890 yen, as displayed in the tax-excluded total amount column N1. Of the nine items to be purchased, 1,540 yen (tax-excluded) are consumables, and the remaining 1,350 yen (tax-excluded) are general goods.

At this time, the adding unit 46 adds up the prices of the tax-free items for each consumable item and each general item. The comparing unit 48 then compares the results of the addition for consumable items and the addition for general items with the tax-free range for each tax-free category in the tax-free range table F3. The display unit 50 then displays the tax-free achievement status in the tax-free achievement status display field N3, separately for consumable items and general items. In the example of FIG. 10, the tax-free achievement status display field N3 displays that consumable items are 3,737 yen (tax included) short of the lower limit of the tax-free range, and that general items are 3,942 yen (tax included) short of the lower limit of the tax-free range.

(Explanation of the process flow performed by the POS terminal)
Next, the flow of the process performed by the POS terminal 10a will be described with reference to Fig. 11. Fig. 11 is a flow chart showing the flow of the process performed by the POS terminal 10a. The contents of the process will be described below for each step.

The determination unit 42 (Figure 5) determines whether customer C is eligible for tax exemption processing (step S10). Specifically, the determination unit 42 determines whether customer C is eligible for tax exemption processing based on the passport information of customer C read by the passport reader 23 (Figure 2). If customer C is eligible for tax exemption processing (step S10: Yes), the process proceeds to step S12.

The control unit 30 (Figure 2) performs a tax-exemption registration declaration by detecting the cashier pressing the tax-exemption declaration key K1 on the keyboard 13 (Figure 2) (step S12).

The reading unit 40 (Figure 5) performs a product registration process to register the product information read by the barcode reader 22 (Figure 2) (step S14).

Based on the result of reading by the reading unit 40, the identification unit 44 (FIG. 5) identifies whether the product purchased by customer C is a tax-free product (step S16). If the product purchased by customer C is a tax-free product (step S16: Yes), the process proceeds to step S18.

Furthermore, the identification unit 44 identifies whether the product purchased by customer C is a consumable item (step S18). If the product purchased by customer C is a consumable item (step S18: Yes), the process proceeds to step S20.

The addition unit 46 (Figure 5) adds the amount of the consumables purchased by customer C (step S20).

The comparison unit 48 (FIG. 5) determines whether the total amount of consumables purchased by customer C exceeds the lower limit of the tax-exemption amount (step S22). If it is determined that the total amount exceeds the lower limit of the tax-exemption amount (step S22: Yes), the process proceeds to step S24.

The comparison unit 48 further determines whether the total amount of the consumables purchased by customer C exceeds the upper limit of the tax-free range (step S24). If it is determined that the total amount exceeds the upper limit of the tax-free range (step S24: Yes), the process proceeds to step S26.

The display unit 50 (Fig. 5) displays the excess amount in the tax exemption achievement status display field N3 of the display screen (e.g., display screen M3) displayed on the cashier display unit 15 (Fig. 2) (step S26).

The cashier determines whether there is a next product for customer C to purchase (step S28). If there is a next product (step S28: Yes), the process returns to step S14; otherwise (step S28: No), the process proceeds to step S30.

The accounting section 52 (FIG. 5) performs a tax exemption process to settle the payment for the products purchased by customer C (step S30). The POS terminal 10a then ends the process in FIG. 11.

In step S10, if customer C is not eligible for tax exemption processing (step S10: No), the reading unit 40 performs a product registration process to register the product information read by the barcode reader 22 (step S32).

The cashier determines whether there is a next product for customer C to purchase (step S33). If there is a next product (step S33: Yes), the process returns to step S32; otherwise (step S33: No), the process proceeds to step S35.

If there is no next item for customer C to purchase in step S33 (step S33: No), the accounting section 52 performs accounting processing to settle the item purchased by customer C (step S35). The POS terminal 10a then ends the processing of FIG. 11.

In step S16, if the product purchased by customer C is not a tax-free product (step S16: No), proceed to step S28.

In step S18, if the product purchased by customer C is not a consumable item (step S18: No), i.e., if the product purchased by customer C is a general item, the addition unit 46 adds the amount of the general item purchased by customer C (step S34).

The comparison unit 48 determines whether the total amount of the general goods purchased by customer C exceeds the lower limit of the tax-exemption amount (step S36). If it is determined that the total amount exceeds the lower limit of the tax-exemption amount (step S36: Yes), the process proceeds to step S38.

The display unit 50 displays that the tax exemption has been achieved in the tax exemption achievement status display field N3 on the display screen (e.g., display screen M2) displayed on the cashier display unit 15 (step S38). Then, proceed to step S28.

In step S36, if the total amount of the general goods purchased by customer C does not exceed the lower limit of the tax exemption amount (step S36: No), the display unit 50 displays the shortfall amount against the lower limit of the tax exemption amount in the tax exemption achievement status display field N3 on the display screen (e.g., display screen M1) displayed on the cashier display unit 15 (step S40). Then, proceed to step S28.

In step S22, if the total amount of consumables purchased by customer C does not exceed the lower limit of the tax exemption amount (step S22: No), the display unit 50 displays the shortfall amount against the lower limit of the tax exemption amount in the tax exemption achievement status display field N3 on the display screen (e.g., display screen M1) displayed on the cashier display unit 15 (step S44). Then, proceed to step S28.

In step S24, if the total amount of consumables purchased by customer C does not exceed the upper limit of the tax-free range (step S24: No), the display unit 50 displays that tax-free status has been achieved in the tax-free status display field N3 on the display screen (e.g., display screen M2) displayed on the cashier display unit 15 (step S42). Then, proceed to step S28.

In the first embodiment, the display unit 50 displays the tax-free status on the cashier display unit 15, but the same information may be displayed on the customer display unit 16 (FIG. 2). This allows customer C to immediately understand the tax-free status.

Second Embodiment
Next, a POS terminal 10b, which is an example of a product sales data processing device according to a second embodiment of the present invention, will be described. The POS terminal 10b is the POS terminal 10a described in the first embodiment, to which a hold function that allows a product registration process to be temporarily held midway is added. This POS terminal 10b has the same hardware configuration as the POS terminal 10a.

First, the functional configuration of the POS terminal 10b will be described using FIG. 12. FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram showing the functional configuration of the POS terminal 10b. As shown in FIG. 12, the POS terminal 10b has a functional configuration in which a holding unit 54 is added to the POS terminal 10a.

The holding unit 54, which is an example of a holding means, temporarily holds the product registration process for the product purchased by customer C. The holding unit 54 also issues a receipt on which identification data is printed to identify the temporarily held transaction data. The holding unit 54 also resumes the product registration process that was temporarily held. Specifically, the holding unit 54 is realized by a hold key and a resume key (both not shown) that are provided on the keyboard 13 (Figure 2).

Note that functions other than the holding section 54 shown in FIG. 12 are the same as those of the POS terminal 10a described above, so a description thereof will be omitted.

(Explanation of the process flow performed by the POS terminal)
Next, the flow of processing performed by the POS terminal 10b will be described with reference to FIG. 13. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed by the POS terminal 10b. The contents of the processing will be described below for each step. In order to simplify the explanation, in the flowchart of FIG. 13, the explanation of the processing for determining whether customer C is eligible for tax exemption and the processing for identifying whether the product purchased by customer C is eligible for tax exemption will be omitted. Furthermore, the explanation of the processing in the case where customer C is not eligible for tax exemption will be omitted. Each of the omitted processing is executed in the same way as explained in FIG. 11.

The reading unit 40 (Figure 12) performs a product registration process to register the product information of the tax-exempt products read by the barcode reader 22 (Figure 2) (step S50).

The display unit 50 (Fig. 12) displays the shortfall or excess amount with respect to the tax exemption range, or the fact that tax exemption has been achieved, in the tax exemption achievement status display field N3 of the display screen (e.g., display screens M1, M2, M3, M4) displayed on the cashier display unit 15 (Fig. 2) (step S52). Note that the specific processing performed in step S52 is the same as the processing in steps S26, S38, S40, S42, and S44 described in Fig. 11.

The control unit 30 (FIG. 2) of the POS terminal 10b determines whether the reservation unit 54 (FIG. 12) has instructed to reserve the product registration (step S54). If the reservation has been instructed (step S54: Yes), the process proceeds to step S56. At this time, the cashier informs customer C of the shortfall in the tax-free allowance and asks whether he/she wishes to purchase additional products.

The holding unit 54 temporarily holds the product registration process for the POS terminal 10b (step S56). At this time, the holding unit 54 issues a receipt to customer C on which identification data is printed to identify the temporarily held transaction data. The cashier hands the issued receipt to customer C. Customer C returns to the store and purchases additional products to make up for the shortfall in the tax-free allowance. After the holding unit 54 temporarily holds customer C's product registration process, the POS terminal 10b can carry out product registration and accounting processes for another customer.

The control unit 30 of the POS terminal 10b determines whether the holding unit 54 has instructed the product registration to be released from the hold (step S58). If it is determined that the holding unit 54 has instructed the product registration to be released from the hold (step S58: Yes), the process proceeds to step S60, and otherwise (step S58: No), the process returns to step S56.

The hold unit 54 instructs the POS terminal 10b to release the temporary hold on the product registration process (step S60).

The cashier determines whether there is a next product for customer C to purchase (step S62). If there is a next product (step S62: Yes), the process returns to step S50; otherwise (step S62: No), the process proceeds to step S64.

If there is no next item in step S62 (step S62: No), the accounting section 52 (FIG. 12) performs a tax exemption process to settle the payment for the item purchased by customer C (step S64). The POS terminal 10b then ends the process in FIG. 13.

If the product registration is not instructed to be suspended in step S54 (step S54: No), the process proceeds to step S62.

In this way, according to the POS terminal 10a of the first embodiment, on the condition that the determination unit 42 (determination means) determines that the customer C is a person eligible for tax exemption processing, the identification unit 44 (identification means) identifies tax-exempt items from among the items purchased by the customer C based on the reading result of the reading unit 40 (reading means). Then, the addition unit 46 (addition means) adds up the amounts of the tax-exempt items for each tax exemption category, and the comparison unit 48 (comparison means) compares the addition result by the addition unit 46 with the tax exemption range for each tax exemption category. Then, on the condition that the addition result is within the tax exemption range as a result of the comparison by the comparison unit 48, the display unit 50 (display means) displays on the cashier display unit 15 that the addition result is within the tax exemption range. Alternatively, on the condition that the addition result is short of the lower limit of the tax exemption range, the display unit 50 displays on the cashier display unit 15 the shortfall amount relative to the lower limit of the tax exemption range. Therefore, the cashier can easily check whether the total amount of the purchased items is within the tax-free range without having to perform complicated operations.

In addition, according to the POS terminal 10a of the first embodiment, if the comparison result by the comparison unit 48 indicates that the sum exceeds the upper limit of the tax-free range, the display unit 50 displays the excess amount over the upper limit of the tax-free range on the cashier display unit 15, so that the cashier can easily confirm that the upper limit of the tax-free range has been exceeded.

In the POS terminal 10a of the first embodiment, the display unit 50 displays the summation results by tax-free category on the cashier display unit 15. Therefore, the cashier can easily check the achievement status of the tax-free range for each tax-free category.

Furthermore, according to the POS terminal 10a of the first embodiment, the display unit 50 displays the sum on the customer display unit 16 for customer C. Therefore, customer C can check for himself the achievement status of the tax-free range.

In addition, in the POS terminal 10b of the second embodiment, the hold unit 54 (holding means) holds the product registration process for the products purchased by customer C, and when the product registration process is held, executes the product registration process for customers other than customer C. Therefore, if the total amount of the purchased products does not reach the lower limit of the tax-free range, customer C can return to the sales floor to purchase additional tax-free products and continue the product registration process for another customer.

Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are merely examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in a variety of other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included within the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents as set forth in the claims.

10a, 10b POS terminal (product sales data processing device)
40 Reading unit (reading means)
42 Judgment unit (judgment means)
44 Identification unit (identification means)
46 Addition unit (addition means)
48 Comparison section (comparison means)
50 Display section (display means)
52 Accounting department 54 Retention department (retention means)
F1 Product master file F2 Tax-free category table F3 Tax-free range table

JP 2016-99787 A JP 2016-66353 A

Claims (4)

A product information acquisition means for acquiring product information of a product that a customer wishes to purchase;
A tax-free acceptance means for accepting that the transaction is a tax-free transaction;
a calculation means for calculating a total amount of each of the consumables and the general goods based on the product information acquired by the product information acquisition means when the tax-free transaction is accepted by the tax-free acceptance means;
a determination means for determining whether the total amount of each of the consumables and the general goods calculated by the calculation means satisfies the tax exemption conditions for each of the consumables and the general goods;
a display means for displaying, when the determining means determines that the tax-free amount has not been reached, the shortfall amount with respect to the lower limit of the tax-free amount, the total amount including tax of the consumables and the general goods, and the total amount excluding tax, on the same screen of a display device to a cashier or the customer ;
A product sales data processing device comprising: The display means further displays, when the determination means determines that the total amount of the consumables exceeds the upper limit of the tax-free amount, the excess amount over the upper limit , the total amount including tax of the consumables and the general goods, and the total amount excluding tax on the same screen of the display device to the cashier or the customer .
The product sales data processing device according to claim 1 . a reservation means for suspending a product registration process for a product that the customer desires to purchase, and for executing a product registration process for a customer other than the customer when the product registration process is suspended;
3. A product sales data processing device according to claim 1 or 2 . For computers,
A product information acquisition means for acquiring product information of a product that a customer wishes to purchase;
A tax-free acceptance means for accepting that the transaction is a tax-free transaction;
a calculation means for calculating a total amount of each of the consumables and the general goods based on the product information acquired by the product information acquisition means when the tax-free transaction is accepted by the tax-free acceptance means;
a determination means for determining whether the total amount of each of the consumables and the general goods calculated by the calculation means satisfies the tax exemption conditions for each of the consumables and the general goods;
a display means for displaying, when the determining means determines that the tax-free amount has not been reached, the shortfall amount with respect to the lower limit of the tax-free amount, the total amount including tax of the consumables and the general goods, and the total amount excluding tax, on the same screen of a display device to a cashier or the customer ;
A program for executing.

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